Tertiary and Continuing Good solid ATAR score

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JD11 said:
Depends, at a private school you've only got to be average.

At a public school would take quite a bit of work.
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That's pretty dumb.

Average is relative. Average in a class of kids who don't all have strong tertiary asperations is going to be easier to achieve than average in a class of kids who all want to be doctors/lawyers after attending G8 universities.

The school does not have such an impact as to make it significantly easier to attain a higher score, regardless of public/private.
 

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the harry said:
That's pretty dumb.

Average is relative. Average in a class of kids who don't all have strong tertiary asperations is going to be easier to achieve than average in a class of kids who all want to be doctors/lawyers after attending G8 universities.

The school does not have such an impact as to make it significantly easier to attain a higher score, regardless of public/private.
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It's not dumb, it's socio economically skewed.

I went to Geelong Grammar, I saw idiots who would have totally floundered at a 'lesser' school get ATARs of 80+.

These are people who've been unable to hold down a job anymore intensive than a bottle-o cashier, but get dragged up because they're in a high scoring cohort as well as the higher quality of resources.

I'm just making the point that it's much easier to attain an 80 in high performing school, than it is at gudger high.
 
LionMen said:
By hard I mean difficult to achieve, ATAR calc has been pretty useful.
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Fair enough, well of course each state is different, and from what I've heard, the Vic and NSW Certificates are more difficult than the WA one (not sure about other states).

Having said that, the best thing you can do to boost your score, and maximise your potential, is to set clear goals and put in the hard yards to achieve them. From my own personal experience in High School, and subsequent years in private tuition, there is a clear discrepancy between those students who work hard and score to the best of their ability, and those who don't.

Those who score to the best of their ability:
1. Practice LOTS of exam questions. They find old papers from school, past VCE/HSC/WACE examinations, papers from other schools, study guides etc etc.. They ask their teachers and their friends to share papers for them to practice. This is especially important for the quantitative subjects eg. Maths, Science (any), Economics. But also relevant in more qualitative subjects eg. English, languages etc.. The more questions you've seen, the less surprised you are on Exam Day.

2. Make lists of questions/problems, and then ask their teacher/tutor/friends about them. Learn whole topics in class, and by reading the textbooks. Use one-on-one time to clear up any ongoing unclear points, and to troubleshoot on difficult questions/essays.

3. Don't take smaller tests and assessments for granted. Not only does each assessment count towards a small percentage of the overall mark, it is the consolidation that is gained during test study that makes exam study much easier. Also, a good study ethic for smaller assessments bodes well for study ethic for exams. Trust me when I say that you cannot just "turn it on" with regards to study, in the days/weeks before the big exams. Students that aren't studying hard for a Year 11 test worth 5%, are going to be the same students that aren't studying hard for Year 12 exams. If you aren't already, sort this out ASAP.

I would be quite confident to say that doing the above 3 points (and starting TODAY) will comfortably give you an ATAR of 80, and likely much higher. Natural talent certainly helps, but there are plenty of "bright" students who massively underperform in Year 12 because of a lack of application. Don't make that mistake. And if you don't have heaps of natural talent, then it really doesn't matter. 80 is still very attainable.

Also, as JD11 eluded to, it isn't always the final ATAR score that matters, but rather the skills you gain, that then serve you well in the future, by enhancing your abilities to study at a Tertiary level, and your employability long term.

Any other queries?

Good luck :)
 
Clint Beastwood said:
Great points samFFC. I cannot stress enough point 1. Particularly with English/Maths/History. They repeat the questions and after studying some old ones I wasn't surprised come WACE exam times.
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Agreed.

I tell my students that if there are 10 chapters/topics (as an example), and there is one question from each chapter/topic, you can guarantee there are going to be:
-7 or 8 that are similar to previous years
-2 to 3 that are new

If you've done a lot of papers, you are setting yourself up for success.

Additionally, there are usually:
2-3 simple questions
4-5 moderate difficulty, that most students can attempt, but many will only get around 50%.
2-3 that are tough. That most students will fail. So the more you've practiced, the more you are pushing yourself ahead of the pack, if they are similar to other years. Also, not to stress, because you know the tough questions are coming, but sometimes can't practice for them (these are where the new questions often arise, so you can't always be fully prepped). But if you've got into the habit of practicing questions, particularly to a time limit, you can really maximise what you get out of the questions.
 
did it back a decade ago and got 83 and was able to get to any university in WA. majority of courses were available to me except law, medicine and pharmacy (and double major in engineering)

these days though a ranking of 70-85 will get you into anything. even pharmacy went down. only ones still in the 90's would be law and medicine/dentistry
 
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