Getting average grades and acing the exam.

[skt268]

Hi. I was wondering how much the sacs REALLY matter.
What happens if you're ranked in the middle of an average cohort (like getting B for most of the sacs)
But happens to totally ace the exam? Would you get over 40+ or even 45+ despite your bad performance in your sacs ??

[pi]

You'd be very unlikely to get 45+ if your SACs don't scale up with a B as your GA for SACs.

[skt268]

You'd be very unlikely to get 45+ if your SACs don't scale up with a B as your GA for SACs.

Yes I know that but I just wanted to know what'll happen if you acheive average grade in your sacs and ace the exam. Wouldn't all your sac marks get sclaed up ?

[pi]

I think SAC scaling is more of a cohort strength indicator rather that personal strength. But I haven't kept up with the ins and outs of this (do your best in all assessments was a good philosophy in my day).

[lala1911]

Well its 50%/50% for all subjects excluding maths and science.

SAC's compromise 50% of your final study score.. which is a lot. I hear all this talk about SACs not being that important because your exam score isn't moderated. If your SAC scores suck then 50% of your final study score will suck.

Someone can't score D's and then ace the exam and expect to score very highly because their GA1 and GA2 will be low due to their ranking.

[lzxnl]

Personal experience here.

My Methods SAC mark was initially fed incorrectly to VCAA, so the first time around I got a 46 in Methods with an A for SACs and A+ in both exams. However, I thought that was ludicrous as I got 98/100 for SACs at school, was ranked equal fifth and everyone on my SAC mark or 99/100 got 49s and 50s. I phoned the school and it turns out that my SAC mark WAS entered incorrectly.

In the end, my SAC score was rectified and my study score went up to 50. This means that my exam score must have been pretty awesome. However, despite an awesome exam mark, with an A for SACs, I was only able to get a 46.

Now this may be different for other subjects as Methods SACs are only worth a 1/3 of the total grade, but I think you can see the point. Even with an A for SACs, it will be extraordinarily difficult to get over 45+ as you really have to get almost 100% on the exam. With a B, a 45+ would be impossible, in Methods at least.

[LOLs99]

Personal experience here.

My Methods SAC mark was initially fed incorrectly to VCAA, so the first time around I got a 46 in Methods with an A for SACs and A+ in both exams. However, I thought that was ludicrous as I got 98/100 for SACs at school, was ranked equal fifth and everyone on my SAC mark or 99/100 got 49s and 50s. I phoned the school and it turns out that my SAC mark WAS entered incorrectly.

In the end, my SAC score was rectified and my study score went up to 50. This means that my exam score must have been pretty awesome. However, despite an awesome exam mark, with an A for SACs, I was only able to get a 46.

Now this may be different for other subjects as Methods SACs are only worth a 1/3 of the total grade, but I think you can see the point. Even with an A for SACs, it will be extraordinarily difficult to get over 45+ as you really have to get almost 100% on the exam. With a B, a 45+ would be impossible, in Methods at least.

Hi. so is it possible though to get 45+ if I get close to 100% in exams but averaging A?
Btw did u get full marks in both exam1,2 for methods?

[lzxnl]

I got 40/40 and 79/80 for the exams, so if you averaged an A for SACs, you'd really have to get something like these scores to get above 45. Besides, you still have a few SACs left; try and lift your average if you can.

[Sanguinne]

What is the minimum needed out of /100 to get an A+ for a sac score???

[lzxnl]

They get scaled depending on your ranking, school performance and your own exam performance.
Visit the VCAA subject grade distributions for the scaled marks and the grade descriptors. However, you really shouldn't be aiming to do only well enough for an A or something.

[McFleurry]

Please also remember that VCAA takes in account the difficulty of each school's SACs, as well as cohort strength.
The school the nliu1995 goes to happens to have quite difficult sacs, in relation to other schools, so, like pi said, always try your best.

 

[thushan]

Please also remember that VCAA takes in account the difficulty of each school's SACs, as well as cohort strength.
The school the nliu1995 goes to happens to have quite difficult sacs, in relation to other schools, so, like pi said, always try your best.

Actually, it's purely to do with cohort strength. If their SAC scores appear to be too low in general given their exam results, their SACs will be scaled accordingly.

[LOLs99]

I got 40/40 and 79/80 for the exams, so if you averaged an A for SACs, you'd really have to get something like these scores to get above 45. Besides, you still have a few SACs left; try and lift your average if you can.

wow! those scores are magnificent! I got 55/60 for methods so far and left with 2 SACs(worth 40marks) to complete this term. But then for Specialist Maths, I am averaging A's atm but if I ace the exams(e.g. 40/40 Exam 1 and 75/80), will it be much harder to get a 45 given that this subject is much more competitive?

[lzxnl]

wow! those scores are magnificent! I got 55/60 for methods so far and left with 2 SACs(worth 40marks) to complete this term. But then for Specialist Maths, I am averaging A's atm but if I ace the exams(e.g. 40/40 Exam 1 and 75/80), will it be much harder to get a 45 given that this subject is much more competitive?

I'm going to be blunt and say yes, so much harder that you probably won't get 45 raw. In Methods, the A+ cutoff is around 80% for exam 2, whereas for Spesh it's 90%. People generally perform better in Spesh as the top end is full of geniuses who did/are doing Methods and got/will potentially get 48+. There are 4000 people doing Spesh each year, very roughly. There are around 15000 doing Methods. Now, let's assume that the top 2% in Methods are also the top 2%*15000 = 300 in Spesh. 300 in Spesh is a bit less than 8%, so effectively the people getting 45+ for Methods are the people getting 40+ for Spesh (very roughly and I am making the bold assumption that people who do well in spesh are the ones who do well in Methods).

Now what about 45+ for Spesh? 2% of 4000 is 80. 80 out of 15000 is...close of 0.5%, which is 49-50 in Methods. Yeouch. That's some competition you have there. I wouldn't expect A's for SACs and 115/120 in exams to be enough honestly, but that's just my opinion which is based on a lot of assumptions which may be dodgy.

[lala1911]

Actually, it's purely to do with cohort strength. If their SAC scores appear to be too low in general given their exam results, their SACs will be scaled accordingly.

So VCAA can manually adjust ranks?