Janna Lawson graduated in 2016 with an ATAR of 99.50. She’s now studying Medicine at Monash University. If you’re unsure about what to study after school, check this out!
Janna, scoring a 99+ ATAR is really quite an achievement – congratulations! Did you ever see it coming?
All through high school, I really wanted to achieve a 99 ATAR – but I never really thought it was possible. In Year 11, I did Year 12 Biology, and when I received my score at the end of the year I was really pleased. For the first time, I thought to myself that perhaps a 99 was possible. Although I still doubted it would happen, at the start of Year 12 I set myself a goal to achieve a 99 ATAR.
After my first couple of assessments, I thought I was going really well. However, over the year my assessment marks slowly started to go down. It wasn’t by much, but it felt like a lot to me – and slowly my confidence began to drop. I played around a lot with ATAR Calc to convince myself that it was still possible to achieve my goal, and to get some motivation going into exams.
My exams were going well until it came to the fifth one (I had seven in total). I came out of the exam literally in tears, because I hadn’t performed how I wanted to. I remember that night just thinking over and over how I’d messed up my entire year of work. I felt like giving up to the point that I struggled to study for my remaining exams. My final exams went reasonably well, but I still felt disappointed the entire time I waited for my ATAR.
I’d hate to know how many times I used ATAR Calc, obsessing over my score, plugging in numbers trying to come out with a 99 – before deciding there was absolutely no way it was ever going to happen.
The morning results were released, I remember logging in and seeing my score – and screaming with excitement and disbelief. I quickly clicked to the next screen to view my study scores and see how on Earth they added up to give me a 99 ATAR – but it happened.
Did you study, like, 24/7?! Did you have any hobbies?
I studied as much as I felt I needed before assessments (even if it was a little cramming the night before because I’d procrastinated for the two weeks prior). But I always kept up my extracurricular activities. I’d spend roughly ten hours a week between travel, training and games for soccer – and maybe another one or two hours at the gym or going for a run. I played piano, and completed my eighth grade exam during Year 12, which also took up a lot of time.
Overall, while I did study a lot, I felt I had a good balance between sport, music, and of course social media (and Netflix).
How did you motivate yourself when things were tough?
I found it really important throughout the year to set goals. Big goals. Little goals. Just something to look forward to, and to give me reason to do things. The year is long, and at times feels never-ending. Set yourself goals to remind yourself there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Lots of high achievers say they “studied smart”. What does that mean to you?
It means understanding everything. It means asking yourself why. Why do things occur? Why does one thing cause another to happen? Things don’t just happen – they happen for a reason.
Don’t just accept anything as fact. If you question and understand everything, it eventually becomes logic. This means questions (especially application questions) become easier, and you don’t need to rely on memorising things.
Let’s face it: we’ve all memorised something, and then forgotten it completely in the heat of an exam. That’s what you want to avoid.
In your view, what’s the difference between a 90 ATAR, a 95 ATAR, and a 99+ ATAR?
It’s really hard to compare these scores, because for different people they mean different things.
A 90 student could be someone of average natural ability, but who worked their bum off the entire year. Meanwhile, a 95 student could be someone with loads of natural ability, who did the bare minimum the entire year.
If all three had the same natural ability, then the difference would be this:
The 90 student studied. The 95 students studied hard. And the 99+ student studied smart.
Overall, do you think you did things differently to other people in Year 12? If so, did that help you?
I know I put a lot more emphasis on understanding rather than memorising compared to some of my friends. To me, this made it easier – and so much more interesting and enjoyable!
Okay, so – what are your three top tips for current high school students reading this?
Understand. Understand. Understand. Understand literally everything. Try to not memorise a thing – it’s too hard and too risky!
Balance. There’s plenty of time in the day. Remember the people you’re competing against are humans, too – not robots. They also have to take breaks!
Don’t compare yourself to others. When you start looking at other people’s scores, and overhearing how prepared they are for the next assessment, it’s so easy to stress yourself out. You can even lose confidence in your own ability. Just know that you are doing the very best you can, and focus on yourself rather than others.
