ThunderDragon's VCE Journey

[ThunderDragon]

A little update on UCAT, I did a VR, DM, QR and AR Mini Mock and was actually not disappointed with my scores for once. I managed to get an 800 for VR, 650 for DM, 630 for QR and 650 for AR. This equates to around 82nd percentile. Although it probably isn't good enough to get into Monash Med, I've still got a few weeks left and just need to get my shit together and focus on the maths related sections cause I suck at maths.

We're getting back our Psych and English Sacs next week. Honestly, was aiming for 50/50 for Psych SAC but knowing Psych and how everyone makes dumb mistakes, I highly doubt it would happy. Still anxious and hope that I can get at least a 47 or 48/50. As for English, have very low hopes for this. My teacher told our class that 1/4 of the class got either Cs or C+s and I don't see myself getting anything higher than that. My Argumentative Analysis was very rushed since I spent too long planning and I didn't get to finish my conclusion. Very much worried about this Sac since English is a Top 4 subject. Anyway, this upcoming week could be tough with getting these two Sacs back and also having to do my first Bio SAC.

[ashmi]

Hey ThunderDragon!

(By the way, I love reading your journal it is so interesting)
Thanks for putting a new update up and you can do this! Keep at the work and try your best to enjoy the moment .

Good luck with your Bio SAC next week, I'm sure that you will be fine and do amazing in it. Have some faith in yourself!
Don't worry too much about the SACs you are getting back this week. I'm pretty positive you did great and even if they are not what you would have liked, it's a great learning experience.

You will be absolutely fine! Enjoy the rest of the weekend ThunderDragon!

[ThunderDragon]

Haha thanks ashmi! Really appreciate it!

[ThunderDragon]

Just got my English Argumentative Analysis SAC back and got 17/20 or 85%. Was definitely expecting lower however the average was quite high at around 80% so still could've done better. Somehow an 85% is a B+ and an A is 95% so Idk what the hell is up with the ground boundaries. Have my Bio SAC tomorrow and feel kinda unprepared. Might pull a semi all nighter. Not gonna be fun.

[afuturepsych]

Have my Bio SAC tomorrow and feel kinda unprepared. Might pull a semi all nighter. Not gonna be fun.

Best of luck with Bio! You'll smash it, ThunderDragon. I have my Chem SAC tomorrow so looks like a joint late night for us both. I did a Bio SAC today too - but not on immunity.
Be proud of your English score - above average, and at a very competitive school, is massive! Super proud of you.
- afuturepsych

[ThunderDragon]

Best of luck with Bio! You'll smash it, ThunderDragon. I have my Chem SAC tomorrow so looks like a joint late night for us both. I did a Bio SAC today too - but not on immunity.
Be proud of your English score - above average, and at a very competitive school, is massive! Super proud of you.
- afuturepsych

Haha thanks! Good luck on your Chem SAC tomorrow!

[ThunderDragon]

I know i'm posting a lot but I had to rant about this. Just finished my Biology U3 AOS 2 Sac (First Sac for some reason) and I think I failed it so badly. It was so diagram and image based and I had mental blanks during the SAC. Not to mention that the article which was related to a question worth around 6 - 7 marks was at the back of the graphic organised sheet and no one told us it was behind it. To be fair, should've really flipped it but it was A3 and did not expect it to be behind it. It was also out of 75 why so much. Pretty sure I got below
40/75 and now I'm depressed that I won't even be able to crack a 40.

[J_Rho]

I know i'm posting a lot but I had to rant about this. Just finished my Biology U3 AOS 2 Sac (First Sac for some reason) and I think I failed it so badly. It was so diagram and image based and I had mental blanks during the SAC. Not to mention that the article which was related to a question worth around 6 - 7 marks was at the back of the graphic organised sheet and no one told us it was behind it. To be fair, should've really flipped it but it was A3 and did not expect it to be behind it. It was also out of 75 why so much. Pretty sure I got below
40/75 and now I'm depressed that I won't even be able to crack a 40.

Hey ThunderDragon! Congrats on completing such a huge SAC! You did the best you could and that's what matters! Even if you don't score as highly as you might have hoped all it does is show you how to succeed! Keep your head up and keep pushing! VCE regards those who work hard!

[ThunderDragon]

Hey ThunderDragon! Congrats on completing such a huge SAC! You did the best you could and that's what matters! Even if you don't score as highly as you might have hoped all it does is show you how to succeed! Keep your head up and keep pushing! VCE regards those who work hard!

Thanks J_Rho! I guess the exam is what really matters and I've still got a few more Sacs left.

[Evolio]

Hey ThunderDragon! 

Congratulations on completing your first biology SAC!
Yeah, that feeling after doing a sac is the worst but I know you'll get through it! Plus, you haven't gotten your marks back yet, so you never know...maybe you did better than you expected.
It's only your first SAC and as you've said you still have 4 more left plus the exam so you have plenty of opportunities to redeem yourself!! Don't lose hope because with perseverence, I know you can achieve your goal!

[ThunderDragon]

Hey ThunderDragon! 

Congratulations on completing your first biology SAC!
Yeah, that feeling after doing a sac is the worst but I know you'll get through it! Plus, you haven't gotten your marks back yet, so you never know...maybe you did better than you expected.
It's only your first SAC and as you've said you still have 4 more left plus the exam so you have plenty of opportunities to redeem yourself!! Don't lose hope because with perseverence, I know you can achieve your goal!

Thanks Evolio!

[ThunderDragon]

Just got a couple of Sacs back and just sat my Text Response SAC today on Rear Window.

I'll start with the only positive which is that I got my Psych SAC 2 back and got 46/50 which is a 92%. Decently alright with it although I missed a few points which with a bit of extra reading on the scenario, could've easily been improved. Regardless, I'm ok with it.

Onto the negatives. Completed my English Text Response SAC today. Walked in hoping for an A/A+ but walked out hoping for at least a B. There were two prompts and I chose the first one like most people however I felt as though I answered the prompt in a weird way and rambled on about random garbage that my teacher is gonna have a headache reading about. The more I think about it, the more I realize that the 2nd prompt is much easier even though at the time, it seemed more foreign. Honestly, very disappointed since I've never really gotten below a B+ for English in VCE 1/2 or 3/4 so far however it's pretty unlikely for me to get a B+ or higher.

UCAT is in about 3 weeks and I'm pretty scared. This test is worth the same amount as my ATAR and my results aren't exactly amazing. I guess I still have some time to grind UCAT but it's pre stressful.

[ThunderDragon]

Week 1 Holidays Update

Little update so far. This holidays, I am primarily going to be focusing on UCAT. This includes spending around 8 - 10 hours each day doing UCAT (kill me now). Also going to be doing some study for Bio with my SAC in the first week (ofc it would be 3 days before my UCAT) and Psych homework but the bulk will be UCAT stuff. Here is a section by section breakdown of the UCAT so far.

Verbal Reasoning
I will say that this section is actually decent. I've been consistently getting scores between 700 - 800 recently without an awful amount of practice. Still need to do some practice because I hope to crack past 800. Got a 750 for my recent mock so I'm alright with it.

Decision Making
This section is pretty hard and I've been getting very mixed results of between 400 - 700 so not feeling awfully great about it. Definitely need to do some more practice. Got 500 - 600 in a recent mock which is kinda bad ngl.

Quantitative Reasoning
Hate this section cause it's maths related. Can only finish around 20 questions out of the 36 in the allotted time. Mainly due to my limited practice so I guess the solution is to practice but it's super boring and tedious. Got 600 in a mock which is kinda meh but I guess i'm slowly improving.

Abstract Reasoning
What a mixed boat this is. Sometimes the pattern is very obvious and other times it gives me a headache. Did a mock and got 630 which I'm rather sad about since I was fairly confident and was definitely expecting a 700 so need to look at my mistakes.

Situational Judgement
I enjoy this section. I speed through this section way too quickly tho since I finish with 15 minutes on the clock. Got Band 1 in my recent mock so pretty happy but still need a bit more improvement.

Overall, the recent mock I did I got 60th percentile in. Not great but I guess this is before my next 2 week study blitz so we'll see what scores I'll be getting later. Honestly I hope for a 95th percentile but I'd be happy with a 90.

[Coolgalbornin03Lo]

Wow 7-8 hours a day!!!! Your amazing! I thought I was doing heaps doing 1-2 per day

You’ll definitely get that 90th percentile!!!!!!

[whys]

Little update so far. This holidays, I am primarily going to be focusing on UCAT. This includes spending around 8 - 10 hours each day doing UCAT (kill me now). Also going to be doing some study for Bio with my SAC in the first week (ofc it would be 3 days before my UCAT) and Psych homework but the bulk will be UCAT stuff. Here is a section by section breakdown of the UCAT so far.

Great to see your dedication and persistence! I just want to point out quality>quantity. 8-10 hours is A LOT (I don't even think I'm awake for that long LOL) and you might find yourself getting burnt out very quickly. I also doubt it will help you in the long-term, and it's best to take it bit by bit. UCAT takes quite a lot of brainpower and you might feel mentally strained if you're doing it for that long continuously, so remember to take breaks and ensure that you aren't getting tired/the quality of your preparation is not decreasing over time.

Good luck!