Advice for atar! :)

[gracieconnory]

Hey Guys!
I am doing not very high-level subjects - ones that don't scale above 50, I am doing subjects that I enjoy and do well in, although I need quite a high atar, 99.90 to be precise. I want to be able to be applicable for the Melbourne University Chancellors Scholarship as it would help me out immensely and let me study what I want. My subjects are Health, English, Further, Psych and Legal and I am graduating next year, my subjects are quite middle ground either scaling down little or not at all. I am an above-average student and just want some tips on how I can balance everything and hopefully achieve very good results, I know this is not impossible because of past alumni whose subjects are similar to mine getting 99+; I am open to a lot of varying advice! 

[Sine]

Hey Guys!
I am doing not very high-level subjects - ones that don't scale above 50, I am doing subjects that I enjoy and do well in, although I need quite a high atar, 99.90 to be precise. I want to be able to be applicable for the Melbourne University Chancellors Scholarship as it would help me out immensely and let me study what I want. My subjects are Health, English, Further, Psych and Legal and I am graduating next year, my subjects are quite middle ground either scaling down little or not at all. I am an above-average student and just want some tips on how I can balance everything and hopefully achieve very good results, I know this is not impossible because of past alumni whose subjects are similar to mine getting 99+; I am open to a lot of varying advice! 

Hi gracieconnory,

Welcome to AN. Firstly I don't think scaling over 50 dictates something as a "high-level" subject. Scaling occurs due to the strength of the cohort that does the subject not how hard the subject it.

As for advice, there isn't really much I can say that hasn't been said before. For English, do practice essays, get them marked and get feedback from them. Use that feedback to improve your essays and continue that cycle. For Further Maths, complete the course work content which shouldn't be too bad and begin practice exams and complete as many as you can before the end of the year. Make sure you take note of any mistakes you make in those practice exams and make a note of them (e.g. literally in a notebook) and make sure to not make the same mistakes again. Psych/Legal/Health are generally quite theoretical subjects so you really need to put in the time throughout the year to learn and remember the theory. So continuous study over the year is necessary rather than cramming at the end. As before practice exams are key.

Are you only doing 5 subjects or have you already completed 3/4 subjects in year 10 or 11?

[J_Rho]

Psych/Legal/Health are generally quite theoretical subjects so you really need to put in the time throughout the year to learn and remember the theory. So continuous study over the year is necessary rather than cramming at the end.

Adding onto what Sine said, Legal and Psych are courses that are quite easy to self teach the content, but make sure you do practice questions so you are learning how to answer the questions and apply the skills that VCAA are looking for. I would recommend working slightly ahead of the class just because both these subjects have manageable content, and completing checkpoints or topic tests at the end of each AOS if that's the kind of thing you want to do IMO will help you a lot

[brothanathan]

Hey Guys!
I am doing not very high-level subjects - ones that don't scale above 50, I am doing subjects that I enjoy and do well in, although I need quite a high atar, 99.90 to be precise. I want to be able to be applicable for the Melbourne University Chancellors Scholarship as it would help me out immensely and let me study what I want. My subjects are Health, English, Further, Psych and Legal and I am graduating next year, my subjects are quite middle ground either scaling down little or not at all. I am an above-average student and just want some tips on how I can balance everything and hopefully achieve very good results, I know this is not impossible because of past alumni whose subjects are similar to mine getting 99+; I am open to a lot of varying advice! 

I can see where you're comin from. Before we cut to the chase, let us steer away from scores and ATARs. Why do you see yourself as an above-average student? How would you define an above-average student? How much passion do you really have for Health, English, Further, Psych and Legal? Would you still immerse yourself in those subject fields if there was no grading system? What is it exactly you want to study at Melb? How will studying at Melbourne Uni help you pursue that path?

Edit: Do you genuinely enjoy studying those subjects in "recreational" time? Would you consider making studying those subjects a recreational activity?

[elucidates]

to be frank, i don't think your goal is possible with only 5 subjects. looking at the past aggregate scores you need around a 206 to get a 99.90. assuming you 50 (verb) every subject, you unfortunately still cannot reach the required aggregate (maximum of 4*50 + 0.1* 50 = 205). you would need either a scaling subject (the easiest is either methods or some languages, although these do not go as high as specialist maths) or one more subject.

it would help me out immensely and let me study what I want.

sadly, this argument is somewhat false. no matter your atar unimelb still requires that you satisfy the vce pre-requisites for their degrees. with your subjects, i believe the only atar-entry course that you can apply for at unimelb is the bachelor of arts. you will not be able to apply for commerce (methods) science (at least methods + 1 of specialist maths, chem, bio or physics) or biomed (methods + chem).

[brothanathan]

sadly, this argument is somewhat false. no matter your atar unimelb still requires that you satisfy the vce pre-requisites for their degrees. with your subjects, i believe the only atar-entry course that you can apply for at unimelb is the bachelor of arts. you will not be able to apply for science (at least methods + 1 of specialist maths, chem, bio or physics) or biomed (methods + chem).

Adding to this many with Chancellor's scholarships did a combination of LOTE, math and science subjects. An example of a such programs could include: English, Specialist, Methods, Chemistry, Physics and Latin.

People with such ATAR ambitions usually do at least 6 subjects to gain that minimal yet significant aggregate.

2016 calculation:

Your sixth subject will contribute an extra 10% of that study score to your "aggregate", which is what is used to determine your ATAR. So if you scored a 30 scaled in your sixth subject, for example, an extra 3.0 would be added to your aggregate. You can find the 2016 aggregate to ATAR table here. The extra 3.0 could be the difference, for example, between a ~70.00 and a ~73.00, or a ~90.00 and a ~91.00.

 I know a person who did 8 subjects in VCE, having completed a 3/4 in Year 10 and got a 99.95.

[darkz]

Adding to this, people with such ATAR ambitions usually do 6 subjects to gain that minimal yet significant aggregate.

2016 calculation:
 I know a person who did 8 subjects in VCE, having completed a 3/4 in Year 10 and got a 99.95.

I just want to point out that only six subjects can count towards your ATAR; so doing more than six is not necessarily beneficial.

[brothanathan]

I just want to point out that only six subjects can count towards your ATAR; so doing more than six is not necessarily beneficial.

To supplement this, the seventh and eighth subject are considered by some achievers as a safety net, to experiment i.e. end up doing really well on a subject they would've expected not to or in case if they stuff one or two up.

[ashmi]

Hi gracieconnory and welcome to the ATAR Notes forums!

In regards to your subjects, it's definitely possible to get the ATAR you need (assuming you have done a 6th subject that is).
Consistency is a crucial part of getting where you need to go, and just make sure that you are consistently doing work throughout the year.

Make sure you take note of any mistakes you make in those practice exams and make a note of them (e.g. literally in a notebook) and make sure to not make the same mistakes again.

Sine has beautifully said this already, but I highly recommend that you take the time to make a notebook/folder which contains makes you make throughout the year so you don't go making the same mistakes again at the end of year exams.
It's a great tool as it helps you see gaps in your learning and it gives you an insight of where you might need to revisit certain areas to study.

Also, about the 99.9 ATAR situation, are you currently taking a 3/4 sequence right now? Based on last year's scaling report, you needed an Aggregate of 207.39 to get that ATAR (it varies each year though but usually a small change). What this means is that your 4 best scores, including English and then 10% of your 5th and 6th lowest scoring subjects. So for example, an aggregate could be: (40) + (44) + (35) + (34) + (3.2) + (3.0) = 159.2 Aggregate (Let's pretend they were all scaled scores). I don't think that even with those subjects (assuming you only do 5 and haven't done a 6th) will get that aggregate? (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong). Most importantly, do you meet the prerequisites for your course?

Hope that helps!

[Lilyyyy]

I don't think you should have such high expectations for your atar score. Realistically, it's going to be very very hard to achieve 99.9+ for anyone. I think you should work as hard as possible, and see what comes out from it, but don't expect to get raw 50s in everything, it can be quite devastating when reality doesn't match your expectations.

[SkyArrow]

so doing more than six is not necessarily beneficial.

100%. Especially when you try to overload with an extra university extension subject in year 12 lol...

[gracieconnory]

Hi gracieconnory,

Welcome to AN. Firstly I don't think scaling over 50 dictates something as a "high-level" subject. Scaling occurs due to the strength of the cohort that does the subject not how hard the subject it.

As for advice, there isn't really much I can say that hasn't been said before. For English, do practice essays, get them marked and get feedback from them. Use that feedback to improve your essays and continue that cycle. For Further Maths, complete the course work content which shouldn't be too bad and begin practice exams and complete as many as you can before the end of the year. Make sure you take note of any mistakes you make in those practice exams and make a note of them (e.g. literally in a notebook) and make sure to not make the same mistakes again. Psych/Legal/Health are generally quite theoretical subjects so you really need to put in the time throughout the year to learn and remember the theory. So continuous study over the year is necessary rather than cramming at the end. As before practice exams are key.

Are you only doing 5 subjects or have you already completed 3/4 subjects in year 10 or 11?

I am only doing 5 subjects, I was going to complete a 3/4 this year yet I thought it was best if I devote my full attention on the five I have now, I felt like the 3/4 was stressing me out too much and I didn't really enjoy it.

[gracieconnory]

I can see where you're comin from. Before we cut to the chase, let us steer away from scores and ATARs. Why do you see yourself as an above-average student? How would you define an above-average student? How much passion do you really have for Health, English, Further, Psych and Legal? Would you still immerse yourself in those subject fields if there was no grading system? What is it exactly you want to study at Melb? How will studying at Melbourne Uni help you pursue that path?

Edit: Do you genuinely enjoy studying those subjects in "recreational" time? Would you consider making studying those subjects a recreational activity?

I really like these questions, they have made me think, definitely with legal I view it as a recreational subject, and I think that is what I want to pursue in my future, the pathway at Melbourne is an undergrad then JD yet the only way one can get guaranteed entry to that exact pathway is the scholarship, that is incredibly hard to attain, I feel like I have a better perspective now, for the undergrad you need an 85 and I was just stressed about the LSAT, but I believe that I will be fine doing the general entry pathway, but for now would still like to aim for an atar in the 90s

[gracieconnory]

to be frank, i don't think your goal is possible with only 5 subjects. looking at the past aggregate scores you need around a 206 to get a 99.90. assuming you 50 (verb) every subject, you unfortunately still cannot reach the required aggregate (maximum of 4*50 + 0.1* 50 = 205). you would need either a scaling subject (the easiest is either methods or some languages, although these do not go as high as specialist maths) or one more subject.

sadly, this argument is somewhat false. no matter your atar unimelb still requires that you satisfy the vce pre-requisites for their degrees. with your subjects, i believe the only atar-entry course that you can apply for at unimelb is the bachelor of arts. you will not be able to apply for commerce (methods) science (at least methods + 1 of specialist maths, chem, bio or physics) or biomed (methods + chem).

I do want to study bachelor of arts - I was just wondering if the scholarship would be a viable option, that's all, to be honest I just want to get over 90.

[brothanathan]

I really like these questions, they have made me think, definitely with legal I view it as a recreational subject, and I think that is what I want to pursue in my future, the pathway at Melbourne is an undergrad then JD yet the only way one can get guaranteed entry to that exact pathway is the scholarship, that is incredibly hard to attain, I feel like I have a better perspective now, for the undergrad you need an 85 and I was just stressed about the LSAT, but I believe that I will be fine doing the general entry pathway, but for now would still like to aim for an atar in the 90s

What are the requirements of the scholarship? Is there anything you particuarly find hard to meet?