Im in the bottom 1/3 of the school. Can i still get a study score of 38

[lakvinu]

Hello,

For my application sac i got  40% and i am in the bottom 1/3 of the school. In the next two sacs if i get 90-100% and get A+ in both my exams. Will i be able to achieve a study score of 38+. Im confident in my maths and believe i can get 90%+ in both of my two sacs. My school is currently ranked around 300. Pls tell me.

[pha0015]

I'm in a very similar position to you, both in SAC marks and school ranking,  and also believe I can get above 38. I'm sure you'll be fine.

[Nexica]

If you manage to get 90-100% on the rest of your SACs and the exam, then yes, you'll very likely get a study score of 38+. Possibly more, depends on what type of mathematics you're doing.

[Meddling]

Remember that exam for maths take up large proportion of the marks. So if you do well in the exam, you will most likely be fine.

First sacs for methods is not a valid estimation of how you will do in the subject. Everyone has a strong area in maths, and im sure you do too. So make sure you try your hardest from now and ace the exam. I had 65 percent for my first sac, but got 95%+ for the remaining sacs. So dont worry. Just make sure you increase your ranking. I achieved 45 for methods despite the horrible start in the subject

[secretweapon]

Remember that exam for maths take up large proportion of the marks. So if you do well in the exam, you will most likely be fine.

First sacs for methods is not a valid estimation of how you will do in the subject. Everyone has a strong area in maths, and im sure you do too. So make sure you try your hardest from now and ace the exam. I had 65 percent for my first sac, but got 95%+ for the remaining sacs. So dont worry. Just make sure you increase your ranking. I achieved 45 for methods despite the horrible start in the subject

How do you improve results in methods?

[Meddling]

How do you improve results in methods?

You can only improve in methods if you put in hardwork. Sure, sone people are better at maths than others and thus have easier time in maths.

When you do practice questions (like a bunch of them!), i liked to correct them at the end, and put a red box around the ones i got wrong, and went back to each one of them after correcting the answers. I'd then evaluate what i did wrong, or if it was a new approach needed to solve it, and put a small note next to that question detailing my mistake or the new approach. It is time consuming, but it was very affective when it came to that same question because i'd instantly recall the note i made last time.

It is important to keep going back and refresh your memory each week until you can recall it instantly.

Doing a topic summary at the end of the week also allows you to prepare for sacs and such easier. For example, I would do a topic summary each week and commit them into memory, and read through them again after a day, 3 days, then a week (where you would have another summary to do). This technique is called spaxed repetition i believe;

Hope it helps!

[secretweapon]

You can only improve in methods if you put in hardwork. Sure, sone people are better at maths than others and thus have easier time in maths.

When you do practice questions (like a bunch of them!), i liked to correct them at the end, and put a red box around the ones i got wrong, and went back to each one of them after correcting the answers. I'd then evaluate what i did wrong, or if it was a new approach needed to solve it, and put a small note next to that question detailing my mistake or the new approach. It is time consuming, but it was very affective when it came to that same question because i'd instantly recall the note i made last time.

It is important to keep going back and refresh your memory each week until you can recall it instantly.

Doing a topic summary at the end of the week also allows you to prepare for sacs and such easier. For example, I would do a topic summary each week and commit them into memory, and read through them again after a day, 3 days, then a week (where you would have another summary to do). This technique is called spaxed repetition i believe;

Hope it helps!

But what if i'm putting in effort but still not doing well?

[notes3075]

Hello,

For my application sac i got  40% and i am in the bottom 1/3 of the school. In the next two sacs if i get 90-100% and get A+ in both my exams. Will i be able to achieve a study score of 38+. Im confident in my maths and believe i can get 90%+ in both of my two sacs. My school is currently ranked around 300. Pls tell me.

Howdy there, I was in a similar position to you a few years ago when I was doing VCE. And yes, it's definitely possible to climb up the ranks in 4 months, but it'll require a ton of hard work on your behalf. Question is: are you a year 11 doing Methods as your chosen 3/4, or are you a 'conventional' year 12? I was bottom of my class in VCE 3/4 Business Management in year 11 (yes it's way easier than methods) but I grinded my way to a raw 41 when I should have only scraped 30.

However, Methods is a completely different animal (let alone if it's not your only 3/4), but that doesn't mean you can't achieve your goal. And having failed the unit 2 methods tech-active exam (well they didn't dish out "fails", but I got below 50% in it), I proceeded to do as many practice questions as I could, whether from the Checkpoints booklet, the textbook, or from past VCAA exams. I immediately became a formidable force when it came to SACs, achieving around 85-90% throughout the whole year - I assume your SACs should be on the slightly easier side (I came from Melbourne High School).

But what if i'm putting in effort but still not doing well?

Somewhat blunt, but if you're still not doing well, then it just means that you didn't try hard enough. Advice to you: cut out the time you currently spend on YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and other forms of clickbait by at least 80%. It'll free up so much time that you never knew you had. There's no time to waste if you want to catch up. You gotta go hard or go home.

And for motivation (probably for all viewing this thread): if you want to get into your first preference uni and course, then there's no justification for wasting time on the aforementioned, and there's no excuse to lose motivation on your study score and ATAR goals. People say that the ATAR is just a number and that you shouldn't care about it too much, but it's actually very important. It sets you up for success in uni studies and in your career, as it forms the foundation for effective and efficient learning, and a strong work ethic. As the MHS motto says, "Honour the Work".

Finish strong guys, go get it. Anything's possible if you work at it. 

[secretweapon]

Howdy there, I was in a similar position to you a few years ago when I was doing VCE. And yes, it's definitely possible to climb up the ranks in 4 months, but it'll require a ton of hard work on your behalf. Question is: are you a year 11 doing Methods as your chosen 3/4, or are you a 'conventional' year 12? I was bottom of my class in VCE 3/4 Business Management in year 11 (yes it's way easier than methods) but I grinded my way to a raw 41 when I should have only scraped 30.

However, Methods is a completely different animal (let alone if it's not your only 3/4), but that doesn't mean you can't achieve your goal. And having failed the unit 2 methods tech-active exam (well they didn't dish out "fails", but I got below 50% in it), I proceeded to do as many practice questions as I could, whether from the Checkpoints booklet, the textbook, or from past VCAA exams. I immediately became a formidable force when it came to SACs, achieving around 85-90% throughout the whole year - as your school is "ranked around 300", I assume your SACs should be on the easier side (I came from Melbourne High School).

To conclude on a somewhat blunt note (apologies in advance), but if you're still not doing well, then it just means that you didn't try hard enough. Advice to you: cut out the time you currently spend on YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and other forms of clickbait by at least 80%. It'll free up so much time that you never knew you had. There's no time to waste if you want to catch up. You gotta go hard or go home.

And for motivation: if you want to get into your first preference uni and course, then there's no justification for wasting time on the aforementioned, and there's no excuse to lose motivation on your study score and ATAR goals. People say that the ATAR is just a number and that you shouldn't care about it too much, but it's actually very important. It sets you up for success in uni studies and in your career, as it forms the foundation for effective and efficient learning, and a strong work ethic. As the MHS motto says, "Honour the Work".

Finish strong mate, go get it. Anything's possible if you work at it. 

My school isn't ranked 300, what made you think it was?

[notes3075]

My school isn't ranked 300, what made you think it was?

Soz, that was to lakvinu, not you  (edited version of my post above)

[secretweapon]

Soz, that was to lakvinu, not you  (edited version of my post above)

Just wondering, do you know by how much a reasonably strong cohort's methods sacs scale up by?

[notes3075]

Just wondering, do you know by how much a reasonably strong cohort's methods sacs scale up by?

Good question. I'll introduce you to my struggles with VCE English. I started with an A+ on the oral presentation at the year start, then got C's in all other subsequent ones, and a B+/A on the final SAC. Funnily enough, GA1 showed an A, and GA2 showed an A+, but I cooked the exam (GA3) with a B+...I was doing methods practice exams the night before haha cos I gave up - don't do that).

And for both spesh and methods, I remember doing very bad in a "SAC-week" SAC at the end of term 2 (the tech active parts of both, funnily enough), but the results showed straight A+'s.

So yes, reasonably strong cohorts can get scaled up by over one letter grade.

Hope that helps

[secretweapon]

Good question. I'll introduce you to my struggles with VCE English. I started with an A+ on the oral presentation at the year start, then got C's in all other subsequent ones, and a B+/A on the final SAC. Funnily enough, GA1 showed an A, and GA2 showed an A+, but I cooked the exam (GA3) with a B+...I was doing methods practice exams the night before haha cos I gave up - don't do that).

And for both spesh and methods, I remember doing very bad in a "SAC-week" SAC at the end of term 2 (the tech active parts of both, funnily enough), but the results showed straight A+'s.

So yes, reasonably strong cohorts can get scaled up by over one letter grade.

Hope that helps

would a methods cohort that has ~30-40 40+ raw scores each year (including ~2 raw 50s) definitely be considered a strong cohort?

[Nexica]

would a methods cohort that has ~30-40 40+ raw scores each year (including ~2 raw 50s) definitely be considered a strong cohort?

I'd say so. If there's that many high study scores, the cohort is above average.

[Sine]

would a methods cohort that has ~30-40 40+ raw scores each year (including ~2 raw 50s) definitely be considered a strong cohort?

I'd say so. If there's that many high study scores, the cohort is above average.

Definitely a strong cohort - It would've been a top 7 school in methods last year. However, a low rank wouldn't be scaled up too much. Average students would benefit more with the effect lessening at each end of the bell curve.