DETAILED: Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences Entrance [Yr 11&12] Guide 2020

[ImPranav]

It means like a place at EBSS, if u get selected.

[SynX]

It means like a place at EBSS, if u get selected.

Like a role in the school? Or what subject I'll be choosing ?
?

[sippingtea]

Updated 2020 guide to Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences. Student's perspective. The school/program went through a rebranding so now called Elizabeth Blackburn Sciences.

Exam Date: ??

Hey guys, I am a year 11 student at EBSS in 2018. I will be splitting this guide into 4 parts so feel free to skip to the ones you’re interested in.

1.    EBSS as a whole, what, how, experience so far and why you should come.
2.    Test guide and thoughts
3.    Interview guide/tips
4.    Application for year 12

Elizabeth Blackburn School of Sciences is a 'selective school' with a heavy emphasis on science-related VCE subjects. EBSS only facilitates year 11&12’s. So, it’s basically a 'VCE selective school'. One thing to note is that there is a compulsory subject that all students must complete in year 11; ‘Extended Investigation’. Note, if applying for year 12 Extended Investigation is not compulsory. I would recommend that if you want to attend you must be prepared to do EI or at least be prepared to carry your score with the other subjects provided. EI classes have been quite interesting, after a term of devising a question and completing a SAC, EI provides free periods if your SAC is prepared(all sacs are take home and hand in), not really any homework other than work on research and classes are just their to receive feedback so lots of leeway is given. EI is probably not for everyone so the subject might be a deal breaker for those wanting to attend. Another note is the subjects. It is compulsory to do Math Methods & Specialist, 2 sciences, Extended Investigation and a choice of any English even English as an additional language [After experiencing a semester of EBSS, subjects selection is very interchangeable with the exception of the compulsory EBSS subjects; Psychology, I.T. Informatics, humanities and language-based subjects are also offered as 3/4's] . In addition, these subjects are taught in a different way. The teaching system as a whole is quite different from other schools. Students learn from lectures and come in casual clothes. The year levels are also quite small ranging from 40-80. This year only 40~ students chose to enter in year 11 with some leaving after learning about EI. But, the school has the capacity to hold 100 students per year level. So, if you have a group of friends from other schools wanting to learn science this might be your gold mine. The location of the school is in Parkville, behind Royal Melbourne Hospital and across the road from Melbourne University. The transport to and from the school might take time out of your VCE studies so if you’re not able to make that adjustment it wouldn’t be worth attending. I devised some questions you should ask yourself before applying.

•    Am I willing to do Extended Investigation? Please read the VCAA study design before answering this question
•    Will I be able to cope with the subjects?
•    Will the travel time be worth?

If you answered yes to all the questions I’d highly recommend that you apply. However, if you said no to either it might not be advisable, but if you’re willing no one is stopping you.

Exam Guide:
There are 5 parts to the exam; verbal reasoning, science reasoning, reading comprehension, mathematics and writing.

Verbal reasoning: [50 questions, 30 minutes] understanding of syntax, vocabulary and grammar as a whole are the main topics for the exam.
Science reasoning: [30 questions, 30 minutes] mainly biology and chemistry, includes a bit of physics and psychology. I recommend completing the pearson 9&10 textbooks. Note: Exact same exam as year 11 JMSS exam so if you happen to be applying for both, it's the exact same.
Reading Comprehension: [40 questions, 30minutes] grammar analysis, punctuation, analysing text. I recommend just completing reading comprehension books to revise your knowledge.
Mathematics: [60 questions, 30 minutes] quadratics, trigonometry, nonlinear and linear concepts, proportion, geometry, circle geometry and mensuration. I'd recommend having the knowledge for each of these topics.
Writing: [15 minutes] topic; What do you want to do in the future, why and how can EBSS assist? They also included a picture of Elizabeth Blackburn and information about her life and achievements.

My results: 1 superior VR, 2 above averages for RC&M and 1 high average for science. I have no clue what happened to the writing assessment, it wasn’t even mentioned in the interview. Still, it’s probably a determining factor for an interview as some people did not get any superiors.

How I prepared:
Science - I did the JMSS entrance exam (it’s a really good practice exam).
Mathematics - learnt all the year 10 material
Verbal Reasoning and Reading Comprehension - practice tests online (edutest)
Writing - Referred to the 2015 EBSS guide and prepared 3 paragraphs. There are only 15 minutes so practice writing your paragraphs at that time.

Interview:
After the exam all applicants will be emailed their results and whether they got an interview. Those who do receive an email will receive an interview time and subject selection sheet. Please fill it in before coming to the interview, if you’re learning a language outside of school please write it on the form. Clothing should either be your school uniform or something casual. 
The interview consisted of 5 questions:
1.    Why do you want to come to EBSS?
2.    What field of science are you interested in?
3.    What subjects are you taking? - refer to subject selection sheet
4.    What Extended Investigation topic do you think you’ll do?
5.    Do you have any questions?

Try to get the interviewer to write a lot about you to prepare a minimum of 2 sentences for each question. Prepare for each of these questions especially 4, they might ask you “Why did you choose that question?”

Year 12 Update:
After communicating with a year 12 student who entered EBSS in year 12, he said the exams were easy. Most likely the same topics for year 11 for both the maths & reading comprehension. The writing tasks are also exactly the same for year 10 & 11, so prepare for the one above. Additionally, quite a few students got into EBSS in year 12, 2018 at least 3. However, for those applying for year 12 in 2019, they’ll most likely accept up to 20 students based on the small amount this year. Important: Extended Investigation is not compulsory in year 12, but your unit 1&2 subjects must align with EBSS subjects.
Once again, good luck to all those studying for the exam in July. I hope to see many of you at the symposium .
Shoutout to my fellow classmates for any confirmations.
Thank you so much for reading this guide, feel free to message me if you have any concerns and I look forward to meeting some of you in 2019. I’ll try my best to reply to as many comments and concerns.

Website: http://www.elizabethblackburnsciences.com.au/

hi guys, i'm back on atar notes after almost a year hahah
anyways i saw on jayce's yt video guide on how to gain entry into ebs and happened to pause to look at the subject selection sheet, do you have to complete a vce subject in year 10 to have a better chance at getting in because personally i'm not ready for that kind of pressure yet
many thanks!!

[Ionic Doc]

hi guys, i'm back on atar notes after almost a year hahah
anyways i saw on jayce's yt video guide on how to gain entry into ebs and happened to pause to look at the subject selection sheet, do you have to complete a vce subject in year 10 to have a better chance at getting in because personally i'm not ready for that kind of pressure yet
many thanks!!

no, just focus on doing well on the entrance exam and acing the interview. That's all you need. Good Luck 

[sippingtea]

no, just focus on doing well on the entrance exam and acing the interview. That's all you need. Good Luck 

thank you for the advice!!

[Umar but with O]

Best wishes to all those taking the exam tomorrow.

[sippingtea]

sorry i’m back with another question, how many subjects am i allowed to take up in year 12? and is it possible to drop a 1/2 subject when going into year 12?
thanks again!

[dedformed]

typically you can do a max of 5 subjects, including any uni extension or VET. If you're doing 2 or 3 3/4s in year 11 (and achieve a certain threshold set by ebs/ your coordinator), you get away with 4 subjects in Year 12.

Yes you can drop a 1/2 and pick up a different 3/4 if you wish to.

[sippingtea]

typically you can do a max of 5 subjects, including any uni extension or VET. If you're doing 2 or 3 3/4s in year 11 (and achieve a certain threshold set by ebs/ your coordinator), you get away with 4 subjects in Year 12.

Yes you can drop a 1/2 and pick up a different 3/4 if you wish to.

ahhh lifesaver~

thanks so much for answering!
i was really debating whether or not to try out for ebs as, if i were to pass the exam, i would have to study ei which i am really anxious about. i heard that spesh was also compulsory in year 11 and personally, i think math is my weakest subject, but i also heard that i could swap out spesh for physics, if i were to do this, could I completely drop physics in year 12? (anything math related makes me gag, but i’m still planning to study methods) thoughts? or should i just stay at my current school?
again thanks for your help!!

[dedformed]

I did ei this year and LOVED it. If you're going into ebs it should be with the intention of loving ei, because that's the whole point of the school. I found all other subjects to be relatively similar to other schools except they teach in a lecture theatre (but still treat you the same as classroom students, really).

In year 11 they make you do spesh, it's rare for them to let people move out because they want us to "try the whole experience" but you pick your subjects for year 12. the physics and 3/4 biology classes run at the same time  so you could just do biology/chem/spesh/methods/eng/ei in year 11 and drop spesh for something else in year 12 (or continue with biology if you do 1/2 in Year 11).

Personally I'm meh about moving. I wanted to do ei and eng lang and my old school didn't offer them and distance ed seemed too annoying so I just moved schools. All other subjects are taught like any other govt school but it depends on what school you're coming from, mine didn't differ that much in rank and median ATAR but I moved anyway.

[sippingtea]

I did ei this year and LOVED it. If you're going into ebs it should be with the intention of loving ei, because that's the whole point of the school. I found all other subjects to be relatively similar to other schools except they teach in a lecture theatre (but still treat you the same as classroom students, really).

In year 11 they make you do spesh, it's rare for them to let people move out because they want us to "try the whole experience" but you pick your subjects for year 12. the physics and 3/4 biology classes run at the same time  so you could just do biology/chem/spesh/methods/eng/ei in year 11 and drop spesh for something else in year 12 (or continue with biology if you do 1/2 in Year 11).

Personally I'm meh about moving. I wanted to do ei and eng lang and my old school didn't offer them and distance ed seemed too annoying so I just moved schools. All other subjects are taught like any other govt school but it depends on what school you're coming from, mine didn't differ that much in rank and median ATAR but I moved anyway.

i’d say the only con about my school is being complied to study all units of vce religion, otherwise it isn’t entirely that much of a pain. thanks for the insight! i had no idea i had the option to do bio 1/2 in year 11, if i do make it in i’ll just those subjects and drop spesh in year 12.

Thanks again! i hope year 12 treats you well!

[hiiiiiiiiiiii]

hey guys!! I took the jmss entrance test last year got 2 superiors and failed the interview :/ just wondering how similar jmss entrance exam is to ebss and how much yall studied for ebss.

[masterhiya]

Wow, as someone who went to a small rural school in the middle of nowhere which accepted basically everyone these entrance requirements seem crazy.

[dedformed]

hey guys!! I took the jmss entrance test last year got 2 superiors and failed the interview :/ just wondering how similar jmss entrance exam is to ebss and how much yall studied for ebss.

I sat them a while back but I think the year 10 jmss entry (which I sat in y9) was of similar difficulty to the year 11 ebs. Have a good hold of your maths and science reasoning and you should be good. I think jmss emphasises interviews a lot more than ebs - if you're in for an ebs interview it's very unlikely you'll be rejected unless your subjects clash

[across35]

Has anyone received a result/interview invitation from Elizabeth blackburn science school for year 11?