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March 29, 2024, 05:25:11 am

Author Topic: Bad (bio) sac marks- will i still get an okay ish ss? D:  (Read 1089 times)  Share 

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bluebunny

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Bad (bio) sac marks- will i still get an okay ish ss? D:
« on: August 06, 2020, 06:26:56 pm »
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Hello,
So I'm currently in year 11 doing 3/4 biology.

My sac marks are horrendous! like i've been failing all 4 sacs i've completed (30% avg). I really do try my hardest but as i didn't do 1/2 and is currently focusing on other subjects, my sac marks are like that. (I also don't do tutoring for bio, although i should)

Will this affect my study score much? I hoped to get above 30 or even 35.

(My cohort avg is 72, and my school tends to make sacs harder than other schools i believe.)

Pls share your experiences :) or suggestions

brothanathan

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Re: Bad (bio) sac marks- will i still get an okay ish ss? D:
« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2020, 12:17:46 pm »
+2
Hello,
So I'm currently in year 11 doing 3/4 biology.

My sac marks are horrendous! like i've been failing all 4 sacs i've completed (30% avg). I really do try my hardest but as i didn't do 1/2 and is currently focusing on other subjects, my sac marks are like that. (I also don't do tutoring for bio, although i should)

Will this affect my study score much? I hoped to get above 30 or even 35.

(My cohort avg is 72, and my school tends to make sacs harder than other schools i believe.)

Pls share your experiences :) or suggestions

Instead of worrying about what has happened in the past, maybe consider working on what you need to patch up if you haven't already. In terms of the rankings for those SACs and the impacts it has on your final raw rank, there isn't much you can do about it. But you can do something about the current moment.

You could go through the study design and see what parts of the topics you weren't strong it focuses on. Do questions from your textbook/s, past exam questions and other resources you have access to and test yourself on those questions, looking up the answers to see what you got wrong and for the past exam questions look at what feedback was given for those questions in the examiner's report. You can redo the SAC if you've been given the papers back and send it in to your teacher for feedback. If your teacher's not willing to give you feedback, you could look at past examiner's reports that assessed a similar question/or topic to see what specifications examiners wanted. If there's anything you're unsure of you can always ask questions here on the forums and in case if you haven't already, check out the VCE Biology Question Thread

If there's one thing you can change no matter what situation you're in is your attitude and your mindset. Have a growth mindset and push on. If you want to talk more about this, my PMs are always open :)
« Last Edit: August 07, 2020, 12:57:39 pm by brothanathan »

homeworkisapotato

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Re: Bad (bio) sac marks- will i still get an okay ish ss? D:
« Reply #2 on: August 07, 2020, 01:40:39 pm »
+4
Hey! I totally understand what it's like to be upset with bio sac marks (I'm in year 11 and bio is my 3/4). I don't know my exact rank but I think I'm around the top 10-20 in a selective school, and I started the year off being terrified of bio.
Here are tips which have worked for me and helped me improve:
1.  When you get your past sacs back, check where and why you've lost those marks. Is it because you didn't cover enough content in a specific topic? Did you miss a key word? Did you confuse certain terms? Did you write too much and put a wrong answer somewhere there? Compile an Excel sheet/ word doc with why you've lost these marks
2. Feedback. Go to your teacher and ask them how to improve. Luckily, I've been blessed with a teacher who goes through every answer for each sac and gives tips for everyone. Here are my tips I've compiled in the past six months for myself that I review before every sac:
"Don’t add extra if you are not asked for it. If any of it is incorrect then you lose marks regardless if everything else is incorrect
READ THE QUESTION PROPERLY U IDIOT
- mast cells release histamine
- vasodilation/ increased permeability
- migration of phagocytes
cytokine: signals immune cells
allergic reaction: mention allergen binds to IgE mast cell degranulate
When talking about restriction enzymes cutting a target gene and a plasmid, always say they are cut by the SAME RESTRICTION ENZYME"
3. Practice questions and check the answers. Spam practice questions and please mark them after you've finished. If you lose marks go back and check where you've lost the marks. Treat each question like you would in a sac.
4. Use all the resources you can find, and have a structure. I find and compile all the resources I can find, and then I create a proper to do list that I use for all my sacs. My method is: textbook questions, biozone, teacher's resources, tutor's resources, and more until online resources
5. Timetable. If you are finding it difficult to manage your time between 1/2 and 3/4, I suggest making a timetable or just writing down a to-do list everyday. This helps a LOT and my friends who have adopted this have seen a significantly improved mark
6. Participate in class discussions. I enjoy talking about random biology theories I think of with my teacher and hearing her offer her inputs.
7. Apply theory to real life. Biology is a beautiful subject because everything you learn can be applied to real life. We are literally living in a pandemic, which you can apply U4 AOS 2 to. Evolution can be applied to your favourite food, or those birds in the sky.
8. Like brothanathan has said, the AN VCE Biology Question Thread is always here to help

I hope these tips help and I don't sound too pretentious. I'm literally so terrified for the evolution sac ahaha
2020: Biology [43]
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bluebunny

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Re: Bad (bio) sac marks- will i still get an okay ish ss? D:
« Reply #3 on: August 07, 2020, 03:38:53 pm »
0
Instead of worrying about what has happened in the past, maybe consider working on what you need to patch up if you haven't already. In terms of the rankings for those SACs and the impacts it has on your final raw rank, there isn't much you can do about it. But you can do something about the current moment.

You could go through the study design and see what parts of the topics you weren't strong it focuses on. Do questions from your textbook/s, past exam questions and other resources you have access to and test yourself on those questions, looking up the answers to see what you got wrong and for the past exam questions look at what feedback was given for those questions in the examiner's report. You can redo the SAC if you've been given the papers back and send it in to your teacher for feedback. If your teacher's not willing to give you feedback, you could look at past examiner's reports that assessed a similar question/or topic to see what specifications examiners wanted. If there's anything you're unsure of you can always ask questions here on the forums and in case if you haven't already, check out the VCE Biology Question Thread

If there's one thing you can change no matter what situation you're in is your attitude and your mindset. Have a growth mindset and push on. If you want to talk more about this, my PMs are always open :)

Thanks so much, i'll definitely PM you when i feel i need to :)
Reading this honestly gave me more confidence and a much more positive mindset  :D

bluebunny

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Re: Bad (bio) sac marks- will i still get an okay ish ss? D:
« Reply #4 on: August 07, 2020, 03:44:43 pm »
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Hey! I totally understand what it's like to be upset with bio sac marks (I'm in year 11 and bio is my 3/4). I don't know my exact rank but I think I'm around the top 10-20 in a selective school, and I started the year off being terrified of bio.
Here are tips which have worked for me and helped me improve:
1.  When you get your past sacs back, check where and why you've lost those marks. Is it because you didn't cover enough content in a specific topic? Did you miss a key word? Did you confuse certain terms? Did you write too much and put a wrong answer somewhere there? Compile an Excel sheet/ word doc with why you've lost these marks
2. Feedback. Go to your teacher and ask them how to improve. Luckily, I've been blessed with a teacher who goes through every answer for each sac and gives tips for everyone. Here are my tips I've compiled in the past six months for myself that I review before every sac:
"Don’t add extra if you are not asked for it. If any of it is incorrect then you lose marks regardless if everything else is incorrect
READ THE QUESTION PROPERLY U IDIOT
- mast cells release histamine
- vasodilation/ increased permeability
- migration of phagocytes
cytokine: signals immune cells
allergic reaction: mention allergen binds to IgE mast cell degranulate
When talking about restriction enzymes cutting a target gene and a plasmid, always say they are cut by the SAME RESTRICTION ENZYME"
3. Practice questions and check the answers. Spam practice questions and please mark them after you've finished. If you lose marks go back and check where you've lost the marks. Treat each question like you would in a sac.
4. Use all the resources you can find, and have a structure. I find and compile all the resources I can find, and then I create a proper to do list that I use for all my sacs. My method is: textbook questions, biozone, teacher's resources, tutor's resources, and more until online resources
5. Timetable. If you are finding it difficult to manage your time between 1/2 and 3/4, I suggest making a timetable or just writing down a to-do list everyday. This helps a LOT and my friends who have adopted this have seen a significantly improved mark
6. Participate in class discussions. I enjoy talking about random biology theories I think of with my teacher and hearing her offer her inputs.
7. Apply theory to real life. Biology is a beautiful subject because everything you learn can be applied to real life. We are literally living in a pandemic, which you can apply U4 AOS 2 to. Evolution can be applied to your favourite food, or those birds in the sky.
8. Like brothanathan has said, the AN VCE Biology Question Thread is always here to help

I hope these tips help and I don't sound too pretentious. I'm literally so terrified for the evolution sac ahaha

Thanks so so so so much for the tips ! I'll definitely check them out and use them for my DNA manipulation sac soon ahha

Do you have any tutor recommendations? (I've msged a few i saw on fb but unfortunately they're full atm ;/)

Also, hope you do well on your sac :)

homeworkisapotato

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Re: Bad (bio) sac marks- will i still get an okay ish ss? D:
« Reply #5 on: August 07, 2020, 06:17:39 pm »
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Thanks so so so so much for the tips ! I'll definitely check them out and use them for my DNA manipulation sac soon ahha

Do you have any tutor recommendations? (I've msged a few i saw on fb but unfortunately they're full atm ;/)

Also, hope you do well on your sac :)
Unfortunately, my tutor is also full and doesn't accept new students halfway through the year, but tutors are only needed if you have difficulty understand the content. I know quite a few people who started in a rocky state and performed really well without a tutor. The key is finding what you did wrong, and asking for help to fix it. Many people find it difficult to phrase answers in Bio, but there is a certain structure to it. Asking your school teacher for help and sending a lot of emails can bridge the gap from not having a tutor and requiring one. Good luck for your next sac! Don't hesitate to post on this thread if you need any help as I and many more qualified people are happy to help!
Ahah thank you!!   ;D
2020: Biology [43]
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issycohen

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Re: Bad (bio) sac marks- will i still get an okay ish ss? D:
« Reply #6 on: August 08, 2020, 01:12:16 pm »
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Hi

I'm in year 12 doing 3/4 Bio and I'm averaging around 60% for Unit 3. If I was to get like 80%+ and get a high A+ (so I'm guessing 110+/120 on the exam, would I be able to get a 40 - 45 study score?

My cohort strength is pretty strong and my Sacs will at least scale by 10% according to last years cohort at our school.
Btw, if you full mark the exam, what sort of score am I expected to get?

darkz

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Re: Bad (bio) sac marks- will i still get an okay ish ss? D:
« Reply #7 on: August 08, 2020, 02:04:43 pm »
+1
Hi

I'm in year 12 doing 3/4 Bio and I'm averaging around 60% for Unit 3. If I was to get like 80%+ and get a high A+ (so I'm guessing 110+/120 on the exam, would I be able to get a 40 - 45 study score?

My cohort strength is pretty strong and my Sacs will at least scale by 10% according to last years cohort at our school.
Btw, if you full mark the exam, what sort of score am I expected to get?

Well at the end of the day, if you're scoring 110/120 or 120/120 on the exam, your final score will come down solely to your SAC scaling. However, in either scenario, I would be thinking mid to high 40s, even if you have a low U3 score (assuming you will have a high U4 score). Although, this would be based upon past year exam distributions - no idea what they're going to do this year. And if you believe that you will score exceptionally well on the exam despite your lower SACs, then ideally you will want a difficult exam.
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