Are these study ideas sufficient for trials/HSC?

[Stringy]

Hey folks, in year 12 currently studying; Biology, Chemistry, PDHPE, Gen Maths, STD English.

In terms for my study I've been pretty constant and so far i'm ranking in either 1st or 2nd in every subject except maths, despite these good ranks I still worry whether my study plan for the trials is good enough, at the moment i'm planning on;

• Instead of cramming and writing extremely succinct notes, I've been making flashcards out of notes that correlate to each dot point in the syllabus, because I thought this would be a better way for information to stick as i'm actively calling upon random parts of information from each dot point in the syllabus
• Completing at least 10+ trial papers prior to trials per subject (except English), i planned on getting trial papers from schools such as James Ruse, and any Sydney boys/girls papers i can get my hands on, I thought testing myself on papers that have a higher difficulty would prepare me better for my schools trials.

Currently this is all I plan to do for study in the trials, when it comes to HSC I will swap past trials papers with HSC papers and do those instead.
Does this seem enough to place me in a competitive position for a high ranking ATAR?

[jamonwindeyer]

Welcome to the forums Stringy!

If you follow through with this plan, you'll be doing more than the majority of HSC students manage to get done. So absolutely, this sounds like a great plan! Remember to be flexible, roll with setbacks when they happen - Don't get stressed if something doesn't go to plan. Focus on your weaknesses and take confidence from your strengths

[Stringy]

Thank you!

That definitely gives me some peace of mind, cheers! By the way I love the summary notes you do put up, they contribute to the majority of my chemistry and biology notes.

[jamonwindeyer]

Thank you!

That definitely gives me some peace of mind, cheers! By the way I love the summary notes you do put up, they contribute to the majority of my chemistry and biology notes.

Glad they are helpful! They definitely aren't my work, I just upload them, they are donated by a slew of amazing HSC grads

[elysepopplewell]

Congratulations on the fantastic results so far! What a fantastic ranking in a bunch of your subjects!

I'm keen to know how you go with this study method. Please post back and let us know what worked for you and what you'll change in your study schedule in time for trials!

[Stringy]

Congratulations on the fantastic results so far! What a fantastic ranking in a bunch of your subjects!

I'm keen to know how you go with this study method. Please post back and let us know what worked for you and what you'll change in your study schedule in time for trials!

Thanks!    So far only just finished term 2 and coming into the third term. Currently the flashcards are working great, i'm finding it really easy to pull important information from my memory and place it in my responses, the teachers have commented on my ability to write responses in my tests that correlate almost 100% with notes I've been given on each area of study. The use of flashcards so far has improved my memory recall exponentially. I'll keep you updated as I finish my 3rd round of assessments and trials come nearer.

[Lumenoria]

Thanks!    So far only just finished term 2 and coming into the third term. Currently the flashcards are working great, i'm finding it really easy to pull important information from my memory and place it in my responses, the teachers have commented on my ability to write responses in my tests that correlate almost 100% with notes I've been given on each area of study. The use of flashcards so far has improved my memory recall exponentially. I'll keep you updated as I finish my 3rd round of assessments and trials come nearer.

OMFG DUDE, this is literally what I do and I'm ranked 1st or 2nd in 4/5 of my subjects, which are Advanced English, Legal, Economics and Multimedia, with the exception of maths where I'm coming 3rd. I haven't gotten a mark below 85 thus far, in fact I got 100% in my first legal assessment hahah. I find that it really helps in reinforcing your knowledge, because you're not just writing down notes and assuming it's being absorbed into your brain - you're actually testing yourself later down the track. What I usually do though, is ensure I know my content inside and out atleast 1-2 weeks before the exam date, by writing notes in addition to flash cards - but mostly the latter. In the immediate lead up to the exams, I really am not doing any studying at this point - all I focus on is refining my exam technique. So, this includes doing a million past papers - which I find particularly helpful for short answers and extended responses. I also write out essay plans and drafts that I send into my teacher for feedback. Usually, I'll have done this so much that by the time the exam comes around, it's already drilled into my brain.

I haven't gotten any of my half yearlies back so far, and I have 2 more exams to go. But the ones that I've finished already - maths, legal and economics - I'm quite confident in my performance and I reckon there's a high chance I'll exceed 90 with them all.

So, I definitely do think it's an effective way of studying. For trials and HSC, I'll for sure be continuing this method because honestly I don't see why not. If anything, I'll just go harder hahaha

[dcesaona]

OMFG DUDE, this is literally what I do and I'm ranked 1st or 2nd in 4/5 of my subjects, which are Advanced English, Legal, Economics and Multimedia, with the exception of maths where I'm coming 3rd. I haven't gotten a mark below 85 thus far, in fact I got 100% in my first legal assessment hahah. I find that it really helps in reinforcing your knowledge, because you're not just writing down notes and assuming it's being absorbed into your brain - you're actually testing yourself later down the track. What I usually do though, is ensure I know my content inside and out atleast 1-2 weeks before the exam date, by writing notes in addition to flash cards - but mostly the latter. In the immediate lead up to the exams, I really am not doing any studying at this point - all I focus on is refining my exam technique. So, this includes doing a million past papers - which I find particularly helpful for short answers and extended responses. I also write out essay plans and drafts that I send into my teacher for feedback. Usually, I'll have done this so much that by the time the exam comes around, it's already drilled into my brain.

I haven't gotten any of my half yearlies back so far, and I have 2 more exams to go. But the ones that I've finished already - maths, legal and economics - I'm quite confident in my performance and I reckon there's a high chance I'll exceed 90 with them all.

So, I definitely do think it's an effective way of studying. For trials and HSC, I'll for sure be continuing this method because honestly I don't see why not. If anything, I'll just go harder hahaha

How do you use flashcards for advanced english?? What do you put on them?

[Lumenoria]

How do you use flashcards for advanced english?? What do you put on them?

I do it less so for Advanced English in comparison to other subjects, but generally just arguments and quotes that support them. I always have LOTS of links, and prepare these "arguments" in correlation with past HSC questions. So essentially it's like an essay plan, but in the form of flashcards.

[Stringy]

OMFG DUDE, this is literally what I do and I'm ranked 1st or 2nd in 4/5 of my subjects, which are Advanced English, Legal, Economics and Multimedia, with the exception of maths where I'm coming 3rd. I haven't gotten a mark below 85 thus far, in fact I got 100% in my first legal assessment hahah. I find that it really helps in reinforcing your knowledge, because you're not just writing down notes and assuming it's being absorbed into your brain - you're actually testing yourself later down the track. What I usually do though, is ensure I know my content inside and out atleast 1-2 weeks before the exam date, by writing notes in addition to flash cards - but mostly the latter. In the immediate lead up to the exams, I really am not doing any studying at this point - all I focus on is refining my exam technique. So, this includes doing a million past papers - which I find particularly helpful for short answers and extended responses. I also write out essay plans and drafts that I send into my teacher for feedback. Usually, I'll have done this so much that by the time the exam comes around, it's already drilled into my brain.

I haven't gotten any of my half yearlies back so far, and I have 2 more exams to go. But the ones that I've finished already - maths, legal and economics - I'm quite confident in my performance and I reckon there's a high chance I'll exceed 90 with them all.

So, I definitely do think it's an effective way of studying. For trials and HSC, I'll for sure be continuing this method because honestly I don't see why not. If anything, I'll just go harder hahaha

Hahah, that's awesome to see someone else doing what I'm doing and it working for them! Where you said you give yourself 1-2 weeks to know your content in and out is good and I've been doing the same, but I think as it comes to trials & HSC you might want to give yourself a little more time remembering the content as cramming 4 terms worth of information is a little hard in 1-2 weeks. You also probably want to have at least 2 weeks before exams really committing to past papers. It's great your getting such high results through this method, good luck with all upcoming assessments!

[Lumenoria]

Hahah, that's awesome to see someone else doing what I'm doing and it working for them! Where you said you give yourself 1-2 weeks to know your content in and out is good and I've been doing the same, but I think as it comes to trials & HSC you might want to give yourself a little more time remembering the content as cramming 4 terms worth of information is a little hard in 1-2 weeks. You also probably want to have at least 2 weeks before exams really committing to past papers. It's great your getting such high results through this method, good luck with all upcoming assessments!

Hahaha yeah of course!! Thank you, you too