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Author Topic: Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything  (Read 6643 times)  Share 

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ItzLachlan

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Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything
« on: September 15, 2019, 06:05:32 pm »
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I was recently accepted into JMSS for the class of 2020. Ask Away!

SynX

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Re: Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything
« Reply #1 on: September 15, 2019, 07:51:46 pm »
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I was recently accepted into JMSS for the class of 2020. Ask Away!
how did you pass the interview?
Upward and outward, no matter the cost.

ItzLachlan

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Re: Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything
« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2019, 07:22:21 pm »
+7
how did you pass the interview?

Hey Synx,
As you may or may not know, there is not much information (except for ATARNote Posts) about the interview, so I didn't do any real preparation. When I arrived, I was taken behind the administration room to get my photo was taken and a sticker with my name and an identification number on it. I was sat down and waited for my group to be called up. This group is the group you will work with until the final part of the interview. You start out with an ice-breaker. This is just something to do for 5 minutes so that everyone becomes comfortable talking to each other. I recommend trying to be confident and speaking loudly and clearly. This may or may not have been a crucial part of why I was selected during this process. We had to complete a few problem-solving challenges together, which consisted of:

Small Note - There may or may not be students/young adults with clipboard surrounding the table were you are completing these challenges. Don't panic! They are just there to take notes on how you are working on the problem as well as how you are working with others.

Challenge A - Remote Island
The challenge was to create an ideal tourism island within a certain budget. We had a range of items to pick from ranging from tourism centres to hotels to basic radio communications. I had to talk with my team and put what we thought we should get on a list in order of importance. For this challenge, I recommend trying to voice your opinions as much as possible without oppressing the others in your group. You should try to be confident but not controlling.

Challenge B - Mystery Item
We were given a mysterious item, which no one could identify at first. We had a very small amount of help from the staff member with us but the idea was to identify the item. We thought it was something for surgery, which we were sort of correct. The item is a tonsil guilotine, which was used to remove tonsils
This was similar to the item we had
Spoiler

Challenge C - Mathematical Problem Solving
In this challenge, I was given a piece of paper with two questions on it and a very limited amount of time to work on it. The questions were simply
1. Say a block of chocolate is 100 unit long and 1 unit wide. What is the least amount of cuts you can do to separate them into 1 unit size pieces?
2. Write a formula for this problem using n and x, where n = total number of cuts and x = units long (This is paraphrasing but it was something similar to this)
I totally messed up on this challenge with an answer for the first question that I was not quite sure if it was correct or not and I didn't even have time to attempt the second question  :'(

The final boss was the one on one interview.

Final Interview
After finishing the mini math test, I was lead through to the next room and sat down. I was called up first. There was a small table with a chair on either side. I recommend introducing yourself to your interviewer in a confident tone, along with a handshake if you feel comfortable. You sit down and hand the interviewer your plastic slip of awards, reports, etc. After passing the entrance exam, you will be told about this slip. You have to put any awards you have, reports for the past few years (I recommend only bring all year 8 reports and any year 9 reports that you have) and anything else that the email may suggest. As I an active member of the AAFC, I also had AAFC exam results and a reference from my squadron commanding officer. This slip is your chance to show the interviewer who you are beyond just academics. I can tell you what questions the interviewer asked me, but take it with a very large grain of salt as they may change a little bit or dramatically when you attend the interview. I was asked about interests I have outside of school, hobbies I have and if I have any idea about what I want to do for a career at the moment. I was then asked two problem-solving questions. These were:
1. What is climate change to the best of your knowledge?
2. We appoint you prime minister for the day, what would you do to combat climate change?

After these questions, I shook hands with the interviewer and was escorted out. I was told that I should hear back from before the end of term 3 and the entrance exam results will be available upon request in term 4.

Key Points To Take Away:
1. Be confident! Even if you do badly on the problem-solving challenges (like I did  :'(), your personality and confidence may be the carrying factor
2. Be calm! Not one single person is going to judge what you do. They are mainly looking at the method behind your madness and how you work with others (but the challenges is still gonna play a part in the decision)
3. Speak clearly! There were quite a few people there that could have easily smashed the interview, but they were very shy and nervous, which didn't look great on them. They tended to talk into their hands or mumble. You should try to avoid this and speak clearly.
4. Be yourself! Cliche, but seriously. They wanna see who YOU are. They wanna know if YOU are the best candidate for JMSS, so they need to see who YOU are.

I hope this helps a bit. I urge you to see other posts on ATARNotes (This thread helped me: https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=161275.0)  and do practice problem-solving scenarios but most importantly, take all of this with a grain of salt as they can change this dramatically or not at all. Best of luck for next year if you want to attend! A +1 would be appreciated if you found this useful as well as sharing it to anyone who may need help with the interview.

I will post my exam results when I receive them.















Nightmare II

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Re: Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2019, 08:21:35 pm »
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I was recently accepted into JMSS for the class of 2020. Ask Away!
Yo when did you have the interview cause I had the exact same questions as you, I did mine on the 8th of august 8:40 am I think.

caffinatedloz

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Re: Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything
« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2019, 08:10:39 am »
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Which part of the entrance exam did you find the hardest?

SynX

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Re: Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything
« Reply #5 on: September 23, 2019, 04:27:59 pm »
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Which part of the entrance exam did you find the hardest?
Of course the interview and I failed it
Upward and outward, no matter the cost.

Shxh

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Re: Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything
« Reply #6 on: September 23, 2019, 06:06:15 pm »
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Of course the interview and I failed it
Just try for jmss or nossal next year

j.kang11

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Re: Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything
« Reply #7 on: September 24, 2019, 11:44:53 pm »
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I am currently finishing year 8 and had made it into Nossal and really want to get into jmss, but since I studied for the selective exam quite seriously, I neglected normal school causing my year 8 report to be significantly worse. Just wondering how much a bad report would affect the jmss interview and whether or not I should even bring it to the interview

Shxh

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Re: Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything
« Reply #8 on: September 25, 2019, 10:38:48 am »
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I am currently finishing year 8 and had made it into Nossal and really want to get into jmss, but since I studied for the selective exam quite seriously, I neglected normal school causing my year 8 report to be significantly worse. Just wondering how much a bad report would affect the jmss interview and whether or not I should even bring it to the interview
Nossal is better than jmss, why would you want to try for jmss? Nossal is ranked 20th and jmss is 59! And nossal has got the best English teachers, and it has the the best Eng Lang cohort in Australia. Moving from nossal to jmss is a downgrade.

j.kang11

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Re: Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything
« Reply #9 on: September 25, 2019, 10:52:10 am »
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Just thought since I was wanting to go into the stem route, that jmss would be a better fit but im still unsure and just wanted to apply anyways even if i end up rejecting it in the end

830cracker

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Re: Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything
« Reply #10 on: September 25, 2019, 02:01:57 pm »
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Nossal is better than jmss, why would you want to try for jmss? Nossal is ranked 20th and jmss is 59! And nossal has got the best English teachers, and it has the the best Eng Lang cohort in Australia. Moving from nossal to jmss is a downgrade.

Nossal is a good school which obviously has stronger English/humanities teachers, but jmss is a place for science hardcore and ppl that wanting to work for STEM fields in future. Imo, jmss ranked lower because possibly there would be some ppl who is not really passionate about science and has gotten in; another point is that to do well in science subjects sometimes can be harder than doing well in the humanities subjects(just my opinion). However jmss do offer some really great science facilities and programs(such as the international science exchange and stuffs like that), but at the same time it might not be a place for someone who is really into humanities subjects to go there.
welp I’m procrastinating rn

Shxh

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Re: Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything
« Reply #11 on: September 25, 2019, 02:09:08 pm »
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Nossal is a good school which obviously has stronger English/humanities teachers, but jmss is a place for science hardcore and ppl that wanting to work for STEM fields in future. Imo, jmss ranked lower because possibly there would be some ppl who is not really passionate about science and has gotten in; another point is that to do well in science subjects sometimes can be harder than doing well in the humanities subjects(just my opinion). However jmss do offer some really great science facilities and programs(such as the international science exchange and stuffs like that), but at the same time it might not be a place for someone who is really into humanities subjects to go there.
Thanks, I’m in total despair even though nossal is an “okay” school mhs is much better. If I had gotten into mhs I would be SO MOTIVATED to study and prepare myself for the competitions and cool environment. Nossal is just eh, it’s not really motivating me. Like who’s ever heard of “Nostril High School” ?

830cracker

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Re: Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything
« Reply #12 on: September 25, 2019, 02:28:23 pm »
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Thanks, I’m in total despair even though nossal is an “okay” school mhs is much better. If I had gotten into mhs I would be SO MOTIVATED to study and prepare myself for the competitions and cool environment. Nossal is just eh, it’s not really motivating me. Like who’s ever heard of “Nostril High School” ?

Yeah as you have said, nossal ranked 20th in the state and it also has the strongest cohort for further math, psychology and englang; and mhs/macrob plus sometimes jmss is stronger at subjects like methods, spesh and other science subjects. From what I have heard, nossal’s teaching system(the group teaching) can be a better way for learning for some ppl, and it’s ranking is improving every year as well. And even tho u might have heard this a million times but really, despite the fact that mhs has a great looking uniform and a more prestigious name with a super competitive cohort, to do well in vce is really depends on individuals of learning rather than the school. So think of another way, if u ranked average in mhs, then imo u could be ranked as one of the top students in nossal which is not a bad thing at all
welp I’m procrastinating rn

Shxh

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Re: Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything
« Reply #13 on: September 25, 2019, 02:35:38 pm »
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Yeah as you have said, nossal ranked 20th in the state and it also has the strongest cohort for further math, psychology and englang; and mhs/macrob plus sometimes jmss is stronger at subjects like methods, spesh and other science subjects. From what I have heard, nossal’s teaching system(the group teaching) can be a better way for learning for some ppl, and it’s ranking is improving every year as well. And even tho u might have heard this a million times but really, despite the fact that mhs has a great looking uniform and a more prestigious name with a super competitive cohort, to do well in vce is really depends on individuals of learning rather than the school. So think of another way, if u ranked average in mhs, then imo u could be ranked as one of the top students in nossal which is not a bad thing at all
Oh yeah and also I love the mhs uniform, the nossal uniform looks ugly imo which I’m not looking forward to. UGH WHEN CAN I JUST GET AN OFFER TO MHS ALREADY, and Ik you don’t have to go to a selective school to succeed in life since you probably are really smart but you got cut off by ur school. Don’t be disheartened, as long as u don’t have any issues with ur current school it’s fine. I HATE MY CURRENT SCHOOL, MHS CAN YOU PLEASE SEND ME AN OFFER?

j.kang11

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Re: Ask A Successful 2020 JMSS Candidate Anything
« Reply #14 on: September 25, 2019, 03:01:48 pm »
+1
is it even worth it to move from nossal to jmss if i want to pursue a career in stem?