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March 29, 2024, 06:44:28 pm

Author Topic: Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice  (Read 11423 times)  Share 

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vickychen667

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Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice
« on: September 18, 2013, 02:06:53 pm »
+11
Hi there!

I graduated in 2012 with an ATAR of 99.95 and perfect study scores of 50 in English, Maths Methods, Chemistry and Physics along with a study score of 49 in Specialist Maths. I am a recipient of multiple VCE Premier's Awards, including the All-Round Top Achiever, Excellence in Chemistry and Excellence in Maths Methods. I am also a recipient of the Australian Student Prize.

In the lead up to this year's VCE exams, I have started a blog, 'VCE Top Tips', filled with useful tips and experience-drawn advice for students. Feel free to check it out at vcetoptips.blogspot.com.au and follow/comment/spread the word to others who might be interested.

VCE Top Tips blog also has an official facebook page, for convenient updates on when new articles are published. Please like the facebook page, share it with your friends and spread the word for more useful exam advice coming your way!

I am also happy to give advice, tips and answer any questions on this thread.

Thanks, Vicky :)
« Last Edit: September 18, 2013, 11:33:28 pm by vickychen667 »
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lala1911

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Re: Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice
« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2013, 02:57:39 pm »
0
How long did you spend studying for the exams per week?

vickychen667

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Re: Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice
« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2013, 03:50:20 pm »
+5
Throughout year 12 I worked consistently, ensuring that I completed all set homework and necessary SAC revision each week. Towards the end in the few months before the exams, I definitely started to invest much more time into studying, perhaps double the amount I did at the start of the year. It's hard to say exactly how many hours I studied per week because it would vary depending on the other co-curricular commitments I had during that week. Keep an eye out for an article on time management on the blog.
« Last Edit: September 18, 2013, 11:35:58 pm by vickychen667 »
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vickychen667

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Re: Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice
« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2013, 07:02:39 pm »
+6
My 6th subject was Latin, which scaled to well over 50. There is an article about LOTE preparation for those interested on my blog. Now this is perhaps better placed in the thread I started over in the maths/science section, but I'll briefly address it here: As for cheat sheets and bound books, its useful to write them yourself rather than use a commercially prepared one. There will soon be an article on the blog detailing the cheat sheet/bound book making process as part of my 'Exam Advice' series.
« Last Edit: September 18, 2013, 11:41:36 pm by vickychen667 »
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BasicAcid

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Re: Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice
« Reply #4 on: September 18, 2013, 07:07:21 pm »
0
My 6th subject was Latin, which scaled to well over 50. There is an article about LOTE preparation for those interested on my blog. Now this is perhaps better placed in the thread I started over in the maths/science section, but I'll briefly address it here: As for cheat sheets and bound books, its useful to write them yourself rather than use a commercially prepared one. Practise using them in your practice exams so that they become familiar, revise thoroughly enough so you hardly rely on them in the actual exam. There will be an article detailing the cheat sheet/bound book making process as part of my 'Exam Advice' series at vcetoptips.blogspot.com.au :)

AND you did Chinese as well!?

What the, 7 subjects with at least 50 after scaling in each and every one of them....

I am in a lot of awe at the moment....

silverpixeli

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Re: Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice
« Reply #5 on: September 18, 2013, 07:11:41 pm »
0
How did you 'study' for english? I'm trying to make a plan for between now and the exam, and I've been considering things like making notes on my texts and writing paragraphs of essays (separate to whole essays), and even detailed plans (breaking down context or text response prompts and planning out a response, or annotating an article and planning an analysis)
As well as writing full essays, of course.
Thoughts on the above methods of preparation? Any other ones you found useful?

PS: well done, your scores are the scores I dream of, I commend you on a year of dedication and great work
ATAR 99.80 :: Methods [50] | Physics [50+Premier's] | Specialist [47] | Software [48] | English [42] | Legal [39 '12]
+ Australian Student Prize

ATAR Notes Specialist/Methods/Physics Lecturer
ATAR Notes Specialist Maths Webinar Presenter

Manny

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Re: Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice
« Reply #6 on: September 18, 2013, 07:15:18 pm »
0
Hi Vicky! How did you find the exams? Were you just like totally chill and not stressed while you were doing them? You see, I'm the type of person who suffers from a mental shutdown as soon as I'm under exam conditions or test conditions :/ Is there any effective way to deal with this? And also how many practice exams did you do for each subject before exam? Where would we get extra practice exams from anyway? (Other than the ones given on the VCAA website)
Thanks, reply when you can :)

vickychen667

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Re: Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice
« Reply #7 on: September 18, 2013, 10:09:20 pm »
+6
Thank you for your kind comments. I'm sure that you are all capable of such results, if not even better :)

Yes - I did 7 in total :) Chinese didn't count in the end even though it scaled to 46. The lowest two study scores that contributed to my aggregate were 50, both of which only counted for 10% in the end.
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vickychen667

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Re: Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice
« Reply #8 on: September 18, 2013, 10:10:44 pm »
+4
Studying for English involves writing lots of practice essays, memorising important ideas and quotes for your text response and context, reviewing the language analysis techniques and refining your sentence and paragraph structures. Making detailed plans for a variety of topics or prompts is an excellent way to explore different ways of attacking a question. And if you don't have enough time to write a full essay, a detailed plan or even a paragraph is definitely better than doing nothing at all. Annotating persuasive texts is also a great way to help you revise for Section 3.

I will specifically post an article on Studying for English as part of my 'Exam Advice series' on blog soon - be sure to look out for that! :)
« Last Edit: September 18, 2013, 10:36:53 pm by vickychen667 »
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vickychen667

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Re: Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice
« Reply #9 on: September 18, 2013, 10:19:27 pm »
+2
In the lead up to the exams, I started off quite nervous and unsure of myself but as I began revising the content, gradually I become more confident. It is normal for everyone to get jitters before an exam and perhaps even suffer much anxiety during the actual exam. The most effective way of overcoming this is perhaps by revising and preparing thoroughly in advance, to the point where you can pretty much guess what questions the paper will present to you.

The VCAA past papers are the best indication of what you should expect in your exam but there are plenty of commercially produced papers out there too! I'm am conducting some revision workshops and practice exam sessions over the next few months for VCE students - if any one is interested, feel free to contact me via ATAR notes, or via the blog.

As for the number of practice exams one should do in preparation, that completely depends on the individual. I definitely recommend doing all the VCAA ones under test conditions. As for other papers, there is no harm in doing more at your own pace if you want. :)
« Last Edit: September 18, 2013, 11:35:41 pm by vickychen667 »
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vickychen667

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Re: Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice
« Reply #10 on: September 18, 2013, 11:28:48 pm »
+1
VCE Top Tips blog now has an official facebook page, for convenient updates on when new articles are published at vcetoptips.blogspot.com.au Please like the facebook page, share it with your friends and spread the word for more useful exam advice coming your way!
vcetoptips.blogspot.com.au

radl223

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Re: Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice
« Reply #11 on: September 19, 2013, 03:54:08 pm »
0
Hey Vicky,

What english text did you write on for the exam, and what helped you make this decision? (Was it easier, did you like it more etc...)

Thanks and your scores are amazing :)

vickychen667

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Re: Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice
« Reply #12 on: September 19, 2013, 07:31:44 pm »
+1
Text response - Henry IV Part I
Context - The Quiet American

I chose the following because I felt that I had a better grasp on these two texts.

Good luck with your choices! I'm sure whatever you choose will be fine - just invest time and effort into learning the text well! :)
« Last Edit: September 19, 2013, 07:36:06 pm by vickychen667 »
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lala1911

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Re: Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice
« Reply #13 on: September 19, 2013, 11:02:49 pm »
0
Your thoughts on just studying one text very well?
My school has done both Cosi and Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?. I found WYPBQP quite easy because it's an anthology.. however Cosi is horrible. I don't think I'm even able to relearn the whole text. I don't think I have the brain capacity to do so literally.


fridge

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Re: Perfect 50 in four subjects in 2012, happy to share advice
« Reply #14 on: September 20, 2013, 04:55:42 pm »
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Hi Vicky, we also studied The Quiet American for context this year. What approach did you take to your context essay? I've been doing expository and persuasives this year, but they seem sort of limited - as in, compared to more creative style pieces, I don't feel like mine will really 'wow' the examiner.