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March 28, 2024, 08:16:07 pm

Author Topic: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.  (Read 92502 times)  Share 

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Joseph41

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Re: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.
« Reply #90 on: April 05, 2018, 10:01:32 am »
+3
Thanks for the awesome response. I've also had the same experience with timetables; despite trying to set one up in VCE, I never ended up following it and it turned into more of a to do list. How do you determine how many tasks you can fit in a day and do you get better at this over time?

Hey, no worries. :)

I don't think I've ever completed every single task on my to-do list. I'm not really sure how other people use them, but I guess I might differ to others in this way. Basically, every day I list all of the things I need to complete that I feasibly could do on that day, but differentiate the most important ones somehow. For example, today I have heaps of tasks listed, but the most important ones highlighted in pink.

In this way, I don't really determine how many tasks I can fit into a day - I just do what I can at any given time.

Got 3 questions that have been on my mind lately and wanted your opinion them

1. How do you 'sell yourself' in a job resume and make it look appealing?
2. What is your opinion on part-time jobs during year 12 and how does it differ from uni?
3. Regarding school, do you recommend studying ahead (if so by how much)?
-Thanks in advance

Hey TheHeckle,

Welcome to ATAR Notes. :)

1. How do you 'sell yourself' in a job resume and make it look appealing?

I guess you just need to play to your strengths. What's the job for? Tailor your CV accordingly. To do this, you might need to do a little bit of research about the relevant company or organisation. What sort of culture do they have? What exactly are they looking for in the position?

Note: I've really only ever applied for a few jobs, so take this with a grain of salt.

2. What is your opinion on part-time jobs during year 12 and how does it differ from uni?

My opinion doesn't change much based on whether you're in Year 12 or uni. I think working part-time is a really good thing. You might need to cut down hours or take a break through peak times, which is understandable (a flexible workplace is great in this regard), but the benefits of working are numerous. If nothing else, it breaks up the study a bit - plus $$$!

Depending on what you want to do, it can also be really beneficial for future employment. Like, say you don't work through high school at all, and then get a really high ATAR. I'd imagine a lot of places would prefer you have a bit of prior experience before employing, and that's where having some work under your belt is a really great thing.

3. Regarding school, do you recommend studying ahead (if so by how much)?

Hmm, good question. I'll answer this in two parts:

General thoughts on studying ahead:
The number one thing here is that studying ahead doesn't necessitate more work - you're just sort of shifting the goal posts a little to do stuff before everybody else. If you work best independently, and learn really well from reading and doing independent activities, I think it's a pretty good bet. What it means is that your usual classes become revision sessions, and you can ask your teachers for clarification on things you weren't sure about in the relevant classes.

What I did:
Despite the above, I never really did it. I was content enough to learn stuff in class, then work on it in my own time. I trusted my teachers enough (mostly) that I was comfortable in the fact we'd finish the course on time, and with enough time for exam revision.

I'm not really sure why I didn't study ahead but like, I guess it might have been just that I never had before. Through Years 7-11, do you study ahead? Nah - so I figured, "why bother now?"

I don't know, though. I definitely see the benefits of it, but I absolutely don't think it's necessary in order to do well.

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AHaiderS

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Re: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.
« Reply #91 on: April 07, 2018, 01:44:03 pm »
+1
Hi!

I had some questions regarding 1st year uni. I'm finding the transition between high school and uni quite tough. My first question is how did you manage to do all your assignments, practice, tute Qs, reading and summaries and still have time to go out with your mates or just generally enjoy yourself. I find myself in one room for days upon days, just studying for uni (and I'm only in my first semester!) :( :( :(

Secondly, how do you deal with bad tutors? My tutors are so bad. They dont help us and just show us answers to the questions. I'm really struggling and have my Mid-Sems soon. Any other advice?

btw, what uni did you go to ?

Tysm

Joseph41

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Re: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.
« Reply #92 on: April 10, 2018, 02:37:27 pm »
+5
Hi!

I had some questions regarding 1st year uni. I'm finding the transition between high school and uni quite tough. My first question is how did you manage to do all your assignments, practice, tute Qs, reading and summaries and still have time to go out with your mates or just generally enjoy yourself. I find myself in one room for days upon days, just studying for uni (and I'm only in my first semester!) :( :( :(

Secondly, how do you deal with bad tutors? My tutors are so bad. They dont help us and just show us answers to the questions. I'm really struggling and have my Mid-Sems soon. Any other advice?

btw, what uni did you go to ?

Tysm

Hey AHaiderS!

Welcome to ATAR Notes. :) Very many apologies for the late response - I have no idea how, but I missed this one until now!

I'm finding the transition between high school and uni quite tough.
Feels - so did I. I'm sorry to hear that, though. No need to go into too much detail if you don't want to, but what are you finding tough about it? From your subsequent questions, is it trying to find the balance between work and other stuff? What are you studying?

My first question is how did you manage to do all your assignments, practice, tute Qs, reading and summaries and still have time to go out with your mates or just generally enjoy yourself. I find myself in one room for days upon days, just studying for uni (and I'm only in my first semester!) :( :( :(
A good question, and one I had to think about for a few minutes. I think what benefitted me is a "work now, play later" sort of approach. I'd try to get a start on things early so that I could chill/go out or whatever later on, and with no guilt. Like, consider these two scnearios. In both situations, you've just been given an assignment due in two weeks from now.

Scenario 1: For the first week, you decide to rest, and chill. Maybe you watch some Netflix. Maybe you go clubbing. Maybe you have some nice picnics on the beach. They're all fantastic things to do, and I'm the first to say that taking breaks is absolutely necessary to doing well long-term. BUT, you don't genuinely, 100% enjoy any of those activities. Why? Because you know you have that assignment due soon - and you haven't even started it. Whilst you get some enjoyment out of Netflix and clubbing and the beach, there's that nagging voice in the back of your head at all times, saying "uni, uni, uni". And you feel a bit guilty or stressed or whatever else as a result. So the first week passes, and you're already a bit stressed about uni despite having done absolutely nothing on your assignment. When you sit down to get moving on it, you realise that now you only have one week until it's due, so you've practically just doubled the difficulty of the task for yourself. As a result, you're even more stressed. As the deadline looms closer and closer, you start to panic a bit, lose sleep, don't eat as well - all that nasty sort of stuff. You might realise you realistically need more than the week you've given yourself to complete the task to a high standard. You manage to submit the assignment on time, but you haven't edited it properly, and don't do as well as you could have as a result. Basically what's happened is:

* You've spent time with your friends/"relaxing" etc., but it wasn't actually that relaxing because you were sort of thinking about uni the whole time.
* You've given yourself less potential time on your assignments, which is practically throwing away marks.
* You've probably tired yourself out as a result of stress and subsequent lack of sleep etc.
* You've completed the work, but not to as high a standard as you could have.

Really, it seems like a lose/lose situation.

Scenario 2: Comparatively, let's say you decide to get cracking on the assignment straight away. You work consistently for the first few days, just chipping away at what you know you need to get done within the next two weeks. Ideally, you'll finish the assignment after like a week, and subsequently have a full week to chill guilt free. But let's say it takes you longer than expected, and you finish the assignment in 10 days. My first point here is that this is okay, because starting early gave yourself the required buffer period. If you cut it fine and then realise you don't have enough time, well, that sucks! But if you start early and make that same realisation, you have enough flexibility to do something about it. So you get the assignment done in 10 days. I'd wager the assignment is to a much higher standard than in Scenario 1, because you've given yourself more time to read over it etc., and because you're not working on it stressed and sleep-deprived. Following that, you have four days to genuinely relax and recuperate. Yeah, you have fewer days "relaxing" than you did in Scenario 1, but the quality is higher - you don't have that nagging voice in the back of your head, and that makes a big difference. If we were to award arbitrary points to "total relaxation" in both scenarios, Scenario 2 would surely be higher. So:

* You've spent some great quality time relaxing/recuperating.
* You've given yourself a buffer period, allowing for revisions to your assignment without much stress.
* You've slept better than in Scenario 1, as there's no need to pull all-nighters etc.
* You've completed the work to a higher standard than in Scenario 1.

This time, it really seems like a win/win situation.

That's all dramatised a bit, but honestly I don't think it's too far off the mark - particularly when you consider that that's just one assignment, when in reality you'd probably have several more at any given time. I think a lot of people at uni adopt the first approach, whether consciously or otherwise. I was very much a Scenario 2 sort of person (I think natural anxiety rendered me really keen to get stuff done as soon as possible; I don't like having things having over my head), and it paid off for me. So to answer your question, this approach is probably how I managed to find that balance.

(And keep in mind that what I did at uni was certainly not perfect. It's a constant battle to find that balance - it's hard - but this is what has worked for me to this point.)

Secondly, how do you deal with bad tutors? My tutors are so bad. They dont help us and just show us answers to the questions. I'm really struggling and have my Mid-Sems soon. Any other advice?
Number one thing to remember: the tutors will be temporary. As with I assume anybody at uni, I really loved some of my tutors, and didn't love others so much - that's natural. I'm not sure what you study or if this would be appropriate in your specific situation, but have you tried asking them for additional assistance, or raising your concerns (respectfully)? I don't think this is particularly helpful advice, but it's probably the first step as I see it.

If you've tried that, I'm not sure how much you can do, really. But in saying that, uni's a really great time to learn skills to deal with this sort of situation, namely independence and resilience. What could you do yourself (that is, not depending on the tutor) to give yourself the best possible chance of learning the content? Obviously it's not an ideal outcome, but it's not an uncommon one.

btw, what uni did you go to ?
Monash University in Melbourne. :)

Sorry again for the late response. Good luck for your mid-sems! ;D

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PhoenixxFire

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Re: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.
« Reply #93 on: April 16, 2018, 10:28:29 pm »
+2
When are you getting new shoes?
also how long have you had those ones for  ??? ...and why do you still have them?
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Joseph41

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Re: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.
« Reply #94 on: April 17, 2018, 09:23:54 am »
+3
When are you getting new shoes?
also how long have you had those ones for  ??? ...and why do you still have them?

Hmm, I don't really plan to get new ones overly soon. I've had these current ones probably for about 12 months. It only becomes an issue when it rains heavily.

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Cranium002

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Re: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.
« Reply #95 on: April 17, 2018, 10:36:51 pm »
0
Hey Joseph,

Good job. but how do you manage your subjects so effectively daily and to still be able to achieve the top marks?


Joseph41

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Re: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.
« Reply #96 on: April 18, 2018, 09:22:42 am »
0
Hey Joseph,

Good job. but how do you manage your subjects so effectively daily and to still be able to achieve the top marks?



Hey Cranium!

For me, it probably comes down to two things: organisation and discipline. I spoke a bit about this in this post here, but feel free to ask any follow-up questions. :)

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Bubbly_bluey

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Re: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.
« Reply #97 on: April 18, 2018, 09:50:29 pm »
+1
Hi Joseph, congratz on an amazing result!
I'm currently a first year and struggling really bad at keeping up with lecture notes. I find that I'm a slow leaner and that in a way is pulling me behind because one lecture and easily cover 2-3 chapters of a textbook in 50 minutes. Then i feel like I'm forced to speed up my studying but when I review back the concepts in a few days I have already forgotten whats its about. I can't seem to find myself reading ahead of lectures because I'm trying to write catch up notes for the previous one.
What are some tips to help combat this problem?
Thank you :D

kauac

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Re: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.
« Reply #98 on: April 18, 2018, 10:36:37 pm »
+1
How do you maintain motivation for running?
On a similar note, do you vary your routes often?
2018: HSC

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Joseph41

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Re: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.
« Reply #99 on: April 19, 2018, 12:48:31 pm »
+1
Hi Joseph, congratz on an amazing result!
I'm currently a first year and struggling really bad at keeping up with lecture notes. I find that I'm a slow leaner and that in a way is pulling me behind because one lecture and easily cover 2-3 chapters of a textbook in 50 minutes. Then i feel like I'm forced to speed up my studying but when I review back the concepts in a few days I have already forgotten whats its about. I can't seem to find myself reading ahead of lectures because I'm trying to write catch up notes for the previous one.
What are some tips to help combat this problem?
Thank you :D

Hey Bubbly_bluey,

Thanks for that!

What are you studying at the moment? I know that some degrees have a more considerable workload (in terms of number of lectures per week) than I had in Arts.

Out of interest, do you go to the lectures in person, or listen to them online? If you're really struggling with the pace of the lecture, maybe it's a good idea to at least go through the lecture again after the fact at a more practical pace. I'm not sure if you do this already (couldn't quite tell from your post), but that seems like a logical progression to me. Lectures can be really fast - particularly if you're not that confident with the content - so I don't think you'll be alone, here.

Otherwise, maybe you could mix up the way you're taking lecture notes. If you're trying to get everything from the screen into your notebook, for example, that might not be the most effective way of doing it. Do you find yourself a little stressed/strapped for time trying to get everything on the page before the lecturer moves onto the next slide?

Happy to discuss more with a little more context! ;D

How do you maintain motivation for running?
On a similar note, do you vary your routes often?

G'day, kauac. :)

Well, my accountability thread is really good for me. I'd definitely recommend that accountability board if you want to get anything done. On a basic level, I'm scared of public shaming hahaha. But, more intrinsically, I just want to be healthy. I used to be fit, then I had several years of doing basically nothing, and I don't want to let that continue.

Route - I basically just have the same route every time! I run from my house to a creek sort of area, where there's a circuit of sorts that would probably be like ~700 metres or something. And I just run around that as many times as I feel necessary. You can see the repetition when we look at elevation over the course of the run haha:



I know a lot of people would find this boring, but I like being able to tick off the run lap by lap. :)

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Bubbly_bluey

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Re: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.
« Reply #100 on: April 19, 2018, 11:30:24 pm »
+1
Hey Bubbly_bluey,

Thanks for that!
I'm currently doing pharmacy and managment. I have so far attended all my lectures and write down little notes on slides that I have printed out and then when I go home I listen to the recordings again. But I find the issue is that listening to a typical 1 hour recording will take me 2-3 hours to get through it because I'm constantly pausing to jot things down- trying to understand it-looking on youtube to try make sense of certain concepts- or textbooks. So its definitely time consuming especially for one subject. I've started transitioning to typed notes just to save a bit more time but not really.
And so I feel like I'm forced to rote learn a lot of things- but this isn't good because 1) i don't really understand the concept and 2) by not understanding it properly I feel like I'm more likely to forget it- which has been happening.

" Do you find yourself a little stressed/strapped for time trying to get everything on the page before the lecturer moves onto the next slide?"- Not so much because I mostly sit in class trying to absorbed what is being said and maybe write little notes down because if I missed something, I know I can look back at the recordings. I think I find it difficult to listen at the pace the lecturer is going - so I don't have enough time to write what they have said, and then I have forgotten what they have said, and the lecturer proceeds to move on to the next concept and then it begins again. Basically I can't vigorously write down notes whilst listening to the lecturer speak... if that makes sense? - maybe its my lack of concentration?

So I'm not sure what I am doing wrong.
Thank you for your help :)

Joseph41

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Re: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.
« Reply #101 on: April 23, 2018, 03:35:14 pm »
0
I'm currently doing pharmacy and managment. I have so far attended all my lectures and write down little notes on slides that I have printed out and then when I go home I listen to the recordings again. But I find the issue is that listening to a typical 1 hour recording will take me 2-3 hours to get through it because I'm constantly pausing to jot things down- trying to understand it-looking on youtube to try make sense of certain concepts- or textbooks. So its definitely time consuming especially for one subject. I've started transitioning to typed notes just to save a bit more time but not really.
And so I feel like I'm forced to rote learn a lot of things- but this isn't good because 1) i don't really understand the concept and 2) by not understanding it properly I feel like I'm more likely to forget it- which has been happening.

" Do you find yourself a little stressed/strapped for time trying to get everything on the page before the lecturer moves onto the next slide?"- Not so much because I mostly sit in class trying to absorbed what is being said and maybe write little notes down because if I missed something, I know I can look back at the recordings. I think I find it difficult to listen at the pace the lecturer is going - so I don't have enough time to write what they have said, and then I have forgotten what they have said, and the lecturer proceeds to move on to the next concept and then it begins again. Basically I can't vigorously write down notes whilst listening to the lecturer speak... if that makes sense? - maybe its my lack of concentration?

So I'm not sure what I am doing wrong.
Thank you for your help :)


Hey again. :)

Pace of the lectures aside, are you enjoying the content in Pharmacy/Management so far? Sounds pretty interesting.

To be honest, that sounds like a pretty solid lecture strategy to me. What seems less sustainable is the bit where you say the one hour lecture turns into 2-3 hours. Why is it, do you think, that you need to spend that additional time clarifying things etc.? Is there assumed knowledge you've missed out on through high school for some reason? Definitely agree with you that rote learning isn't ideal.

I'm assuming these are first-year units you're taking?

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Re: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.
« Reply #102 on: April 24, 2018, 03:57:09 pm »
+1
hi joseph (joe?) i also received a 99+ atar (99.10 to be specific, so not as high as you!) but in 2017.  i just started a bachelor of laws/arts monash this year-i'll be dropping it at the end of this semester....probably gonna continue being a checkout chick selling avocados to the bourgeoisie for the rest of my life
my question is slightly existential: after you worked so hard and achieved such success, was it worth it in the end? is there anything you would do differently if you had your time in school/uni again?
I know for me when I received my score for VCE I felt empty and unsatisfied- it was really a bit of a letdown to a traumatic year. i'd envisioned that if i got a score of 90+ i would be ecstatic or cry and people would perceive me as less of a dropkick and more of a success story...but that didn't happen.
I've been thinking that maybe if didn't get a good result and hadn't have worked so hard then maybe I would be in a better situation (socially, physically etc.)
thx ur incred
btw i feel like us 99+ vce grads have some sort of unsaid bond- like a mutual understanding of how hard it is to be smart. thoughts?

Joseph41

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Re: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.
« Reply #103 on: April 24, 2018, 04:13:28 pm »
+3
hi joseph (joe?)

Hey pimpmyride!

Just to confuse you, my actual name is Nick haha. :P

Quote
i also received a 99+ atar (99.10 to be specific, so not as high as you!) but in 2017.

Congrats on your scores! What subjects did you study? :)

Quote
i just started a bachelor of laws/arts monash this year-i'll be dropping it at the end of this semester....probably gonna continue being a checkout chick selling avocados to the bourgeoisie for the rest of my life

Why are you dropping Laws/Arts, out of interest?

Quote
my question is slightly existential: after you worked so hard and achieved such success, was it worth it in the end? is there anything you would do differently if you had your time in school/uni again?

Interesting questions.

Was it worth it? I think so, insofar as I learnt a lot about myself in the process. It led to some struggles and some good things, but overall, I guess it was a big learning experience for me. I think I developed a lot in the last couple of years of high school in particular, and have continued to develop (with varied success) since that time.

It's easy for me to say that ATARs don't mean anything and whatever, but realistically, an objectively high ATAR has presented a lot of opportunities for me. My results got me a full scholarship to uni, got me a job (and then another couple of jobs) and made tutoring marketing easier. In that sense, the work paid off - at least financially.

But is there anything I'd do differently? Yeah, absolutely. 100%. I'd focus less on numbers, despite the above. I got really caught up playing the "numbers town", and it got me down a bit in the end. I wasn't as ambitious as I should have been in my subject selection. The subjects I did:

* Business Management (Year 11)
* English Language
* Health & Human Development
* Visual Communication & Design
* Psychology
* Further Maths

But in hindsight, there are some subjects I really wish I did. Definitely not for the scaling or the "prestige" or whatever - but for the knowledge. If I had my time again, I would have had a set-up something like:

* Further Maths (Year 10)
* Health & Human Development (Year 11)
* Biology (Year 11)
* Psychology
* Visual Communication & Design
* English Language
* Maths Methods

So that's cutting BusMan entirely, doing seven subjects overall, and picking up Bio and Methods. Or something like that.

More generally, I struggled with the pressure and stuff I put on myself a bit, so that's something else I'd change for sure if I could. I'd get more involved with extracurricular stuff (at uni specifically). I'd take more opportunities when I could (high school specifically).

tl;dr: I think "yes" is the short answer to both of your questions.

Quote
I know for me when I received my score for VCE I felt empty and unsatisfied- it was really a bit of a letdown to a traumatic year. i'd envisioned that if i got a score of 90+ i would be ecstatic or cry and people would perceive me as less of a dropkick and more of a success story...but that didn't happen.

I'm really sorry to hear that.

Quote
I've been thinking that maybe if didn't get a good result and hadn't have worked so hard then maybe I would be in a better situation (socially, physically etc.)

Interesting thoughts. Do you feel as though you sacrificed a lot to get the scores you did?

Quote
thx ur incred

No worries! :)

Quote
btw i feel like us 99+ vce grads have some sort of unsaid bond- like a mutual understanding of how hard it is to be smart. thoughts?

I'm not sure I identify with the phrasing. Like, I honestly don't look at somebody who received a 99+ ATAR and think, "wow - they must be smart!" Because I think there's a whole lot more to it than that - and some of the smartest people I know scored pretty naff ATARs.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2018, 04:36:43 pm by Joseph41 »

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food4life

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Re: I received a 99+ ATAR and a perfect GPA - ask me anything.
« Reply #104 on: May 02, 2018, 10:41:19 am »
+1
Hi there, any idea what is the student demographics for the Monash Sociology degree programme? I will be enrolling into the programme from the 2nd year onwards and would like to know if you have any tips/advice with regards to the units i should take. Thanks a lot for the help :)