Hi everyone, i thought it would be nice to provide my own insight on attending a select entry school. Take it with a grain of salt if you want to, but i feel like a lot of people could take some value out of my own experience.
Like everyone, i sat the entrance exam in year 8 - but i failed. But i didn't give up and ended up getting in 2 years after that. I was awestruck, my dream finally came true, i thought everything would be tremendously better. I mean it was, but not to the extent i thought it would be.
With the advantages (of attending a select entry school) also came drawbacks. The benefit is of course - the education side of things. You are surrounded with an abundance of like-minded people who push you to work harder etc. The academic side of things - is just overall significantly better and designed in a way to help you achieve to a greater potential - as opposed to when i attended an ordinary local public high school .
One of the massive downfalls of this was location and travel time. And oh god - i overlooked this. It was TERRIBLE. I would spend an average of around 3 hours a day on public transport to and from the school. I would wake up at a gruelling 645am to catch the train and arrive home at 430-5pm.
It was just absolutely stressful. I didn't really see it then, but in hindsight - and in the long-term it definitely had significant mental tolls on me. On average, i would get 4-5 hours sleep. Coming back home at 5pm, i had little time to do everything - eat,shower,study etc... Don't get me wrong. Some people can cope well or still thrive even under these conditions - but i just didn't have the discipline required to excel in these conditions.
Looking back at it - do i regret the decision i made to move schools? My answer would be - absolutely not. I made so many new friends, and as a late-comer to a select entry school, i learnt how to get out of comfort zone and interact with others (an essential life skill) and just overall became an unbelivevably (is that even a word?) better version of myself.
If anyone is considering attending a select entry school, i strongly encourage you to consider the location and travel time. It had such an immense impact on me, and i would say that if you want to achieve the best academically (even though it is a select entry school) that it is NOT WORTH IT (I say this because i know if i just stayed at my previous school, i probably would have achieved closed to or higher than the ATAR i received today).
I don't even know what to write at this point.. i have so many thoughts and ideas that are coming and going - but i just wanted to get this out there and maybe help some people! If you guys have any questions, drop them below and i'll be happy to answer
Good luck, and i hope everyone is happy with their ATARs.
Thank you ATARNotes.
Signing out
-turtlebanana