Received bad marks in half yearlys, can i still get a 98+ atar

[cxmplete]

Hi,
I've just recently completed my half yearlys and we've gotten our marks back. Lets just say those marks weren't what I expected and were pretttyyy terrible, and I'm currently freaking out about whether I can still get a 98+ atar, even if I put in the effort for the rest of the year. Is it still possible?

[AngelWings]

As long as you put in the effort, find out what you did wrong and persevere, I don't see why you can't achieve a 98+ still.

I'm not entirely sure how it works in NSW, but if it's like Victoria, half yearlies will be a small (if any) percentage of your marks in comparison to the real exams at the end of the year. I would recommend talking to your teacher to see where you lost marks, why you lost them and how to avoid the situation again, so it's all fixed by the time the real deal rolls around. 
Also, rankings. Rankings may be important.

I'll let the NSW AN crew to come by and inspire you more than my 30 second reply did.

[sophroberts812]

Hi,
I've just recently completed my half yearlys and we've gotten our marks back. Lets just say those marks weren't what I expected and were pretttyyy terrible, and I'm currently freaking out about whether I can still get a 98+ atar, even if I put in the effort for the rest of the year. Is it still possible?

Hey Cxmplete i'm not sure if this would be of help, but I watched this recently... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV2G3WvUZNQ

And also, this ATAR Notes article https://atarnotes.com/vce-english/ might be relevant??

[bowiemily]

Hi,
I've just recently completed my half yearlys and we've gotten our marks back. Lets just say those marks weren't what I expected and were pretttyyy terrible, and I'm currently freaking out about whether I can still get a 98+ atar, even if I put in the effort for the rest of the year. Is it still possible?

I can't stress how important your HSC exams are! What you want to be focussing on at the moment is your rank rather than your actual mark. That way, when you are performing at your peak (which we assume is the HSC exam), your assessment mark is replaced by a better one. I was in the same boat as you, in that I was not happy with my Modern History half yearly. This didn't stop me from achieving a 95 in the end though - as this was my exam mark AND I was ranked 1st in the course.

I hope this clarifies things a little!

[cxmplete]

My ranks were ranging from 3rd to mid-cohort, is that ok?

[jamonwindeyer]

My ranks were ranging from 3rd to mid-cohort, is that ok?

My Extension 1 Half Yearly - Totally bombed it, scraped a pass, 2nd last in the class.

Worked hard, ended up back in 1st place after Trials, got a Band 6 and 99+.

So yep, definitely okay and definitely achievable!!

[sudodds]

Hi,
I've just recently completed my half yearlys and we've gotten our marks back. Lets just say those marks weren't what I expected and were pretttyyy terrible, and I'm currently freaking out about whether I can still get a 98+ atar, even if I put in the effort for the rest of the year. Is it still possible?

Hey! Everyone here has pretty much touched on everything, one mark isn't going to affect your overall score if you work hard and improve your rank. That being said, improving your mark/rank isn't always an easy feat. Being tasked to improve, when as you said these marks were quite unexpected, is hard because you may not know where you need to improve to begin with, especially if at like many schools, your teachers are wary of giving too much feedback. With that in mind, I really really really encourage that you utilise some of the resources on this site - in particular the essay marking services. I know this may seem really preachy and biased coming from a moderator, but ignore that and think of this as coming from a 2016 graduate instead (as I am one of those also )

Last year my half yearly rank for English was 22/69, and my mark was 80%. Now I am in no way saying that that was a bad rank/mark, and at the time I was pretty happy However, Trials comes around. I don't change my study habits, and I don't study any more than I did for half yearlies, the only thing I do differently is I have all of my essays and my creative marked on here by Jamon and Elyse (If I remember correctly Brenden marked one as well!). From the half yearly exam to trials, My rank jumped from 22nd to 2nd, and my mark was a 90% overall (Paper 1 was 96%). This put me in a really good overall ranking position (the previous two ranks were the assessment task ranks not the overall rank, but the jump is still pretty similar), which landed me band 6 for my final HSC mark Even if I had just worked super hard, before getting my essays marked here, I didn't have any direction. I didn't know how to improve. Getting everything looked over here showed me how, and I know that I could never have received those final marks without getting Jamon, Elyse and Brenden's feedback.

So basically TL;DR, if you work hard you can most definitely improve your mark/rank and one assessment is never going to be the be all end all - but take any opportunity you can to get better/make your study easier!

 Susie

[Maraos]

Hi,
I've just recently completed my half yearlys and we've gotten our marks back. Lets just say those marks weren't what I expected and were pretttyyy terrible, and I'm currently freaking out about whether I can still get a 98+ atar, even if I put in the effort for the rest of the year. Is it still possible?

Also your subject cohort is very very important as well. One of my friends in my year was ranked relatively low in mathematics (accelerated) due to a bad result in his trials (which are usually worth even more than the half yearlies). When the HSC exam came along he did really well, and since my school had a really strong cohort with at-least 20 very strong candidates he still achieved a band 6.
You've still got trials and the HSC left, so don't worry the only thing to focus on now is how to improve, stay positive and don't lose hope! 

[Hadiqa]

Hey there,
I m student of year 10 so currently I have selected my sciences subjects which inclubs maths plus extension bussiness studies bio chemistry  so I want you to advice me some trips how do I start from where and I want to get start early before year 11 get start I m seeking ur help according to notes
and  some tips to study them.
Regards,
Hadia