99.5 ATAR?

[DalvinT]

Hello THERE!


I've been hearing many inspirational and motivational speeches of 99 ATAR students and how they got there. Many of them have stated that, "we don't need an extension subject" in order to achieve this.

Now, is that statement really that accurate? Honestly, correct if I'm wrong, the subjects I'm doing seem to not likely be chosen from a 99.5 ATAR student. Therefore, possibly decreasing the chances of getting that ATAR even when excelling in those subjects.

It would also be awesome if someone who was in the same/similar position as me... that scored a 99+ ATAR in their HSC.


My subjects are:
- English Standard
- General Mathematics
- Music 1
- Biology
- Earth and Environmental Science
- Visual Arts

[isaacdelatorre]

Hello THERE!


I've been hearing many inspirational and motivational speeches of 99 ATAR students and how they got there. Many of them have stated that, "we don't need an extension subject" in order to achieve this.

Now, is that statement really that accurate? Honestly, correct if I'm wrong, the subjects I'm doing seem to not likely be chosen from a 99.5 ATAR student. Therefore, possibly decreasing the chances of getting that ATAR even when excelling in those subjects.

It would also be awesome if someone who was in the same/similar position as me... that scored a 99+ ATAR in their HSC.


My subjects are:
- English Standard
- General Mathematics
- Music 1
- Biology
- Earth and Environmental Science
- Visual Arts

Hi Dalvin,

I'm not sure I fit into the category that you are referring to, but the subjects I took are not supposed "high scaling" subjects.
I did Adv English, Mathematics, Business Studies, Economics and Legal Studies - Mainly, NO EXTENSION SUBJECTS and I still managed to achieve an ATAR of 99.35 (not a 99.5 sorry; although I was only aiming for, and expected to get 95)

So yes, it is completely possible for you to achieve a high atar with your subjects. I chose my subjects quite stupidly; to annoy my asian tiger parents who wanted me to do 4u maths, 3u english, physics and chemistry (I was feeling quite rebellious) but then I ended up really liking the subjects I did (especially economics, business and legal). Even though everyone else in my school did the Asian 5 and thought my subjects were inferior since they scaled poorly, but I still managed to beat them in the end since they chose subjects based purely on scaling and not what they enjoyed or were good at.

So, long story short. Any atar is possible as long as you are willing to put in the work. Even with said "high scaling" subjects, these people put in tremendous hours of work to attain 99+ atars.

Hope this helps

[DalvinT]

Hi Dalvin,

I'm not sure I fit into the category that you are referring to, but the subjects I took are not supposed "high scaling" subjects.
I did Adv English, Mathematics, Business Studies, Economics and Legal Studies - Mainly, NO EXTENSION SUBJECTS and I still managed to achieve an ATAR of 99.35 (not a 99.5 sorry; although I was only aiming for, and expected to get 95)

So yes, it is completely possible for you to achieve a high atar with your subjects. I chose my subjects quite stupidly; to annoy my asian tiger parents who wanted me to do 4u maths, 3u english, physics and chemistry (I was feeling quite rebellious) but then I ended up really liking the subjects I did (especially economics, business and legal). Even though everyone else in my school did the Asian 5 and thought my subjects were inferior since they scaled poorly, but I still managed to beat them in the end since they chose subjects based purely on scaling and not what they enjoyed or were good at.

So, long story short. Any atar is possible as long as you are willing to put in the work. Even with said "high scaling" subjects, these people put in tremendous hours of work to attain 99+ atars.

Hope this helps

Hey! I see what you are saying, though your subjects are still of "high scaling" haha, but your point does seem convincing. Although I would like to state that the subjects you chose, have a higher value when a student, such as yourself, achieve outstanding results opposed to someone getting a Band 6 in Music 1. And yes  I do understand that one factor to scaling comes from  the subject's complexity. Therefore, the reason why I want to see a student that hasn't done those "high scaled" subjects achieving a 99+ ATAR, to serve as a justification for the principle of "not needing to do extension and/or Highly scaled subjects". Also, congratulations on achieving a really good ATAR!!!!

[RuiAce]

Subjects are not what determine your ATAR. Your performance is what determines it.

Sure, your subjects may not be the "typically high-ATAR" receiving student. But does that mean you're absolutely blocked out from a 99.5? Not at all. If you push hard enough in the subjects you chose, and clearly demonstrate that you're excelling at them, I don't see any reason why that ATAR should be out of your reach.

The whole point of the HSC is to do what you're good at, and what you like. So rather than thinking if your subjects are a statistically common thing, think about how you're going to put effort into your subjects to get to that 99.5. Think about how you're going to be the outlier in the bundle.

Having doubts is a normal feeling, but you should never go along with them. Focus on your own performance. There was a beast at my school who did mostly creative and performing arts subjects and got something like 99.7 or something (don't remember concretely; would have to check when my internet stops messing up).

[DalvinT]

Subjects are not what determine your ATAR. Your performance is what determines it.

Sure, your subjects may not be the "typically high-ATAR" receiving student. But does that mean you're absolutely blocked out from a 99.5? Not at all. If you push hard enough in the subjects you chose, and clearly demonstrate that you're excelling at them, I don't see any reason why that ATAR should be out of your reach.

The whole point of the HSC is to do what you're good at, and what you like. So rather than thinking if your subjects are a statistically common thing, think about how you're going to put effort into your subjects to get to that 99.5. Think about how you're going to be the outlier in the bundle.

Having doubts is a normal feeling, but you should never go along with them. Focus on your own performance. There was a beast at my school who did mostly creative and performing arts subjects and got something like 99.7 or something (don't remember concretely; would have to check when my internet stops messing up).

Hey RuiAce!


I love the point that you're making! It makes sense now I am gonna try to DO MY BEST TO ACHIEVE MY GOALSS! Thank you for your advice !!!!!

[RuiAce]

Hey RuiAce!


I love the point that you're making! It makes sense now I am gonna try to DO MY BEST TO ACHIEVE MY GOALSS! Thank you for your advice !!!!!

Good on you. Good luck Dalvin

[jamonwindeyer]

Just another case study of someone I know (one of our lecturers):

Subjects: English Advanced, English Extension 1 (which scales no where near as well as people think it does, worse than Advanced usually), Earth and Environmental Science, Studies of Religion 1, Modern History

ATAR: 99.85

So definitely possible! your hard work needs to go to Standard English Dalvin, because you will definitely need straight, solid Band 6's to achieve an ATAR that high, and getting a Band 6 in Standard is definitely no easy feat (purely based on stats). Work really really hard and you can definitely get there! Best of luck

[DalvinT]

Just another case study of someone I know (one of our lecturers):

Subjects: English Advanced, English Extension 1 (which scales no where near as well as people think it does, worse than Advanced usually), Earth and Environmental Science, Studies of Religion 1, Modern History

ATAR: 99.85

So definitely possible! your hard work needs to go to Standard English Dalvin, because you will definitely need straight, solid Band 6's to achieve an ATAR that high, and getting a Band 6 in Standard is definitely no easy feat (purely based on stats). Work really really hard and you can definitely get there! Best of luck

Thank you Jamon!!! I hope I can get better at English haha

[Chemystery]

Hey Dalvin! From your subjects I can tell you're such a chill kind of person - I mean music and visual arts? Dude I envy your artsy personality!

Make the most of a subject like Music 1 as a fun one, don't stress too much over it - my mate received mid 90's in music and it didn't even count towards his ATAR!

Saying this, don't care about scaling honestly. As said before, you will need all Band 6's ( and some might need to be high too, eep pressure ) but it is absolutely possible! I'm a big believer in anything being possible if you set your heart on it - treat studying like a full time job, putting in effort and time for the position (in this case ATAR) you desire! Let yourself have breaks from "work" too, because that's what studying is, it's almighty draining!

I've been through half my HSC now and know its a rollercoaster of a year, so feel free to message me if you need any help or motivation, I been there done that!

Is there a course you were interested in for such a high ATAR or was it just a point of curiosity? I push myself above and beyond like you surely will too!

[DalvinT]

Hey Dalvin! From your subjects I can tell you're such a chill kind of person - I mean music and visual arts? Dude I envy your artsy personality!

Make the most of a subject like Music 1 as a fun one, don't stress too much over it - my mate received mid 90's in music and it didn't even count towards his ATAR!

Saying this, don't care about scaling honestly. As said before, you will need all Band 6's ( and some might need to be high too, eep pressure ) but it is absolutely possible! I'm a big believer in anything being possible if you set your heart on it - treat studying like a full time job, putting in effort and time for the position (in this case ATAR) you desire! Let yourself have breaks from "work" too, because that's what studying is, it's almighty draining!

I've been through half my HSC now and know its a rollercoaster of a year, so feel free to message me if you need any help or motivation, I been there done that!

Is there a course you were interested in for such a high ATAR or was it just a point of curiosity? I push myself above and beyond like you surely will too!

Haha yeah!! Thank you Chemstery Uh... I actually want to get into medicine. Which sounds really weird cause of all my art subjects but yeah. I might drop visual arts as I don't think my skills are up to standards to be even considered a Band 6 :/