Worried about my atar

[MrManav]

Hey guys, I am currently a year 11 student who just started unit 3 and 4. I am worried about my atar, as I am aiming for 98-99 but I'm not sure if what im currently getting for my subjects is good enough. Currently I study Specalist, Methods, Chem, Phys, Bio and got over 85% in each of the subjects for my unit 1 and 2 score. Do any of you know how well of an ATAR I can get with that score. And if you guys have some tips for me to improve my final percentage, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thnaks

[Bri MT]

Welcome to the forums!


I studied very similar subjects to you (bio, physics, chem, methods, psych & my English subject [ my school didn't offer spec ]) and I achieved your ATAR goal so hopefully you'll find my perspective useful.

As you may know, unit 1&2 scores don't directly contribute to your ATAR and unit 1&2 tests can vary a lot by schools so it's very hard to draw conclusions from them. That being said, it looks like you're roughly on track for your ATAR goal. What I can guarantee you is that at it is possible for you to achieve to achieve it. Rui (maths) & I (science) have been working on making resources and guides specific to the subjects you're taking so I'd definitely suggest you check some of those out if you haven't already. It can also be useful to look at the feedback/advice others have asked for, e.g. here's replies to Delis101 asking about biology assignments

In general, here's some advice I would give to someone with STEM-focused subjects:
- annotate your forumlas ( what units are they in [be careful as this can vary between chem & physics], what values go in, why does this relationship make sense)
- especially since you're aiming so high, create a log of mistakes for your subjects. I structure these by listing the topic, the question I got wrong, what I incorrectly answered & what the right answer is/why my original didn't get full marks
- understand, don't memorise. The temptation (especially with bio I think) can be to memorise information without truly understanding but if you don't truly understand the content there are some application exam questions where you'll become lost.
- Teach your peers. It seems like you might be someone in your school others go to for advice/help - use that to your advantage! When you teach others you are forced to think about the content in new ways & learn where your gaps in understanding are.
- Practice. It's going to be a bit harder for you going into a new system to find practice questions relevant to you but there's definitely heaps out there. If you're struggling to find exam-style questions (note: textbook questions often aren't an equivalent substitute) let me know & I'll help you out
- Link your subjects together. Ok, I think Rui would say that it's important to learn methods & spec separately and I'm not contradicting that, but find where your subjects support each other and leverage that. For example, how can you apply your understanding of solubility in chem to cell functioning in bio? I found that by thinking about these links I would ingrain the content from each subject more strongly in my memory.
- Get feedback and ask questions. Talk to your teachers about where you can improve & answer + ask questions in class. Look at the QCAA sample assignments and try completing some of them yourself. You can also post work on here for feedback and ask questions for each of your subjects too.


Best of luck for your QCE and let me know if you have any more questions