Go selective, or stay? (1 Viewer)

[w8t4hope]

I have gone around my school lately asking teachers if applying for Merewether (a selective high school in my area) and discontinuing my education in the Catholic system is a wise choice, and they have said it might be better to continue SFX (catholic senior high school) as moving to a completely different atmosphere might be difficult.

Would you recommend applying for a selective school, or just remain in the Catholic system?

My main goal is to get the best UAI (or ATAR now) I can so that i may study medicine in UNSW, and would do anything to help me get there. My teachers tell me i can easily achieve this in SFX, but i find that being in a selective school may help me get there.
Although i know such issues are up to my decision, i would like to get the most advice i can.


Thanks a lot for your time.
Regards, Daniel.

 

[gella]

go for the selective school brutha
catholic schools are shit and chances are shit people will drag you down

 

[kurt.physics]

I have gone around my school lately asking teachers if applying for Merewether (a selective high school in my area) and discontinuing my education in the Catholic system is a wise choice, and they have said it might be better to continue SFX (catholic senior high school) as moving to a completely different atmosphere might be difficult.

Would you recommend applying for a selective school, or just remain in the Catholic system?

My main goal is to get the best UAI (or ATAR now) I can so that i may study medicine in UNSW, and would do anything to help me get there. My teachers tell me i can easily achieve this in SFX, but i find that being in a selective school may help me get there.
Although i know such issues are up to my decision, i would like to get the most advice i can.


Thanks a lot for your time.
Regards, Daniel.

Surely a selective school would be a better environment for learning because you are there with more people who want to learn. The difficulty will increase and challenge you more, and the more challenged you are the better you will do.

And if its easily accessible then why not.

 

[hungwell1337]

if your unpopular at your current school and have no chance of getting prefect etc, then leave

 

[occer]

Selective unless you really like your friends and teachers where you are.

 

[Official]

This is a decision that really only you can make.

 

[Aquawhite]

Personally, if I had the opportunity to do so, I would go the selective school because of the better learning environment and people's attitudes towards learning. That's of course assuming the selective school has a good reputation (which most would).

You should make the choice based of what you think is most important to you... and which you feel will better you in the end (not only ATAR wise)

 

[lyounamu]

I would personally stay. I was good enough by the end of year 10 to go to school like Ruse or other schools too but I thought I would not fit very well into selective school's atmosphere. Besides, I like my school too much.

 

[sasu1211]

HIIIIIII donga! XD

didnt no u r member lol!

 

[aya-chan]

lols. well, I go to Baulko ... So the thing is, with selective schools people are all smarter (obviously), the average therefore is a lot higher, and there's a lot more pressure to do your best. So, if you think you'll do well under that extra pressure, then I suggest going to the selective school.

It depends, of course, if you think you'll cope well with the change. I know a lot of the new people that move to our school from lower ranked selective high schools are used to being one of the smartest people in their schools. Coming to our school and getting under average is kinda harming for their self esteem. I think it takes time to adjust to that kind of environment.

In primary, I was used to topping the grade in maths, even in yr 5, I beat all the yr 6s in the maths olympiad. Then I went to baulko and got 64% in my yr 7 half-yearly report. I suppose I wasn't used to not being the smartest and I gave up a little. but now it's okay, I've put in the effort and I've tried harder and I'm in the top class for maths. So it depends if you think you'll be able to cope, and you know what you're getting into, then go for it.

 

[Aquawhite]

I would personally stay. I was good enough by the end of year 10 to go to school like Ruse or other schools too but I thought I would not fit very well into selective school's atmosphere. Besides, I like my school too much.

Lol, Namu, you surpass Ruse level!

 

[wixxy2348]

Having lived in the Newcastle area.
Merewether > SFX

Go to Merewether.

 

[kurt.physics]

Lol, Namu, you surpass Ruse level!

agreed =)

 

[hermand]

I have gone around my school lately asking teachers if applying for Merewether (a selective high school in my area) and discontinuing my education in the Catholic system is a wise choice, and they have said it might be better to continue SFX (catholic senior high school) as moving to a completely different atmosphere might be difficult.

Would you recommend applying for a selective school, or just remain in the Catholic system?

My main goal is to get the best UAI (or ATAR now) I can so that i may study medicine in UNSW, and would do anything to help me get there. My teachers tell me i can easily achieve this in SFX, but i find that being in a selective school may help me get there.
Although i know such issues are up to my decision, i would like to get the most advice i can.


Thanks a lot for your time.
Regards, Daniel.

depends how good your current school is, although i'm assuming that your school feeds into a senior school, so how good the senior school is. for me, i came from a catholic [but also private] school, and am at a selective high [that i got into for year seven so it wasn't an effort to get in] and i would have much rathered stay at my old school. unless you have a good reason for changing, ie, dislike your current group of friends, the school is bad, or the selective is much better than the senior one that you'd go to, i'd stay, not change the environment [too much], stay with the general group you're with.

that said, if the selective school has a much better reputation than the senior campus, go for that. it's really a decision only you can make and you won't know whether you've made the right one until you've been at whichever school for a while.

 

[undalay]

Changing schools is not (solely) about getting better grades.
It's about pushing your comfort zones.
It's about meeting new people
It's about making connections.
It's about developing as a person.

Ultimately, these will be more important in the later years.

 

[wixxy2348]

I changed schools at the end of year ten (albeit from one catholic school to another)...
The whole "new environment" and "having to prove myself" thing, plus the fact that it was my personal choice to go there meant that I did far better than I would have if I didn't change schools, and yeah, I'd say it allowed me to grow/develop as well.

 

[-may-cat-]

Another side that you should consider is how well you would cope with the change, i changed schools in year 10 and found it really difficult. Since most of the groups are well established by year 11, often people aren't as open to making friends and this can make for a really really shit time which can impact on your grades. If you're an enthusiastic, resilient kind of person it probably wouldn't be a problem though.

 

[w8t4hope]

thanks for your great replies.
merewether is ranked 25th in HSC 2008.
sfx around 180th..
big difference.
very hard that you have to select friends or education.

 

[angel_belle2004]

Well.....

- Challenge yourself...

My school ranks 82 but what I want is St. George rank 10.. big difference again, however school ranking isnt everything you know, you have to sit the test and have a good persona.

Catholic school is much more better than a muslim school like i go to ( Not Muslim) Culture clash at times.... attempting to move into selective

 

[Aquawhite]

thanks for your great replies.
merewether is ranked 25th in HSC 2008.
sfx around 180th..
big difference.
very hard that you have to select friends or education.

Lol, my school epic phailed the HSC last year and is ranked super low... below 400 I would believe.