Calling all high achievers. (1 Viewer)

[sointoyourself]

If you've achieved an ATAR of 90 + or your aim is 90 +, what was/is your study routine? How much did/do you study a day?
Cheers

 

[Dylanamali]

Study on regular days = 30 minutes to an hour, which would usually just be completing homework.

Week leading up to assessment e.g. topic test, prac test etc = 3-4hrs a night on one subject.

Two/Three weeks leading up to half yearlies/trials = 4 hrs a night, usually one subject a day.

- I was a crammer =)

 

[Shadowdude]

Study routines should be goal based, not "okay i'm going to do this many hours today".

 

[Bored_of_HSC]

Read these too. Same gist.

http://community.boredofstudies.org/showthread.php?t=274089

http://community.boredofstudies.org/showthread.php?t=274149

 

[sointoyourself]

I always tend to just study for biology and chemistry cos English is boring as hell, same as modern and generals just easy. Hmm should prob stop doing that.

 

[Dylanamali]

I always tend to just study for biology and chemistry cos English is boring as hell, same as modern and generals just easy. Hmm should prob stop doing that.

I spent most of my time on chemistry -> ext 1 maths / ext 2 maths -> biology -> english.

The only study i did for chemistry was attend weekly 2hr tutoring sessions at a college and then do the homework which would usually take me an hour or so.
For ext 1 maths I would learn via mathsonline and then do a STACK of past papers
For ext 2 maths I'd do the homework set by my tutor and STACKS of past papers.
For biology I'd just read over my notes before exams and then look at a few sample answers.
For english, throughout the year I would have prepared top response answers/essays, and before exam time I would spend 2-3days memorising them.

So basically, no need for constant/consistent study.. but in saying that.. that was what worked for me and I probably have a little above-average memory.

 

[RishBonjour]

I always tend to just study for biology and chemistry cos English is boring as hell, same as modern and generals just easy. Hmm should prob stop doing that.

coudln't agree more.
Haven't touched english

 

[sointoyourself]

A lot of people on this site, the 99+ers had me thinking you need to do 5 hrs<. It's comforting to know that isn't the case.

 

[Dylanamali]

A lot of people on this site, the 99+ers had me thinking you need to do 5 hrs<. It's comforting to know that isn't the case.

Quality > Quantity IMO.
It doesn't matter how many hour you spend studying.. but it does matter how many effective and smart hours you spend studying. It's important to understand what study method works best for you.
Cramming was an effective technique for me, but perhaps for you.. you might need more consistent study. I don't know.

But yeah, one tip: Don't underestimate the ability of a tutor.. A tutor cut out so much study time for me.. especially for chemistry. Just attending those weekly chemistry lessons put me a month ahead of school and took out any necessary individual study time. Tutors are also relatively low-priced and can probably get you through a module in 5-6 weeks, where school will take 10 weeks.

 

[LightXT]

Cram for ALL the subjects!
Except Maths. You can't cram Maths.

 

[sointoyourself]

Quality > Quantity IMO.
It doesn't matter how many hour you spend studying.. but it does matter how many effective and smart hours you spend studying. It's important to understand what study method works best for you.
Cramming was an effective technique for me, but perhaps for you.. you might need more consistent study. I don't know.

But yeah, one tip: Don't underestimate the ability of a tutor.. A tutor cut out so much study time for me.. especially for chemistry. Just attending those weekly chemistry lessons put me a month ahead of school and took out any necessary individual study time. Tutors are also relatively low-priced and can probably get you through a module in 5-6 weeks, where school will take 10 weeks.

Yeah I have a tutor for chem, it's $60 for an hour and a half. I want one for Bio but it ends up being so expensive you know... I have one for maths too, that's $50, so $110 bucks a week. I know what part time job I want when I go to uni.
I can't believe cramming helped you get a 98.75 atar, that would never happen for me.

 

[LightXT]

Yeah I have a tutor for chem, it's $60 for an hour and a half. I want one for Bio but it ends up being so expensive you know... I can't believe cramming helped you get a 98.75 atar, that would never happen for me.

Cramming is quite effective for word based subjects such as Physics, Chemistry and Economics. Those type of subjects don't require very much thinking.

 

[sointoyourself]

Cramming is quite effective for word based subjects such as Physics, Chemistry and Economics. Those type of subjects don't require very much thinking.

That's true. But it's much better in my opinion if you consistently study + cram 3 days before or something. Best of both worlds

 

[Dylanamali]

Yeah I have a tutor for chem, it's $60 for an hour and a half. I want one for Bio but it ends up being so expensive you know... I have one for maths too, that's $50, so $110 bucks a week. I know what part time job I want when I go to uni.
I can't believe cramming helped you get a 98.75 atar, that would never happen for me.

wow, tbh that's really expensive for a tutor..
if you just look around this website you can get them for $25/hr and there are some really bright people on this site with 99+ atars. I'm not sure if their marks translate well to tuition, but they'd be worth a go.

Yeah for me, I had one for chemistry and ext 2 mathematics.. But I did have one for biology every now and then before major assessments/trials/half yearlies to increase my exam prep and help me with structuring responses. Also to accelerate through things so that school would become eassssy - they also keep your motivation levels relatively high which is good

haha, yeah it was an effective method for me. It was also good, because I enjoyed learning the content - especially with biology and chemistry - so once I had learnt it, it stuck with me for awhile. The notes that I had formulated for biology were also quite concise - 15-20 pages a module and so revising those wasn't draining and tedious.

 

[Dylanamali]

By the way, do you go to a private tutor or a class/college?

 

[sointoyourself]

wow, tbh that's really expensive for a tutor..
if you just look around this website you can get them for $25/hr and there are some really bright people on this site with 99+ atars. I'm not sure if their marks translate well to tuition, but they'd be worth a go.

Yeah for me, I had one for chemistry and ext 2 mathematics.. But I did have one for biology every now and then before major assessments/trials/half yearlies to increase my exam prep and help me with structuring responses. Also to accelerate through things so that school would become eassssy - they also keep your motivation levels relatively high which is good

haha, yeah it was an effective method for me. It was also good, because I enjoyed learning the content - especially with biology and chemistry - so once I had learnt it, it stuck with me for awhile. The notes that I had formulated for biology were also quite concise - 15-20 pages a module and so revising those wasn't draining and tedious.

Wow. You're right, If I get a new chem and bio tutor that's almost the same price.

 

[sointoyourself]

By the way, do you go to a private tutor or a class/college?

Private.

 

[Dylanamali]

Yeah.. I mean your getting charged $40/hr for chem tutoring atm..
I'm not trying to advertise haha, but I charge $50 for 2 hours.

Unless your chem tutor is OUTSTANDING ~ providing notes/unlimited online help, fantastic preparation, exemplary credentials.. i wouldn't waste my money.

 

[LightXT]

That's true. But it's much better in my opinion if you consistently study + cram 3 days before or something. Best of both worlds

I never planned to cram. I just ended up having to because I never got around to studying anything consistently apart from Maths because the other subjects were so boring. Cramming puts you under a lot of pressure and you never know if you're going to fail or not. I'd recommend studying consistently over cramming.

 

[sointoyourself]

Yeah.. I mean your getting charged $40/hr for chem tutoring atm..
I'm not trying to advertise haha, but I charge $50 for 2 hours.

Unless your chem tutor is OUTSTANDING ~ providing notes/unlimited online help, fantastic preparation, exemplary credentials.. i wouldn't waste my money.

I'll have to talk to my parents about it, but if I needed a Bio/Chem tutor sometime could I pm you? - if you're not too busy that is.