Are atar calculators reliable? (3 Viewers)

[Skuxxgolfer]

Just wondering, whether the atar calculators are somewhat accurate (ik there are a lot of other factors to consider). If so which ones? I notice the Talent 100 calculator says to put your hsc mark in, is this raw hsc mark or your final hsc mark. Similarly, the matrix calculator also says to put in your hsc mark but the atar they calculate is way off compared to the Talent 100 one.

 

[brent012]

They use your final mark (external and internal), they are reasonably accurate but note that they use previous data and that UAC only provide a limited amount of data.

Variance will likely be due to different years data and how much tuning has been done for the models beyond what UAC provided. I would expect variance to be much greater for lower marks and/or less common subjects.

One thing to be careful of is extension marks, some calculators expect you to enter the mark out of 50 and others out of 100.

 

[akkjen]

They use your final mark (external and internal), they are reasonably accurate but note that they use previous data and that UAC only provide a limited amount of data.

Variance will likely be due to different years data and how much tuning has been done for the models beyond what UAC provided. I would expect variance to be much greater for lower marks and/or less common subjects.

One thing to be careful of is extension marks, some calculators expect you to enter the mark out of 50 and others out of 100.

if you get a mark of 40/50 does it mean you got 80/100 or is there more to it?

 

[brent012]

if you get a mark of 40/50 does it mean you got 80/100 or is there more to it?

I haven't used any recently, but yes you would just have to double the mark so it's out of 100.

 

[pikachu975]

I think for 2017 hsc matrix was pretty accurate, it said 99.75 and I got that, whereas talent 100 said 99.9. They should give you a rough estimate but I think the lower the atar goes the less accurate it will be (e.g. could say 91 but you get 90) so just make sure you keep trying hard and not become complacent due to the estimate being high etc!!

 

[akkjen]

I think for 2017 hsc matrix was pretty accurate, it said 99.75 and I got that, whereas talent 100 said 99.9. They should give you a rough estimate but I think the lower the atar goes the less accurate it will be (e.g. could say 91 but you get 90) so just make sure you keep trying hard and not become complacent due to the estimate being high etc!!

lol, low atar....91 or 90

 

[pikachu975]

lol, low atar....91 or 90

Well I didn't mean to say it was low, I mean the lower you go down from 99.95 of course. Any atar is good as long as you put your best effort in

 

[brent012]

Well I didn't mean to say it was low, I mean the lower you go down from 99.95 of course. Any atar is good as long as you put your best effort in

Haha, when I was referring to "low" above I was meaning more 30-75!

You'll definitely see more pronounced discrepancies around 80-90s across the differrent calculators, but the discrepancies can be massive in the truly low ATARs.