Hey guys, so I just had my mid-years and I'm almost 90% sure i failed 2 of them already (phys and 4u math). Although was really motivated in year 11 (studying everyday) I havent been motivated at all and so haven't been trying my best either (staying up late studying night before exams). I've never walked out of so many exams knowing I failed. I just want to know if there's a possibility of still getting a good atar 90+ and what tips for me to still do well. This mid years my phys and chem were worth 20% and my 4u was worth 30%. I go to a very average public school ( usually rank 100 )
My subjects are: Adv English, Physics, Chemistry, 4u Maths
My *estimated* (as in what i think i'll get) ranks are
English: 29/100
Phys: 15/30
Chem: 10/60
Ext 1: 10/40
Ext 2: last in the class LMAO
I've definitely learned my mistakes of studying last minute and am gonna try my hardest to make up for the compete abomination of marks. Please I'm desperate. Any advice or help even criticism would be much appreciated
I am in a very very very similar situation to you, bombed out of my 4U exam although also completely screwed Chem (
we love practical Titration exams and Chem teachers staring at you while you set up the equipment). I think nearly all my exams this term I came out thinking that I didn't do too well (if you click my profile and navigate through my recent msg's you'll find something I posted similar to this). My school is also ranked within Top 100 (peaking in 2020).
Anyway, the first kinda tip I'll give off the bat is that you honestly need a good amount of time to allow yourself to relax a day or even 2 days before an exam. Perhaps some light revision
e.g. for english going over quotes or with math doing some questions here and there could be quite useful but as soon as the exam comes, you should be able to go in satisfied that you're confident you know your stuff - no point cramming the night before as although it may work for some, you're not giving your brain enough time to be able to consolidate new content in order to make it stick into your long term memory and to regurgitate it in the exam. Of course, this is as opposed to being stressed out about the math question you couldn't get the other night and coming to the conclusion that you might get that on the exam (and this is only just the beginning of the exam stress and anxiety buildup...).
I'll try to give a bit more insight through my own experiences last term. The whole cramming situation was a good example of my Chemistry and Math Extension 2 exams, studied studied studied, 2 nights before. What happened? Both of them I was stressed as hell and finished the exams thinking I bombed out (and I probably did hahaha). Anyway, a couple weeks later I had my Math Extension 1 and Biology exams on the same day, Bio was in the morning and Math Extension 1 was a bit later in the day. I allowed myself the day before to just relax and didn't rly do any Bio prep besides making small dot points for a cheat sheet we were able to bring into the exam, I also didn't do any Maths this day. Next morning, again I just relaxed before my Bio exam, went for a run in the morning and watched some anime before school. Tried to rock up to school as late as I possibly could before the exam, people asked me "Are you ready?" and my response was simply "Yep, I feel confident with my studies" or something along the lines of that. Which brings me to a side point, NEVER SHOW COMPASSION TOWARDS PEOPLE BEFORE AN EXAM. If someone doesn't feel confident and tries to approach you with a negative mindset, I'm sorry to say but that's not a you problem, that's their issue if they haven't studied enough or if their pet ate their study notes. In this case it's honestly simply best to try and make an excuse to walk away, you don't want to be stressed by those around you,
Your marks > Friendship and satisfying people any day of the week.
Anyway, back to my story with Bio. I was waiting outside the exam rooms while of course witnessing a typical stress-fiasco with everyone taking the exam. People reading their cheat sheet, some drinking V or Monster, people asking one another about their predicted performance in the exam or their satisfaction with how much they've studied. I tried to maintain a bit of distance from my Bio cohort, get a drink of water, refill my bottle etc. and this really helped alleviate my stress as mid-exam I was more focused on what was in front of me (the exam paper), not the down-putting thoughts from other students. And I reckon I smashed that exam, which put me in a good mood for my Math Extension 1 exam later on. So again, I didn't really do much to prepare for Math Extension. I had some study periods in between which allowed me to do a couple practice problems to warm up, but ultimately I didn't do anything too hectic. I also spent one of my full study periods before the exam just watching random things on Youtube lmao. Again, I went into the 3U exam and definitely felt much better than I would have if I crammed the night before or stressed myself out through associating with particular people pre-examination. Admittedly, sure my result wasn't perfect for MX1 (80%), I gave it my best shot and definitely would have performed a lot worse if I worked myself up before doing heaps of big past paper problems.
Anyway, onto other words, I suppose one thing that you never really realize whilst in an exam-stress crisis or post-exam negative thoughts,
and I still fail to consider this at times, is that failing an exam or not performing as you would've desired is NOT the end of the world. There's always a chance to turn things around, as sure whilst we are halfway through Year 12, trials will most likely be the test which ultimately separates the cohort. Also, we are fortunate to live in such a country where we have other methods of entry into university. There is definitely always a way in which you can gain entry into the courses you wish to do even if it just requires a bit more patience. However in saying that, sure it's definitely good to have an ATAR goal in mind as it gives you something that you're aiming for, I have one in my signature/bio as well. The problem is that with every exam that you take, it gives you this sense of an ATAR drop which for anyone is obviously gonna be very stressful and I think one thing which could help is to try and remove any thoughts of the ATAR in general, focus on whats in front of you whether that may be homework, things to revise, or exams. Leave any thoughts to your ATAR after the HSC otherwise it will just continue to act as a bother throughout the remaining duration of Year 12. The ATAR doesn't define you, you yourself know that you're better than a number which nobody will care about after you leave school and enter university.
Besides all of this, I can only really reiterate what has already been said above, there will always be those exams which simply just aren't your thing if you catch my drift. Nobody's ever gonna be "perfect". However, I hope what I have said has been worthwhile reading and I wish you good luck going forwards from here. Since you're in a similar boat to me feel free to PM me or reply back and I'll try to be of support (goes for anyone who reads this as well).
Cheers : )
Prioritise physics as you are actually not doing very bad, spend time with your physics teacher to go through you paper again, ask questions.
, but try to go over your 3u topics again, 3u is not that challenging. For English, read your text, write quotes, talk to your teachers, prepare your essays. English is a little challenging over all.