Chatswood or Ryde (1 Viewer)

[richaabatra]

Hi

Need your opinion on whether I should go to Non Selective Stream of Chatswood High school (School Rank 66) or Selective Stream of Ryde Secondary College (School Rank 127)

I like STEM subjects, play tennis, love public speaking and debating activities and also play guitar. I need a balance of both studies and extracurriculars with ultimate eye on good ATAR.

Only came here last year so fairly new to the education scene. Looking to know the pros and cons of both the schools.

 

[jimmysmith560]

I think this would depend on what you want/are looking for in terms of your studies. Do you want to study in a selective environment at a lower-ranked school, whose cohort may not be as academically capable, solely because it's a selective environment? Or do you want to study in a regular environment at a higher ranked school, in which the cohort may be more academically capable overall? As far as I know, classes are combined in year 12, meaning you will end up studying alongside students who attended both types of classes in year 12.

Keep in mind that school ranks are measured using the success rate of a school's year 12 cohort, which is the percentage of students who achieve band 6/E4's relative to the number of students in the school's cohort. The higher this percentage, the higher the school will be ranked.

I would personally advise you to go to Chatswood High School, despite the classes you will attend not being part of the school's selective stream. You will likely have the advantage of a more academically capable cohort as you commence year 12. This means that, once you reach year 12, obtaining and maintaining high ranks relative to your cohort will be important as the higher you are rank in comparison with other students in your cohort, the better the Assessment Mark you can expect. This is achieved by regularly studying and staying up to date with content, ensuring favourable performance in assessment tasks and exams, and implies the need for consistent effort and determination that you need to maintain throughout year 12.

I hope this helps!

 

[kkk579]

Hi

Need your opinion on whether I should go to Non Selective Stream of Chatswood High school (School Rank 66) or Selective Stream of Ryde Secondary College (School Rank 127)

I like STEM subjects, play tennis, love public speaking and debating activities and also play guitar. I need a balance of both studies and extracurriculars with ultimate eye on good ATAR.

Only came here last year so fairly new to the education scene. Looking to know the pros and cons of both the schools.

chatswood defs. seeing that u made it to ryde and being relatively new to nsw u could definitely do the extension subjects at chatswood.

 

[#26MysteryMarker]

Chatswood 100%. Ryde/Parramatta/Macquarie fields etc are quite poor even for partially-selective schools.

 

[kkk579]

Chatswood 100%. Ryde/Parramatta/Macquarie fields etc are quite poor even for partially-selective schools.

prairiewood is also very poor

 

[richaabatra]

I think this would depend on what you want/are looking for in terms of your studies. Do you want to study in a selective environment at a lower-ranked school, whose cohort may not be as academically capable, solely because it's a selective environment? Or do you want to study in a regular environment at a higher ranked school, in which the cohort may be more academically capable overall? As far as I know, classes are combined in year 12, meaning you will end up studying alongside students who attended both types of classes in year 12.

Keep in mind that school ranks are measured using the success rate of a school's year 12 cohort, which is the percentage of students who achieve band 6/E4's relative to the number of students in the school's cohort. The higher this percentage, the higher the school will be ranked.

I would personally advise you to go to Chatswood High School, despite the classes you will attend not being part of the school's selective stream. You will likely have the advantage of a more academically capable cohort as you commence year 12. This means that, once you reach year 12, obtaining and maintaining high ranks relative to your cohort will be important as the higher you are rank in comparison with other students in your cohort, the better the Assessment Mark you can expect. This is achieved by regularly studying and staying up to date with content, ensuring favourable performance in assessment tasks and exams, and implies the need for consistent effort and determination that you need to maintain throughout year 12.

I hope this helps!

@jimmysmith560 thank you for your detailed insight. But dont you think i will have to fight for a place for subjects like maths extension in Chatswood and also for a rank but in Ryde it wont be a trouble as long as I am performing. Thanks

 

[richaabatra]

I think this would depend on what you want/are looking for in terms of your studies. Do you want to study in a selective environment at a lower-ranked school, whose cohort may not be as academically capable, solely because it's a selective environment? Or do you want to study in a regular environment at a higher ranked school, in which the cohort may be more academically capable overall? As far as I know, classes are combined in year 12, meaning you will end up studying alongside students who attended both types of classes in year 12.

Keep in mind that school ranks are measured using the success rate of a school's year 12 cohort, which is the percentage of students who achieve band 6/E4's relative to the number of students in the school's cohort. The higher this percentage, the higher the school will be ranked.

I would personally advise you to go to Chatswood High School, despite the classes you will attend not being part of the school's selective stream. You will likely have the advantage of a more academically capable cohort as you commence year 12. This means that, once you reach year 12, obtaining and maintaining high ranks relative to your cohort will be important as the higher you are rank in comparison with other students in your cohort, the better the Assessment Mark you can expect. This is achieved by regularly studying and staying up to date with content, ensuring favourable performance in assessment tasks and exams, and implies the need for consistent effort and determination that you need to maintain throughout year 12.

I hope this helps!

@jimmysmith560 thank you for your detailed insight. But dont you think i will have to fight for a place for subjects like maths extension in Chatswood and also for a rank but in Ryde it wont be a trouble as long as I am performing. Thanks

 

[jimmysmith560]

@jimmysmith560 thank you for your detailed insight. But dont you think i will have to fight for a place for subjects like maths extension in Chatswood and also for a rank but in Ryde it wont be a trouble as long as I am performing. Thanks

No worries. If you're worried about your chances of taking Extension subjects at Chatswood High School as well as maintaining a good rank in such subjects (in other words, if you want to play it safe), then Ryde Secondary College might be the better option for you, as taking Extension subjects as well as obtaining and maintaining high ranks in those subjects will likely be easier at the latter school than the former, considering the possible difference in academic capabilities of their respective cohorts. I will add that the fact that you have a chance to study at a school ranked 66th can be indicative of your potential and your ability to perform well going forward, which is why I personally think you would eventually be capable of taking Extension subjects and performing well in them at Chatswood High School. At the end of the day, that decision is yours to make, and it is definitely important (and beneficial) to make an informed decision.

Keep in mind that a high ATAR can be achieved with any combination of subjects, so unless you specifically wish to take Extension subjects (for example, due to interest or requirements for study beyond the HSC), you can still achieve your goals even if you don't end up taking such subjects.

 

[kkk579]

@jimmysmith560 thank you for your detailed insight. But dont you think i will have to fight for a place for subjects like maths extension in Chatswood and also for a rank but in Ryde it wont be a trouble as long as I am performing. Thanks

you probably will have to fight for a place but it doesn’t matter. work hard and you’ll get the place, just because someone is in the selective stream doesn’t make them smarter than everyone else. in the end it’s honestly just a reflection of how hard u work. honestly just keep grinding and you’ll get the place regardless of whether ur in mainstream or selective!

 

[Life'sHard]

Rydeondeeznuts. ok sorry lol.

 

[richaabatra]

If you do extension and advanced subjects at Ryde, practically everyone in your class will be either selective, GAT (Gifted and Talented Class) or a high mainstream achiever in year 11 or 12. But to be honest, going to Ryde is sort of a gamble. Apparently the 2022 cohort of RSC is pretty smart so I wouldn't be surprised if the ranking of Ryde next year is in the 80s like in 2015, but the ranking probably would go back up to the 120s in the later years. Your class environment at RSC might be smarter but the cohort at Chatswood will be higher performing for sure. Also I got to Ryde, so, my opinion might have some bias to it.

Thank you for your response. Can I ask which year you are in at Ryde and if you are in Selective. I am confused why the ranking of Ryde is lower, is it because the selective kids dont perform once in year 11/12, if the teachers are not good or the mainstream kids pull down the school ranking. Would it be difficult for me to compete against the selective kids at chatswood (which could impact my overall rank) or would i lose more if i am an average performer in the selective class of Ryde (and the cohort performs badly as Ryde hsc results are widely fluctuating) Any guidance will help! Thanks

 

[kkk579]

Thank you for your response. Can I ask which year you are in at Ryde and if you are in Selective. I am confused why the ranking of Ryde is lower, is it because the selective kids dont perform once in year 11/12, if the teachers are not good or the mainstream kids pull down the school ranking. Would it be difficult for me to compete against the selective kids at chatswood (which could impact my overall rank) or would i lose more if i am an average performer in the selective class of Ryde (and the cohort performs badly as Ryde hsc results are widely fluctuating) Any guidance will help! Thanks

lol probably coz the mainstream kids pull down the rank

 

[richaabatra]

lol probably coz the mainstream kids pull down the rank

So where will I benefit more..Performing highly in mainstream class of Chatswood or performing around average in the selective class of Ryde (i may perform better in ryde but this is only worst case) Thanks again

 

[kkk579]

So where will I benefit more..Performing highly in mainstream class of Chatswood or performing around average in the selective class of Ryde (i may perform better in ryde but this is only worst case) Thanks again

I’d say just say at Chatswood, u can get a high atar regardless of the school. If I were u I’d stay at chatswood, it’s much better ranked so I don’t see why one would go through the trouble all over again, (like purchasing uniform, getting familiar with teachers and school environment, making new friends) just to go to a lower ranked school. U seem pretty academically inclined so I’m sure youll do great at chatswood work hard and I’m sure you’ll be as great as the selective students there.

 

[richaabatra]

I'm currently in year 10 and in a GAT class (a class the school makes, its basically the top 30 students from mainstream placed into one class), in my opinion the reason why the school doesn't preform well consistently is because of the academic divide. There are students whom achieve top 1% scores and high distinction scores in national competitions and on the side of the spectrum, well, there are students who simply don't try at all. I wouldn't say the teachers are bad, the teachers are mostly pretty decent overall and I'm not sure how hard it would be for you to compete against selective students in Chatswood, I don't know to much about how Chatswood performs academically.

Great to know. So can I ask what dofference did you find between the mainstream and G& T classes and how hard did you work to get to the G&T. Chatswood has been consistently ranking in the 60s and is getting a new High School Building which I think will attract competition and teachers.

 

[richaabatra]

There's a pretty big difference between the GAT and mainstream classes. I was originally in a mainstream class and later got moved up to the GAT class after achieving 1st overall in my class. The type of content you learn is still similar to mainstream, however, there is a noticeable difference in the quantity of work, this applies to all classes except math. The top math classes at the Ryde learn much more advanced content compared to the lower classes. The major difference between the classes is the environment, basically everyone in the GAT class is 'high achieving'. I didn't really work that hard to get into the class, it was never a goal for me to get in, I just did my best and I managed to come 1st in my class (I got 4 A's in Semester 1 and 5 A's in Semester 2, no C's). The problem with going to a mainstream class in Chatswood is the classes you will be enrolled in, if you go to Ryde Secondary you are guaranteed to be in the top class for every subject, however, that might not be the case at Chatswood. I'm sure Chatswood will take your school report into consideration when choosing your class but, if they've already decided the classes and the top ones are full, you'll probably be placed in a 'middle-range' class and will have to work your way up. I knew someone at Ryde who was in mainstream and in a 'middle-range' math class and they ended up getting into James Ruse, but that probably won't happen at Chatswood.

Thanks tons. Would you think school rank matters and how. Also is individual performance important or the performance of the cohort. Really thanks a lot. You have given me great insights.

 

[richaabatra]

I think the ranking of a school is quite important, however, if your achieving high marks in your internal assessments (top 20% in the subject) at a school that's ranked in the top 100-150, such as Ryde, you won't get scaled down. Basically, the higher the ranking of your school, the more room for error you have. You can still get a really higher ATAR even if you go to a 'bad' school (like outside the top 250). I believe the individual performance is more important than the cohort, if your always achieving high marks you can't possibly get a bad ATAR. In my opinion I think its better to go to Ryde for years 7-10 but Chatswood for years 11-12. You could always just go to Ryde for year 10, and if you don't like it, apply to another selective school or just transfer to Chatswood.

Thanks for the details, personally am not very convinced with changing schools as need to adapt to not just the environment but also style of assessment and rapport with teachers need to be rebuilt. If I have to stay with one school, am going in to yr7 next year, which one do you suggest selective of Ryde despite the highly fluctuating ranking of Ryde and i have 40 minutes travel each side or mainstream of Chatswood where i will have to strive in the mainstream class but school rank is higher and its just next to my house so no travel.
Also as an aside does Ryde have aircon in all its classes, someone told me not though its not a deciding factor but am just curious.
Thanks tons.