Working out where you sit in the state... (1 Viewer)

[WileyWanimal]

Hi,
I wonder quite a bit about where I sit overall in NSW in certain subjects. Particularly in languages (I do French Beginners, Italian Continuers and Italian Extension), I'm coming 1st in my school, but because of small class sizes and the fact that I come from a country area and I just can't know whether my teachers mark hard or easily, I would be interesting in having some idea as to roughly how to figure out where I would sit overall...
How do you guys get an idea of where you're at? Just by how confident you are with past papers???
In general for all subjects, how do you get an idea. Do those of you in Sydney have more contact with people from other school doing your subjects?
Thanks... Will be interested to read your thoughts...

 

[J280]

Hi,
I wonder quite a bit about where I sit overall in NSW in certain subjects. Particularly in languages (I do French Beginners, Italian Continuers and Italian Extension), I'm coming 1st in my school, but because of small class sizes and the fact that I come from a country area and I just can't know whether my teachers mark hard or easily, I would be interesting in having some idea as to roughly how to figure out where I would sit overall...
How do you guys get an idea of where you're at? Just by how confident you are with past papers???
In general for all subjects, how do you get an idea. Do those of you in Sydney have more contact with people from other school doing your subjects?
Thanks... Will be interested to read your thoughts...

If you really want to know, I think you're gonna have to get numerous people/a HSC marker to mark your work..otherwise there's not much else you can do, except making sure you do as well as you can in the external exams

 

[anomalousdecay]

Going to a 600+ ranked school, I could never get an accurate reading.

So I was surprised to be in the top 3000 in the state

I had belief I could B6 everything and so I nearly did for my main 8 units (everything 88+). And given that less people got a B6 in these subjects in previous years my ranking comparative to the state would get a B6.

Though when it came to English, my teachers said I was B6 material but got B4 :O

And yes they were HSC markers for my modules.

 

[Shadowdude]

This is why you get ATAR estimates.

 

[WileyWanimal]

This is why you get ATAR estimates.

Yes, of course, and I have done plenty of ATAR estimating, but it's hard to know what marks/percentile to put into the ATAR calculator if you only have your own class and your own teacher to judge by.


So basically, I can never really know... Maybe HSC study days will give me a better idea. Sucks about your English mark, anomalousdecay.

 

[LoveHateSchool]

Hi,
I wonder quite a bit about where I sit overall in NSW in certain subjects. Particularly in languages (I do French Beginners, Italian Continuers and Italian Extension), I'm coming 1st in my school, but because of small class sizes and the fact that I come from a country area and I just can't know whether my teachers mark hard or easily, I would be interesting in having some idea as to roughly how to figure out where I would sit overall...
How do you guys get an idea of where you're at? Just by how confident you are with past papers???
In general for all subjects, how do you get an idea. Do those of you in Sydney have more contact with people from other school doing your subjects?
Thanks... Will be interested to read your thoughts...

As a prior country student, I do sympathise that it is harder to know where you stack up because you don't physically see the other schools and cohort performance (and often smaller so less people to compare with) can fluctuate wildly each year. Also, you have to be very rigorous that you are taught everything you need and need to try and see if any teachers at your school have been HSC markers for that input, as there is often a less percentage so. And just because you don't see the competition, means you have to fight complacency because coming 1st in all your subs makes you feel super chill, but in reality it just means you have to fight externally because noone else will give you good internal marks.

If you PMed me with your school and ranks, I could give you a rough ballpark.

This is why you get ATAR estimates.

Except be careful, some schools are terrible at estimating because they literally don't understand the HSC system. My 'careers advisor' was woefully off with all her estimates, where mine were quite close for my cohort.

 

[Shadowdude]

Yes, of course, and I have done plenty of ATAR estimating, but it's hard to know what marks/percentile to put into the ATAR calculator if you only have your own class and your own teacher to judge by.


So basically, I can never really know... Maybe HSC study days will give me a better idea. Sucks about your English mark, anomalousdecay.

As in, ATAR estimates here on the forum. You give your school rank, ranks in your subjects and... well, that's it - though if you want to add extra stuff you're welcome to.

They're reasonably accurate.

 

[WileyWanimal]

As in, ATAR estimates here on the forum. You give your school rank, ranks in your subjects and... well, that's it - though if you want to add extra stuff you're welcome to.

They're reasonably accurate.

Ahhh, okay thanks.

 

[mysterymarkplz]

It really depends on your school and the subjects you do, its great that you're coming first in italian but in comparisson to subjects like MX2, Phys chem where alot of people do it its very difficult to measure yourself relative to someone else, perhaps ask your teacher? Or do some HSC past papers and see how much you know and then look at the marking criteria of each year, it'll give you a rough indicator of your level and what is expected of band 6.

 

[anomalousdecay]

Yes, of course, and I have done plenty of ATAR estimating, but it's hard to know what marks/percentile to put into the ATAR calculator if you only have your own class and your own teacher to judge by.


So basically, I can never really know... Maybe HSC study days will give me a better idea. Sucks about your English mark, anomalousdecay.

School rank may help in estimating.

Then again my cohort made my school jump up 150 places which is why we all (students at my school) got higher than expected (because I got more B6's myself than the whole previous cohort lol).

I don't really care about it anymore because I got the ATAR, did well in my relevant subjects for uni and that's all I needed.

 

[enoilgam]

It can be very difficult to see where you sit in the state, especially if you go to a non-selective school or a school which often sits outside the top 100. In subjects like maths and to a lesser extent science, you can get a fair idea when you do past papers and such, because obviously the marking is quite objective and there are databases on the net which show alignment. However, with english and humanities subjects, it is far more difficult because the marking standards can vary greatly especially if your teachers arent HSC markers.

So you really need to talk to people in the know - get your essays marked by HSC markers and focus your attention on past papers. That's really all you can do - you cant afford to become complacent in a run-of-the-mill school because so many students greatly over estimate their capabilities.