so after selling my soul to vce these past 2 years i ended up with an end result of a 97.15 ATAR which for those of you who don’t know is out of 99.95 for all australian students. while this may not be an outstanding score to some, i just wanted to share some tips for those going into vce that i wish i would’ve known before i did!
✓ put your mental health above everything
i spent countless afternoons and nights, browsing youtube and obsessing over my favourite band feeling varying levels of guilt. however, without this down time i would’ve gone insane. no one can study 24/7 and no matter how important your grades may be, your health always comes first. so know your limits and don’t feel guilty for taking a break once in a while.
✘ don’t get caught up in the competitive side of vce
at the end of the day, vce is in fact a competition where you are ranked against everyone else doing your subjects. that being said, don’t get caught up in all the drama of who got the top score and instead, focus your energy on doing the best you can. i admit, i was a bit disappointed when i didn’t see my name on the list of english distinctions at my school, however this motivated me further and i ended up getting a better score than almost everyone on that list!
✘ don’t be afraid to switch in and out of subjects!
out of all my friends, i would say that i dropped and picked up the most subjects including 2 that i started new in year 12. whilst this may have been a risky move because i had no background knowledge, one of them ended up being my best subject! don’t feel pressured to stick with the subjects you hate and make sure you complete all your prerequisite subjects for uni!
✓ do the subjects which you have a genuine interest in
at the start of year 11 i chose to do chemistry and viscom, however ended up hating both! even though chemistry scales up a lot, it is way better to do well in a subject that you love, even if it may scale down a lot. for example, i scored a study score of 45 in business management which is a subject that scales down a lot. however because i loved it, i put more energy into it and got a better score than i would’ve in chemistry, and the scaling down doesn’t affect as much when you get a good score!
✘ don’t quit the things you love just for the sake of year 12
it’s quite common to stop doing your sport, extra-curricular or job during vce as people think school is more important. while this may be true, doing these activities beside your schooling may just motivate you to study harder. for example, i was the only one that kept my job out of my friends however this meant that whenever i did have spare time, i forced myself to study because i had less time than others. this way, i studied smarter, made some money and have job experience for the future!
✓ start saying yes to things more often
year 12 can be a really fun year if you expose yourself to all of the 18ths and parties that go on throughout the year. as an introvert myself, it was so easy to just stay at home instead of going out but when you look back on your year, you’re not going to remember those nights spent studying, but rather those nights spent with your friends, laughing and making memories! that said, partying and clubbing every weekend is probably not wise.
✓ put your own creative and original twist on your essays
teachers and examiners have most likely taught their subjects for a number of years and read the same essays over and over again. this is why, having an original voice and using different, unique examples and quotes will benefit you in the long run. for example, in my exams and sacs i strived to use motifs and symbols that were not so obvious, which shows a deeper understanding of the novels. this way, you can stand out from the thousands of essays that the examiners read each year. this also works for oral examinations where you should come up with original content to the most commonly asked questions.
✓ find your own productive study space and study buddies
towards the end of the year i found that the most effective place to study was at a particular library in a particular section of one room. furthermore, in order to make sure i did not get distracted i studied alone or with a particular friend. we would only talk to each other during our breaks and the silence of the library motivated us to put our heads down and work. whilst being with friends is fun, you may find that not all of them are particularly productive to study with!
✓ treat exams like one of your tests or sacs
while the thought of exams and your whole 13 years of schooling boiling down to one paper may be daunting, just think of them as another one of your tests. stay relaxed and calm on the day, don’t be freaked out by anyone else and just do the best you can. fun fact: i had a particular song stuck in my head throughout lots of my exams and while this was annoying, it helped me to calm down and not be too stressed doing my exam which produces the best results.
✓ find out the best ways to study for each subject
i took a wide variety of subjects spanning from english, lit, french, eco, maths methods and french. for english and lit i would get my friend to choose from a list of essay topics and forced myself to write timed essays on them. for maths i completed as many exams and practice questions as i could. for eco, i made notes and brainstorms on every area of study on the course. and lastly for french, i memorised idioms and phrases that made my writing more authentic.
year 12 was definitely a memorable year and while i may not be an expert at all in vce, these were my takeaways from the year. while this was a reflection on my year, i hoped it helped at least someone out there. don’t hesistate to send me any questions you may have here and good luck for all your future studies. i believe in you and you should believe in yourself too!
refreshing my mind on some of my psychology notes after i got questions wrong on them on a recent sac. i’m starting to really prove to myself just how rewarding studying can be. my psych teacher isn’t the greatest at what she does, and a lot of the kids in my class have given up, but with a little extra effort(and a lot of self-teaching) i managed to scrape up a B+ on the sac, the highest mark in the class, while most people got a D+ or less!! hard work definitely pays off kiddos.
