How I Scored An ATAR Of 98.65 – Fiona Chen

1. Don’t Freak Out!

At the beginning of year 12, we tend to all say “Oh no, everything counts!”, and that tends to freak everyone out. Yes, although it does count, you must not forget that this isn’t the be all and end all of your lives! As long as you put in effort and know that you’ve tried your best, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. HSC is more or less just an effort game; if you put in the effort, there is no doubt you’ll be rewarded with a decent ATAR. The biggest mistake that I and some of my friends made was pressuring ourselves too hard to do well, resulting in too much stress and overworked brains for the actual exam.

2. Consistency

In year 12, there can be no more dependence on energy drinks and staying up studying on the night before an exam. It’s all about consistent effort throughout the term, throughout the year. Although it may seem hard to suddenly jump into this rigorous habit of studying, you can ease into it by slowly increasing your study time each day until it becomes a habit to sit down and focus for 3 hours on a school night and around 6/7 on weekends . But of course, don’t overwork. There must be a balance between eating healthy, resting up (sleeping for 8-9 hours) and socialising.

3. Do Your Homework!

Completing homework is a significant contributor to success! For Mathematics, completing set tasks is crucial because newer topics may assume knowledge and build on the basics of a particular topic. This means without establishing and being comfortable with the fundamentals, harder levels of maths will be difficult to understand and will take you more time to understand concepts while your cohort has moved on. This carries over to many other subjects like Science and Music, so make sure you’re up to date with homework!

With all that said, enjoy Year 12! It sure was the best year for me even with the work load. Remember, it’s your last year of high school so treasure it! And most importantly, I wish you all the best for the upcoming HSC, time will fly by and you will realise that the HSC isn’t actually that scary after all!