Jennifer’s Hacks: How I Am Preparing To Ace My HSC

Are you stumped about how to get your study habits together for the final stretch before the HSC? In this article, Jennifer, a Matrix Scholarship holder, shares how she is preparing to ace her HSC.

Jennifer’s Hacks: How I Am Preparing To Ace My HSC

To give myself the best shot at doing well in my HSC I have come up with an effective study plan. My goal is to be offered a place to study medicine and I hope my tips will help you too.  Read on for my HSC study preparation tips for English, Maths and Science.

Preparing for English

I think the best way to practise English is to constantly expose yourself to a range of questions that could possibly pop up and being able to back up your thesis with a thorough analysis.

My English study plans

To prepare for my HSC, I have attempted a variety of practice essay questions. This ensures that I build the skills to think on the spot and craft essays with a sustained thesis. During this time, I also went back to re-read or skim-read all my texts to refresh the main thematic concerns they cover and also hunt for unique and important quotes that I may have missed in previous studies.

My study plan is to write one essay a day, altering practice questions for the Common Module, Module A and Module B. Alongside this, I try to write one imaginative piece every week, inspired from my readings of that week responding to a trial Mod C question.

For paper 1, section 1, I attempt trial papers weekly as I think practising them too often can leave you feeling overwhelmed and a bit bored. Practising regularly will also train my hands to write quickly and legibly.

Closer to the HSC, I will attempt full mocks of the papers to not feel too much fatigue.

My study approaches for English

I think revisiting the rubric for each module is very helpful, in this way you can remind yourself of the keywords the markers are looking for and memorise the important concepts. On the day, you can sprinkle words from the rubric into your analysis, showing to the markers you understand the relevance of studying the texts.

Common Module Short Answer prep

For paper 1, section 1, there is a great abundance of Trial papers from 2019 and 2020 which give you a clear idea of how it is set out. Attempting these papers allows me to understand the time pressures and how I should be articulating my analysis – answering the question thoroughly as I focus on the concept of the question.

My school teacher reminded our class of the unbelievable number of students who do not answer the given question; instead, going off on a tangent about another aspect of the text. I think underlining the concept you should focus on helps you constantly circle back to that idea and allows you to pick the most appropriate techniques in the unseen texts to analyse.

In my experience, I roughly allocate two minutes per mark which allows me enough time for section 2.

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Common Module Essay prep

For paper 1, section 2, I have also been attempting trial and past HSC papers.

The sample HSC questions are very valuable as they make me analyse my chosen text from different angles- focusing on the concept of the human experience and discussing the role of form. For my text, I have memorised important quotes under specific thematic concerns like prejudice or the role of women that I can analyse according to the stimulus on the day. Also, I think remembering famous quotes is beneficial because they may be better suited to the analysis than my prepared quotes.

Paper 2 Mod A and B prep

For paper 2, Module A and B, I have undertaken a similar approach by just practising writing essays under time limits for Trial questions. This gives me a guide for how long I should be allocating for each paragraph to ensure that I manage my time wisely in the real exam.

Similar to my Common Module preparation, I have memorised a variety of quotes under specific thematic concerns. For Textual Conversations, I believe clearly defining the assonances and dissonances of the texts is vital, hence I try to weave aspects of each text into each other, using words from the rubric, to convey my understanding of the role of different contexts on composer’s ideas.

Module C prep

For Module C, I think creating an authentic character is essential. One that you can utilise easily and be able to mould into any stimulus given on the day.

When you think of the basics: who, what, where, when and how, you have developed a deep understanding of the character to be able to describe their thought processes and actions when placed in any scenario.

As our writing is influenced by others, I have been reading a variety of fiction, especially short stories to draw inspiration from. This helps me develop new ideas and exposes myself to a range of scenarios that I can parallel if the stimulus sees fit. Moreover, I have revisited the Module C prescribed text and noted down key language forms and features the composers used so that I can employ the same techniques and analyse them in my reflection.

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Overall, I think English Advanced is a very challenging subject that requires a lot of time to prepare, however, if you tackle each section one at a time, you will be able to craft beautiful writing.

Preparing for Maths

For Maths, I have been going through some new 2021 trial papers that my school has given me. This helps me expose myself to the new syllabus’ questions and also clearly identify topics I still need more work on.

After working on these,  I would look through textbooks, Matrix Theory Books and Work Books to find questions on those topics to practise. I also, attempt past HSC questions to get used to the formatting of the questions.

Practising for the exams under time pressure is very important, so I aim to do this once a week to get used to the exam stress.

I also recommend having a page of notes where you write important formulas not on the formula sheet, or reminding yourself of common Year 11 identities that you may have forgotten. I think that studying for Maths exams is very straightforward as you just have to expose yourself to as many questions as possible.

Practising very hard problems trains you for the dreaded question 16! But doing easy questions helps you ensure that you make no silly mistakes in the actual exam.

Typically a week or two of maths study would look something like this:

Preparing for science

I am currently studying Chemistry and Biology and am taking a similar approach to Maths revising for these exams.

I would regularly read my notes to remember key concepts, daily or every couple of days to be able to remember key theory and practical procedures. This helps in being able to answer the long response questions towards the end of the exams.

I use Quizlet flashcards for science.

Making Quizlet flashcards out of my notes by asking exam-like questions activates my memory recall and helps me articulate answers better.

After making these, I begin the practice papers. There is an abundance of trial papers online from 2019 to attempt, as these questions expose me to all kinds of easy to hard calculation problems and might ask me for a detailed explanation of a specific topic I’m unsure of. Doing this then leads to understanding the topic of the question overall by reading online articles, watching explanations on YouTube or going back through my Matrix Theory and Work Books to come up with a band 6 response.

In this way, I really understand how the mechanism works and am able to convey that to the markers.

I think revisiting the NESA website to understand the meanings of the keywords is important to be able to maximise your marks.

Similarly to maths, I plan to do one full mock exam a week as this helps in managing my time and ensuring I don’t make silly mistakes. Also, I like to underline important words as I read the question stem, reminding myself what to think.

For the long response questions, I think my teachers’ advice is very valuable, to plan your answer. Write in dot points what you are going to write about so you have a plan to answer the question appropriately and get the marks you deserve.

My study plan currently looks like this: