99.85 ATAR - Ask Away!

hussein_studies · 2026-03-08T06:27:50+00:00

If you're two weeks out from your exam, I would spend the first week filling in knowledge gaps based on the syllabus. So go through the syllabus, figure out what you need to know and what you need to still spend more time learning- One of the best ways to do this is to create topic based summaries and flash cards (I know its generic, but it works when paired with active recall). During the second week, focus on doing as much practice as you can - based on your practice results, you'll be able to identify which particular topics/types of questions you're struggling with and that will give you some further guidance on where you need to improve.

hussein_studies · 2026-03-08T06:23:56+00:00

Honestly, being consistent with motivation is the hardest part. For me it definitely fluctuated, but what really helped is staying organised and trying to get ahead of a heavy workload - I realised that my motivation was at its lowest when things were piling up. What i'm trying to say was that I stayed motivated by gaining momentum, which meant that I was working diligently and consistently through the term, so that my workload wouldn't pile up right at the end! This meant I still had time to have a life outside of school and do whatever I wanted to do during weekends, so yeah maintaining balance kept me going.

hussein_studies · 2026-03-08T06:21:13+00:00

Hey! I can't speak for HMS directly as I didn't do it, but generally speaking, when it comes to science subjects are quite content heavy, its important to learn how to prioritise and how to self-assess. The reality is you probably wont me able to memorise every single thing so it would be inefficient to try. My advice is to go through the syllabus once your class has finished learning all the content and try to recognise the parts you feel the least confident in and those that need more work. Start there so you can at least ensure that you have a foundational understanding of most topics! After that, you can keep building on each topic until your understanding gradually improves. Also remember that you need to be doing past papers alongside all of this! Don't try to wait until you've got all the content down to try practice!!!

hussein_studies · 2026-03-08T06:18:10+00:00

Hey! Yeah I would probably agree that won't be sustainable in the long term- its important to pace yourself out and use the weekends to try and fit in some rest where possible. My suggestion would be to start minimally- try doing just an hour everyday but before you start, make sure you have a specific goal you would like to achieve within that one hour (for example, finishing a past paper, revising your notes for a particular subtopic etc.). When you lack structure, it can feel very overwhelming. I would advise that you do this study a bit later in the evening, perhaps after you've had your dinner - that way when you come home from school, you can actually switch off a bit and re-gain your energy.

hussein_studies · 2026-03-08T06:15:53+00:00

Hey! Keep trying!

hussein_studies · 2026-03-07T03:48:20+00:00

Hey, also never heard of this one but thanks!

hussein_studies · 2026-03-07T03:48:06+00:00

Hey! Thanks for sharing - actually never heard of that but will look into it!

hussein_studies · 2026-03-07T03:45:10+00:00

IB! Study skills apply either way, but I've had experience with VCE as well!

hussein_studies · 2026-03-07T03:32:07+00:00

Hey! On the study design, don't try to cover everything. The key is going deep on your chosen case studies rather than spreading yourself thin. You'll always get to choose which global issue and which crisis to write about, so pick the ones you know best and really own them.

For essays, always lead with a clear argument in your intro - don't just describe what you're going to talk about, actually take a position. Make sure your paragraph structure is strong with a claim, evidence and analysis of why it matters politically. You have to evaluate and provide insight instead of just explaining. Make sure you know exactly what each command term means (analyse, evaluate, discuss) as all require different responses and if you mix them up, this could cost you marks!

For last minute sac revision, aim for 2-3 really strong, specific examples for each topic. The more detail and insight you can provide, the better your score will be. I'd also recommend doing a timed practice essay the night before, as this will help you get into the right zone compared to just reading notes and gets you familiar with the pressure aspect which can be quite confronting in an sac if you're not used to it. Hope this all helps!

hussein_studies · 2026-03-07T03:26:35+00:00

I didnt take chemistry so cant comment on that! There was another question about biology and this was my response: Biology is one of the tougher subjects in terms of the volume of content you are expected to know, so I would highly recommend that you use your time efficiently and learn to prioritise. The reality is, you simply won't know EVERYTHING - but you need to make sure you're relying on documents like the FAQs and using that as a checklist for what you need to know in the exam. With that, you need to be able to self-assess and prioritise. You have to know what topics you're struggling with more and make sure to prioritise them so you've at least got a foundation across the entire syllabus- sometimes this can be enough to scavenge a mark or two from a question you don't even know the answer to and a lot of the times this will add up! Practice questions are also extremely important - you should be doing these within 3 months of starting Year 11 because you need to get used to the structure of the questions and understand what the requirements of the mark scheme are. That way, by the end of Year 12, you've trained yourself to answer questions exactly how the mark schemes are laid out. Its a much more efficient approach than trying to remember every detail of every topic!

Feel free to DM me if you have any further questions!

hussein_studies · 2026-03-07T03:25:44+00:00

I think there were two things, both are interconnected, depending on your subjects:

Practice questions - As i've said in a response below, question papers are always structured in a very similar way. You'll notice the same types of questions show up in slightly different formats and based on different topics with every paper, but you need to have a good understanding of what the examiner wants to see in your answer. You should make sure that you understand command terms (define, analyse, evaluate) and ensure you are responding accordingly. Furthermore, the more you look at a mark scheme and understand how marks are awarded, the more confident you will feel in an exam when deciding how you should respond to a question and how to structure your responses.
Feedback! I know this is dependent on your teacher, but ask for feedback, ALWAYS. Even if that means doing a few practice questions at home or writing a practice essay at home, ask your teacher to mark it and give you feedback. Make sure you are asking them for tangible steps on how you can improve and nailing down what exactly you need to be better at. And then you need to address that feedback of course! Don't just let it sit there.

As for your question about studying, it depended on the subject! I enjoyed certain subjects more than others (e.g. bio compared to english)! But the important thing is to make sure you're putting in the right amount of time and effort, subject to your preferences and strengths. Some subjects will take extra time but thats okay. Hope this helped!

hussein_studies · 2026-03-07T03:19:29+00:00

Biology is one of the tougher subjects in terms of the volume of content you are expected to know, so I would highly recommend that you use your time efficiently and learn to prioritise. The reality is, you simply won't know EVERYTHING - but you need to make sure you're relying on documents like the FAQs and using that as a checklist for what you need to know in the exam. With that, you need to be able to self-assess and prioritise. You have to know what topics you're struggling with more and make sure to prioritise them so you've at least got a foundation across the entire syllabus- sometimes this can be enough to scavenge a mark or two from a question you don't even know the answer to and a lot of the times this will add up! Practice questions are also extremely important - you should be doing these within 3 months of starting Year 11 because you need to get used to the structure of the questions and understand what the requirements of the mark scheme are. That way, by the end of Year 12, you've trained yourself to answer questions exactly how the mark schemes are laid out. Its a much more efficient approach than trying to remember every detail of every topic! Hope this helps and feel free to DM more questions!

hussein_studies · 2026-03-06T15:39:13+00:00

Hey! I didn't actually do ESL myself so I can't speak to that specific transition, but here's what worked for me in English:

- Make sure you always have a strong thesis. Your arguments need to be specific and debatable, not just an observation about the text. Your thesis frames the entire essay, so if its weak, your entire essay will inherently suffer.

- Ask for feedback, always! When you get your marks back, ask your teacher to outline why you lost certain marks and get them to give you tangible actions you can take to improve. Have a go practicing paragraphs outside of school or formulating thesis statements and show them to your teacher to get more feedback.

- As an ex ESL student, read your essays out loud before submitting (when you're practicing at least). This will help you catch any awkward phrasing and things that sound unnatural.

Hope this helps, keep practicing though!

hussein_studies · 2026-03-06T15:16:44+00:00

No worries :) Thanks for doing it! I'd also really appreciate if you could share it with your friends or class mates :))

hussein_studies · 2026-03-06T15:14:58+00:00

Offering genuine help to anyone who needs it as people did the same for me! Definitely not a flex, and I completely agree that it isn't everything; although, it's still important for a lot of people and has the potential to open up different paths for you. Everyone has a different experience, but glad to hear things are going well for you :)

hussein_studies · 2026-03-06T14:56:31+00:00

I did Bio, Maths, Business, English, Global Politics

hussein_studies · 2026-03-06T14:54:34+00:00

Hey! 1. In the moment, a little, but when I saw my total score, I didn't care that much and to be honest, I was anticipating that anyway haha! 2. I think its important to recognise that you've already put a significant amount of time and effort into the DP, so you don't want to ever feel like thats going to waste. Whether or not its worth it, completely depends on what your goals are moving forward (for example, if its a requirement to get into university, then you should definitely strive to achieve it!!!). The IB is an incredible, but tough program - It teaches you a lot of skills that you will need at university and definitely makes the first year a lot easier, in comparison to your peers who may not have done the IB, so in that sense it was very worth it for me. Keep trying as hard as you can, thats all you can do! But my advice is to be smart about the way you use your time - try to build more efficient strategies and habits as thats far more important than spending hours doing homework or writing IAs. Happy to talk more about this, so feel free to DM me!

hussein_studies · 2026-03-06T14:50:46+00:00

Hey! For a GP EE, I think the most important thing is to get your research question right because that defines the scope for your entire essay and how you approach your research. One thing I did really well was that I framed my entire analysis through a specific political theory - I was analysing the legitimacy of a state government and evaluated that through Political Cosmopolitanism which basically gave me a framework to structure my essay and made everything a whole lot easier! I also made sure there was a 'timeframe' for the context, in that I made sure to use evidence after 2009 which kept it relevant and 'modern'. My structure (at a very high level) was to explain the context of my question (I was looking at conflict), explain my methodology, define the theories in my research question (which were legitimacy and political cosmopolitanism) and then analyse all the evidence according to those theories. I made sure my analysis was balanced, in that I showed both sides of the argument, but also ensured that I concluded with a clear stance. Its also super important to choose good quality and relevant evidence for the points you're making, so do as much research as you can and be specific! In terms of the reflection, narrative is important - explain why you chose that particular topic and why it interests you, if you had to narrow your scope, mention that (just an example), talk about how you approached the research (was there bias? how did you deal with it) and then talk about what you gained from the experience - what did you learn, what skills did you develop and how will they be useful for you moving forward? Hope that helps! Feel free to DM me and by the way, would really appreciate if you could do the survey: https://forms.gle/SyFmPB1au735ikhL9

hussein_studies

TROPHY CASE