Summarise essay dot-points that have extended response requirements

It is a good idea to know which parts of the syllabus correspond to essay-type exam responses. As you learn the course, always cross reference the content you cover with the syllabus. Become strongly familiar with the syllabus dot-points for each module. You will notice that most subsections in each module (i.e. the numbered sub-parts in each module) will have one or two dot-points that require ‘discuss’ or ‘assess’ or ‘evaluate’ – words which require students to be able to synthesise content and form coherent arguments.

Familiarise yourself with these dot-points. Revise related content, or ask your teacher / tutor about the relevant issues for each, then make a short summary sheet (probably half a page for each) in dot-point form to lay out everything that’s relevant.

Here’s a couple of examples of how you might roughly summarise the essay requirements for a sample module.

HSC Chemistry

The Acidic Environment

1. Summarise the industrial sources of SO2 and NOx and evaluate the reasons for concern about their release into the environment. For example: SO2 is from coal burning and car exhaust, and causes acid rain. NOx is from automobile exhaust mainly, (older cars, or malfunctioning catalytic converters) and causes photochemical smog, acid rain etc.

2. Trace the developments in understanding of acid / base reactions. E.g. understand the main developments in our definitions of acids / bases, outline the concept of conjugates, discuss the validity of current definition of acids / bases compared to past definitions.

3. Assess the use of neutralisation as a safety measure / to fix acid spills. E.g. outline what buffers are and how weak bases can be useful in neutralising acids. Understand why a weak base instead of a strong base is used. Explain neutralisation and buffer systems in terms of Le Chatelier’s principle.
HSC Physics

Space

1. Contribution of Tsiolkovsky, Obert, Goddard, Esnault-Pelterie, O’Neill, or von Braun to the development of space exploration (i.e. modern rocketry). E.g. Robert H. Goddard, considered as ‘father of modern rocketry’ developed the world’s first liquid-fuel rocket, pioneered research into multi-stage rockets (allowed astronauts to reach the moon), research into gyroscopic stabilisation, and steerable thrusters, allowing greater, safer control of rockets.

2. Discuss issues with safe reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. E.g. backward-facing astronauts (eyeball-in effect is less stressful than eyeball-out), radio blackout prevents communication to ground base during most of re-entry. Optimum angle of re-entry ensures probe does not skip off atmosphere, or undergo excessive deceleration and heating. Heat shields carry away heat. Parachutes are required for final deceleration, or in the case of a shuttle, gliding like a plane.

3. Describe, evaluate and interpret the MM experiment’s results. E.g. the MM experiment produced a null result for the existence of the aether. This result alone does not disprove the aether’s existence, but it does not contradict Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity. The latter was developed further and was successful in predicting real-world phenomena, such as time dilation / length contraction observed between inertial frames with relative motion.

4. Discuss the relationship between theory and evidence supporting it, using Einstein’s predictions. E.g. Einstein’s thought experiments were merely conjectures supported by logical deduction – at the time, there was no experimental way to verify Einstein’s predictions. In modern times, with the advent of atomic clocks and space flight, we are able to experimentally verify Einstein’s predictions as correct. The relationship is theory of the unknown comes from deduction of what is known, and experimental verification follows. If real-world results differ, the theory must be modified or superseded. This is the scientific method.

Do this for the entire syllabus, by first identifying which syllabus dot-points require an extended response in order to be tested in an exam. These dot-points are guaranteed to come up in your exams, either in your first assessment, half yearly, HSC trials, or the external HSC exams. Don’t leave this till last minute – familiarise yourself as you go through the course, then revise and re-familiarise. Be sure to include all of the relevant issues, some of which are latent and require deeper analysis. E.g. is Ethanol truly greenhouse neutral? You can argue yes or no, depending on what evidence you include in your response.

Finally, don’t be afraid of those 6 mark or 7 mark discuss / evaluate / assess exam questions. As long as you’re familiar with most of the relevant issues that particular question entails, you will be fine. Good luck!

While success in HSC English requires a different way of thinking compared to other subjects, it can be broken down into a systematic approach, just like maths or science. Although prescribed texts may vary depending on school, or change over time (AOS: Belonging won’t be around forever!) the factors to success remain the same.

We’ve included some useful tips to improve your chances at the subject, but the best way is to seek out a high quality HSC English Tutoring programme to assist. The right support and guidance can make a world of difference in this subject.

Get your hands on model responses

The rule here is: the more you see, the better you get. Try to get your hands on annotated model answers that break down the key elements to a good response. Pay particular attention to what markers assign marks to. Often a response cannot be completely broken down into where each mark is awarded and only makes sense when considered as a whole. Of course, you’ll also need to have a go at your fair share – homework that gives you practice at actual HSC-exam style questions will be useful here. This leads onto the next point:

Prepare early

Use your limited time wisely. Every HSC student has the same amount of time leading up to the HSC – yet some do well and some don’t. A lot of this comes down to effective time management. Take advantage of year 11 as a dry-run for year 12. Your school may prescribe irrelevant texts for the year 11 modules, but you’ll have freedom to select HSC-relevant texts to use as your additional texts. Do this and you’ll get to familiarise yourself early with HSC texts while satisfying year 11 requirements – hitting 2 birds with one stone.

Avoid verbosity

In an exam response, you won’t be impressing anyone with awkward phrasing and big words that can be condensed into a more succinct version. HSC markers are more impressed by your ability to be succinct and articulate clear thought-out arguments in an efficient manner (i.e. avoiding unnecessarily long phrasing).

Using big words

A good test for the suitable use of ‘big words’ is – if there’s a shorter way to say the same thing with simpler words, choose that way. Only use ‘big words’ for their specific meaning, if that meaning is what you specifically intend.

Essay intros – keep them short

Avoid essay intros that go on for 50% to 75% of the page (depending on how big your writing is). Write your thesis (the point your essay argues), and introduce the texts you will be using to illustrate your thesis. Then move onto the body of the essay. More often than not, you’ll find you have a lot to talk about / write down in your allocated time, so it’s best to spend this time writing the meaty parts of your essay, rather than on a long-winded introduction. But be careful to always link your body paragraphs back to your central argument. Always revisit your thesis – everything you write must support your thesis you introduced in your introduction.

Submit your practice essays to teachers for marking

Take advantage of the resources available to you! Your English teachers at school would be (read: should be) happy to help you maximise your HSC English mark. Whenever you complete a practice essay, submit it to them for marking and feedback. Ask for detailed comments, and ask for feedback. Ask specifically where the lost marks could have been gained. Incorporate what you learn each time into your next attempt – there’s no shortcut here. The more you practice, the more well-structured and polished your final essays will be in the all-important HSC exams.

1. Preliminary English Advanced (year 11)

2. HSC English Advanced ( year 12)

Our English Advanced courses are developed by senior HSC markers. Unlike other tutoring centres, our English Advanced course is text specific – that means you learn only what’s directly relevant to your prescribed text. We do not waste time with half-relevant generalised content. Each weekly class will be 2 hours long, and continue throughout the year.

Preliminary English Advanced

The preliminary course will be a ‘dry run’ practice for the HSC, starting in Term 1 of year 11, and ending in term 3. In year 11, students will gain a wide exposure to different HSC-relevant texts. Students will gain early exposure to the requirements of the modules A, B and C, and will be shown how to analyse these texts for relevant issues to each module.

Exam-style homework will be marked according to HSC marking criteria and give students an early insight into how a response can be broken down as per the marking criteria. Students gain a systematic perspective as we demystify the factors of success by showing students countless examples of model answers, and giving them the opportunity to develop their own.

In the second half of term 3, students will get an early start into Area of Study: Belonging, giving them a solid foundation and introduction into the year 12 content, which becomes assessable for the HSC.

HSC English Advanced

The HSC course will start in the following term 4, and end in term 3 of year 12 (4 terms long in total). In addition to this, there will be holiday courses where students get a chance to revise, consolidate knowledge and further develop essential skills, such as essay writing and textual analysis.

The course starts with AOS for 12 weeks (continuing from the Preliminary English Advanced introduction to AOS), then coverage of the modules. Our classes and materials are specific to each student’s prescribed text at school (we don’t mix students doing different texts into the same class). Classes are interactive, fun and personalised – the class teacher will remain closely updated to each of his or her student’s progress, and all homework is marked by the class teacher, not someone else.

Students learn by analysing model answers with a breakdown of where marks are awarded for each type of question. Throughout the year, continue to build on their experience through doing exam-style homework which reflects all possible variations of HSC exam questions.

Now taking enrollments

We are now accepting enrolments for year 11s entering year 12 in Term 4 2010. The first classes will be in early October. To enquire or give an expression of interest, give us a call on (02) 8007 6824. To enrol, we will need to know what prescribed texts you are doing at school for HSC 2011.

HSC coaching is an interesting phenomenon, in that it is a symptom of the extremely competitive HSC environment, where students compete for limited places in highly sought after University courses. The fact that an ever-increasing portion of students who score a high ATAR have received some sort of HSC coaching during their senior study makes HSC coaching a self-fulfilling requirement of success to many. What this means is more and more students are finding that they need to attend some sort of HSC coaching service (whether it be private or class tuition) just so they can keep the playing field level with their peers at school. Of course, there are always students who manage to score a high ATAR without any outside assistance, but those remain of the minority.

However, just because HSC coaching is self-fulfilling, this does not discredit the many tangible benefits it brings to young HSC students. Of course, students gain a direct benefit with extra study and exposure to coursework, however there are often additional, less direct benefits of coaching that are often overlooked.

HSC Coaching Provides a Structured Course Schedule

This is one area that many schools, particularly public schools in disadvantaged areas, suffer from (sometimes even selective schools!). Schools often cram the teaching of several difficult topics in a short amount of time after the school’s HSC trial exams are finished. For example, in Maths Extension 2, later topics like Mechanics and Harder 3 Unit are given a fraction of the attention they require, because the faculty could not teach the early part of the course fast enough. Students from such schools have the mindset of “damage minimisation” for the topics that were neglected at school – they are left in the exam struggling to piece together the information from vague memory, because the class teacher had rushed through it so fast to fit it all in the last few weeks before the HSC exams.

Another example is science subjects like HSC Physics and Chemistry – the majority of schools decide to have their internal HSC trials after teaching 3 of the core modules, leaving the last Option topic to be taught in the weeks after the trials. However, in these final few weeks before the HSC exams, teachers also need to allocate time to review the entire course, and students probably have other subjects to worry about before time runs out. The net effect is that the Option topic is often rushed and poorly covered by schools.

An organised HSC coaching / tutoring company will be able to teach the course content in advance of the pace at schools, avoiding the need to rush through and neglect the final topics / modules of a subject in the last few weeks before the HSC exams. You may be wondering, if HSC coaching companies can teach at a faster pace, why don’t schools do this in the first place? The answer is because the students who attend HSC coaching are generally of higher calibre, and can cope with the faster pace, whereas schools need to teach at a pace suitable for the entire class, which may contain lower calibre students, or students who simply don’t care.

HSC Coaching Exposes Students to Healthy Competition

Many students who attend a class tuition type of HSC coaching find that they can mingle with peers outside of their school. The more advanced students often feel unchallenged by their peers at school, and find that high assessment ranks within the school are not difficult to achieve. The benefit of meeting peers outside of school is that students who attend HSC coaching tend to care more about their HSC success and share the goal of ATAR maximisation. By mingling and associating with like minded and higher calibre peers outside of school, HSC coaching can prevent a student from settling in his or her comfort zone from being unchallenged at school.

HSC Coaching Forces Students to Work More in their Critical Final Years of High School

HSC students, still young and relatively inexperienced, often lack the self-discipline to maintain a healthy work ethic necessary for success. While they should have been taught good values, like the importance of setting goals and working hard to achieve them, they still need external forces to keep them on the path to future success.

A quality HSC coaching service will impose a balanced workload on students, and provide a framework for students to set their own goals and work hard throughout the year in achieving them.

For example, the weekly requirement to leave the house and attend classes outside of school to study keeps students’ minds focused on the goal at hand – it is a constant reminder of what their goals are for year 11 and 12, and what they are working towards (entry into a sought-after University course). Being constantly challenged by moving through coursework at a faster pace keeps students focused, and on the ball. When their first exams come, it would seem like revision to tutored students, allowing them to achieve above and beyond the class standard. Early success builds self esteem, sets a precedent of high achievement for the student early in the year, and allows him or her to gather momentum for continued success.

So those are some of the indirect benefits of HSC coaching. What students and parents need to realise is that the overall benefit of HSC coaching is not simply limited to extra study, but also the indirect benefits discussed above.

The answer depends on whether you understand how scaling works. Most students will decide to split their time roughly evenly across their subjects, and for the most part, this works well. The problem, is, this is not the absolute best solution if your goal is to maximise your ATAR.

Remember that your ATAR is a rank which is determined solely by the scaled marks you score at the end of your HSC. The amount of scaled marks you score depends on two things:

• Your percentile rank within each subject
• The subject’s scaling

Well you can’t control the second point (since you’ve already chosen your subjects by now) but you can affect the first point. If you look at the statistics published in Table A3 by the UAC scaling report each year, you’ll get to see what scaled marks are scored for each percentile rank. One thing you’ll notice is that the scaled marks increase at a heavily diminishing rate as percentile rank increases. In other words, all HSC subjects experience diminishing returns on your effort. Put even more simpler, the harder you try at a subject you’re already very good at, the less additional rewards you will get.

For example, you may get 49/50 for scoring in the 99th percentile in Maths Extension 2, and 48/50 for scoring in the 75th percentile. This means if you beat 99% of your peers in this subject, you get 49/50 scaled marks per unit (or 98/100 for 2 units), and you’ll get 48/50 scaled marks per unit for beating 75% of your peers. But improving yourself from the 75th percentile to the 99th percentile is a very hard thing to do!

But on the other end of the scale, you will notice that improving your rank from the 25th percentile to the 50th percentile will result in a huge jump in scaled mark. For example, in 2009, the 25th percentile for Physics was 21/50 scaled marks per unit, but the 50th percentile will give you 28/50 marks per unit – a huge jump! Certainly, the jump from the 25th to the 50th percentile is much easier than jumping from the 75th to the 99th percentile!

Now, if you understand all of the above, consider once again the question of how to split your study time. Of course, if you’re already very good at some subjects, spend less time on those subjects, and more time on the subjects you’re struggling with. This rings especially true for subjects that already give very high scaling – e.g. the Extension subjects. You’ll find that these subjects give higher rate of diminishing returns on your study effort than lower-scaling subjects. So basically, if you’re already very good at a subject, spend less time on it, and more time on your weaker subjects.

This all may sound like common sense, but it is actually backed by solid statistics – if you know how HSC subject scaling affects you, you can work it to your advantage! The way the ATAR system has always worked is that it gives the highest ATARs to all-rounders. So make sure you don’t neglect any of your subjects!

Dux College is a Sydney-based HSC coaching centre specialising in HSC Maths, Extension 1, Extension 2, Physics and Chemistry tutoring. Our Maths, Physics and Chemistry tuition programs are intensive and results driven, aimed at giving our students the skills to achieve Band 6, and their highest potential UAI.

The decision of whether to accelerate in a HSC subject is often made early, often near the end of year 9. This is because the student must complete the required Preliminary component of the course during his/her year 10 (as an elective). The school must approve this, and generally only the top students in each school that offers accelerated learning will be approved to accelerate in a HSC subject.

Certain HSC subjects are more commonly accelerated than other subjects; subjects such as Mathematics (2 unit), Physics Chemistry, Economics, Biology etc are examples.

Students who accelerate in a HSC subject are often of above-average ability; after all, they were determined by their school teachers to be capable of learning the course content at an accelerated pace. In terms of achievement, accelerated students often occupy between a fifth and a third of the top 20 ranks in NSW for their subjects, even though they represent a much lower fraction of the total candidature.

Accelerated students also enjoy a number of advantages, such as having a lighter workload during their year 12, or having more completed units that can potentially contribute towards their ATAR (diversifying their risk). However, accelerated students also face a number of unique challenges stemming from being required to complete an entire HSC subject on year ahead of schedule. In this article, we’ll go through some of the benefits and challenges that come with accelerating in a subject.

Benefits of accelerating

Earlier exposure to HSC

Accelerated students are exposed to the HSC assessment regime at school (internal assessments) as well as the final HSC exam one year earlier than their peers. This is probably the biggest benefit of accelerating a HSC subject. Accelerated students therefore have more experience at doing HSC-style exams and HSC-style internal assessments than their peers by the time they reach year 12.

Additionally, because students only accelerate in one subject in most cases, the risk of that one subject having a big adverse effect is relatively low. The accelerated subject is essentially a ‘trial run’ for the student to learn the ropes early, before the main event that is year 12.

Lighter workload during year 12

Accelerated students, having completed at least 2 units by the time they reach year 12, would have lightened their workload by the same amount. That is, students can choose to do as little as 8 units in year 12, allowing for more time to focus on fewer subjects. This is obviously advantageous!

Another possibility is students can choose to take on more units than they otherwise would be able to take. This diversifies the risk of doing badly in any individual subject across more subjects – since the ATAR is calculated from your top 10 units, if you’ve completed 14 or 16 units after your HSC, you have less chance that a particular subject you did badly in would be within your top 10 units.

Subjects with Extension levels

Say you accelerate in a subject with Extension levels, such as Maths or English. For Mathematics (2 unit) in particular (probably the most commonly accelerated HSC subject), the content learned in that course is completely relevant to Extension 1 and 2, which builds upon the concepts covered in 2 unit. The majority of 2 unit accelerants go onto doing Extension 2 in year 12 – these students would have had a total of 3 years to grasp relevant maths concepts, starting from year 10.

Challenges of accelerating

Accelerants are faced with the unique situation of doing an actual HSC exam in year 11. This can be daunting, as accelerants would have one year less practice and exposure to the whole process: the style of exams and internal assessments, as compared to their peers. This lack of experience usually translates to relatively lower ability in exam skills, such as structuring answers properly for full or partial marks. and effective time management during exams.

A more hurried schedule in the subject means accelerants notice less patterns / links / connections between aspects of the subject – a factor that is important to success in every subject.

Accelerants may also find that their year 11 schedule will be usually busy at times, since their school would likely implement assessment schedules without much consideration for accelerants. There may be assessment periods that coincide with the year 12 assessment period, and during exam periods, accelerants may find they have 2 exams on the same day.

However, these are mere challenges to be overcome, as the benefits outweigh the cost. Year 9 students: if offered at your school, you should consider taking an accelerated HSC subject.

Mathematics (2 unit)

We offer a tailored Accelerated Mathematics (2 unit) tutoring course which is specifically designed to help year 11s doing their HSC for Mathematics (2 unit) in the same year. We believe accelerated students have slightly different needs to normal year 12 students.

For more information on our Accelerated Mathematics (2 unit) tutoring course, click Mathematics (2 unit)

• Cross out incorrect answers with a single line

HSC Markers read everything that can be read, even if you’ve crossed out an answer. If you’ve written an answer but change your mind afterwards and write another answer, cross your old answer out with a single diagonal line using your pen. Do not use liquid paper. This ensures that even if your final answer is wrong, there’s more chance you’ll receive partial marks for the question (as long as the marker can see you did SOME things correctly).

• Show ALL working out

Some students prefer to write things out step by step – that’s generally the better / safer approach, as showing working out ensures you will get at least partial marks, even if your final answer is incorrect.

In the past, one of our top students (who later went on to achieve a state rank) preferred to do entire questions just by using his calculator’s memory, storing everything into the A, B, C … to M memory slots! We always had to remind him to remember to write out his ‘working out’ after he wrote his final answer – it was also a great way to check his answer.

• Look for clues from previous parts of a question

All HSC maths exams (from General maths, 2 unit to Extension 2) structure their questions in terms of part a, b, c, etc. Use the answer from the previous parts as a clue to your current part (even if it’s not a ‘hence’ or ‘hence or otherwise’ question).

• Use your calculator’s memory!

For questions / parts that require you to use a numerical result from a previous question / part, you’re better off using the stored number in your calculator rather than your rounded written answer. This applies especially true in subjects like HSC Physics and HSC Chemistry where you’ll be doing much more numerical calculations.

For Mathematics Extension 1 & 2 students

• Work a proof question from BOTH sides

For questions that require you to show LHS = RHS (e.g. typical induction questions like “Show that f(x) = g(x) is true for all x > 0″), realise that you don’t need to work strictly from LHS to RHS.

Instead, start with the LHS, see if you can simplify it / progress it as usual. Then when you’re stuck, check the RHS and try progressing with that. Usually you will find this approach makes equating LHS and RHS much easier.

Think of these types of questions as requiring you to make LHS and RHS meet, but there’s a valley in the middle. Instead of pushing LHS all the way through the valley (down the valley, then up the valley), push LHS all the way down, then push RHS all the way down, so they meet at the bottom.

• Don’t be afraid to use graphs as part of your answer

Sometimes, graphs are appropriate as part of a mathematical proof. For example, if you’re required to prove some inequality, you can use a graph (and some calculus of course) to show that a line is tangential to a curve, in order to support your inequality.

• REMEMBER the definition of the log integral:

int dx/x = ln |x| + C

Remember that when you integrate 1/x you get the log of the ABSOLUTE VALUE of x, not just x by itself. Although you won’t lose a mark for not including the absolute value signs, some questions with definite integrals (e.g. requiring you to find the area under a curve) will result in logs of negative numbers and hence impossible to evaluate unless you remember to include the absolute value signs. Don’t get tricked!

• Strategies for ‘hence or otherwise’ questions

In multipart questions, the last part is usually either a ‘hence’ or ‘hence or otherwise’ question. When you have ‘hence’, you have no choice but to use the previous result(s) to do the question. When you have ‘hence or otherwise’ you have an option either to use your previous result(s), or take a wholly new route to the answer.

Here’s the tip: if you can see that the question reduces to anything you recognise, its often actually FASTER to use your ‘otherwise’ option. For example, in tricky Extension 2 question 8 type questions, you are often required to show LHS = RHS, or LHS > RHS, or LHS < RHS. If you can re-formulate the equation into something you recognise, then it’s just a matter of writing out your proof for that thing you recognise, then reshuffling it back into the required form.

The reason why this is a better approach is because for harder questions, the amount of time you could sit there potentially thinking (on how to do it using your previous result(s)) is highly variable (could take a very long time), and risky (you may not even see the answer after spending plenty of exam time). If you can reduce it to a recognised form and write out a memorised proof for it, even if it’s not the most elegant / efficient proof, you will score full marks, and the time you take is only dependant on how much you need to write out.

• Commerce
• Law
• Engineering
• Medicine
• Science
• Arts

or combined degrees (combinations) of the above.

We will talk briefly about what career paths each degree tends to lead to, and our recommendations for each degree.

What course should I choose?

Unlike choosing HSC subjects, there is no scaling implications or anything to do with special ‘rules’. University is purely about yourself – choose the course or courses that interest you. For example, if in the HSC, you did very well for economics and tend to enjoy the subject, choose Commerce or Economics at university. If you really enjoyed chemistry or biology, aim for medicine, medical science, pharmacy, optometry, physiotherapy or veterinary science. There are many possibilities, each with different goals in mind.

We don’t have any specific recommendation of which degree you choose, except that you should definitely choose the course you’re genuinely interested in. Whether you want to earn a high salary or contribute to your field, you will do well if you choose something you’re good at. There’s no point in choosing Commerce/Law or other highly demanded courses, just because your UAI was 99+ but you have no interest in commerce and/or law. Students who do this tend to regret their choices after a year or two, whereas students who choose degrees based on their interests are generally more fulfilled and do better in their degree and future career. There’s no substitute for the motivation and natural aptitude you will get from doing something you like, and no matter what you do, if you do it well, you will get what you want (whether it’s a high salary, recognition, contribution to your field etc).

Some common degrees

• Commerce

Commerce is one of the most common courses students choose. It is a good choice, and possibly has the greatest number of career options. The most common commerce majors at the reputable universities are: accounting, finance, actuary studies (UNSW) and marketing. There are also other, less common majors.

Commerce is the degree to choose if you want to be an accountant, or get into finance (work in a bank) or marketing (work in advertising). The pay for these types of jobs are great and there’s an endless variety of jobs to suit all tastes and interests.

Generally speaking, UNSW has the most reputable business school in NSW, so if you’re aiming to get into this course, we recommend UNSW as one of the better universities that offer this degree. USYD, Macquarie Uni and UTS are also universities that offer reputable commerce courses.

UAIs required for commerce range from 94-96 for UNSW and USYD, and lower for the other universities. As with all references to required UAIs, check the UAC published UAI cutoffs each year at the UAC website, as they vary a little year to year depending on demand and supply.

• Actuarial studies

Actuarial Studies is ideal for those who are good at maths and want to apply this to university study and their future career. Actuaries are people who work at big insurance companies, who use complex mathematical methods to calculate insurance premiums.

A common misconception people have of this course is that they will become actuaries at the end of their degree. This is most often untrue, as actuarial jobs are in low supply, and most graduates end up working in finance, in the field of financial engineering designing new financial products etc. This can be quite a lucrative field, especially if part of a quantitative team in an investment bank.

For actuary, traditionally Macquarie University’s actuarial degree is the most highly regarded. However UNSW’s actuarial degree is also quite popular, and UNSW being a generally more reputable university (especially internationally), we recommend doing actuary as part of the commerce degree at UNSW.

The UAI required for this is 95+ for UNSW’s commerce degree, or slightly higher for Macquarie University’s degree.

Law Law leads onto very lucrative careers. Law graduates tend to make the most money out of all degrees in the long run (yes, even medicine makes less!) Students who want to make lots of money in their future careers are advised to aim for Law, even if they won’t want to eventually be a lawyer. The reason is because employers of large commercial companies (banks, investment banks, investment firms, accounting firms, trading companies etc) tend to seek out the Law graduates to fill their higher paying graduate positions. Law graduates tend to be high quality, intelligent, social, well-spoken and dynamic people, and employers know this.

Although the skills you pick up in law are largely irrelevant (unless you be a lawyer), employers tend to use the fact that you did law to know that you are smart enough to do law. It’s like going to the fruit market and picking apples from the premium bin, because you know that all apples you pick will be high quality apples. For this same reason, sometimes people who do medicine end up being hired by investment banks and management consulting firms (very high-paying jobs), simply because those employers know all students who do law or medicine tend to be very smart and capable.

Therefore we recommend if you get a 99+ UAI and want to do commerce, you may as well combine it with law. It will be a great step forward for your future career.

Law at USYD and UNSW are the same in terms of reputation (they are the best), followed by law at UTS, then Macquarie, then elsewhere. To get into law at UNSW and USYD, you will need to get a UAI in the mid 99s. For UTS law, it is around 97.

• Medicine

If you have an especially keen interest in biology, chemistry, and helping others, this is a course you can consider doing. However, we recommend against choosing medicine for the money. We will discuss this point a bit later.

Long ago, medicine entry used to be solely on the basis of UAI. However it has been pushed up so high that the universities have agreed to use the UMAT exam and interviews as additional selection criteria. Officially, the minimum UAI for medicine at reputable universities is 95, however the median entry for medicine at reputable universities has traditionally been in the low 99s. This is in additional to the UMAT and interview criteria, so medicine can be said to be the most competitive course to get into.

However, as mentioned, we recommend against medicine as an optimum choice if you want to make large sums of money in your career. The simple fact is that you will not be making large amounts of money until you are in your 30s, and in present value terms (remember your consumer arithmetic in year 10?) it’s just not worth the trouble. For the same UAI (and given that you are bright enough to achieve 99+) you are better off investing your strong skills into a law degree (see above). Jobs in law firms, investment banks and other jobs in high finance can potentially pay multiples of what a senior doctor can make.

Take this advice with a grain of salt, however, because as we said at the beginning of this page, you will only get what you want if you’re interested in what you’re doing. Therefore, if you enjoy medicine, do it. It is a very fulfilling and the pay is very high in all respects.

Reputable universities that offer medicine include: UNSW, USYD (arguably the best), Monash and Melbourne University. University of Western Sydney recently started a medicine faculty of their own, so if you are dead-set on doing medicine but did not achieve a sufficiently high UAI, that is a consideration. Remember, transferring between similar courses once you enter university is easy (we will discuss this a bit later on).

• Other health courses

As we said before, medicine is highly sought after and easily the most competitive university degree to get into. There are alternatives. At reputable universities, Optometry and Vet Science needs about a UAI of 98, Pharmacy needs about 95, Medical science needs about 93, and physiotherapy is much lower and very accessible.

If you want to get into medicine but didn’t get the required UAI or UMAT scores, you can get into one of these health courses and transfer via undergraduate or graduate streams, depending on individual universities’ rules.

• Engineering

Engineering is a more career-oriented degree for quantitatively inclined people. There are many fields of engineering (mining, materials, petroleum etc) and in Australia, mining tends to produce the highest paying and most abundant jobs. Choose this course if you are interested in Physics, Chemistry and / or Mathematics (particular mechanics).

Another particularly popular choice is Aeronautical engineering at USYD. The misconception here is that graduates tend to work for airline companies designing planes and plane parts (called high-speed aerodynamics). This is the obvious career path, but aeronautical engineering also lets you work for car companies, designing aerodynamic external parts for cars (called low-speed aerodynamics).

The UAI required for this course has a very large range. Some of the higher UAI courses are: Aeronautical Engineering at USYD, which is about 92, and Aerospace at USYD, at 99+.

• Mathematics

If you have a keen interest in mathematics, choose this course at university. A common misconception is that these types of courses (including science and arts) lead to no definite career paths. This is untrue. For mathematics, there are jobs in finance that pay very well, as mathematics graduates can often become actuaries or financial engineers. The thing is, becoming whatever you want does not require any specific degree (e.g. if you want to be an actuary, you don’t actually need an actuary degree). There are professional bodies (e.g. CA, CPA for accountants, AIAA for actuaries, College of Law for lawyers etc) that set exams and their own criteria. Basically if you have the skills to pass their exams and meet their criteria, you can have that career.

Many mathematics graduates also go on to work in engineering, computer science, banking, insurance and other quantitative-analyst type positions. Only a small portion of maths graduates end up being in academia (the field of scholarly pursuits) as lecturers and researchers, as most people tend to think.

The UAI for maths degrees is generally low, as the demand is not too high for these courses. However don’t be fooled, as there is absolutely no correlation between entrance UAI and course difficulty. As many people will tell you, maths degrees (along with engineering and science) are very difficult and challenging, but also very rewarding to those keenly interested.

USYD offers a BScience (Adv Math) degree which is highly regarded and is likely to contain the brightest university undergraduates in NSW. Its required UAI is around 98.

• Science / Arts Science is a good degree if you’re keenly interested in any science (chemistry, physics or biology). If you are more of a humanities person and enjoy subjects like English, ancient / modern history, languages, social sciences etc.

We recommend combining these subjects to more career-oriented degrees like commerce, engineering, law, medicine etc. These courses are great in that they add flavour to your other degree as well as giving you a wider experience gained from university education, which will help your career whatever that may be.

The required UAI for these courses are generally very accessible at even the more reputable universities. Generally speaking, USYD is slightly better than UNSW in terms of reputation for both Arts and Science degrees.

3 year single degree vs 5 year double degrees

Students often consider whether to do a 3 year SINGLE degree, or a 5 year DOUBLE degree during their time at university. In our experience, we recommend combining only if the second degree adds value to your career aspirations. For example, if you choose commerce and are thinking of combining this with Arts for example, you should ask yourself what you intend to get out of an Arts degree. For example, a good reason to combine is if you’re learning languages and intend to work overseas in the future.

One thing students need to consider and realise is that combining a degree adds 2 whole years to your degree. Double degrees tend to be 5 years (some exceptions where they are 4 years, and some are longer). The extra HECS fees you incur over the extra 2 years should not be taken lightly. Think of university costing you an extra 60%! Additionally, you need to consider the opportunity cost (lost opportunity) of 2 years worth of working. If you had graduated 2 years earlier, you could have started your career 2 years younger, so we need to also consider whether the final decision of combing is worthwhile or not.

The effect of having 2 degrees on your hireability as a future jobseeker is overrated we think. University graduates with uncombined degrees (e.g. straight BCom) end up getting the same jobs as those who have combined (e.g. BCom / Science).

Therefore we recommend the general rule of combining only if necessary. Ask people who have gone through university and done the degree(s) you’re thinking of doing. Ask them about whether there’s any tangible benefit from combining degrees, in terms of career prospect, starting position, starting salary etc and make your decision based on the advice you get.

Honours degree If you’re still enthusiastic over your university degree, even after 3-5 years, you can elect to do an extra year where you will (usually) conduct research into a specific area of your field, and at the end of the year, submit a long thesis with your findings. Honours degrees are awarded as modified degrees of the normal degree. For example if you did law and honours, it would be LLB(Hons).

An honours degree is looked upon highly favourably by employers as it indicates that the graduate has a deeper and more specialised knowledge of his field. Generally speaking, an honours degree is looked upon better than a combined degree. The view is that anyone can do a combined degree (just get the UAI you need) but not everyone is bright enough to do an honours degree. Therefore this is another reason why we recommend you to choose a course you will genuinely enjoy – because you will be good at it.

What if I don’t get the UAI I need?

Fear not. Transferring within university is relatively easy. Transferring between universities or within the same university will involve calculation of a rank-based mark similar to a UAI. 25% of this score will be based on your latest UAI score, and 75% will be based on your university WAM (Weighted Average Mark) which is basically how well you’ve done at university so far.

Therefore, if you don’t get the UAI you need for the course you desire, we strongly recommend that you choose a course that you’re good at. If you choose something you are not good at, you won’t be able to score a sufficiently high WAM to transfer into the course you want.

Typically for most popular courses at reputable universities, you will need a Distinction average (WAM > 75) after your first year to be able to successfully transfer into your desired course for second year onwards. We also highly recommend you do a course which is closely related to the degree you want to get into.

For example, a highly popular use of this technique to get into law at USYD or UNSW (because not everybody can get 99+ UAI) is to first enrol into commerce at these universities. Once you are in commerce, for your first year, while everyone else is busy partying, study hard and score a Distinction average. After your first year (2 semesters), this WAM combined with a UAI which is high enough to get you into commerce should be sufficient to be able to transfer into law successfully.

How hard is a Distinction average? Surprisingly less hard than people make it out to be. Remember, university is not like the HSC where you are forced to do English and 3-4 other subjects which are totally different. At university, assuming you follow our advice and choose something you’d be good at, all you need to worry about are 4 subjects per semester, each subject being related to the general field that you’re interested in. There’s no compulsory subjects, and no need to do subjects that have almost nothing to do with each other (e.g. History and Physics), all you need to do is focus on subjects which you happen to be good at. In fact, a High Distinction average (WAM > 85) is well within reach for some students, as long as they study consistently, pay attention in class and seek help when needed.

To our students

All of us have been down this path one time or another and we’re always happy to give you advice. Our team consists of people who have done law / med / commerce / arts / science and a variety of others. We can tell you all about transfer criteria and what to do in order to maximise the chances of you getting into the course you want, even after the HSC is over. If you’d like to find out more about anything mentioned in this article, feel free to post a question in the general section of the student forums.

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