to class of ‘25

hey guys, class of ‘24 here! just wanted to share some tips before vce starts for yall. although i wasn’t the best of the best, these are the things that i wish i knew before year 12 started.

year 12 is full of ups and downs

and that is okay! one day you could be hyping over an A+ you got for a sac and the other day you could be breaking down over a bad result. just remember that one bad result won’t affect your study score/ atar drastically. make sure to cherish all the good times for your last year of high school, and support your peers through hardships.

don’t rely on atar/ ss calculators

yep, i was one of those kids where i would hop onto the atar calculator every week worrying about my results. although the atar calculator is quite accurate, the ss calculator is completely trash (imo). i got Bs and C+s for all my english sacs, and my japanese sacs were straight A+s, even guaranteed to have at least a 42. turns out my english ss was even higher than jap, and jap didn’t reach a 40. your real ss really depends on a lot of factors, like how good your cohort does, scaling, ranking etc. it’s very unpredictable so just do your best and don’t worry too much.

prioritise mental health

in term 3 i started having heavy burnouts and my mental health was deteriorating. i think that affected my final exams as well, and i knew i had the potential to do way better. make sure to take breaks, go outside, go exercise, do things you love. find help if needed, and remember that tough times are always temporary. also make sure to maintain a good sleep schedule (yep again i was those ppl who would sleep at 2am). remember that good sleep hygiene = better mental health :)

and some misc advice

  • if you’ve decided what your bottom two subjects are, it’s fine even if you put zero effort in those
  • avoid procrastinating!!!
  • share resources, strong cohort means you get scaled up as well
  • focus on yourself, don’t compare too much to others
  • stay away from toxic ppl
  • don’t push too hard esp at the start of the year

year 12 was one of the best years of high school imo so just enjoy the year ahead! it will be over before you know it. don’t stress too much and all the best to everyone <3