HSFY 2018

[adventuretime]

just wondering, can any previous hsfy'ers tell us about 8th papers? is it better to go for something you're interested in, or do a typical 8th paper like stats or maori?

I am doing a prescribed course for HSFY and took MAOR102 in S1 this year to take my course load to full time. I enjoyed the content of the paper, and found it to be quite interesting and informative. I cant quite remember the exact break down of % for our assessments but they were something along the lines of 25% essay, 20% midterm test (based on content pre semester break), 15% blackboard multichoice test on essay writing procedure which all the answers can be found in an essay writing guide given to you, and 40% final exam - 2hrs, 10% is multichoice on course content and 30% split between two articles we had to read and answer multichoice questions on.

The essay takes a bit of effort - you need to find a wide variety of references, but in saying that it is achievable to get the whole 25% if you spend a bit of time on it.

I didn't spend any time studying for the final exam, but did for the mid semester test.

Very achievable to get an A+ by doing a little bit of work.

My thoughts are, if you enjoy a paper then the study isn't so tedious. But even so, it could still require quite a bit of effort to get a high grade. I guess its a personal choice on enjoyment vs a paper for grade improvement.

Any questions re MAOR102, let me know

 

[Mandem]

Hubs is out

 

[Pine]

Chem's out
Not happy with how I did overall, wbu guys?

 

[zoe179]

I’m not too happy with how I did overall either, in all papers I scored about 5% lower than what I was expecting, which is really devasting because I was going in so strong internally and literally was studying non-stop all sem

 

[Stuart]

Hi,

It looks like all the results are out. Now, go enjoy your well-deserved break while it lasts regardless of the grades. There is still another 12-weeks of work left to do, so it would be a good idea to rest and refuel as best as you can. Trust me, some people burn out trying to get ahead too much. Also, it's okay even if you didn't do well, or even if you failed. There are other options and there are more doors left for you to knock on.

If you have any questions about the '8th paper', check out HSFY 8th Paper. If you have any questions about the Graduate Category, feel free to fire away (in the Graduate Category Sub-forum Graduate Category).

I hope you have a fantastic break. Good luck!

 

[Polar]

Sadly i dont think my results were subject to incorrect marking ahahaha. But i can still get an A+ average in semester 2 Going to start looking into umat now, stay strong and good luck to everybody!

 

[frootloop]

Good luck for UMAT y'all.

Remember that the evidence doesn't really support 'prep' for UMAT, so keep your main focus on what you can control: your HSFY papers. They're more important, and again, they're what you can really control.

A quick familiarization with the UMAT format isn't a bad idea, but I'd caution heavily against spending precious study time on it - particularly if your grades aren't already ludicrously high enough that you're well above the cut-off anyway.

I’m not too happy with how I did overall either, in all papers I scored about 5% lower than what I was expecting, which is really devasting because I was going in so strong internally and literally was studying non-stop all sem

I was much the same. I'd been low-mid 90's internally in sem one, then overall ended up with an 87% average from the semester.

It's a bit discouraging, but don't let it get you down. Quite apart from your own performance, there are other factors which can impact your grades. I doubt they bother scaling internal assessments, but they can and often do scale the overall paper marks. If that's the case, you're not the only one in that boat - and remember that your raw marks aren't what counts at the end of the day. Its a competition, so what counts is how you compare to everyone else.

My speculation about scaling aside, plenty of people who weren't happy with their sem one marks end up in med (e.g. moi). Try to learn from it if you can (looking at your study methods, exam technique etc), and keep pushing in semester two.

For what it's worth, frootloop believes in you. You can do eeet.

 

[hopefulgal]

I’m wondering if they publish the average spread of grades across the A+ to D range on evision for the papers like they would for the internal HUBS assessments (there was a link called “class” next to each component grade that you could click on that would show this for HUBS terms tests etc). Does anyone know if this will happen?

 

[Stuart]

I’m wondering if they publish the average spread of grades across the A+ to D range on evision for the papers like they would for the internal HUBS assessments (there was a link called “class” next to each component grade that you could click on that would show this for HUBS terms tests etc). Does anyone know if this will happen?

Hi,

Yes, it does happen. However, it's not visible to the students.

 

[Swimmingpotato]

Hi, can anyone let me know how we can see the component grade?

Ps. For my result, I'm satisfied with the results. I thought I did so bad in Chem, especially in Question 1 but turned out it was more or less the same grade with my other result ( haha I like this weirdness). Everything else is within the expected range but I wish I did a little bit more study in Cels and Phsi to push my maximum ability. However, I knew I tried my best so it's okay

Hope it is an enjoyable holiday for everyone! Don't burn yourself out too much and you have semester 2 to go as well <3 Thanks for all the sharing and supporting of this little MSO family

 

[Stuart]

Hi, can anyone let me know how we can see the component grade?

Hi,

You will need to visit/contact the respective department. You can also view your final exam script (or even request it to be returned to you for applicable papers).

 

[Swimmingpotato]

Thanks Stuart

 

[frootloop]

I’m wondering if they publish the average spread of grades across the A+ to D range on evision for the papers like they would for the internal HUBS assessments (there was a link called “class” next to each component grade that you could click on that would show this for HUBS terms tests etc). Does anyone know if this will happen?

As Stuart said, no.

I remember HEAL (or whatever they call the epidemiology/public health paper now) giving out a bit more information - unsurprising for the data-driven subject. But otherwise all you're ever likely to get is hints and sideways comments, or secondhand information from dubious sources.

The HSFY papers know full well the problems that kind of transparency would cause them, so don't hold your breath.

More to the point, who cares? Knowing what everyone else's grades are doesn't alter your own competitive standing. All you can do is the very best you can do in every paper.

Focus on what you can control. You can control your grades. You can't control everyone else's. Knowing everyone else's would just drive you nuts, anyway.

 

[Stuart]

Hi everyone,

I hope you had a good break and is now gearing up for the second leg of the year. Although I don't know you, yes, you can do it, and you can do it well.

By the way, I know some of you might still be thinking about taking the 8'th paper and I know there is always someone who does this. Do not email/phone the department and ask things like "I want to get 100%", "I need to get 100%", "How do I get 100%", "How easy is it to get 100%", "Is it possible to get 100%", "What are my chances". This is, in my opinion, an obnoxious behaviour. It's ridiculous. They don't really have answers. They don't like it. So, don't do it. There are proper ways to enquire about doing well and this isn't one of them.

Good luck and stay healthy!

 

[luckycharm]

hey there just wondering, can anyone give an insight as to how you guys studied for pubh192 in previous years? it seems to be very different to the other health sci papers. in the other papers i printed out the slides, annotated them during lecture and then flashcarded stuff that i didn't know. I feel like i can't do that for pubh? They release the lecture slides afterwards. I was wondering what people did in previous years for pubh, cos im really stuck at the moment. Any help will be much appreciated

 

[frootloop]

PUBH isn't quite like the other HSFY papers, as you're discovering. You don't just rote-learn all the content on the slides - although there's obviously still a reasonable amount of rote-learning epidemiological definitions etc. You need to learn that stuff, then look at the examples they give in the lectures and try and see how it all actually fits in. Try thinking up a whole heap of potential research questions, then think about how you'd actually go about answering them (study design, etc).

I know it's a bit of an uncomfortable feeling when you're used to just rote-cramming everything (thanks, HSFY), but there's less stuff to know for PUBH - it's more about whether or not you know how to apply it in context, which is what they're going to ask you to do in exams.

(Disclaimer: I took PUBH while you guys were in like year 7, when it was still called HEAL. So my info might be a touch out of date)

 

[sk123]

Hi everyone,
I am doing STAT115 as my 8th paper.I was just wondering, for anyone who has done STAT115 in the past, what are the exam questions like? Is there a mixure of mathmatical questions and content based questions ? Also, is it worth learning all the content in the course book? I do not know what to expect for stats considering there are no examinations released for STAT115. Thanks

 

[Stuart]

Hi everyone,
I am doing STAT115 as my 8th paper.I was just wondering, for anyone who has done STAT115 in the past, what are the exam questions like? Is there a mixure of mathmatical questions and content based questions ? Also, is it worth learning all the content in the course book? I do not know what to expect for stats considering there are no examinations released for STAT115. Thanks

Hi,

What do you mean by a mixture of mathematical and content-based questions? They certainly will not ask question outside of the content it covers. If you meant a mixture of calculation and concept questions, yes, there is.

Is it worth learning all the content in the course book? In my opinion, yes. The assignments should be your best-friend when it comes to preparing for the exam and the mastery tests. They probably will supply some more material towards the end of the semester to help you with the final exam.

Good luck!

 

[sk123]

Hey again,
I was just wondering if anyone could recommend any extra resources for PUBH192 as I am feeling kind of lost in PUBH192 right now as I have no idea what I am meant to be taking from the lectures. Thank you

 

[quail]

Hi everyone,
I am doing STAT115 as my 8th paper.I was just wondering, for anyone who has done STAT115 in the past, what are the exam questions like? Is there a mixure of mathmatical questions and content based questions ? Also, is it worth learning all the content in the course book? I do not know what to expect for stats considering there are no examinations released for STAT115. Thanks

Exam is (if it hasn't changed) entirely multichoice and has plussage, of which the questions are mostly math based. I found that as long as I studied for a couple of days for each of the mastery tests and had a good go at the assignments, and made sure I understood any mistakes, the final exam was indeed very manageable. I only flicked through the course material briefly and I think this is more than sufficient to do well. It is very easy to score highly in this exam given you can leave most, if not all, exam study until after the final core paper (the exam is usually a couple of weeks later at the end of the exam block). Additionally, you'll also get a past exam to practice which is incredibly useful as the final is similar - and you can use that to do targeted revision of the course notes which saves hours of time.

Hey again,
I was just wondering if anyone could recommend any extra resources for PUBH192 as I am feeling kind of lost in PUBH192 right now as I have no idea what I am meant to be taking from the lectures. Thank you

None - the textbook and course material provided are more than sufficient to do well in this paper. Have a solid attempt at the tutorial questions and practice questions and ask your tutor for feedback, and read up in the relevant chapter in the textbook if it isn't quite making sense. Admittedly I didn't use the textbook until second and third year, but I certainly I wished I had as it makes for very easy reading and is much nicer than the (sometimes awful) lecture slides.