Otago HSFY chat - archive

[Crucible]

[offtopic] I bought past UMAT stuff off trademe[/offtopic]

You know how we have to sit an English diagnostic test at the beginning of next year, right? What type of essays do they want us to write exactly?

I'm not too worried about it (writing essays are pretty fun ^_^) but do they want us to stick with L3 literary essays or persuasive essays?? Oh, and is there a maximum number of pages that we can't write past??

 

[frootloop]

[offtopic] I bought past UMAT stuff off trademe[/offtopic]

You know how we have to sit an English diagnostic test at the beginning of next year, right? What type of essays do they want us to write exactly?

I'm not too worried about it (writing essays are pretty fun ^_^) but do they want us to stick with L3 literary essays or persuasive essays?? Oh, and is there a maximum number of pages that we can't write past??

Lol. The essay part is just one or two pages, that you're given like 10 minutes to write. There's also a dictation part, as well, which was pretty simple. Mine was barely legible, and I was hungover as f**k when writing it. It really doesn't need to be quality. I know people who can barely speak a language that passes as English, who still passed the diagnostic test.

 

[Crucible]

Only one page?!?!? Wow, that's pretty short which is perfect given the 10mins then hahah
Awesome, cheers!

 

[greenglacier]

Argumentative essays - think L1 formal writing. You only get something like 25 mins (so really can only hope to write intro-3 paragraphs-conclusion).

 

[Havox]

No advertising on the forum, thanks
~Froot

double standards much???

No, not really. I've already stated on the HSFY 2011 thread that you can't do it, and it's in the MSO rules, yet you did it. If you have an issue with this, take it up via PM with me, one of the other NZ subforum mods, or one of the other mods/admins. I stated that sending PM's isn't against the rules, not that you could post asking for PMs, thus I don't see how this is a double-standard? The post I assume you're using as evidence of a 'double-standard' was the first of the sort, so it was left there to remind everyone else not to do it. I/we aren't favouring anyone here.

Hi there, just thought I'd chime in on behalf of the global mods. Advertising on MSO is not allowed and is NOT a negotiable point and any advertising will result in a permanent ban from this forum in the future. However, if you feel there have been double standards set on this forum then I'm more than happy to discuss your concerns via PM.

Cheers.

~Hav.

 

[Crucible]

Yes!!!!!!! Super stoked about argumentative but we won't know the topic until the day, right??- how are we supposed to have statistics and stuff to back up our points???
h34r:.......lol then again I made stats up during L1 and that was fine since they didn't check lolll......

 

[frootloop]

Yes!!!!!!! Super stoked about argumentative but we won't know the topic until the day, right??- how are we supposed to have statistics and stuff to back up our points???
h34r:.......lol then again I made stats up during L1 and that was fine since they didn't check lolll......

You're vastly over-estimating the depth of this test. It isn't to test your logical reasoning ability, they have UMAT for that (supposedly), all this test does is make sure you can string a coherent English sentence together. Seriously, you don't need to prepare for it in the slightest, don't worry, they don't want statistics or anything

 

[Cathay]

They're not looking for stats, they're not looking for a convincing argument, they're looking for the ability to string words together to make sentences that make sense. This isn't NCEA English, and this isn't difficult. This test is about showing that if they were to lecture you in English you would understand what's being said, and if you were asked a question you can answer in English sentences that make sense.

EDIT: That means, this test tries to your learning is not impaired by your inability to use/understand English. Now given that you're writing coherently on this forum, I'm pretty sure you will have no problem with this test whatsoever.

 

[Crucible]

ahaha sorry if I seem like I'm worrying about this??? -I'm not xD...... I'm slightly obsessive over English essays since it's supposed to be my forté subject lol and no stats make it even better! Yay.

LOLL!!!!![MENTION=9988]cathay808[/MENTION] "Now given that you're writing coherently on this forum, I'm pretty sure you will have no problem with this test whatsoever."
Awesome hahahahah

Thanks guys!!

 

[SeeKay]

Jun Lee | College Young Gun Shows He's One Out Of... | Stuff.co.nz

^OMG

 

[greenglacier]

Hmm... I feel a bit sorry for the guy actually. So much pressure, and I really can't see him getting a normal social upbringing. It says he's unusually mature and a nice guy, but hard to see a 15 year old really integrating in that well with the uni social culture.

Yes he's obviously very bright, but I can't help but think he'd be better off if he wasn't pushed ahead so much and left to go through school at an ordinary pace.

 

[SeeKay]

Perhaps since he is already set on his life goal (or a major one in life), a Nobel Prize in medicine, and knows what path he should take it wouldn't be too bad skipping a few years in school. He obviously has the brain to do well in academics and staying in school learning things which he finds overly simple would make school life rather boring in my opinion.

He seems to be involved in a lot of activities, and I'm guessing he'd be able to find some friends who don't mind hanging out with 15 year olds with common interests in uni considering the number of people there

 

[frootloop]

Perhaps since he is already set on his life goal (or a major one in life), a Nobel Prize in medicine, and knows what path he should take it wouldn't be too bad skipping a few years in school. He obviously has the brain to do well in academics and staying in school learning things which he finds overly simple would make school life rather boring in my opinion.

He seems to be involved in a lot of activities, and I'm guessing he'd be able to find some friends who don't mind hanging out with 15 year olds with common interests in uni considering the number of people there

At 15, so much is subject to change.. He has his whole life to get a Nobel prize or whatever, if I was him I'd just stay at school, and have a normal-ish teenage life before worrying about growing up too fast.
I call parental pressure....

 

[greenglacier]

Pretty much what froot said. I know a few people who've been pushed through the school system like this. Two things stand out:

(1) Often they're not actually super-crazy smart, at least not in comparison to most bright students. Rather they've been pushed by their parents.
(2) Often they develop social issues. There's a variety of reasons for this which I won't detail here.

Note this is only the trend I've noticed, and of course there are exceptions that do fine.

There are plenty of opportunities (including university-level study) for highly capable students who progress through school at the normal rate to challenge themselves. I'm sorry, but I don't place much value on what a 15 year old wants to do with their life (for starters, if he wants the Nobel prize in medicine, a degree in medicine probably isn't the most efficient route of getting there), and I don't place much hope on them being able to integrate with the uni social scene. They may be able to find some friends who share common interests, but they'll always be an outsider and it takes some pretty remarkable social skills to be able to overcome that.

In my mind there isn't much to be lost by progressing through school at the normal rate, but lots to be gained. He may be academically well ahead of his peers, but he'd still be able to challenge himself, and academic development is only one area of development for school students.

 

[eltee]

Is it a disadvantage socially and academically to go to uni at the end of year 12? I am thinking about doing HSFY next year instead of doing year 13. I have been accelerated and have done three year 13 subjects ( including chemistry) this year and the only reason I would go back to school next year would be to get scholarships and to be the same age as most other other people starting uni (I won't be 18 until September next year)

In terms of scholarships- does anyone know anyone who got the Otago Excellence scholarship and what their CV would have looked like? I will probably have around 120-130 excellence credits at level 2 and higher when results for 2011 come back. Hopefully some scholarships in my year 13 subjects too. I don't have much leadership to put on an application but I do have quite a lot of extracurricular ( mostly music- I play in lots of bands.) Can anyone comment on my chances?

Also- would I be at a disadvantage socially if I was a year younger than most at uni and couldn't get into pubs etc? I don't drink, but I do want to have a social life at uni and was wondering if I would find it lonely if I was excluded from pubs/clubs because I am underage.

 

[greenglacier]

If you were only a year younger than everyone else at uni I'd imagine the social consequences would be pretty minor. You're right in that you'd be excluded from pubs/clubs, but that isn't unique - lots of students don't turn 18 until April/May anyway.

Personally I was offered to try for UE in year 12 but chose not to, because I wanted another year to enjoy school (and I was in a pretty tight cohort at school), and I wanted to sit the scholarship exams with a good amount of preparation. At the same time, I don't really see anything to strongly suggest going either way for someone in your position - it's entirely up to you. Year 13 is fun, and there's no rush to do HSFY, but if you're not going to gain anything from it and feel ready for HSFY then there's no real reason to do y13 either.

 

[frootloop]

@eltee ,
I don't think you'd be at too much of a disadvantage socially, to be honest. There is a big difference between skipping one year, and skipping 3 (as the kid in the article linked above plans to), especially at this age. That said, I wouldn't do it. I know at age 17 all you want to do is get the f**k out of highschool and get started on your 'real life', trust me, been there. But to be honest, you've got all the time in the world to do uni and grown-up stuff, I'd personally do year 13 and just enjoy your last year of what essentially amounts to freedom. Year 13 is a really good experience socially, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Also, it seems like you're in with a shot at some scholarships, and since Otago now has that 30 (or is it 50?) k scholarship up for grabs, that'd be a good thing to aim for, and would really take off the financial pressure of being a student for 6 years or so.
As for the whole 'pub' thing, sure most people do like pubs/clubbing, but I know plenty of people who hated it and barely ever go, so you certainly wouldn't be the only one not going. Although yes, with Otago's drinking culture being quite a large part of, well, the social life there, being unable to join in may not be too fun, but I wouldn't really factor the ability to drink into your equations too much
Personally, wouldn't do it, I'd say just do year 13. But that's just me, you may be totally sick of high school and want nothing more than to get the f**k out of there. Also, don't forget that there's the HSFY foundation year which you could do instead of year 13, and which would arguably put you in a better place going into HSFY (particularly for subjects like HEAL, which 99% of high-schoolers have never even heard of) than NCEA/CIE (I don't know too much about foundation, try @Ben or @aaa24 if you're interested).
[offtopic]Edit: Curses, gg beat me to it [/offtopic]

 

[Scotty1]

Hi guys and girls,
Just a question, how hard is CHEM191? Because everyone says it is really hard and easily the most difficult, causes alot of stress etc. Could someone please relate it to NCEA terms? I got E in everything in NCEA L3 Chem and sat scholarship chemistry. Should I be able to do well? Thanks

Oh, and something to think about. How do you think that freaky smart kid will do in the UMAT?

 

[greenglacier]

It's a different style of teaching/assessment, but if you got all Es in L3 chem then you really don't have to worry. There'll be a fair bit of new content but you should be able to pick it up without needing to put in excessive amounts of study.

If that kid is as bright as he's made out to be I'd imagine he could potentially do very well in UMAT. Who knows though...

 

[eltee]

Thanks very much Frootloop and Greenglacier for your replies .

Another question (probably a slightly odd one!)- do people get into relationships during HSFY? Just wondering if people are totally devoted to study or if they find time for a significant other as well.