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Otago HSFY chat - archive

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eltee said:
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. My boyfriend and I split up because he is going to uni next year(not Otago) and at that stage I was remaining at school. I miss having someone special in my life - just wondering how many years it will be before I have another boyfriend lol
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We've had weirder conversations on MSO, believe me :p
I personally ended up breaking off my long-distance thing about a month into HSFY because I stopped caring/really didn't have time to skype every day or so, but a friend of mine ended up with a 96% average in HSFY and had a girlfriend who lived in the same college. And I know plenty of others who were in relationships during HSFY and did just fine. Personal preference more than competitive advantage, in my opinion.
Just a question, have you enrolled with Otago/applied for residential colleges? Because that all closes before NCEA results come out, I'm pretty sure.
Scotty1 said:
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?
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CHEM191 isn't a fun paper, but that's just my biased opinion. To be honest, if you destroyed NCEA L3 chem like you did, then I'd say you won't have too much trouble with it. There's quite a lot of course overlap in the first couple of modules, less so in organics (I'm told CIE is good for CHEM191 organics), but in the end, as with all papers, it's pretty hard to predict your performance before the year even starts. A reasonable amount of hard work, done properly, and you should be fine, you've certainly got a better chemistry background than I did.
Edit: And UMAT performance and 'smartness' have a debatable correlation ;) Although he does sound like someone who could do quite well.
 
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Thanks guys, breathing a bit more easily haha. I'm probably worried the most about writing though, essays and stuff aren't my thing. I hated English and didn't take it this year (NCEA). Are there many large writing sections in the exams, or just like short paragraph things? Oh, and eltee, that $30k scholarship has already been awarded. I know the guy who got it lol
 
This has been asked a few times before. Bottom line - you don't need a particularly advanced grasp of english to do well in HSFY. You need to be able to write so that someone else can understand. That's it.
 
Thanks Frootloop :p Yes- I did apply for residential colleges, and was accepted into one. But I ended up turning down my place and going on the waiting list so I didn't lose my money if I didn't end up going. I have no idea what my chances are of getting in off the waiting list, but I guess there is always flatting...

Scotty1- the careers adviser at school thought that there would be about 30 Otago excellence scholarships given out for 2012 but the Otago website is fairly cagey about numbers. Can you give any information on E counts, NZQA scholarships, leadership etc? It would be really helpful to know whether this is mostly an academic scholarship, or whether it is more for all rounders.
 
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Given the nature of the scholarship I'd imagine you have to have superb academics AND be a good all rounder (not just one or the other). I'm sure Scotty1 can shed some light on this though.
 
Scotty1 said:
Thanks guys, breathing a bit more easily haha. I'm probably worried the most about writing though, essays and stuff aren't my thing. I hated English and didn't take it this year (NCEA). Are there many large writing sections in the exams, or just like short paragraph things? Oh, and eltee, that $30k scholarship has already been awarded. I know the guy who got it lol
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As per greenglacier, HSFY isn't an NCEA English test. They don't particularly care how spectacularly you can phrase things, so long as you manage to string the (right!) sciency words together in a sentence that someone else can vaguely understand, you'll be fine. And since I can understand your posts on here, you definitely have the English skills needed for HSFY.
[MENTION=13232]eltee[/MENTION], I've personally had no experience with the waiting list, but from very vague anecdotes it sounds like most of the people on it end up in a hall (although most not in the specific one they wanted).
 
So, now that we're little over a week out, who wants to take bets on the time of offer release? I've got 6pm (next) Thursday :lol:
 
Thursday 3:35 pm on the dot. I can feel it! Kept my diary free for the whole day though.
This waiting is killing me...
How is everyone?
 
hello guys, this is completely off what you guys are talking about right now, but in a slight crisis right now :S well not really crisis... im probably just unnecessarily worrying (as usual ><) Ok so, I'm an Australian Secondary Student and the thing is, I'll be moving to NZ with my mum and brother... which means that I won't be accepting a residential college placement thingy. I was just looking at the prospectus for Australian Secondary Students for HSFY and I've noticed that one of the conditions for Pref. Entry is that you need to accept a place at a residential college to be considered for it. SO this means that I'm going to be in the Competitive Entry Stream :/ Is there anybody who can tell please tell me, what I can do to improve my chances... what I need to be able to get in? :S
 
You've misinterpreted the criteria. There are lots of things you can do to get preferential entry and accepting a place in a residential college is one of them. However it isn't necessary.

If you got an ATAR of at least 80 you're eligible for preferential entry, even if you don't stay in a residential college.
 
I take the window between 11am and 1pm on Thursday...
 
Yeah come on guys. No one's taken any time on Friday yet, so if you take 8am Friday, you'll win (as the closest guess) if offers come out at any time on Friday. That's a pretty wide window!
 
Good luck to you all!
 
hey does anybody know when the offers of place are sent out for otago? I can't seem to find it on their website anywhere :/
 
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