Hey all,
Considering the external exams are coming up soon for the Grade 12s, I thought I would set this up if any QCE students would like to ask some questions about the external exams. Feel free to ask me or anyone else willing to help any question that you want answered.
GOOD LUCK!!
-PP
Hey PhytoPlankton!
How did you prepare for the externals, especially for physics?
-jinx_58
Hey jinx_58,
That's a good question! I would say the most important thing is that you need to create a timetable with all your practise exams and schedule them in. There are hundreds of practise exams you can gather but its no point just blindly doing them when you feel like it. So, you need to create a timetable and religiously follow it until the exam date. You need to also schedule in review time but the review time should get shorter as you progress and improve. If a spontaneous dinner/lunch comes up with your family that you can't avoid, then you must reschedule it and do it at the rescheduled time. If you really can't do it, then remove it but make sure you are removing a not-so-important exam. As you will have multiple subjects, the timetable is the only way to organise yourself and check your progress.
In terms of practise exams, I completed practise exams all over Australia. Because QCE is new, its slightly easier than all the other states. So doing VCE, HSC, WACE, SACE etc. will help you a lot because its usually harder. You bend the metal further than where you want it so it lands in the right place in the end. After you download all those papers, you'll have hundreds to go through and usually prioritise the newer ones and schedule it into your timetable. There will be questions that are irrelevant, so make sure its irrelevant and cancel and account for the time difference.
Finally, specifically for physics, it's important to understand each concept. The only memorisation is needed for the Standard Model and the necessary QCAA definitions. Everything else must be based on understanding. That's the only way you'll be able to solve each question in the exam. After you understand, grind the practise questions.
Hope this helps and feel free to ask more questions!
Hey everyone,
For those who are doing their QCE externals in less that 2 weeks, I thought I might share this article I found online: https://www.fastcompany.com/90786603/how-to-stay-focused-when-everything-feels-stressful-and-overwhelming. If you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed, take a break or take a 30-minute or 1-hour walk in in nature; its proven here.
Remember, you are nearly at the end of this. Keep on studying hard, take breaks when needed and soon enough, you'll be getting the biggest break of your life! Good luck again!
