I recently took the selective entry exam and received a first round offer to my first preference, Nossal High School. Of course, I am super excited about starting this new chapter in my academic journey, but at the same time, I’m feeling incredibly anxious. Could anybody that is/was a student at Nossal (or any selective school could alternatively work) inform me a bit about the community and culture there? To elaborate more, are the students incredibly competitive to the point that there’s rivalries and such? Or is that not really an issue? Additionally, is there anything I should be aware of when switching from a pretty normal school (for insight, I was the dux there, and am used to being known as the “smart kid”) to a selective one, where I will likely no longer be the considered the “smartest”?

    Randomhuman24 honestly, everyone is gonna be like they don't study at all and act like they are "cool" after they get in but in the reality is that they all study really hard and they wanna see your downfall, that's just the way the life is. In my selective school, people are really competitive, its to the point they wont even help you unless there are benefiting out of it. But other than that, you will be with like-minded people who will share similar goals as you and because of that, you would no longer be the "smart kid" unless if you're a genius

      Hey so I’m a current year 9 student at Nossal and It’s been awesome. Don’t worry I’m pretty sure everyone is thinking and feeling the same way as you. Although it is quite a competitive enrichment, there are definitely still students who slack and either don’t get the work done or even just aren’t as smart as you would think. This might just be for Nossal (I doubt mhs would have it as bad tho). In all honesty, the work isn’t too difficult and there isn’t A LOT of hw. I feel like a lot of students over exaggerate the academic side bc at the end of the day it’s still just a government school but just like academically inclined students. But the culture is really nice, ‘most’ of the teachers are easy going and the students are ‘MOSTLY’ all well-behaved (to a certain extent) Just a last note, a vast majority of students are Indian and a minority of students are East Asian etc. Anyway those are just my thoughts, I hoped that helped a bit

        11 days later

        To anyone that can answer, I recently went to the Nossal information night and they talked about buying their laptop and I was reading last year's PDF on the Student Laptop Program. I was wondering if you guys actually recommend getting the Nossal laptop or using a different one that has a stylus. It also said in the PDF that you would have to purchase all the paid apps and software that the school supplies in their laptop yourself, so I was wondering what kind of apps you use at Nossal to see how much they cost and if I should end up getting the Nossal laptop. Any answers would be very much appreciated.

        5 days later

        Hey guys this is quite a strange question, but are you able to get kicked out of Nossal if you don't perform high enough? Do you have to have an average grade or anything to not get kicked out? 😅

          monket Hey! I am going to Nossal next year (year 9 2023) so I’m not entirely sure as to whether or not this is the case, but I’m fairly certain that there is no such as getting kicked out for having a low grade average 🙂

            12 days later

            monket Hi! I don't go to Nossal myself (long story, mum rejected my first offer without telling me and I've tried every year) , but I am friends with almost all of nhs class of 24. They're really chill with academics and reports, most people even fail, since the work really increases but they just care about your own improvement and effort. It is an amazing community and has a lot for all students with all kinds of passions, so don't worry at all! Even when there were some issues with the students, Nossal claims they NEVER expel anyone, but aim to help the students as best as they can. I hope you all get to have the incredible experiences there too!

                a year later

                I was also wondering if u guys could tell me anything abt the material on the quantitative and maths test. I have a ton of pressure and expectations from other ppl to pass this exam but i cant seem to find the topics i should work on. Also if u can share any writing, verbal reasoning or reading comprehension tips and question types that would be great. i hope someone replies soon as im quite stressed and on a tight time frame. Ty

                8 months later
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