I know that everyone is aiming for the top of the top, and all students desire for the esteemed 99+ or god forbid the 99.95 ATAR; but how hard is it to actually achieve such a thing? I'm basically only posting this in spite of the old and now retired ATAR notes website which had many forums of 99+ students telling others what they did and how hard they studied to achieve their score. As such, are there any individuals who achieved incredibly high study scores or ATARs and are willing to share how hard it is to actually achieve such an unfathomable score. Another reason I'm asking this is because I have a family friend who achieved a 99.50 ATAR and he said that he honestly didn't study that hard. I don't believe him at all because he went to Melbourne High School which is a prestigious selective school in Victoria; meaning that studying till death would be the norm for those students and thus he thought that he honestly didn't study that hard. Apart from that, I would love to hear what ATAR goals some of you guys and girls are aiming for and why; also how you plan or did to achieve your goals.
How hard is it to get a 99+ ATAR, like actually?
Autime. I think that you should be aiming higher, like honestly. Assuming that you are not lying about your work schedule, you sound like a student who could achieve a pretty high ATAR and study score. Nevertheless, I think that 90+ would be very achievable for you. Just wondering, what school do you go to?
Lixin What're your atar goals and plans? Also no matter how many people I ask, I can never get a clear understanding of whether it's achievable to get the 99+ 
Some people make it seem like a breeze, so I automatically assume that I'll be able to score that high too if I work hard consistently, but that makes it seem a little too easy, which it definitely isn't.
Melbourne High is arguably not prestigious, can testify. Some walls are purple
I feel like a lot of people who get high atars try to play down the difficulty im not too sure why. One of my tutors actually spoke about this that often when students do really well in their subject (high 40s/50) they "forget" how much work they put in when they have asked the following year. Maybe to seem more naturally smart rather someone who put in a lot of effort and got good results. Im sure people in year 12 may have got high atars without doing as much as some would think but it is likely they had a lot of preparation well before year 12.
I Go to a small private school and honestly, I don't understand this 99+ atar thing mainly because no one has gotten over a 97 at our school. And since it's a school in a country town (well like a country town) it's not competitive nor is it that important.
Sine. Yeah, even at my public school which is not that good; a lot of egotistical student boldly say that they can easily get 40+ for every subject. Also why would anyone want to seem naturally smart when people could think you are successful due to hard work and a good work ethic? There is nothing admirable about being naturally smart but you should strive to be like people who work hard to get what they want.
As much as I'd love to get an ATAR over 90, the highest ATAR at my school last year was a 92 point something, so my expectations are low. I get straight A's, but my school (no offense) tends to perform to the lowest possible standard, so it's very hard to push myself further than I have to. I do think being from a good school influences how easy it is to get a 90+ ATAR, correct me if I'm wrong.
My hypothesis is that there's a tall-poppy syndrome among a lot of Australians - it's more fun to celebrate the highly gifted and getting to a certain outcome without much work then it is to glorify the actual rigour required to get to a certain result.
I see in a lot of selective school students (especially common in schools like MHS and Macrob) where students often downplay the amount of work that they put in - because studying hard is seen as 'nerdy' and often it's easier to diminish the effort of others in 'working hard' for a certain outcome when you can get it 'so easily'
Orb. Two things; what do you mean by tall-poppy syndrome? Also, that's literally so true. People would rather want to think of themselves as the student who doesn't study but still gets A+ as compared to the student who put in hard work to get A+. Personally, I would rather be known as the latter because that actually gives merit to my accomplishments. I can't understand why you would put in so much work and then tell everyone else you barely tried; I don't know if this study culture is good or bad. I think it could be seriously damaging to the students who tried really hard to only get like a B or a C, so I personally always tell my friends that I tried really hard for a test that I did good on; being honest, as you should do with anything in life.
@Lixin - from google: The tall poppy syndrome is a cultural phenomenon in which people hold back, criticise or sabotage those who have or are believed to have achieved notable success in one or more aspects of life, particularly intellectual or cultural wealth; "cutting down the tall poppy".
(not quoting in a sarcastic manner - moreso that the google definition is pretty appropriate!)