JMSS Entry Tips
I'm glad I could help! I'd also like to note that this was what I gained from my personal experience of a very crammed 3 months of preparation and what worked from me may not work for other people. It could also be a good idea to experiment to find what works best for you. Make sure you're well prepared but also don't neglect your wellbeing! Best of luck!
nuclei Thanks for the suggestions. But unfortunately my school does not run any sort of extra competitions and the only awards they do are Academic Excellence and Endeavors ( I did get some of those). I don't really have any awards in maths outside of school (and science) so now I'm stressing out. Anyways, thanks for letting me know about the volunteering thing, I think I'll register soon!
I'm also in the Seal class, and I did Vhap Maths (if that counts) : 
Then don't worry too much about the achievements. You can also use that to your advantages. You should read up on programs offered at JMSS and instead talk about what you want to do if you were given the opportunity to study at JMSS if that makes sense. You can find more information on the old ATAR Notes website so make sure to read those discussions too! Hope this helps!
Hello,
I had another question, I was wondering if the amount of people applying for JMSS from a school affects the number of students being accepted? I read about JMSS only taking 3% of the number of students that applied from a certain school. So if only 2 people apply from a school their main competition is each other?
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Hey, thank you for the tips above I appreciate it. I had a question for science reasoning are they testing science knowledge from years 7-9? Also, what's your study technique? You got into this school after studying only for 3 months, while I studied for 6 months to get into the selective school and didn't get in. I have also heard that we do science report and essay with a small group after our interview, is that true?
Hello Everyone,
I would like to express my gratitude for the invaluable advice you have provided here. As I am preparing to take the JMSS exam this year, I am seeking assistance in enhancing my numerical reasoning skills. I was wondering if you could kindly recommend any resources that could aid me in this endeavour. If you possess any insights or strategies pertaining to this matter, I would greatly appreciate your guidance.
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
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nuclei @Ommahp
hi, i just read all the tips, and i have to say i am very very thankful of all these useful tips. i recently tried for SEHS year 9 for 2024 but didn't get in, i suppose that was because of my lack of hard work; but now i am more than ever determined to get into JMSS, but my time management in any kind of test is appalling. i am currently in henderson doing all the workshops but if im being honest, i think they are not like as stressed as we are and the questions in the blookets are all pretty manageable, but its just my time management that needs work. i was wondering if there was any way for me to say dedicated and put in the hard work so i can hopefully get one superior. i feel like because of the amount of time pressure i had in the SEHS exam last year, my nr and maths was horrible, i want to improve that ASAP. And with the science prac report, my school does prac reports but i dont usually get an A or above standard and i want to improve in that as well. tysmm
Hi! I'd just like to say that I don't actually recommend my study technique since it ended up making things so much more stressful but I basically just spent all my time studying. I would study at school during recess and lunch but also before and after school. The only reason I spent only three months studying was because I only decided to take the test then. As for the science knowledge, they test the basics of all the fields of science but more importantly, analysing graphs. The interview I did didn't consist of any essay writing but there was a multiple part NR question that had to be answered in a short amount of time.
Hi,
The only way to improve your time management is to do timed practice tests. This is super important because for the JMSS tests, warnings were only announced five minutes before time was up. For NR, there are 50 questions in 30 minutes and for maths there are 60 in 30 minutes. When practicing limit your time even further. For example, aim to finish the test in 25 minutes instead of 30 and think of those extra 5 as an acceptable but not desirable overtime. They don't actually expect you to answer every single question correctly, but leave no question unanswered and don't spend too long on a single question either. Personally I guessed around 20 maths questions and 15 NR questions but still got above average for both. For the science report, I don't feel like I did very well and the correct structure was never really covered by my teacher at school. Looking back on it though, @Ommahp had some very useful and relevant advice if you scroll to the top of the thread.
I would love to hear about your approach to preparing for this exam. If you don't mind, could you kindly share your study methodology with me? I'm eager to learn from others and gather different strategies that could help me excel in my own preparations.
Thanks
nuclei
hi thanks for the advice, i was wondering when im doing practice tests at home with time, should i just aim to finish all the questions within the time frame as if its a real exam, or should i study the qestions and try to get them right, are the examiners more biased in looking for students who can finish within the time frame (meaning getting an quite of questions wrong) or students who can answer correctly (but dont finish within the time limit).
nuclei The interview I did didn't consist of any essay writing but there was a multiple part NR question that had to be answered in a short amount of time.
hi,
im a little bit confused on this part, in the interview if u pass, are they still going to give you more test questions to do in a time frame? i thought it was just talking about science and stuff and they ask u questions
For the most part, I worked out of my school textbooks. My school uses Pearson for science and Cambridge for maths (I also purchased an Oxford maths textbook) so I mainly did the questions from those books. I focused on science more since I was doing advanced work for math in class anyway and I ended up covering the entire science book in about two months. Over my three months of preparation, I basically studied at any spare moment. I started with covering content from my textbooks, then as the date of the exam neared I began doing practice exams. I didn't really practice writing since I felt pretty confident in my writing abilities but in the last two weeks or so I did ask ChatGPT for prompts and have my writing marked by it. Overall, I wouldn't recommend my study method as it was very rushed. I relied heavily on prior foundation knowledge and the fact that I was scoring well in both subjects but also had to sacrifice a lot of my social life as I studied for the exam and tried to join activities to put on my CV.
You should definitely revise the content beforehand and treat the practice exams like proper ones. As for what the examiners are looking for, I can't say, but it shouldn't matter as long as you don't leave any questions unanswered. During the reading time, make a mental note of all the easier questions/questions you can do and try to answer them to the best of your ability. Leave the harder ones last and if you end up running out of time, it's fine to guess.
For Year 10 entry there are two parts to the interview. First is the group interview which is a multi-stage interview in itself. There are about 5 people in each group. During the group interview, you want to be friendly and sociable as they test teamwork and leadership. It starts off pretty relaxed with some icebreakers to get to know your group. After that they give you a budget and a problem and you choose how to spend the budget. I remember my group had a budget of 5 million and we had to spend it to support the repopulation of the endangered sugar glider. This activity is supervised by some of the JMSS Year 12s. Then there's another stage where they give you materials and a challenge. For my group, we had to move a small ball from one side of the table to the other with no direct contact. This is also supervised by Year 12s. That's the last stage of the group interview and after that you are seated at a desk and given an extensive NR problem to solve in a minute. Once that minute is up, you go to your one-on-one interviews. The group activities vary with each group so it's unlikely you'll get the same as the group before or after you.