JMSS Entry Tips
Yes Thanks but lol i'm currently in school I'll join when i get home
nuclei Is it the year 9 Pearson 2nd edition?
Yeah, that's the one
Hello, uhm i currently go to nossal hs (yr 9) but i dont like being here so I am trying for macrob yr 10 entry and jmss yr 10
ik we dont have much time to study but anything would be helpful. How do i prepare for the science writing tests? Is the interview hard? What about the timing of each test?
me
Hi, I'm in year 10 at Nossal and I actually did the JMSS test last year and got in but i didnt end up going (curious as to why you don't like Nossal because I personally like it a lot). Just a heads up, a lot of Nossal kids do the jmss test, probably like 20 or more but to my knowledge only like 2 people got in. I think it's harder to get into jmss when you go to nossal already but last year the other kid that got in besides me did end up going to jmss. Generally if you did well on the selective exam then youll be fine for jmss.
I think there are some earlier responses on what the tests are like so i wont go over it again unless you want me to. But to prepare, I think it's very important to work on time management especially for the writing parts. There were people who didnt finish their science essay because it is difficult to read a whole page or two of information and write an essay on it in like half an hour (I ended only writing 2 large body paragraphs and I barely had enough time for that).
For the science report, if you use the structure that youre being taught in science class right now (i think science at nossal starts off with scientific method, you probably just had your test on it) then you should be set. Just use any experiment data you can find and write paragraphs on the trends in the data, limitations (what they are, how they affect the results, how to fix it to improve accuracy, repeatability or reproducibility) and a conclusion, you may be asked to write a hypothesis as well but that is pretty straight forward.
For the interview, I personally found it pretty easy because I'm good at like public speaking and all that. But just be very friendly and open and always link back in some way to jmss and why you want go there. The interviewers are very nice so dont be serious or formal with it, just think of it as a conversation with a teacher.
That was a really rough overview, so feel free to ask questions. I'm happy to answer anything even in person at nossal or on teams if you would like or just on atarnotes
Hi,
I have been reading and finding the tips from this page to be extremely helpful. I am looking to also partake in the JMSS exam this year for 2025 however I have left my preparation to be very last minute.
I was wondering if anyone has advice on how I should plan out my studying. I consider my maths and science knowledge levels to be acceptable however I don’t believe it can put me above some other students who may be taking the test and with time running out I am definitely becoming more nervous as I really want to attend this school.
Any tips are appreciated however the advice here has already been a great help.
Thanks.
eee I am also doing it for 2025, my advice because I didn't make the selective school year 8 test is to see past and previous papers and find a member from your family or a cousin to listen to their experience and what mistakes they did (that you should not repeat) and somethings that you should do during the exam.
airfoil definitely don't skip school to study for the exam!! What I meant was that I quite literally spent any spare time I had studying, like I'd wake up early to study before school, I'd study during breaks at school, and also spend a lot of time afterschool studying. I also did a lot of my classwork for maths and science in advance so I could ask my teachers to help me with the more difficult topics and questions. Like I said, I wouldn't recommend it, but it was what worked best for me. Good luck!!
@nuclei what is the best tip for scoring high in science reasoning? Do you recommend hendersons exams for JMSS?
PLEASE GET BACK TO ME ASAP
JMSSaspirant I'd say the science reasoning test wasn't exactly difficult, but there was a fair bit of analysis. It's similar to ICAS, so I'd recommend purchasing some ICAS papers for practice. Other than that, just go over your textbook. Most of the questions in the exam only required a very basic knowledge, especially when it came to physics. As long as you know the basic formulas (force, speed, acceleration, etc.) you'll be fine. Personally, I covered the content in my Year 9 science book, some basic bio unit 1&2 content, and used ICAS for practice and I got a superior in sr so it worked for me. Hope this helps!!
@nuclei are the question formatted as you read the information from graphs or stats and answer them? Thank you for the advice
Hi, I am preparing for the JMSS entrance test 2024, thanks for all the useful suggestion. I just wanted to point out that latest ICAS papers are not available, so how to get them as most latest one to be purchased are of 2018 - 2016.
Hope anyone could help.
ZehraA Hi! Don't worry, it's not really much of a problem. Those ICAS papers are still relevant so you can still use them for practice. Good luck!!
JMSSaspirant That's right. From what I remember it was analysing either a graph or a slab of information. There were also more direct questions but they were generally less time consuming. I'm glad I could help!!
Thanks everyone for the tips!