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
