Seeking Advice and Tips for the Victorian Selective Entry Exam 2024

Hey everyone,

I hope you're all doing well. I wanted to reach out to this amazing community for advice and tips regarding the upcoming Victorian Selective Entry Exam in 2024. As a student aiming to get into a selective school, I believe your insights could prove extremely helpful in my preparation journey.

Firstly, I would love to know about your personal experiences with the exam. What challenges did you face, and what strategies did you employ to overcome them? Share your success stories, as they will certainly inspire and motivate not only me but many others in a similar boat.

Additionally, I am particularly curious about the different sections of the exam and the techniques you found effective for each one. Did you dedicate more time to specific subjects? Were there any particular resources or study materials that you found valuable? Knowing what worked for you can help me plan my study schedule more effectively.

Time management is another crucial aspect that I would love some guidance on. As we all know, juggling multiple subjects and preparing for the Victorian Selective Entry Exam can be overwhelming. How did you manage your time effectively? Did you follow a specific study routine or create a timetable that helped you stay on track? Any suggestions on how to balance study, relaxation, and extracurricular activities would be fantastic!

Lastly, it would be great to know about any potential pitfalls or common mistakes students often make during the exam. Are there any specific question types or sections that tend to trip people up? By learning from your experiences, I hope to avoid some of these pitfalls and maximize my chances of achieving the best results possible.

Thank you all in advance for taking the time to read my post and offer your advice. Sorry if it came out to be quite the rant 🙂

Best regards.

    10 days later

    soph.v9
    Heyy so I did the sehs exam for year 9 in 2023 and its not accurate but I think 1 in 5 students make it into a sehs school, I assume. If you are currently in an Accelerated class I highly recommend to pay attention to class, or just in normal class.
    My strong suit is Maths so I got superiors in Mathematics and Numerical Reasoning, but I flonked Reading comprehension with below average :/ and average in Verbal reasoning. One thing I highly recommend is to bring in an analogue watch as that will help you keep track with time as when i did the test there was no timer but a watch they showed. Or if you didn't bring one then write the time at the top of your paper to track time. Unfortunately I do not have a success story but I recommend to put your subjects that you are not good at as priority compared to me who did not. The content that you learn in year 8 should be similar to the content shown in the exam, but as a reference, this is what should be covered in the test. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fTbAb4AxustM6qokFTbVDklU15heTrnE/view?usp=sharing
    It is good to look for practise tests but leave that later on like 2-3 months before the exam that will happen in June I think. I found that finding 2nd hand textbooks that covers year 8-9 content was helpful as I got 2 superiors in the maths tests.
    For your Reading Comprehension, there were fiction texts and non-fiction, and also a poem and a cartoon which could be found in physical newspapers. I recommend Reading Anything that you can find at home or just a variety of books to help you in that. In Verbal reasoning, it was a mixture of analogies, vocabulary meanings and the computerical questions like all if all KEYS are REYS and some REYS are LEYS... Definitely try and find similar resources with questions like that cause that is what will definitely be on the VR test.
    Also to expand your vocabulary I highly recommend vocabulary.com as that helped me with expanding my vocab and such.
    Time management wise may be different for everyone, but I did the Pomedoro method which is 25 mins of studying then a 5 min of break which is NOT being on technology. But definitely when I study I take a sip of water and look somewhere else that is not my study books when I need a breather. Definitely don't worry too much about studying because most of the content in the exam will be from school.
    Very common mistakes that students make is not reading the question properly. So definitely when you are answering questions make sure to not skim the question but understand and read the question properly.
    For Reading Comprehension read the questions first then read the text as you roughly remember what to remember with answering the questions.
    Probably try not to listen to music while studying as that will help you be in the mood when actually in the exam room.
    I read on the official Macrob comment section that you should aim for over 85% for each test to maximise your chances of making it in.
    And definitely this is not a do or die test, there are many pathways to get where you want, and there are other chances for year 10 and 11 to do the macrob test again.
    I hoped this helps 😉

        lanny

        Hey, thank you so much for all the information. It seems really helpful and its extremely thoughtful of you to write such a detailed reply to my post. Once again, thank you so much 🙂

          a month later
          a month later

          Guys just a few questions here bc im sitting selective soon. Honestly, I am WAYYYYYY too nervous considering that more than half the kids in my skl are sitting. I just wanted to know what kind of things motivate u guys and what pushed you into working hard.
          Cuz I really need the motivation right now.
          thanks

            password123 same 😭 I'm just telling myself it'll be worth it. Try not to listen to music because it gives you the ability to concentrate better because you won't be listening to music during the exam so you might as well get used to it!

                ash73 Nope! You can still make it in without one! I got a friend who made it in with 2 high averages and 3 above averages! Just try not to get below average or average because that really gives you a low chance of getting in.

                    KIARAA Omg literally same!!!!! I keep listening to music but thats when im not studying. Lowkey my parents keep telling me to stop cuz its distracting but I CANTTT .

                        password123 I LOVE LISTENING TO MUSIC WHILE STUDYING! But for me, it distracts me because I only wanna listen to music. However, when I don't listen to music I lose motivation😭. So I'm trying to get into the habit of doing work without music.

                            OMG literally same!!!!!! So im also doing selective with my twin sister. So like I HAVE TO GET INTO MACROB. but i also need to find motivation so like r there like any podcasts of stuff idkk

                            KIARAA

                                password123 I dont listen to podcasts sorry😭 BUT IN A WAY I FIND THAT RELATABLE. I'm trying for year 10 because I missed the year 9 exam. What is motivating me the most is that my sister is trying for year 9 next year and if she does get in I won't really feel like an older sister because idk I feel like I have to be smarter to feel like one.😭Like to elaborate, I'd feel like a faliure

                                    password123 I listen to songs that I could sing along to, like pop songs!
                                    (probably the reason I can't concentrate)

                                      KIARAA same honestly... a lot of people think my sister is smarter than me and its rlly annoying. So i think the thing thats kind of pushing me the most is that. So yea i would definately feel sooo dumb id i dont get in plus if i sister gets in.

                                          shut up meera. Technically i smarter in some subjects ad shes smarter in others. So kindly kys