Hi Angel,
I've just received an offer for the year 10 cohort of 2025, and I am happy to help!
For me the exam was in the JMSS building, but I heard some people also did the test in the Monash university campus (around 200 is my best guess). Personally, I found the JMSS test to be much easier than the selective (idk maybe that's because I didn't study for selective lmao). If I was to tell you what was on the test it was mainly just really basic year 9 maths, like trig (sohcahtoa) linear equations, finding the equation of a parabola and there were a few worded questions about like finance and ratios. For numerical reasoning it was just patterns and worded problem solving, I recommend checking out the Edutest practice numerical reasoning test as that is probably the closest thing to the actual test. For the science aspects it was rather simple, you dont really need much prior knowledge for test as it mostly consists of answering questions for tables and graphs, but If I was you I would brush up on my basic knowledge (just read over your textbooks and do a bit of Khan academy).
As for the interviews, yes it was nerve wracking for me when I first entered the building, I was actually being interviewed in one of the first groups so I really absolutely no time to calm myself. Don't stress though, because after you do the icebreaker you start to really feel comfortable.
There is two parts to the interview, there is the group interview and the one on one.
Group Interview
- You are placed into a group of around 5-6 people, and there are two tasks you need to complete as a group
- The first task for me was that we were given a scenario/issue, and a sheet that had different methods of solving that particular problem. The catch is that we had a budget of 20 mil, and we given 5 minutes to basically work as a team and propose which methods on the sheet were (in our opinion) going to be the most effective. In my example, our group had to tackle overfishing, and we were given 20 mil to do our best job at it. On the sheet there were things like policing, which costed 15 mil, education, which costed 1 mil etc.
- The second activity was pretty fun, as a group we had to construct a tower out of common household items and it had to be at least 30 cm tall and be able to balance a hand sanitizer on top of it (weird ik). Apparently the other groups had to like draw something with a pencil attached to a string.
It is really important that in the group activities that you participate in the discussion, obviously don't shun the others, provide a healthy contribution. This is an assessed part of the interview ( I had around 4 people taking notes on my group) and it is really important that you make a good impression
There is also a small maths puzzle that you are also required to solve. Don't worry, because if you did good enough on the test to be invited for an interview than this small test will seem like nothing (it was really easy lol)
One on One Interview
This is the most heavily assessed section of the interview process, and is where many people end up screwing up their entry, even if they do really good on the other parts of the interview and the actual test, you wont have a good chance of getting in if you don't do well on this part.
Tips from me would include being confident, they really want to test your passion for science and ability to communicate your ideas. Remember, you need to convey your passion for science through your answers as they will not directly ask you. Act like you have been interested in science for a long time, and are also willing to learn new things. Also, relate your answers to how you can benefit from the school and how the school can benefit from you. saying something like "I would really like to explore the sciences further with JMSS" can show your deep interest in the school and will improve your chances.
As for the questions, they are rather simple, with a blend of questions about you and questions about science as well. The questions I got were...
- How did you get interested in science?
- What are some other things you do outside of academia?
- Choose a problem, climate change or overpopulation, explain why this is a problem and propose some solutions
- Choose a scientific invention that is based on a scientific principle. Explain the scientific principle and if you know, explain how the invention works as well
- If I was to go through your report right now, what would be an area that you would be the most proud of?
If you get selected for an interview, you will be asked to bring a Curriculum Vitae (CV). This is basically a record of all your extracurriculars, leadership roles and awards written in the form of a resume. You do have time, so i would recommend joining a few science experiences, leadership roles and sporting teams to boost the quality of your resume!
That is all from me, i have written quite a lot lol Good Luck!!
