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ReyanSuccessfulSelectiveAplicant
Well I didn't go to tutoring or anything although a lot of people do recommend it because tutoring typically gives you useful practice tests. I didn't really use any external materials, I just studied topics in my year 9 maths textbook with a few year 10 topics. It's also very important to practice time management because the questions in my test weren't exactly hard questions but there was just a lot of questions in a short amount of time. For the writing, I know it changed to a persuasive and narrative test. Try writing 2 really good body paragraphs for persuasive instead of 3 rushed ones. For reading comprehension, a lot of people like to look at the questions before reading the text but this never works for me, I just read the entire text and then i can quickly answer all the questions instead of spending time searching through the texts for answers. Take these with a grain of salt, I'd recommend asking people who did the test last year for how it was.

ReyanSuccessfulSelectiveAplicant
Sorry, unfortunately I did the test in 2022 where it was still by edutest, but since last year the tests are now being made by acer so I'm not sure what they are like.

Cr7fan
It's very good that you have a lot of extracurriculars, schools also love when students are not just focused on academics. I'm not exactly sure how the Year 10 entry for Nossal or any of the other 3 selective schools go but what I will say is that it is very competitive. At Nossal, they only accept students if a spot opens up even if the applying students are very high achieving. Last year, only one student left in Year 9 so they could only accept in one new student. I don't want this to scare you or anything but I think it is important to note that it will be very competitive. I'm not sure if the other selective schools have this system but at Nossal, there always needs to be exactly 208 students in each year level so that's why it's so hard to get in after Year 9 entry.

vicky99
Hi, I also don't know much about Melbourne High School but what I can say about Nossal is that we have a lot of different clubs and there's also a big emphasis on music. We have Year 9 Choral where once a week all the years 9s will have a class for choir (I believe Melbourne High does this as well or in some other form). We also have HPAF where each house creates a 20-30 minute play and competes to win. There are also a lot of bands and orchestras that perform at concerts, competitions and assemblies. I'm not overly involved in a lot of extracurriculars, however I am in debating club this year and I do plan on being more involved in HPAF.
Hopefully this helps a little bit but I do recommend going to school tours, especially for Melbourne High to get more information.

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

Yes
I'm not sure about the practice tests but they do seem to have quite a lot of content and could help you. As for the science report, like I said before, you will be given the information of a science experiment (I think mine was about like a parachute of some sort, definitely an experiment that is usually done in high school science). They will give you the method, material and aim which will usually be incorrect in some way and you will have to address this in your discussion. In my essay, I wrote that the materials did not specify the size of the spoon used to measure and that the method was written in present tense instead of past tense (people often make the mistake of writing the method in present tense so look out for this in the test). These two limitations were split into two paragraphs, and in each you should discuss how the limitation affects the experiment's validity, reproducibility, repeatability, etc. and how it can be improved. I don't remember if I also wrote a paragraph on trends of the data but you should do this as well (in total 2-3 paragraphs for discussion). And the conclusion should be a regular conclusion, is the hypothesis supported, why why not, restate some of the limitations and their affects and how the experiment can overall be improved to be more valid. Hopefully this helps!

Yes
Hi, I did the test this year and got in, however I'm not going. I never went to tutoring for the test and I personally don't think you need to. The test wasn't very hard, I think it's more important to practice answering questions quickly and accurately. Just knowing the content from Year 9 and maybe Year 10 for Maths and Science will cover it. The main place where people don't perform well is the Science and writing tests. I think going to tutoring or buying practice exams for these tests could be useful since you wouldn't have done these kinds of tests elsewhere.
Numerical Reasoning and Maths were pretty standard tests, if you did the selective entry exam, they were easier than those (at least in my year, I know the selective test changed this year). The numerical reasoning test is actually very similar to the practice version for select entry on the victorian government website (one of the questions from this year's test was literally on that practice test). I wouldn't stress too much about these, just go through a maths textbook and do some time practice test and you should be good.
Science Reasoning is a mixture of general science knowledge questions and data analysis questions. To practice the data analysis questions, I would suggest the ICAS Science tests as those are as close as you're going to get to the questions on the test. With the general knowledge, like with Maths, knowing your Year 9 content should cover it. I honestly am bad with Science general knowledge since my old school didn't teach it very well but I still ended up with an above average (I think my data analysis carried though).
There are 2 writing components, a science report and a science essay (forgot their actual names). Going to tutoring for these tests would be beneficial although you don't need it. For the science report, we had the information and method for a random experiment and we had to write a hypothesis, discussion and conclusion I think. Really knowing the in depth rules and components of a report is crucial for this. My school covered this heavily earlier this year and I ended up getting a superior for this test. Your discussion should be about 2 paragraphs (include improvements, accuracy, reliability, repeatability, etc.) and is probably the part that most people mess up on. I can go more in depth on this if you would like.
For the Science Essay, you get this page of information on a random topic (I got black soldier flies and its impact on greenhouse emissions, it was an absolutely awful prompt). It's just your regular essay format (2 - 3 body paragraphs), and you basically use the information given and some of your own if you can to take a stance and sort list the effects and such.
As far as tips, bring an analog watch (not digital) since I don't think there were any clocks and they only gave time stamps like once maybe. Set the minute hand to start at the very top so its easier to read since all the test were half an hour. I don't really have any other tips, as long as you study the content, practice and are pretty quick to answer questions, you'll be fine. Around half the students will get interviews so just practice regularly.
I know that was a lot, but feel free to ask anymore questions.

Harry1234513
Hi, I did the interview this year and got in. The interview was probably about 10 minutes long and I would say its decently important to have good reports. My interviewer looked through my entire school report during the interview but I heard that some check it afterwards. Your report just shows how you are in school compared to your exam results so I would suggest that your reports are the best that they can be. I had a very good report and my interviewer complimented me on it a lot so I think it left an impression on him and helped me get in.
For the interview in general, don't be formal with it, it's more of a conversation than a formal interview. Be very friendly and open and you can even make jokes and tell funny stories if you want. This goes for the group tasks as well, make sure to be friendly and show leadership skills by asking people for their input and opinions.
Hope this helps! Feel free to ask more questions I'm happy to help.

Hi everyone! I am currently a Year 9 student as Nossal High School and I wanted to make a forum where any of next year's Year 9 students can ask me any questions about the school. Feel free to ask anything, whether its about subjects, timetable, clubs, etc. I will also be one of the Year 9 Mentors on orientation day so I can answer any questions about that as well.

ind191
For the one on one interview, I think just being able to talk a lot about your passions and being friendly and open is a big factor. Like DJC said, you should just be yourself and try not to be nervous. It is good to have a lot of extracurriculars in your resume because the school wants all-rounded students that have other passions besides science and schoolwork, so many sports or clubs that you've joined should be added. It depends on the interviewer, but my interviewer went through my entire CV and flipped through all my reports and awards with me so I could add anything that I wanted to. Like when he was looking at my report, I added that I was really proud of how well I did because I worked really hard and wanted to do my best and I'm glad that it paid off.
Even if you don't do a lot of science related activities, you are still able to spin this to help you when answering questions. You could say something like "I haven't been given a lot of opportunities within science at my school and I want to go to John Monash so I am to be pushed to involve myself in more science activities and be in an environment where students share the same passions as me."
During my group activities, I was the one that tried to get other people to talk or asked them for their ideas to seem proactive and show leadership but also not overshadow the other students by simply saying my own ideas. Simple things like saying "What do you think?" or "Do you agree or have any other ideas?" can go a long way, especially when other people don't seem to be talking.
Hope that helped!

DJC Congratulations!

Results came out like half an hour ago. I was able to get an offer, did anyone else get one?

DJC
I heard that interviews are still being held for people who were sick or something on the original date. JMSS said that the results will come out before September 15th but they usually come out earlier so maybe in 1-2 weeks.

goldrush
Mine is on Tuesday at 11:20

monket
Yeah I feel like since I'm happy with where I am at Nossal and have got my VCE subjects already figured out then its probably better to stay, and I feel like more people have had better experiences at Nossal than at JMSS.

Mira284
The 4% rule means that only 4% of kids in one year level at a school is allowed to get into any of the 4 selective schools. So if there are 200 kids in Year 8 at a school, no more than 8 students can be accepted into any selective school.

ILikeBooks
Hi, I'm not entirely sure I'll go even if I get in yet. The school is just more convenient for me to get to in terms of transport and also 2 of my sisters previously went there so that's the main reason I did the test. I'm currently leaning more towards staying at Nossal since I'm not the biggest fan of Science in general and JMSS doesn't offer legal studies which is a subject I really want to do. Actually quite a lot of Nossal kids sit the JMSS test but most of them don't intend on going or go since it's closer to where they live.

NSN
Thank you so much too, I really hope you can get in as well and good luck on the exam!
There wasn't a persuasive test last year so I'm not sure, but personally I would say no. Your structure and style of writing should be what stands out in this type of test where you don't know what the prompt is. I know that using statistics in persuasive usually is an advantage but I doubt that the assessors would be looking out for people that use them since they're not really judging for prior knowledge or anything. This is only my opinion though and I'm not actually sure if this is how it works but I think that if you feel the need to make up statistics during your test, then the rest of your essay and structure probably isn't as good as it could be. Statistics won't make or break your essay since a lot of people won't use any in their essay. So, I personally wouldn't use them, I would just focus on the other parts of the essay which I think are more important.

777
Depends on what school you're trying for. I'd say that with 3 superiors, you'll probably get into the school you want. However there are some kids at Nossal that got in with only 1 superior, and maybe 1 or 2 that got in with no superiors but I think they got in through principal's discretion. But yeah 3 superiors with no averages will probably get you in.