How was your transition from High School to Uni?

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Permalink Reply by Shirlene on February 7, 2012 at 21:46

After a couple of weeks of finishing exams, I could not remember how I felt about them! Nevertheless, I thought I had done horrible and that my ATAR was not good enough for uni.
I had a countdown and was very nervous about finding out my ATAR. I wasn't particularly fond of talking about exams and such much at this point, but the questions were bound to be asked. I spent the whole day before it was expected to be released, refreshing the TISC page. I was ecstatic when I saw my score and shocked to see I had gotten in with flying colours! I may have 'wasted' my day refreshing the page, but within 10 minutes of the scores being released, there was way too much traffic onto the TISC website so for the next hours or so I recall a lot of people struggling to discover theirs, waiting and what I would assume, feeling very anxious!
Accepting main round offers was very easy. I decided to attend UWA. During the school year I did not have a great understanding of the whole system. The handbook website and various links helped in copious amounts! I was on this site for hours on end for about a week, which meant I had tens and tens of friends coming to me for help (as admin apparently was not of great use).
I decided to drop in during the in person enrolment sessions for a couple of minutes with three goals:
1. Ask a few questions
2. Get someone to make sure I had done my preferences for my timetable correctly
3. Sign up for science camp! (so pumped!) 

Now I have registered my classes and I am VERY excited for uni to begin, particularly orientation! Many things to look forward to! I am also waiting on my timetable!

For any students with questions and the likes, feel free to send me a message via StudentBox!

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Permalink Reply by Margaret . on February 8, 2012 at 11:28

Hi everyone :)

Like Shirlene, I thought I had done quite badly in the wace exams and they all seemed so long ago!

I didn't really keep track of the days or anything, and every time someone asked what did I expect my atar to be, I was like, "I don't know, bad?" and "can we talk about something else?". I spent the holidays relaxing as although we had holidays between terms, there was schoolwork and study to do, so I hadn't had a proper holiday till then. Overall, I wasn't too nervous or stressed, as I'd tried my best and did what I could for the WACE, and during the year I had put a lot of effort into schoolwork. I didn't regret anything or spend my holidays worrying endlessly about atar/wace.

Results were actually released the day before at around 5pm, and I found out through facebook, as friends announced it. When I went on tisc I was so happy to see my score. I hadn't expected anything so good, and I kept checking if it was mine. I was SO relieved that all the hard work had paid off. After that, my friends and I did the atar swap/comparing/congrats, its just friendly competition.

For main round offers, I had already decided on an assured entry pathway at uwa. After I got my atar was on the uwa handbook site for ages, deciding on what I wanted to do, so by the time offers came round I was prepared.

An in-person enrolment at uwa took ages, the line was very long and I ended up waiting about an hour. I was quite sure what I wanted to do, I just wanted the advisors to check if I had picked subjects correctly and satisfied broadening requirements, electives, etc. The only thing I found confusing was arranging my timetable, but I've figured that out and it's not so bad!

I'm REALLY REALLY looking forward to uni. I like the idea of getting in with a new crowd and making new friends. These holidays have been way too long and I'm looking forward to learning and studying something tailored to my interests.

I'll post again when I actually start uni :) Good luck for yr 12 everyone! I really enjoyed that year, I hope you will too, and get the results you deserve!

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Permalink Reply by Ben Low on February 8, 2012 at 15:58

Thanks @Shirlene and @Margaretf for your posts.

 

Your comments and experience will help a lot of students out.  Would you be cool with me highlighting this discussion more?  For example I can make a banner and post it up on the main page for everyone to see.  

I really think that this topic isn't covered enough by anyone and it would be great to get a lot of people's comments on it so that future students can learn what to expect during the transition from high school to uni. 

 

Ben

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Permalink Reply by Shirlene on February 8, 2012 at 16:50

That would be fine :). I felt the same when I was in the position of results being released, enrolling etc.

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Permalink Reply by Margaret . on February 8, 2012 at 23:29

Yeah, that's cool with me. Glad I can help :)

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Permalink Reply by Nur Afiqah Mohd Azli on February 9, 2012 at 20:18

1. Do not cram on the night before examination!

2. Keep yourself stress-free by playing sport or taking a break every few hours.

3. Do not procrastinate and study in distraction-free zone - yes, the kitchen is a distraction!

4. Drink plenty of fluids and vitamin C - we don't want you catching a cold in exam periods

5. Stay happy by talking to family and friends - do not isolate yourself.

Let's just say, once you have finished your last WACE exam, you just feel so relieved and happy. Although the way there can be a bit bumpy. For example, mine was filled with tears and tantrums, no joke. But I managed to survive Year 12 because of the support system that consisted of my family and my friends. Your friends are going through the same process as you so it's good to be there for each other and be strong for one another but bear in mind, it is your future that's on the line. By all means, take care of your friends but don't lose sight of your own goals.

After my last exam, I was pretty excited. I was just humming and felt so light. I hung out with a friend after my exam and it was probably the best feeling, the fact that I had no more obligations.. not until university anyway which was in three months. I didn't really countdown to my results. Don't do that. It will just make you go crazy. Sleepless nights, not eating. I've heard of some cases. Just relax, get a part time job or a casual job, go on holiday, prepare for leavers, get ready for graduation, do anything. I just lazed around at home and had movie nights where I would just have a Harry Potter Marathon or Star Wars or something like that.

Now, when the results come out, especially the day before it, stalk your facebook home page like there's no tomorrow. Seriously! My results came out at like three pm in the afternoon, the day before it was due to come out. A friend of mine posted a status about his results and suddenly, everyone flooded to TISC to log in. Of course, I was the lucky few who managed to log in before the site crashed - I am an amazing facebook stalker. I managed to get into my first round preference but I decided to wait because I had applied for universities in the Eastern States - managed to get into my courses as well. But unfortunately, I couldn't go because I didn't qualify for a scholarship because my ATAR was not in the 99's - stupid smart people.

My ATAR was higher than I previously thought so I decided to apply for a second-round offer for a different course seeing as I can get into that course. Unfortunately, I did not complete one of the prerequisites - I failed Chemistry by 0.3 marks, lyk WHAT? So I had to do a 'general' course and wait till mid year for me to be able to transfer.

Now, I am going Curtin University. Just so you guys know what I'm talking about. I never applied for UWA, just because I hated the idea of their new system and I didn't want to be another guinea pig - I was from Perth Modern. I applied to enter Nutrition but seeing as they require Chemistry 3A/B - failed so I had to enter their Health Sciences course and do Chemistry 181 to be able to transfer.

Their enrolment was actually quite easy. You get e-mailed your Curtin I.D and blah blah. Follow to enter OASIS - how Curtin communicates with its students. And look through the website for their course handbook so that you will know which units to enrol in. Once that occurs, you plan your timetable and then, sign up for the classes and bam, done. Of course you have to do your tax file number, deferment of payment and everything but I'm not going to elaborate here. Seeing as I got into the second round, it was horrible, seeing as all the good time slots were taken so here's another tip: GET INTO YOUR COURSE IN THE FIRST ROUND SO YOU CAN HAVE A GOOD SELECTION OF TIMES FOR YOUR CLASSES. If not, you're gonna end up like me, with only the choice of the available classes. But my timetable is looking good. I go to school everyday except Thursdays and my classes start at 10am and finish at 2-3pm. I don't mind going to school almost everyday.

So far, I am really looking forward to university. I really am. Three months break. It's great, especially after Year 12 but after a month or two, you just feel bored and you just want to do something productive - unless you're a bum. Orientation starts in two weeks for me, so it is kind of soon. So yeah, to sum up my little story : KEEP YOURSELF MOTIVATED DURING EXAM PERIODS.

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Permalink Reply by Teresa Thi Lam on February 11, 2012 at 16:45

Haha - ok, here is my experience, which probably wasn't the most smoothest process in trying to get into uni, but I made it, so think of my retelling as an insight if you were a less than satisfactory student in high school.

First of all, I had personal circumstances that resulted in pretty bad results in yr 12. Getting C's, B's and one A in my report made me seriously doubt my chances of getting a high enough ATAR, let alone getting into the course I wanted. Second of all, I'm a very choppy and changey sort of person. I remember starting off wanting to be an astronomer, to an architecture, and finally I just ended up not knowing what to do at all. When I did my preferences, I totally just went for anything and didn't choose specific majors but just the general area.

I also had help with my career counselor, who got me into programs just in case I didn't get a high enough ATAR. I applied for the Step Up Program and the Summer School at Curtin. I also got the chance to receive a scholarship through the Principal's recommendation. A tip: Apply for everything and use whatever you can to get into uni, 'cause you never know what can happen.

When it was time for the external exams, I was stressed, because I did bad in the mocks, but also because I lived outside my home at that time, I had to bus and walk to all the exams, which made things more stressful. I remember on my first exam, I was the first one there. I was in such a rush as well, thinking I was late, that I also forgot my personalized timetable - so I had to run back to get it.

But after that first exam, a friend and I went to Hog's Breath to celebrate the last time we would ever do History. (Sounds so harsh but hey, I would have loved the History class more if it was Ancient History).After the exams, I went on leavers with about ten or so others, and we just went up to Lancelin. It was such a....intense time. So many things happened, and you know what they say, what happens at leavers, stays on leavers.

A couple days before the ATARs came out, I was worried. REALLY WORRIED. Even though I knew that I got pretty bad, I had hoped to at least get the minimum. I didn't stalk FB to know when to check TISC, no, I was the one who stalked the TISC page by refreshing it every other second, then shared it on facebook when I got mine. As you would guess, I got a really low ATAR, but enough for me to use the Step Up Curtin Program. I also got into the Summer Program, but didn't have to go. I got into my first preference, which was Bachelor of Art and Design Studies.

Thirdly, applying for uni was actually more complicated then I thought. I also had trouble deciding if I should accept it or defer for a year, but I ended up accepting it. Then I went on to choosing the major...which was sooo hard. I did finally choose something, but then my Oasis went haywire. My offer into the course had disappeared so I couldn't finish enrolling into units, so I had to go in and manually enrol into the units. Going in was really helpful, because they helped me choose units specific to what I wanted to do. When I got home, I went on to registering for classes. I had a slight problem, because one of my tutorials had no spaces available in that class, but the next day someone dropped out so I immediately took the spot. I've got my timetable done, and I also got the Principal's recommendation scholarship, which is a big help towards my uni fees and now, I'm preparing for Orientation week.

I'm also looking for a place to rent, because it takes over 90 minutes to get to Curtin from where I am at the moment, and I have lectures at 8 in the morning. But things a progressing...really slowly at the moment.

It was a very messy and stressful time (sort of still is), but I just can't wait until everything is finished so I can get into a nice, normal and comfortable routine.

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Permalink Reply by Olivia Duncan on February 12, 2012 at 18:20

As WACE exams drew nearer, I think I was a lot more composed than I thought I was going to be! I'd done plenty of revision for my mocks, and my marks were alright, so I think that helped a lot. The morning of my exams, I always arrived with plenty of time to spare but not too early. I also left my revision at home on my desk, so that I didn't freak myself out and panic ten minutes before my exam (which I've done in the past!!)

I had mixed feelings about my exams, I had a bit of a mixed bag and felt more confident about some than others. I didn't talk about the exams too much, because none of my friends wanted to pull them to pieces and freak each other out.

When it came time to check my ATAR, I had trouble because the TISC website was down. I was really nervous, and worried that I wouldn't achieve the ATAR that I wanted, but I was pleasantly surprised when it was 15 marks above my predicted ATAR! I think relaxing during exam time helped a lot because I found it easier to recall during my exams and I definitely preformed better than I anticipated.

I received my first offer, which I wasn't surprised about because my ATAR was well above the indicative and I felt confident that I could get into the course that I wanted. I ended up deferring until 2013 as I can't get HECS (not an Australia citizen) so I need to work this year in order to pay my university fees. Deferring was easy though, and I had no troubles with this.

Now I'm counting down the days until I can enrol in 2013!!!

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Permalink Reply by Adam Watts on February 14, 2012 at 22:45

all was good, except for the TISC site overloading and being unable to get my uni offer for a few hours, but i got the score and offer i wanted, bachelor of science at UWA :D. because i didnt do 3cd or specialist maths i knew i had to do extra units, so i emailed UWA, yet received no reply, making me enroll online because i missed in person enrollment. although a phone call fixed all that and one extra year and one less major later i had my things ordered, then came the confusing timetable, which i eventually sorted. OLCR was good but class preferences got clashes happening like crazy so unless i dont get every class i wanted, there will be lots of lectures being watched online.

anyways, i cant wait for uni to start, looks so fun :D

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Permalink Reply by ryvb3 on February 20, 2012 at 17:32

I think when the WACE exams were finished I was glad it was over and done with.

And since I finished all of my exams in early November I spent my time participating NaNoWriMo2011. Then in December I started cleaning up room because it was a mess. So overall I didn't have a countdown as there was little time thinking about the ATAR results. 

But when it was near the day of finding my ATAR I just checked here in the forums occasionally. And it wasn't until the day before that I learnt that the results could be received a day early that I started to get a bit nervous. But at the end of the day I reasoned to myself that this isn't all or nothing, there's always another way if you don't get to uni, and such - like this wasn't the only pathway to go.

So the night before when we were meant to get our ATAR, I visited StudentBox, and then I found posts about ATAR results, so I quickly logged into TISC and found my results. I was happy with my result. Wait I think 'happy' is an understatement, because I was jumping around glad that was good enough and better than I hoped, after thinking of the worse about how I felt after my exams.

So after accepting my main round offer into UWA, I spent the rest of January til the in-person enrolments understanding the system and using the handbook website figuring out what units to do and such.

And when it was enrolment day, I was lucky to see my friend there because we helped each other out. But the enrolment was a whirlwind of process, because we had to walk to one place to another being directed by signs and people. It just made me want to get all of the steps done QUICKLY - but I did the OLCR at home (registering for the classes).

And since we had a unistart bag filled with lots of information pamphlets or papers, I begun sitting in front of the tv and sorting it all out.

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