Year 12, Exams and Getting Into The University of Your Dreams: Everything You Need to Know
Isobel Crabb is not only an exceptional student and General Exhibition winner, her incredible work ethic and level-headed approach to her studies has scored her a highly coveted place at the University of Cambridge. We had a chat with Isobel to find out all the secrets to her outstanding achievements.
On her tip for succeeding in year 12:
Study is more about consistency than about how ‘hard’ you study. People get caught in a trap of cramming and then become complacent in between busy periods of assessments or work. They will get away with doing some homework but not studying until the night before a test or not doing an assignment until the night before. My biggest tip is just to do a bit for each day. It is a to easier to study or do an assignment in small parts over the course of a few days rather than trying to pull an all nightery.
Also, use your teachers! Believe it or not, teachers want their students to do well. They want you to come see them, ask them questions or even just have a light chat. Just by regularly seeing my teachers for help and advice, they got to know me better. This comes in handy when you are going through a rough time or are struggling with a certain topic because your teachers can pick up on when you are not yourself and try to help you solve your problems or make concessions for when you might be having trouble to complete work.
For science and maths, it’s really important to understand the content rather than to just memorise. Most tests and exams, especially in WACE, are testing your understanding rather than just your ability to memorise, you need to know your concepts so you can apply them in a new environment, especially for things like chemistry and physics, it’s not about spitting out the perfect answer, it’s about being able to recognise what concept is being tested and displaying your knowledge of that concept.
On maintaining hobbies throughout year 12:
I have a few hobbies which I found to be really nice breaks in year 12 because they were ones that allowed me to physically remove myself from my study environment. One of my favourite things to do was cooking or baking. My mum called it ‘procrastibaking’ because I would do it instead of study sometimes, but it really helped because it meant I had a treat for myself after I finished my study. But also, I liked exercising quite a lot. I’d go out for runs with my friends a lot. I also did Zumba with one of my friends once a week, which was really nice because I’d focus on that and I couldn’t actually think about anything else when I was trying to dance and watch the instructor and that sort of thing, which is great. Then on the weekends, my family has a farm, so we go down to the farm and I’d help out with the sheep and horses, which was really nice and distracting. It got me outside in the fresh air and stuff like that.
On using private tutoring:
I used private tutoring for physics in semester two because I wasn’t really reaching my goals much and I was just falling short of the marks that I was aiming for. It wasn’t really a weekly thing, it was more just topping up on the areas where I was struggling a bit. He was a uni student, and what was really useful was that he had studies physics recently, in high school, which meant that he knew the areas that most students would trip up because he had learned the content recently.
Teachers are great because they know how to teach well, but they’ve often been studying the subjects for so long that they sometimes forget which concepts are really difficult for students to grasp and how students wrap their heads around that and that’s where my tutor was really useful. He also gave me many exam tips for physics because I found that my exam technique in physics was lacking compared to my other subjects. That definitely gave me a boost and I ended up topping physics in my school!
On keeping fit during year 12:
Exercise really blows out the cobwebs, it helps you concentrate a bit better because if you find yourself sitting at a desk all day you get a bit cloudy and distracted more easily because you’re getting tired. Exercise allows you to revitalize a bit, you can just put your mind to something else so that when you come back to it, you’re not as drained.
I found that Netflix was good for turning my brain off at the end of the day, but when you’re in that interim period, for example between when you come home from school and when you need to start study at home, it’s really nice just to do something different for a little bit so that you can refresh your brain before you hop back into study.
On expectations versus reality in year 12:
I was expecting year 12 to be hard work and drag out over the months. I was correct in that year 12 was the hardest year of study I have done so far, however, it did not drag on. Year 12 passes a lot faster than most think it will when they start. Because of the consistent onslaught of work and my habit of working from day to day, before I knew it, my days accumulated into months very quickly. Semester two is especially fast and before you know it, mocks are over and WACE is around the corner.
On what she would do differently:
If I could redo year 12, in terms of my study, I would probably do the same as I did last year. By the time I reached year 12 I was quite confident in my study technique and I don’t have much trouble organising and motivating myself. However, I probably could have benefitted from spending more time with my friends and talking to others. I tended to shut myself away when I was busy, rather than capitalising on even the small moments where I could have had a cup of tea with my mum or a coffee before school in the morning with some of my friends or even gone outside for half an hour to enjoy fresh air and sunlight.
On her study technique:
I found that I was most productive between 9 am and 8:30 pm, so anything before school was just me getting ready and sort of getting ‘zen’ for the day. I’d just get up, enjoy my breakfast, get dressed, chat with my parents, enjoy my morning. As soon as I got to school I got into study mode, so before I started my classes I’d just sit down, check my emails, maybe do a bit of revision for something I had that day, like a test or an assignment.
During my school day, I would just try to focus as much as I could on my classes. So, I’d be actively listening to the teachers, taking notes, trying to get my work done in class or during my private study period.
Once I got home I’d take a break between when I arrived home from school and when I was going to start studying, so usually, that would involve Zumba or running or even just having a cup of tea with my mum or something. Then, I had kind of an intense work period between about 4:30 and 8:30 pm, with a small break for dinner, where I’d just do as much as I could. I had a checklist and I’d go through as much I could finish in that time and once I started getting tired or I finished everything, I’d just stop, have a shower, watch my Netflix and just chill out for the evening.
On studying through the WACE study break:
I treated my study break like a 9–5 job, so I would study in the part of the day which I found I was most productive, and that was in the school hours I would find. Because I could start a bit earlier and plan my study day around when I wanted to take breaks, I didn’t have to work for as long, because I’d find that at school, sometimes your school schedule forces you to take time away from study to do things that aren’t really as relevant or which distract you a bit — which can be good, but it can also be a waste of time. So, by organising all of my stuff into a shorter day, I had a period in the morning and a period in the evening which were just for me, which really helped with managing my stress during WACE, because in the evenings I could just sit around with my family and kind of just switch off a bit and let my brain recharge.
On how to actually enjoy year 12:
Make sure you take time for yourself outside of a study environment. It is all good and well sitting on your phone at your desk, but you still haven’t separated yourself from a source of stress. Physically remove yourself from the environment where you study and go do things you like. Talk to your friends or parents, keep up with sports and hobbies and do not shut yourself away. You are allowed to have a life outside of school.
There will be times in year 12 where you will be stressed and feel like you want to cry, and that is okay. But you should not feel like that all of the time. It can be patronising to hear a person not in year 12 tell you that it isn’t the be all and end all, but it is true. Year 12 is not so important that you should give up what you love and what makes you happy.
On ‘traps’ that students should avoid:
A trap I would advise avoiding is burning out too early. Year 12 is a marathon and you do not want to peak in semester one and have no motivation for semester two. Be kind to yourself. It is great to try to improve yourself and your marks, but do not go so hard on the study the by the time you reach September, which is the real crunch time, that you are too exhausted to continue. Use your holidays effectively. You will be expected to study but you MUST rest your brain and catch up on your sleep. If anything, I would advise doing half days of study in the holidays (towards the end) so that you are fresh and up to date with your content before you start the term again.
On time management in year 12:
Plan your day around things that you’re looking forward to because then you’re a lot more motivated to finish your study, or at least, work efficiently in the time that you’ve got. I always found that I’d fill my day up with the things that I needed to get done such as sport, or my activities with my friends, and then I’d figure out how much time I had left in my day. Then in that time, I would make a realistic list of how much I could finish and then a list of all the other things that I needed to do over the next few days after that because then I found that I was working towards something fun later on rather than just thinking about the huge pile of work on my desk that needed to get done and the fact that I hadn’t had a break in like five days or something.
On how she decided to go to Cambridge:
I’ve always had an interest in science, pretty much from my high school science studies, but I didn’t know which field I wanted to go into until about year 10. Then in year 11, I went away to the US and I did a summer program at Yale University and I got to experience the university level of biological study which I really enjoyed so that sort of motivated me to apply for a high calibre university such as Cambridge and I got in!
On her advice to parents:
Take it easy on your kids. Kids, especially high achieving ones, put enough pressure on themselves already and do not need familial pressure added on top of that. If your child is disappointed with their marks or is struggling to find motivation for study, be there to talk with them, listen to their concerns, offer advice if you can. Even if you cannot offer academic support, emotional support is enough. Just small things like having my favourite meal for dinner when I had a rough day or my parents asking me to watch a movie with them would help me out.
On her final advice for this year’s 12s:
Year 12 is only one year of your life. It will be tough and you will have to put in the work if you want to achieve. However, this does not mean that you have to put your life on hold for a year. It is a great feeling to get good marks and achieve your goals, but it is not worth it if you come out the other end with weakened relationships, bad mental health, and little motivation to continue your studies. Be kind to yourself and others, be brave and be persistent.
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