Thats correct. But a high TER has to be a reflection that something has gone right for the child - whether it be intelligence, good school, dedication, committment, peers with good values, hard work. A private school or better still, a top governement selective school provides a good environment where peers are more likely to be focussed on earning a high TER and possess the above mentioned attributes.
Expensive Private Schools
- Thread starter MTR
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Thats correct. But a high TER has to be a reflection that something has gone right for the child - whether it be intelligence, good school, dedication, committment, peers with good values, hard work. A private school or better still, a top governement selective school provides a good environment where peers are more likely to be focussed on earning a high TER and possess the above mentioned attributes.
You got a high TER score. Well done. Let's not start guessing people's life stories because of one arbitrary indicator.
Yes, I think a high TER score is something to be proud of when you reflect on your achievements in life. Just like one would be proud of being a state level swimmer or playing in the national youth orchestra. All these things reflect on committment, dedication and rising above mediocrity.
The thing is, China, most of those top law and medical graduates aren't just exceptional students, they're exceptional people. I know a lot of them. They are interesting, well read, well travelled, well rounded, funny, energetic, irreverent, really unique people. It doesn't matter how hard you study, you can't just become one if you're not one already. Not saying there's no point trying to do the best you can, just saying there's a lot more than hard work and IQ going on at that level.
I went to a selective public school where my mother and other rellies went before me. I was sent there much against my wishes and I hated it. I was sent there so that I could have advantages, but given how dysfunctional my parents are, I didn't have the social skills to network. I was too busy avoiding bullying and hanging around with all the other social losers. I got a score that equates to somewhere in the low 90s. I easily could have gotten into Law but I didn't know how to catch a bus to the Uni, let alone have any desire to spend another minute under the pressure to perform I had been subjected to for the previous five years.
Mother Dear was determined to be able to brag that her daughter was at Uni and she ended up sending me to Toowoomba to an Arts course either to get me out of the house (before there was a murder committed) and because I thought it would be cruisey. The culture shock sent me straight to the bottle and I knew if I didn't get away fast it would be drugs next and a teenage pregnancy.
The best thing I ever did was refuse to return in May. I got a job in a CBD bank the next day and started saving as fervently as I could. Two years later Mark and I purchased a tiny fibro house and moved away from my psycho parents (three doors down the road from his Mum)
Nowdays I earn way under the average income teaching socially but not economically disadvantaged teenagers. The only thing my TE score did for me was give me some glimmer that I might have a brain after all, despite being called stupid all my life. A few years ago I did an IQ test and you could have knocked me over with a feather. It was in the top 2% for the country.
Therefore the school I attended did nothing for my career and income prospects. It wasn't the school that held me back, rather I will always blame poor parenting and that I only learned social skills in my adult years. Everything I have achieved would be due to my own personal drive and tenacity. It was drummed into girls in the 1970s that we could go to Uni and have careers. However the young ladies who accepted me socially were all perfectly happy to leave school, get married and have babies. I was perfectly happy to do the same.
Mother Dear was determined to be able to brag that her daughter was at Uni and she ended up sending me to Toowoomba to an Arts course either to get me out of the house (before there was a murder committed) and because I thought it would be cruisey. The culture shock sent me straight to the bottle and I knew if I didn't get away fast it would be drugs next and a teenage pregnancy.
The best thing I ever did was refuse to return in May. I got a job in a CBD bank the next day and started saving as fervently as I could. Two years later Mark and I purchased a tiny fibro house and moved away from my psycho parents (three doors down the road from his Mum)
Nowdays I earn way under the average income teaching socially but not economically disadvantaged teenagers. The only thing my TE score did for me was give me some glimmer that I might have a brain after all, despite being called stupid all my life. A few years ago I did an IQ test and you could have knocked me over with a feather. It was in the top 2% for the country.
Therefore the school I attended did nothing for my career and income prospects. It wasn't the school that held me back, rather I will always blame poor parenting and that I only learned social skills in my adult years. Everything I have achieved would be due to my own personal drive and tenacity. It was drummed into girls in the 1970s that we could go to Uni and have careers. However the young ladies who accepted me socially were all perfectly happy to leave school, get married and have babies. I was perfectly happy to do the same.
Agree entirely. But without the hard work and IQ, you can't get to that level. So to be a top law / medical graduate, you need it all: high TER (reflecting hard work + IQ) plus impressive personal attributes.
Don't you think you would have been in lot worse position (drugs etc.) if you went to a bad school?
You can't simply compare one's life to another. The closest is comparing between two siblings but still that has personality difference.
I don't think this is the "main premise" of expensive private schools.
Have you met Nathan Birch? He may have been lacking committment at school (hence his VERY low TER) but that didn't stop him from making his first million by 21.
He actually shows his HSC results at his meetings to reinforce the fact that you don't need a HSC to do something with your life.
That is laughable.
You can bomb out at uni/in life with a high TER. You can be very successful in life with a low TER.
Why should uni be the only way to be seen as being successful? A guy I went to school with dropped out during year 11 and went to do an apprenticeship. He know runs a major roofing contractor and is on serious coin. Even more than a doctor. A girl I went to uni with got into law at UTS in Sydney and now lives on a commune between Byron Bay and Tenterfield and has a daughter called Rainbow.
A TER is just a number that shows how well you did in year 12. It is not an indication of character or work ethic or success.
You don't need a good HSC performance to do well but many who do achieve a high TER do end up doing very well in life.
There are always going to be exceptions but generally high TERs do correlate well with subsequent professional careers.
Education is directly linked to upwards social mobility in many nations. That is why many countries support universal access to education and TER is just one indicator of how someone has performed within the formal education process.
Otherwise, why is education compulsory until year 10 ? Why do we even have schools? Why not save taxpayer dollars and abolish schools altogether? There is a good correlation between high achieving school leavers with subsequent success.
You have highlighted exceptions. Stories of successful people who had no formal education are always popular as they console the masses. By definition, a high TER is only attainable by a select few and hence those that miss out will find comfort in the stories of the exceptions.
Whatever.
You have such warped views of the world that any further discussion is pointless.
Anyone who doesn't get above 99 on their TER and isn't a surgeon living in Mosman is a failure. Can we please move on now?
Yes, I can see where you are coming from. We have established that state schools 40 years ago were much better than they are today so I don't think I would have suffered at my local high school. It was in an upmarket suburb.
My brother was raised quite differently from me. He did not do anywhere near as well as I did at school, yet has three degrees now and lives on the North Shore and sends his children to private schools there.
As many have pointed out to me, earning capacity is not the sole indicator of success.
Whilst a high TER may or may not be a major factor in success, it does open many doors and allows greater opportunities. It does not hurt to have a high TER but leaving school aged 12 will impede most people in our society but again, I accept that many exceptions can be cited. I am yet to see a High Court judge who was a total academic failure throughout their entire school and uni days.
