Video summary

The study habits behind a 99.80 ATAR - built for UCAT and Year 12

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main ideas / concepts / lessons

  • High-performance outcome + emotional reality

    • After receiving her UCAT score, Emily describes becoming emotionally unstable/moody, largely because of anxiety about whether she still had a realistic chance to get into medicine.
    • Looking back, she frames much of the emotional volatility as internalizing test scores in the moment rather than planning forward.

  • Course choices and preparation (Year 11–12)

    • Emily’s subject choices include:
      • BCE mathematical methods
      • Specialist maths
      • English (compulsory general English)
      • Chemistry
      • Physics
      • In Year 11, she also did Biology ahead
    • She chose to “go ahead” in biology partly to reduce distraction from relationships while still motivated toward medicine.

  • Relationship and motivation

    • She had someone in her life also pursuing medicine.
    • She credits the relationship with helping her stay motivated in Year 12—especially by having someone to talk to when things became tough.

  • Managing extracurriculars and lifestyle changes

    • Emily dropped many extracurriculars once Year 12 started, including stopping dancing (after ~4 years, ending around age ~16).
    • She challenges the idea that everyone can easily “balance” sports/social life with top results—suggesting that for her, it required significant trade-offs.
    • She stopped going out/partying in Year 12, and regrets missing some friends’ 18ths, but believes missing only a few parties likely didn’t affect her ATAR.

  • Using intuition to decide what to continue

    • She emphasizes listening to her gut:
      • If the first thought feels “right,” she tends to stay.
      • If it feels “wrong,” she treats that as a sign to stop.

  • Breaks and emotional coping

    • She recommends taking time for emotional recovery rather than forcing constant study when overwhelmed (e.g., long walks, baths).
    • She strongly dislikes guilt-based reminders (e.g., “you should be studying while resting”), describing that as worsening how she felt.

  • What she studied with: practice-question driven

    • She found mind maps weren’t helpful for her.
    • Instead, she prioritized:
      • lots of practice questions
      • exam questions / textbook questions
      • questions from tutoring
    • Her approach was strongly application-focused (practice to remember and retain content).

  • Study environment habits

    • She studied in a controlled setting:
      • Kept her room cold (~18–19°C)
      • Used a blanket while studying
      • Managed lighting: dark surroundings, but a focused light on her paper/laptop to keep attention on the task
    • She studied without music most of the time due to a superstition:
      • She worried she’d become dependent on music and struggle without it during exams/sacs.

  • Sleep as a non-negotiable

    • She emphasizes consistent sleep:
      • Aiming for ~8 hours nightly
      • No all-nighters
    • She argues sacrificing sleep can harm performance and memory.

  • AI tools with caution

    • She used ChatGPT a few times for English—helping with quotes from the book Oedipus.
    • Her advice:
      • Use it, but don’t overdo it
      • Don’t submit text that isn’t authentically written by you, because teachers can detect it.

  • Social study tracking can become toxic

    • She used YPT, an app that shows how long friends study.
    • She deleted it because it triggered comparison and anxiety (e.g., friends studying extremely long hours).
    • She chose to protect her peace by removing that social pressure.
    • Alternative support:
      • Studying on FaceTime with friends/boyfriend, where they remain quiet and focused together, while still being able to communicate if needed.

  • No fixed timetable—task-based organization

    • Instead of strict time blocks, she organized study by tasks and subjects:
      • Example: complete one practice sack for specialist maths
    • After finishing a task, she took a reward break.
    • Break style:
      • 10-minute timer
      • snack / moving around / walking
    • She eventually avoided TikTok during breaks because it harmed attention span (and later deleted TikTok).

  • Practical planning advice

    • She recommends:
      • Plan ahead
      • Write the schedule down somewhere (e.g., Notion, notes app, or notebook) so it’s out of your head and doesn’t require constant organizing.

Methodology / instructions (detailed bullet points)

Study planning and structure

  • Plan ahead for Year 12 tasks and study time.
  • Write it down (Notion / notes app / notebook) so you don’t have to mentally organize constantly.
  • Use task-based organization rather than rigid scheduling:
    • Define a clear task (e.g., “complete 1 practice sack for spesh”).
    • Study until the task is done (2–3 hours is fine if that’s what it takes).
    • Then stop for a break as a reward.

Break strategy

  • After completing a task, take a short break:
    • Set a 10-minute timer
    • Do something low-effort and restorative (snack, downstairs, walking).
  • Avoid breaks that harm attention:
    • If TikTok increases distraction, delete it / don’t use it during breaks.

Content retention approach

  • Prioritize practice questions:
    • exam questions
    • textbook questions
    • tutoring questions
  • Mind maps: skip if they don’t help you (she found them unhelpful).

Study environment setup

  • Control conditions to reduce distractions:
    • Keep room relatively cool (~18–19°C)
    • Use a blanket
    • Make surroundings dark, and shine light only at your work area (paper/laptop).
  • Study without music if you worry you’ll become dependent on it for focus and perform worse in exams.

Emotional management during school stress

  • If emotionally challenging:
    • take approved downtime (bath, long walks)
  • Avoid guilt-based pressure like “shouldn’t you be studying right now?”—it can worsen stress.

Sleep and exam readiness

  • Aim for ~8 hours sleep every night.
  • Do not pull all-nighters.
  • Don’t sacrifice sleep for studying (potential negative impact on performance and memory).

Tools and technology use

  • ChatGPT
    • Use sparingly for support (e.g., English quote help)
    • Do not copy/ramble memorized paragraphs—teachers can tell; write authentically.
  • YPT / study-comparison apps
    • If it creates anxiety/comparison, delete it.
  • Study with others
    • FaceTime with friends/boyfriend where you study in parallel
    • Stay mostly quiet; communicate if questions come up.

Speakers / sources featured

  • Emily Sapoola (main speaker; student with ATAR 99.8 and 89th percentile UCAT)
  • ChatGPT (mentioned as a tool she used)
  • YPT (study tracking app she used and later deleted)
  • Oedipus (book she studied for English; referenced in connection with ChatGPT)
  • Notion / notes app / notebooks / TikTok / FaceTime / YouTube (mentioned as platforms/tools/activities in her routine)
  • Unidentified interviewer / audience members (brief, non-specific lines such as applause, “What did you get?”, “You cool?”, “Awesome.”)

Original video