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March 29, 2024, 05:30:10 pm

Author Topic: Should I continue chemistry after doing poorly in 1/2?  (Read 2468 times)  Share 

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bluebird

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Should I continue chemistry after doing poorly in 1/2?
« on: November 06, 2021, 08:53:07 pm »
+1
Hi everyone,

I was very much looking forward to 1/2 chemistry at the start of the year and enjoyed preparing for the content during the summer holidays. However, as lessons started I quickly found that the content was nothing like I had ever seen, especially since all my prior knowledge revolved around electron diagrams and equations, and the teaching style was very much unsuited to me (often just given videos to watch on our own and learn from) but fine for others as almost everyone else had been tutored throughout year 10.

As the year went on with on and off lockdowns, I missed basics in organic chemistry, stoichiometry, acid base stuff and redox getting well below 50% on many tests which I was completely not used to. Online learning further left me disengaged and I eventually decided to give up on it and drop it and pick up a humanities subject; specifically legal studies (which I think I can do very well in).

I dropped any idea of going into Biomedicine or Medicine. Then recently, I realised that this might be a huge mistake as biology is my biggest passion and chemistry is a prereq for biomed. Now I'm unsure on whether I should continue it despite completely missing the foundation knowledge. Perhaps, tutoring or working very hard on the relevant concepts on the summer holidays might save me, but I'm not sure if it's worth the pain of an entire year of chem, if I end up not wanting to do biomedicine or if there are other pathways that do not require chemistry.

Any general advice about relevance of chemistry 1/2 to 3/4, alternative pathways into biomedicine, alternative degrees or careers that are biology based or experiences of dropping/continuing chemistry 3/4 or anything else would be very much appreciated.

Thanks so much :)
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tiredandstressed

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Re: Should I continue chemistry after doing poorly in 1/2?
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2021, 10:03:12 pm »
+5
Just letting you know a Bachelor of Science from both Unimelb and Monash don't require Chemistry as a prerequisite but you can still complete a Biomedicine major.
I will use Unimelb as an example
Yes, doing science will mean in the first year you won't be doing biomedicine subjects but you will still do the biomedicine equivalent (e.g. bio, chem, maths etc)
But from second year the science subjects are shared between the biomed and science students so there won't be anything to different from your degrees.
Excpet for the biomedince core subjects, which quite frankly are difficult and more stressful.
The 1st year core subjects have changed since I started by degree back in 2019 so I can't comment on that but they look interesting, but the second-year core subjects have an equivalent science version so again you won't miss much.
I'll be honest our thrid year core subjects were very unique and rewarding to do and had a biomedicine focus (e.g. focus on disease, clinical care and research) the subjects were interesting but also challenging. But you won't limit yourself doing a science degree yo u can still apply for medicine (or another health-relevant course) and even pursue biomedicine honours from your science degree!
So if you are finding chem difficult don't worry you can still achieve your career aspirations without it.
Also, when I was in year 11 I was also getting 60s in my tests (and we had in-person learning xd) I think year 12 chem is a lot better the content is more applicable and teachers are more motivated to make sure you understand the content.
Also Unit 4 has a very bio focus AOS 2 is food chem which is pretty much bio (protein etc) so I think you might find that enjoyable.
You also have the summer to prepare for chem which is what I did to feel more confident going in. Either way whatever you decide you won't be limited with your career paths.
Good luck :)
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mabajas76

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Re: Should I continue chemistry after doing poorly in 1/2?
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2021, 10:08:41 pm »
+1
There are always a few questions you need to ask yourself when considering dropping a subject:
Do you enjoy the subject? For example the content, the teachers and students. A good teacher can make the world of difference.
How does it change in yr 12? For the most part, i have heard that yr 12 chem gets better but personally I have only done the 1/2 (averaging 87% but I ****** hate the subject so much that I am dropping it for year 12 thank god.)
What other subjects are you doing? Will it be too work intensive given you currently dislike the subject and need to do some work catching up.
And is it a preresiquite for uni subjects. The whole point of the ATAR is uni, would be shite if u got a good one then couldn't get into the course u wanted. Look at what you want to do, if chem is vital, if there r any work arounds etc. It seems like it is a preresiquite.

In the end, u need to decide whether you believe that it is worth catching up on work, what u want to do, how u can do it etc. Maybe speak to ur career councilor (If u have one) or some teachers/yr 12 students to see. Hope u figure it out!
"Don't give up, and don't put too much effort into things that don't matter"-Albert Einstein, probably.

Snow Leopard

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Re: Should I continue chemistry after doing poorly in 1/2?
« Reply #3 on: November 07, 2021, 07:55:06 pm »
+1
Hi,

I personally also struggled in Unit 1/2 Chem, for similar reasons to your own but decided to continue it in 3/4. I personally still struggled as I continued to rely on my teacher whose teaching style didn't suit me.

Others in my class who also struggled in 1/2 (failed the Unit 2 Exam) , worked really hard during the summer holidays (finished Unit 3 by self-teaching themselves) and got really good grades throughout the year. In a nutshell, they relied on themselves most of the time, only listening to the teacher when they thought it was worthwhile.

I would say that if you decide to continue doing Chem, ensure you have a strategy such as how to self-teach yourself or get a really good tutor that helps you understand the concepts or perhaps even ask your classmates who are acing the subject to explain concepts to you as well.

Make sure you get the concepts that carry into 3/4 down pat though like stoichiometry, titrations, redox etc.

Whatever your decision is, I would advise you to confidently make it before Term 1 starts as you don't want to be dropping out of the subject halfway through Term 1/2 or after Unit 3 as you wouldn't be able to enroll in another 3/4 subject  and would have been wasting time that you could've spent on your other subjects which will count towards your ATAR.

Good luck with your decision.
« Last Edit: November 07, 2021, 08:00:47 pm by Snow Leopard »

bluebird

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Re: Should I continue chemistry after doing poorly in 1/2?
« Reply #4 on: November 08, 2021, 01:19:26 pm »
0
Thank you so much for your replies tiredandstressed, mabajas76 and Snow Leopard. They are extremely helpful and hopefully I'll come to a decision soon. :)
VCE 2021: Biology | HHD [50]
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Re: Should I continue chemistry after doing poorly in 1/2?
« Reply #5 on: November 12, 2021, 05:02:16 pm »
0
I bought a secondhand $8 checkpoints off gumtree cause chemistry is too hard to learn in class

Snow Leopard

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Re: Should I continue chemistry after doing poorly in 1/2?
« Reply #6 on: November 13, 2021, 09:07:06 pm »
0
I bought a secondhand $8 checkpoints off gumtree cause chemistry is too hard to learn in class
Yeah definitely use either checkpoints or VCAA questions. I would advise looking at the answers from the VCAA examiner reports though as apparently there are some errors in the suggested solutions for checkpoints.