Getting a 45+ in Chemistry?

[rachid.kam]

Hey everyone!
After much contemplation, I have finally decided that I want chemistry to be apart of my top 4. That said, I will have to work hard in order to achieve my dream result. Overall I am a very strong student, but I do have my flaws.  Right now, I do think I can achieve a 40-ish score, but I want to aim higher. Would anybody out there know what strategies or techniques would be fundamental for me in excelling in the subject, or how I should best approach new content and understand it much more effectively?

PS- If somebody achieved a 40+ score in Biology, do you think that it will at least partially help in succeeding in Chemistry as well?
Thanks everyone!!!

[Quantum44]

Hey everyone!
After much contemplation, I have finally decided that I want chemistry to be apart of my top 4. That said, I will have to work hard in order to achieve my dream result. Overall I am a very strong student, but I do have my flaws.  Right now, I do think I can achieve a 40-ish score, but I want to aim higher. Would anybody out there know what strategies or techniques would be fundamental for me in excelling in the subject, or how I should best approach new content and understand it much more effectively?

PS- If somebody achieved a 40+ score in Biology, do you think that it will at least partially help in succeeding in Chemistry as well?
Thanks everyone!!!

Well chemistry has a high saturation of good students at the top end since it's a prereq for med, so getting 45+ is going to be quite difficult. That being said, it's a fairly straight forward subject, you just have to know your content and how to apply formulas. In order to achieve your desired study score make sure you revise all the Unit 3 content so you completely understand it and study hard for all the SACs in Unit 4. Then do a tonne of practice exams at the end of the year.

Biology is helpful. I think a lot of Unit 4 chem comes from bio and you will have a good understanding of how to answer questions in a scientific manner.

[tanyaboer]

Hi!
I'd highly recommend doing practice papers! Most teachers tell students this, but often it's ignored. Personally, when I started doing practice papers for chemistry, I saw my mark go up about 10%!
Another strategy would be to make sure you really understand the concepts (in other words, understand the context around the content), not just memorise what you think they want you to know. Ways you can make sure you understand include watching videos on the topic, reading articles and explaining it to someone else.
Good luck!!

[Janna]

The key to a good chemistry score as tanyaboer and Quantum44 said is understanding and practice questions

Firstly, if you understand the concepts really well the subject is actually quite straight forward. You're also able to tackle application questions that a lot of people who don't truly understand the content will get caught out on.

Secondly, do heaps and heaps of practice exams.

Use VCAA past exams, however, be wary of changes in the study design and data book that may leave you with questions you know longer are required to understand and answers that a slightly off even though your working might be right.

Personally, to get a 45+ I would be aiming for 15+ practice VCAA exams. Focus on VCAA exams as the questions are generally pretty similar across the years  and possibly some commercial papers for the new study design. Also make sure you look at the VCAA sample exam published this year, especially seeing as it is a new course. They often put questions in there on the new content that is very similar to what they ask in the actual exam. Study the examiners reports inside and out. Look at the language they used, advice they give and where most people gained or lost marks.

In terms of SAC preparation use anything that your teacher gives you because ultimately they write and mark your SAC but also look at checkpoints. Checkpoints covers the key knowledge really well and can prepare you for VCAA exams even before you start looking at whole papers.

Hope this helps and best of luck!!!

[Yertle the Turtle]

I'm in the same kind of situation. Currently scoring pretty high in chemistry but wanting to do better. What is there that can particularly help Chemistry? I'm in a very small school and a class of 7 which is great, but is there anything outside school that would help? Chemistry doesn't really seem as intuitive as maths or even Physics. Should it be more intuitive if you are scoring high?

PS- If somebody achieved a 40+ score in Biology, do you think that it will at least partially help in succeeding in Chemistry as well?
Thanks everyone!!!

BTW congrats on getting 41 on Bio!!!