Firstly, I would consider Chemistry as a good mix of theory and calculation. Regarding Chemistry study scores, I think that the main source of differentiation between good chem results and exceptional chem results comes down to two aspects:
-Completely understanding the theory behind topics
-Grinding a tonne of practice questions, like in maths, to expose yourself to different ways that questions may be asked, as well as the range of questions that a topic has in order for you to not get bamboozled in SACs or exams.
Understanding the theory:What I mean by this is really asking yourself 'do you understand why, or how, or even what' processes are talking about? For example, why are metal cathodes in electrolysis always inert, but not anodes? I agree that a lot of the topics in chemistry are quite abstract in that you don't get to experience them on an everyday basis, and for different people, understanding these topics will take varying amounts of time. However, the key thing is to just ensure that you understand what is going on, which you can test by doing lots of theory questions, and, especially, seeing what VCAA likes.
(e.g. if you ever see VCAA asking you what the definition of a catalyst is, you should be well-rehearsed enough to answer this, almost as if you were possessed by something, your irises growing in size and you immediately recalled something along the lines of: "A catalyst decreases the activation energy barrier for both forward and backward reactions by offering an alternative reaction pathway."
If you're ever going to rote-learn anything, it's these specific phrases that VCAA likes. You shouldn't, for example, rote-learn the conceptual understanding, such as the answer to the question posed earlier; understanding why it is the case is much better) I 100% agree that chemistry as a subject requires more understanding than say maths, but this should be based on doing questions,
exposing yourself so that you can confirm that you actually understand what's going on. Once you understand, it becomes 'embedded' in your brain through questions and
you shouldn't have to forcefully remember it. This, I feel, is the most important aspect. Therefore, I would argue that chemistry is 'harder' than maths, because the theory isn't as dense/present in maths, and is more focussed on grinding questions, which Chemistry also has, in addition to (at times) complicated theory.
Personally, I felt that I had a very strong interest in chemistry, but more so, in all of my subjects. I enjoyed maths, and, I would say that maths is still my favourite/strongest subject in, despite the difference in marks (I would agree with saying that I underperformed a lot during the Spesh exam, if one was to compare my SAC results across the board). I also really enjoyed English, as I enjoy writing essays and reading philosophy in my own time. So, overall, I enjoyed everything - I think that I disliked physics the most, but at the end of the day, the raw score was the same as my spesh.
In my opinion, although there are many equations in Chemistry, if you grind out loads of questions, then you will naturally remember what the equations are, what variables are included and when to use these equations. Furthermore, the calculation aspect of chemistry isn't particularly difficult. You are even
given the data booklet, which contains most of the equations that you will be using (however, you should be fluent enough with them so that you don't have to look at the equations page of the data booklet during the exam)
AND a calculator lol. Given this, most people will get the calculation part at least ~70-80% correct.
There may be little mistakes here and there, but there generally won't be drastic problems.
I advise having a look at the examiner's reports in previous years once you get to doing practice exams for this. Hence, it is really important to nail down the theory part of chemistry, because it is the theory that can really boost you from like a 40 to a 45+.
Grinding questions:Maths, Chemistry, Physics etc these kinds of related subjects are all grindy subjects.
The more questions you do, the more prepared you will be when going into SACs and exams. You should do enough so that there aren't any real surprises during SACs and exams, and during reading time, ideally, you should be instantly thinking of the following things and nodding your head:
-What general topic(s) does the question entail?
-Compared to your strengths and weaknesses, is this an 'easy' question or one which requires more thought?
-If lots of calculations are required, just think that you'll have to be more careful
At the end of the day, there are only limited ways in which questions can possibly be asked, so if you can expose yourself to all the possible question types and questions that can be asked for a topic, then you will be much more prepared than others in the state. During my SAC preparation, I generally tried to complete the following resources that I had at my disposal:
-Finishing any relevant questions from the textbook
when first learning the material. Save better problem-solving questions for SAC revision
-Doing relevant Checkpoints questions - you will
get a feel for the certain possible 'tricks' that VCAA like to use (You haven't learnt this yet, but for example, the condensation of glucose into glycogen or starch involves condensation polymerisation, which involves the removal of 1 H2O molecule between any two glucose molecules, thus forming an ether bond - hence, if you were asked to calculate the mass of the product, you'd have to subtract the total number of H2O lost from the total). Once you see these tricks, you will be aware of what to expect when doing questions. There are many more hidden in questions!
Extra work on my own (probably not necessary, but I considered to be very helpful):
-In my school library we had a book called 'NEAP Smartstudy Questions' - I'd constantly borrow it and return it the following day closer to SACs (photocopied stuff
). As far as I recall, no one else EVER borrowed this book. The questions in there are really good.
-In my school library we also had an ATARNotes Chemistry Question book written by Thushan (aka GOD) and someone else (can't remember your name
). I think the cover/title may have been revised, but the questions in there were also really good, especially if you want to go a bit beyond VCAA's level.
Anyways, I did a tonne of questions. Before the exam, I'd done at least 30 full length 3/4 exams, with most of them under timed conditions. I also completed several separate unit 3 and unit 4 exams. This amount of preparation, I attest, is what gave me my 50. In terms of my other subjects, I distributed a pretty even amount of effort into everything, except maybe English, which tbh I didn't do as much as I could have during SWOTVAC. I do agree that there is a different approach in general between the sciences and humanities, but in terms of the theory, there doesn't seem to be too much different - e.g. understanding + grinding = good result!
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