Struggling so bad in vce Chem?

[Snow Leopard]

Hi everyone,

I just want some advice for chem. I have really struggled with it this year but done okay because of the questions on sacs that cover theory.

So, this really backfired on me for the unit 2 exam where literally everything was calculations and i struggled to understand the question and the content it even related to. I basically failed this exam really badly.  basicall hardly understood unit 1 and can say that i really don't understand unit 2.

This is mostly my fault, i know that since i really didn't do any of the textbook questions all year. I also can't say that chem is exactly my fav subject and i stopped taking notes in class in unit 2 cos apparently its better to just listen to the teacher. Also, my teacher presents stuff in a complicated way, but whatevs. (they will be the 3/4 teacher as well)

tldr: what should i do? do i have any hope of doing decently next year with this crappy basis? Should i just choose another subject which relies more on facts and memory rather than calculations ? (even though chem is a prereq for some courses i'm considering ike med but honestly can a srudent who doesn't enjoy chem even be a doctor. it'll be a literal struggle to get like above 95 atar let alone 99+)

btw: this was an actual fail like as in well below 50 percent at a school where sacs in 3/4 chem would probs scale down.

[AAGlue]

Hi everyone,

I just want some advice for chem. I have really struggled with it this year but done okay because of the questions on sacs that cover theory.

So, this really backfired on me for the unit 2 exam where literally everything was calculations and i struggled to understand the question and the content it even related to. I basically failed this exam really badly.  basicall hardly understood unit 1 and can say that i really don't understand unit 2.

This is mostly my fault, i know that since i really didn't do any of the textbook questions all year. I also can't say that chem is exactly my fav subject and i stopped taking notes in class in unit 2 cos apparently its better to just listen to the teacher. Also, my teacher presents stuff in a complicated way, but whatevs. (they will be the 3/4 teacher as well)

tldr: what should i do? do i have any hope of doing decently next year with this crappy basis? Should i just choose another subject which relies more on facts and memory rather than calculations ? (even though chem is a prereq for some courses i'm considering ike med but honestly can a srudent who doesn't enjoy chem even be a doctor. it'll be a literal struggle to get like above 95 atar let alone 99+)

btw: this was an actual fail like as in well below 50 percent at a school where sacs in 3/4 chem would probs scale down.

Did the chem 3/4 exam today and can say that it was 60% theory, 25% calculations and 15% something in between
And don’t worry U3 and U4 is actually more theory based than U1/2 imo
But I think the same goes for most subjects:
Textbooks Qs are kinda a waste of time, just keep doing practice exams and exam-style Qs (especially for the calc skillz)
Maybe choose bio if you really hate chem? Bio is like 100% theory 

[Snow Leopard]

Did the chem 3/4 exam today and can say that it was 60% theory, 25% calculations and 15% something in between
And don’t worry U3 and U4 is actually more theory based than U1/2 imo
But I think the same goes for most subjects:
Textbooks Qs are kinda a waste of time, just keep doing practice exams and exam-style Qs (especially for the calc skillz)
Maybe choose bio if you really hate chem? Bio is like 100% theory 

Thanks, I'm doing bio next year anyways though. But isn't 1/2 chem the literal basis of 3/4? As in topics covered in 1/2 are assumed knowedge in 3/4?

[AAGlue]

Thanks, I'm doing bio next year anyways though. But isn't 1/2 chem the literal basis of 3/4? As in topics covered in 1/2 are assumed knowedge in 3/4?

Nope literally 60% of U1/2 gets thrown out
40% is stuff like redox, organic chem, and stoich that carries over to U3/4
But unfortunately its the calculation skills that carry over 
How about pyschology? Isnt it a theory-heavy subject?

[keltingmeith]

Thanks, I'm doing bio next year anyways though. But isn't 1/2 chem the literal basis of 3/4? As in topics covered in 1/2 are assumed knowedge in 3/4?

A little bit, but not quite. It's worth noting - unit 3 will feel very, very, very mathsy. It will feel like just way too much maths. And you are going to have to back yourself up with that. But that the end of the day, unit 3 isn't all calculations - it's about 60:40, I'd say, in terms of calculations vs. concepts. Maybe even 70:30? Unit 4, however, is VERY concepts based, with basically no calculations whatsoever.

Unit 1/2 is a basis. All the skills are important. It's important you understand redox. It's important you can do stoichiometry calculations for any phase. It's important you understand solubility. It's important you understand how bonding happens. But these skills are important in the same way it's important you can add numbers together to do algebra, or that you know a bunch of different words when you try to write an essay. You're not being tested on redox, you're not being tested on calculations, they're just skills you need to know how to use to do the stuff you'll be asked about in 3/4.

It's worth noting: if you want to do med, you should still give chem a shot. It's not too late to turn it around and still get that 25 pre-req. Hell, IMO, it's not too late for you to pull it around and still get a 40, with the right mind-set. But if you don't do chem, then you lock yourself out of the chance. A bad ATAR can be recovered by an alternate pathway, a missing subject is harder to fix

[The Cat In The Hat]

Hi everyone,

I just want some advice for chem. I have really struggled with it this year but done okay because of the questions on sacs that cover theory.

So, this really backfired on me for the unit 2 exam where literally everything was calculations and i struggled to understand the question and the content it even related to. I basically failed this exam really badly.  basicall hardly understood unit 1 and can say that i really don't understand unit 2.

This is mostly my fault, i know that since i really didn't do any of the textbook questions all year. I also can't say that chem is exactly my fav subject and i stopped taking notes in class in unit 2 cos apparently its better to just listen to the teacher. Also, my teacher presents stuff in a complicated way, but whatevs. (they will be the 3/4 teacher as well)

tldr: what should i do? do i have any hope of doing decently next year with this crappy basis? Should i just choose another subject which relies more on facts and memory rather than calculations ? (even though chem is a prereq for some courses i'm considering ike med but honestly can a srudent who doesn't enjoy chem even be a doctor. it'll be a literal struggle to get like above 95 atar let alone 99+)

btw: this was an actual fail like as in well below 50 percent at a school where sacs in 3/4 chem would probs scale down.

All I can say is personal experience: I was similar to this, probably could've been competent at chem if I'd put in the work early on. However, by the time I came to 3/4 (with personal issues as well, though) I found it impossible to pick up: I'd do bits and understand them but because I didn't understand the why I'd forget them again. I had someone to help me who was saying that [concept] was easy and I shouldn't need help with it; I needed it anyway. Ultimately, I dropped the subject before the first SAC. I am perfectly convinced I would have failed it, since I knew ~5% of the content despite trying to essentially pick it up in unit 3.

[Snow Leopard]

Nope literally 60% of U1/2 gets thrown out
40% is stuff like redox, organic chem, and stoich that carries over to U3/4
But unfortunately its the calculation skills that carry over 
How about pyschology? Isnt it a theory-heavy subject?

Hahahaha (starts crying)
Yeah, if I decide to drop chem, I was considering maybe picking up pyschology. idk.

A little bit, but not quite. It's worth noting - unit 3 will feel very, very, very mathsy. It will feel like just way too much maths. And you are going to have to back yourself up with that. But that the end of the day, unit 3 isn't all calculations - it's about 60:40, I'd say, in terms of calculations vs. concepts. Maybe even 70:30? Unit 4, however, is VERY concepts based, with basically no calculations whatsoever.

Unit 1/2 is a basis. All the skills are important. It's important you understand redox. It's important you can do stoichiometry calculations for any phase. It's important you understand solubility. It's important you understand how bonding happens. But these skills are important in the same way it's important you can add numbers together to do algebra, or that you know a bunch of different words when you try to write an essay. You're not being tested on redox, you're not being tested on calculations, they're just skills you need to know how to use to do the stuff you'll be asked about in 3/4.

Okay. The fact that unit 3 Chem is mathsy terrifies me. A lot. But 3/4 seems a bit more doable now at least (maybe).

Which topics do you reckon I should actually try to understand and be confident in? (moles, organic chem from Unit 1 and redox, solubility, stoichiometry from Unit 2 I'm assuming?)

It's worth noting: if you want to do med, you should still give chem a shot. It's not too late to turn it around and still get that 25 pre-req. Hell, IMO, it's not too late for you to pull it around and still get a 40, with the right mind-set. But if you don't do chem, then you lock yourself out of the chance. A bad ATAR can be recovered by an alternate pathway, a missing subject is harder to fix

Yeah, I guess I should try to have a more positive mindset about it. But it seems like I'm so behind compared to others who are acing 1/2 and will probs also ace 3/4.

All I can say is personal experience: I was similar to this, probably could've been competent at chem if I'd put in the work early on. However, by the time I came to 3/4 (with personal issues as well, though) I found it impossible to pick up: I'd do bits and understand them but because I didn't understand the why I'd forget them again. I had someone to help me who was saying that [concept] was easy and I shouldn't need help with it; I needed it anyway. Ultimately, I dropped the subject before the first SAC. I am perfectly convinced I would have failed it, since I knew ~5% of the content despite trying to essentially pick it up in unit 3.

Yeah, that's what I'm concerned about. I feel like I can do chem, try really hard in it but struggle and hardly scrape through and maybe get the score required as a prereq but a lower ATAR. But if I do another subject where I can pick up the 3/4 without 1/2, it would be like a fresh start but I wouldn't meet the pre-req's of some courses I'm considering but maybe higher ATAR?

[keltingmeith]

Okay. The fact that unit 3 Chem is mathsy terrifies me. A lot. But 3/4 seems a bit more doable now at least (maybe).

Which topics do you reckon I should actually try to understand and be confident in? (moles, organic chem from Unit 1 and redox, solubility, stoichiometry from Unit 2 I'm assuming?)

Naming organic molecules and the mole, yes. Redox, yes. Solubility - the solubility rules are helpful and useful, but tbh, you can just ignore this whole section. Stoichiometry, though, super useful. Like, if there's only one thing that you study, it's stoichiometry, and using all of those formula. Because once you've got that concept understood and can do those calculations, you are set up for 70-80% of all the maths you'll need in units 3/4. Yes, there are some more maths, but they're just applications of unit 2 stoichiometry. Unit 2 stoich is the most important thing - and if you can put yourself into a situation where you feel comfortable with it, I think you'll be just fine.

[The Cat In The Hat]

I forgot to also mention, I have a friend who was in a pretty similar boat with it at the start of the year (although without the issues I had, so more normal) and stuck at it and didn't drop it, and she's doing fine and probably will do pretty well in my opinion. So it worked for her to stick at it.

[everythangcoZ]

Hi everyone,

I just want some advice for chem. I have really struggled with it this year but done okay because of the questions on sacs that cover theory.

So, this really backfired on me for the unit 2 exam where literally everything was calculations and i struggled to understand the question and the content it even related to. I basically failed this exam really badly.  basicall hardly understood unit 1 and can say that i really don't understand unit 2.

This is mostly my fault, i know that since i really didn't do any of the textbook questions all year. I also can't say that chem is exactly my fav subject and i stopped taking notes in class in unit 2 cos apparently its better to just listen to the teacher. Also, my teacher presents stuff in a complicated way, but whatevs. (they will be the 3/4 teacher as well)

tldr: what should i do? do i have any hope of doing decently next year with this crappy basis? Should i just choose another subject which relies more on facts and memory rather than calculations ? (even though chem is a prereq for some courses i'm considering ike med but honestly can a srudent who doesn't enjoy chem even be a doctor. it'll be a literal struggle to get like above 95 atar let alone 99+)

btw: this was an actual fail like as in well below 50 percent at a school where sacs in 3/4 chem would probs scale down.

Honestly I was the same, in unit 1&2 chem I did so poorly (in my last sac I got 30%) and definitely fluked a 60 in the unit 2 exam . I went into U3/4 thinking I would barely scrape a 30 study score, but I learned to love the subject and it became enjoyable for me. I ended up averaging 90s all year, don’t let unit 1 and 2 discourage you, in my opinion unit 3 and 4 is a whole lot better and more interesting.
I feel like many people perceive chem as a REALLY hard subject but in reality you just need someone to simplify it and break it down for you.
Unit 1 and 2 knowledge is barely needed in unit 3 and 4 and I’m sure you will get it explained to you again.
You definitely have hope of doing well just keep an open mind and positive attitude and you’ll find that you will excel, it’s all about mindset and hard work!
But if you find you work well with memory based subjects and facts, psych might be better for you, from personal experience I regretted choosing psych as memorising is not for me at all, but everyone is different, so go for whatever best suits you! Goodluck

[homeworkisapotato]

HI guys! Adding onto the previous discussion, do you guys have any tips on how to study for chem? What were your study rituals? Any methods to get the large amount of content into your head? It's so daunting because most of the state is doing it!

[IThinkIFailed]

HI guys! Adding onto the previous discussion, do you guys have any tips on how to study for chem? What were your study rituals? Any methods to get the large amount of content into your head? It's so daunting because most of the state is doing it!

Hey, I did Chem 3/4 this (well last year technically).
Sorry for the very late reply, but this is how I managed to get about 80% of the content into my head (the other 20% I vaguely knew) in about 1 month of proper revision.

Active recall.
I basically made a bunch of quizlets on each chapter of the textbook, and these flash cards were basically structured as a question about the content, with an answer on the back.

This really helped drill some of the core and even niche concepts in the course into my head, which was very helpful.

However, I have to say that remembering content isn’t the main difficulty of chemistry, as it will only really help you with questions about fuels and food chemistry.  The main difficulty is honestly being able to structure your Answers well and tick off the boxes that the examiners have.

The thing that saved my chemistry score was honestly how I grinded the VCAA 2013-2019 practice exams the week before the exam. Practice questions are crazy important for chem, and they should be a regular part of your studying whether it be for a sac or the exam.  Not only do you improve your technique, but it also gets you to remember the content (active recall).

If you want to see the quizlets I made for an idea, just ask (Disclaimer: they kinda suck and would definitely anger med students)