ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => VCE Science => VCE Mathematics/Science/Technology => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE Chemistry => Topic started by: Harley2262 on January 01, 2012, 01:51:40 am
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i'm doing math methods, specialist, italian, english, business management 3/4 and physics in year 11. i'm considering dropping one of the following to pick up chemistry purely because i find it so interesting (and the help from breaking bad tv series). can anyone help me decide whether i should or not? P.S i have NOT done chemistry in year 10! would i cope? thanks
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Breaking Bad <3
Which of your subjects do you like the least?
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You could drop either Spesh or Italian. It depends on what you, yourself, find interesting or believe you will score a better mark in. As for chemistry, all the fundamentals are taught in units 1+2 so I reckon you won't be at any disadvantage in that regard.
All the best for next year and hope that helps somewhat. :)
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haha its my favourite show. i was watching it literally 10 minutes ago! i enjoy learning about math and physics i'm rather good at+ i need at least 1 science as a pre-req. business i need to do >3/4<. ive been leaning towards dropping italian-it may get boosted a descent amount but i don't really enjoy it.
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Why do you need to do BusMan 3/4?
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my brother told me to do a 3/4 subject in yr 11 because apparently its good for your score (extra subject). what is the content like in chem? is it over the top like specialist level or easy to pick up?
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I found that at 1/2 level it wasn't too hard to pick up, and in my experience, was just all about understanding the content to the point where you could explain and apply it to questions, which I didn't find overly difficult. But that's just me, and 3/4 is bound to get a lot harder.
Have you considered taking methods 3/4 next year and dropping BusMan?
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i would've had to have done methods 1/2 last year. i dont think i'd struggle with the math side of it just the memorisation of all the content. i'm just worried if i could get a good score in it and the scaling of it because for a lot of the courses i want to do at melb. uni. chem is required!
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If you don't enjoy Italian, you won't want to study for it, therefore you won't get good marks and the scaling won't end mattering.
In summary, drop Italian ;)
(only my opinion)
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Definitely take Chemistry if it is a prerequisite for any course you want to take at Uni - and especially if you enjoy it. Taking Chem 1&2 without the necessary year ten subjects shouldn't be too much of a problem. Just review some of that work over the holidays to make sure you've covered everything you need to :)
Just drop the subject you enjoy the least. I'd keep Bus Man so you can get a 3&4 out of the way. Specialist would complement Methods nicely, so I'd keep that. If you don't enjoy Italian, drop that for Chem. Don't spend too much time worrying about scaling. Even so, Chem still scales quite nicely (+4 from 30 in 2011) :D
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looks like i'll drop italian then. its boring compared to when i was learning in earlier years and chem does look pretty cool.
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And if you're ever short on cash, you can just cook meth
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exactly haha so its a win win. i could join up with the owner of Nandos peri peri chicken to "distribute" the stuff.
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Well, you could always drop physics too, if you found chem more interesting! :D - It depends on what you feel is your worst subject :)
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Drop physics asap.
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but i like physics and am fairly confident i could get a good score in it. seriously how difficult is chemistry to learn. is it mainly all the content or the mathematical side to it? because i thought it was just basic maths?
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but i like physics and am fairly confident i could get a good score in it. seriously how difficult is chemistry to learn. is it mainly all the content or the mathematical side to it? because i thought it was just basic maths?
The maths is basic, but there is a lot of theory that you need to understand too. And then you also need to know how to apply that theory to random situations created by VCAA.
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is it worth doing in the long term for scaling and helping out with ATAR score?
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for scaling, not really :P
in terms of the "long term" - if you enjoy it, do it, because a lot of uni courses require it as a pre-requisite :)
and yes, the maths is basic, it's probably a year 8 level maths - sort of :) - basic ratios, and formulas...etc
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is it worth doing in the long term for scaling and helping out with ATAR score?
Never look at the scaling of a sub as a criteria for taking it up. But it does scale the most of any science.
I think to answer this question, we need to know what you want to become?
If you are going for something in the health sciences or some types of engineering, chem is very important. If not, then maybe it isn't worth changing from your yr11 base subs.
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Alright. would chemistry benefit me more then italian (i'm only doing it for the scale and don't really enjoy it)?
i want to go to Melbourne university (hopefully) and study either; engineering (not sure what to major in yet), possibly medicine don't know what type though thats if i'm smart enough score wise or maybe law. I haven't narrowed it down entirely yet.
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Coming from a very biased lang student, i'd say drop spesh, keep italian and do chem...
If you love the subject (ie chem), you'll do well at it cos you'll be motivated to study it...
btw, a language may come in useful in the future, you never know... although it might be doubtful with italian, i would still keep it.
Good luck with it all. :)
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I haven't done physics in VCE but from what my friends have said it sounds like you need more logic to do chem questions than physics. Anyway, that's not the point of this thread...
OP, what career/course are you thinking about entering? That should have a big impact on your decision. If you are going to do commerce, science, engineering etc, spesh is almost a must have (unless you're thinking about the bio side of science). If you are planning on doing a health science, then I believe chemistry is very important if not necessary. Business management is not needed for anything, but since you are doing that in year 11, it may be best to keep it. Physics will only be handy if you are going to major in physics, or are doing engineering, but even then you catch up very quickly in uni, much more so than if you had not done spesh or chemistry. Of course, italian isn't needed for anything but if you were to major in italian then you would be able to progress further.
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If you're considering Medicine, you should definitely take Chem
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If you're considering Medicine and Engineering, take Chem. It's a prerequisite for Med at Monash (and some interstate unis too)
Plus, it's a fun and interesting subject. I'd consider dropping physics if I were you - physics as a subject is awesome, but at VCE level, the curriculum is dead boring.
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physics as a subject is awesome, but at VCE level, the curriculum is dead boring.
I wouldn't say the VCE content was boring - that's a subjective thing (I liked the unit 4 content a lot more) The scaling is lacklustre, and competition is rather high.
That, and I hated chem.
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The competition for physics is waaaay too stiff, exam marks which can land you a 50 in Biology will land you a 45 in physics, which is just really, really harsh!
But anyway, I found physics more interesting than Chemistry, especially after the mid-year exam which I screwed up so bad (thanks to the detailed study - I lost 10 marks on the freaking detailed study!!!!!) *frustrationnnnnnnn at it's max*.
I've personally never liked chemistry, I just did it cause I needed it for medicine.
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im going to try and get into Melbourne uni to do the bachelor of science and i meet all the pre-reqs. could i just do chemistry then in the course?
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im going to try and get into Melbourne uni to do the bachelor of science and i meet all the pre-reqs. could i just do chemistry then in the course?
yes, that's an option :)
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Drop what you find you're least comfortable with
And lol at being inspired by Breaking Bad, too bad i started the show after VCE haha i know exactly what you mean :P
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whenever i watch it i always feel ive made the wrong decision not choosing chemistry haha. is having a LOTE under your belt really worth having in terms of getting accepted into different uni's?
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you could just sign up for all 7, try them out, then drop whatever you are enjoying the last/doing worst in.
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wouldnt that make the workload and pressure unbearable?
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If you don't like Italian, drop it. If you're choosing a subject solely based on the scaling, then you're choosing it for the wrong reasons IMO
The year will be so much easier for you if you actually enjoy your subjects.
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im not sure if i would enjoy chem though. if i went into it an hated it i would feel like an idiot for dropping italian.
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read over the study design and research the course a bit and see if it sounds appealing to you
If you're good with applications - and since you're doing methods and spec you probably are - you would probably have the aptitude for chemistry
that being said, a language can be very valuable, but again, if you won't enjoy it, scaling doesn't seem like a good enough reason to choose it
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everyone i talk to tells me that its hard to understand with all the different types and so on....does anyone know the level of difficulty for it?
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definitely drop which ever subjects u least like. I did 7 subjects last year (2 unit 3&4s) and it wasn't too stressful. I did Chinese 3&4 and hated it (parents forced me to do it) and I basically had zero motivation to study for it. Anyone that considers doing spesh and physics would definitely have at least some interest in chemistry i'd hope
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wouldnt that make the workload and pressure unbearable?
No, you could try them for maybe 2 weeks, maybe a term, then drop one. No repercussions.
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Look at the study design and research the topics that are covered in 1&2. Even if you don't think you'll like those topics at first, take Chem as a seventh subject anyway, like the others have said, and then drop your least favourite subject after a few weeks
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everyone i talk to tells me that its hard to understand with all the different types and so on....does anyone know the level of difficulty for it?
level of difficulty for chemistry?
If that's what you're asking^ you won't find chem too difficult seeing as you're doing other application based subjects like spec
but there is a fair bit of theory you will need to cover, but it isn't hard to grasp at all. All you need is a bit of time - all the maths based question should be piss easy for you
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would they let me drop italian and go into chemistry (presuming no timetable clashes) and if for some reason i don't like chem change back into italian? i think this piss them off along with my parents changing of text books and so forth.
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would they let me drop italian and go into chemistry (presuming no timetable clashes) and if for some reason i don't like chem change back into italian? i think this piss them off along with my parents changing of text books and so forth.
If the cost of paying for multiple textbooks for next-to-no use isn't a problem then it would be fine.
If the school says no, argue with them and tell them how beneficial it would be to do whatever you're trying to do.
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If the cost of paying for multiple textbooks for next-to-no use isn't a problem then it would be fine.
If the school says no, argue with them and tell them how beneficial it would be to do whatever you're trying to do.
You could sell your Italian books to buy Chemistry books :) - problem solved in my point of view
In response to your other questions, I think Chemistry is a difficult subject, I wouldn't say it's easy, no doubt the hardest subject I completed - but it's not too bad if you know what you're doing and put in the effort, the scaling up rewards your hard work anyway :)
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im trying to decide now what will benefit me greater? italian: learning a second language and possible overseas job in future.+ gets scaled up nicely.
chemistry:gain an understanding of chemicals and how reactions happen+open my options at uni as a prerequisite.
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I would drop either spesh or bussiness- chem and physics are a good combo
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im trying to decide now what will benefit me greater? italian: learning a second language and possible overseas job in future.+ gets scaled up nicely.
chemistry:gain an understanding of chemicals and how reactions happen+open my options at uni as a prerequisite.
If your study score is ~35 then Chem will be scaled up by around 5, whilst Italian will scale up by around 7. They both have quite large scaling, so you can probably add that to the positive for Chem as well.
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business is my 3/4 for year 11 so thats pointless and i enjoy my math classes ie. spec, methods, physics and i read the study guide for chem. learning about the atmosphere, equilibrium and the interesting side of chemicals looks really fun to learn about
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If you take Chemistry over Italian, but still really want to learn another language, you can still learn Italian for leisure outside of school. You could always learn it after finishing school if you don't want to during VCE
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I was in the same predicament as you in the first semester, I did: Eng, Methods, GMA, Accounting, physics and text and traditions. At the end of the first semester I regretted not doing chem because I performed below my expectations in yr 10 (yr7-9 (chem was a time to relax and not do work)), so I dropped accounting because there was no merits of me doing in terms of my uni preference and I didn't like it. I picked up chem during the semester break (not all of it) and went on to do unit 2 and got an A for my exam. Now I enjoy doing chem over physics.
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It depends entirely on the type of person you are. If I were you, I would pick up Chem, and drop Physics. I love Chem and find it so interesting (despite the workload is quite heavy compared to physics), however Physics is sometimes draining (this depends entirely on the detailed studies you do, I have to do Structures and Materials instead of Special Relativity) and involves plugging numbers into a calculator, mindlessly. Chem involves understanding the topic properly (from every angle) and then the questions become easier. Physics, in my opinion, is a but trickier. But the decision is entirely your choice.
I would stick with Italian, not because of the scaling, but because its a break from all the maths/science subjects you have, and to enjoy it. There are a lot of advantages to taking a language in uni too, and overseas, like you said. I'm not sure of the pre-reqs of Physics tho, I know for in UoM there are heaps of courses involving Chem, but I think Physics is just an extra.
Or, on the flip side, you can always take Italian as your breadth at Uni, or learn it after school.
Coming from experience, I wish I stayed with learning French or Indonesian. It just adds that bit of diversity and variety, a breath of fresh air in a mindless drone of equations and numbers.
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now i'm thinking about dropping physics for chemistry. its still a sceince and interesting + i could live to be the next Walter White (breaking bad)
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personally id drop spesh or methods since bm isnt a viable option