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April 27, 2026, 01:47:49 pm

Author Topic: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup  (Read 14106 times)  Share 

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AllAboutTheLGs

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Re: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup
« Reply #15 on: June 02, 2012, 07:05:15 pm »
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It depends on the difficulty/length of the exam.
Some of them (CSE, Insight) Take me like 50 minutes to complete, whereas the more challenging ones (Thushan's trial exams, STAV, Neap 2012) take me about 70-80 minutes depending on difficulty.
This isn't inclusive of reading time though so I will have to start practicing using my reading time
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charmanderp

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Re: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup
« Reply #16 on: June 02, 2012, 07:07:20 pm »
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45-60 minutes, most of the time. Although occasionally a more difficult exam will take me 75-85 minutes in which case I panic a lot haha.

My main concern is that I don't read questions thoroughly enough or don't process every word because I just want to do the question. Which is really dumb because it's the only thing you can control during an exam.

That should probably be my main focus during reading time, which I need to start practising with.
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Lasercookie

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Re: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup
« Reply #17 on: June 02, 2012, 07:20:26 pm »
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I'm fucked. Don't know why in the world I chose chem.

Its the most difficult subject I have ever done. What do you guys think of the difficulty.

Also what can I do to get a C-B on the exam.
If you want some advice, here's what I would do:

Think positive, don't go into the exam thinking 'i'm screwed, gonna fail.' and then go to sleep or something during the exam, rather think something along the lines of going to spend the next hour and a half as productively to pick up all the marks I can get - don't leave any question blank either.  Don't get disheartened by the stuff you're finding hard, it's always good to have a challenge.

Go over the current study design VCAA and practice exams, learn the hell out of them.

Get all the easy marks you know first, for the questions that you're stumped on, the best place is to start writing out things you do know, what topic it relates to, what the final answer will look like, and then what you can figure out from that next. If it's a question that involves stoich, calculations, figuring out how much mole is always a good start. Always try to eliminate options on multiple choice.

If you reach the 90 minute time limit, note down the questions you didn't complete (if you're grading your own marks, give yourself zero for those questions), have a break (if you want) and then have a go at the questions you had left and still see if you can do them.

And of course, once you've finished doing a practice exam, go over the solutions and go over the theory for the questions you had no clue about. If you keep chipping away at it like this, there's no reason you can't do pretty well. Be sure to use your time efficiently too.

How long does it usually take you guys to complete an exam? For me, i usually have 5-15 minutes to spare.
I usually take around 80 minutes too, though I'm finding that time is decreasing as I practice and work on it more.

Destiny

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Re: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup
« Reply #18 on: June 02, 2012, 07:57:12 pm »
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Usually takes around 75 minutes, but I misread questions so I'm slowing the process down from now on. I take longer, but I lose fewer marks. My main mistakes are not reading the question, forgetting to do pages (I hate the photocopier; no reverse page printing) and forgetting to colour in the answer sheet.

ARGHHH.  I lose 10 marks per paper on these stupid mistakes, and that's not even counting the number of times I colour in the answer sheet wrongly/forget to colour in the paper.  It scrapes me a low A+, but it irritates me to no end -.-; Whether the paper is easy or hard, I always get the same ******* mark.

Shenz0r

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Re: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup
« Reply #19 on: June 02, 2012, 08:15:06 pm »
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I could get most of the exams done in 75 minutes, but if I do I find that I made a lot of careless mistakes from not reading the question properly.

It's funny, the slower you do your exam, the more careful you are. I finished Lisachem 2012 today on the dot and only lost 6 marks, compared to me normally losing 9-10.

Just be more careful when you work, I know that when I check over solutions after I finish the exam I can't easily spot my mistakes, so now I'm checking after literally every line of writing.

For reading time, I'll read SA first then MC, then in writing time I'll skip straight ahead to the Organic/Biology/Instrumental part of SA, then I'll do multiple choice, then I do stoichiometry in the SA last. Just do whatever you feel is your strongest first.
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paulsterio

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Re: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup
« Reply #20 on: June 02, 2012, 08:29:22 pm »
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forgetting to colour in the answer sheet.

Fill in the answer sheet as you do the questions?

Destiny

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Re: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup
« Reply #21 on: June 02, 2012, 08:31:22 pm »
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Yeah, but I still forgot lol.. I realised at question 16 I hadn't filled it in, so I filled in from 1-16.  I didn't realise I hadn't filled in the questions from 16 to 20... Still, at least I'm having the practice colouring in right now D::

I should work on remembering to do it on a question by question basis.

paulsterio

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Re: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup
« Reply #22 on: June 02, 2012, 08:34:56 pm »
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I still don't see how you can forget :\
I just did the question, filled in the bubble, did the next question, filled in the bubble, did the next question, filled in the bubble?

But yeah, per question basis is best :P

Reckoner

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Re: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup
« Reply #23 on: June 02, 2012, 08:51:47 pm »
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I generally just do it start them start to finish, I seem to think that if change the order I'll forget to answer questions or something. Also I like using the MC as a warm up for the SA.

Kanon

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Re: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup
« Reply #24 on: June 02, 2012, 08:56:17 pm »
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Pretty nervous, but trying to ease myself out of that. 
As of recently (today actually, haha) I've decided I'd change my pace and spam exam papers and log book stuff, you can call me Chembrah.
Personally, I feel a lot more confident now than I did this morning, so that's a good thing :)
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WhoTookMyUsername

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Re: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup
« Reply #25 on: June 02, 2012, 09:22:27 pm »
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slightly off topic, but how much work do you think you should put in for a sub that's 98% chance in your bottom 2?

charmanderp

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Re: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup
« Reply #26 on: June 02, 2012, 09:27:16 pm »
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As much as you would for a subject that's 98% in your top 4 - say you choke during your Physics or Spesh exam?
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pi

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Re: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup
« Reply #27 on: June 02, 2012, 09:38:42 pm »
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If your chem is my physics, then 1% effort should do it.

paulsterio

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Re: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup
« Reply #28 on: June 02, 2012, 09:49:57 pm »
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pi's right about 1% effort should be enough - I didn't study much for chem until after my other exams!

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« Last Edit: January 02, 2017, 06:23:36 pm by pi »

AllAboutTheLGs

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Re: Chemistry Unit 3 Exam Buildup
« Reply #29 on: June 02, 2012, 09:55:22 pm »
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pi how hard did you study for Physics? I've only done like 4 practice papers for it (getting like 80% lol) and at this stage I don't know if I should spend more time on it because it most probably my bottom 2. I'm also ranked pretty low (50 out of 115 students) so I don't know :(

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« Last Edit: January 02, 2017, 06:23:46 pm by pi »
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