Conflicted: Should I do Chem next year or not? :\

[vashappenin]

Ugh. I'm sooo stuck on whether or not I should continue Chemistry next year. As people may have probably seen through some of my previous posts, I actually do not like chemistry one bit. There are some topics I enjoy, but overall I just do not like it. Every time I think about doing it next year, I just feel weird inside, like I'll regret it and just be exhausted and stressed from all the hard work. I feel like it's not worth it :\

Why I chose it:
- It's a prereq for a lot of science courses at uni (yeah I know that physics and bio are too, but I'm not doing them), some of which I'm thinking of doing (BSc, Pharmacy)
- I go alright in some of the topics
- I enjoy stoich (well, what I've done so far in unit 1/2

Why I keep having second thoughts:
- I have no passion whatsoever to continue it. If it wasn't a prereq I would never even consider it.
- New study design= Longer exam, more marks and more explain questions.. AND NO MID-YEAR!!
- Its hard and I'll probably have a mental breakdown from trying to cope with doing it
- Some of the courses I want to do don't require it (Nursing/Midwifery at Deakin, Law,  Psychology with honours at Monash, Commerce), and if I end up in one of those courses because I change  my mind about doing BSc or Pharmacy, then I'll regret doing chem in the first place as I won't even need it for Uni

I need a reason for myself to do it, otherwise I'm changing subjects to either Legal or History: Revs (which I'd actually do out of interest and thus actually enjoy)

I'M SO STUMPED.

So here's some questions:
Why should I do it?
Do you think the new SD's exam system will be harder than this year? If so, by how much?
How different is it from 1/2?
Should I just ditch Chemistry for Legal or History?
What would you do if you were in my situation?

Don't say 'It's different for each person', etc. I just want different opinions (yes, some may be biased. I get that BUT I'M DESPERATE)
I should've posted this earlier, but I have course confirmation tomorrow, so it'd be good to have some kind of an idea to tell my coordinators if I'm sticking to it or not.



Sorry for the long rant!
Thanks in advance

[gibsonaxxxs]

Hey!
Yeah, choosing subjects can be pretty tough
My opinion: you should stick with chem. But that's just what I would do

Why should I do it?

I think you answered it when you explained why you chose it. The truth is that it IS a prereq for many courses at uni, and I think that if you later in the year decide to do one of the courses but can't get in because of chem, I think you'd be pretty annoyed. I know one of my friends decided not to do any maths or science in year 12, because he was aiming to do a course that didn't need either. But now he regrets it, firstly because it seriously limited his options, and secondly because he now wants to do Commerce, which requires maths.

Also, there's no subject that I think would be completely easy, and even those would be difficult to score in, because everyone finds them easy. Have you done Legal or History as 1/2s? It might be an idea to speak to people who have done 3/4. I know a couple of friends who did history ended up studying really really hard for decent marks, due to the nature of the course. They really regretted picking up history because there's so much memory-work. But then, if your memory is good, and your interest is strong, it may be something to consider. As for legal, almost everyone I know who studied it hated it by the end. I know that it sounds interesting, but apparently it's extremely boring. Again, this is just what I've heard.

Do you think the new SD's exam system will be harder than this year? If so, by how much?

Yes and no. Mid-years put a lot of stress on classes. My class didn't finish the course until a couple of days before the exam, and even then we skipped over a lot of material. I personally find end of year exams better because you get a solid month or so at the least to prepare for your exams, and you can choose which to focus on. For example, I found Unit 3 way harder than Unit 4, but didn't have time to prepare for my U3 exam, but had heaps of time for U4. With this SD, you can choose what to focus on based on your own needs.

Also, I think there's been stuff deleted from the SD, which makes it slightly easier. I just had a quick look through it, and there's nothing that I can see that we didn't have to learn this year, and a couple of things deleted. There's more information added, but everything was studied. Since textbooks aren't changing, I guess it can be safe to say there's no significant increase in learning.

It will be harder because you've got one huge exam at the end of the year. But I can't foresee the questions becoming that much harder. Again, it's just my guessing.

How different is it from 1/2?

Quite, except that you keep your stoich knowledge. Other than that, I don't think there was too much similarities. Oh, and galvanic stuff.
I was in a similar situation to you last year; I only grasped stoich. I didn't study at all for chem (or any other 1/2), and resulted in averaging 70-80s. I was freaked out for this year, but then it wasn't so bad.
Chem in 3/4 isn't too hard. Honestly. It's annoying, but not that hard, once you put in your work and understand the concepts. If you choose to stick with chem, pm me and I can give you tips and stuff

Should I just ditch Chemistry for Legal or History?
What would you do if you were in my situation?

Personally, I would stick with chem. I think even though you think it's hard and all, the amount of studying would be less than either of the 2 you listed. When you understand the fundamentals for chem, you can pretty much do any question, and explain stuff properly. But for Legal and History, you need to memorise every little thing they could ask. Again, I didn't do either, but this is from what friends have told me.

I know that people say that you should enjoy subjects and all, but from my experience, you'll end up hating the subjects you think you'd love and tolerate those you think you'd hate. Plus, it's the vce. I don't mean to be pessimistic, but how much can you enjoy sitting and studying? Even for subjects you think you'd enjoy?

Just my opinion - feel free to ask more

[katykins]

hey hey, well i have a personal ancedote that is relatable to this post. I did chemistry in yr 11. i picked it because i had great dreams of becoming a 'Veternarian'. unfortunately i am not a maths person and never will be. i strugggled with chemistry as well. I also did maths methods in yr 11. Before yr 12 started i assesed my options. could i really cope with maths methods and chemistry in yr 12, or was there viable tertiary alternatives that i could achieve. My goal at the moment and my ideal course all year has been midwifery/nursing at Deakin as well!  so i looked at the facts, i dropped methods for further (didnt do so well in that either) and dropped chemistry beacause i did bio in yr 11, so in total i did 5 subjects.

point=If you are good at the subject, but have no interest in it, don't torture yourself by taking it through the most stressful year, especially if you are really interested in alternative pathways that dont require chemistry.

point 2=You need to decide what is most important and what your drive is, so you can keep motivated throughout your study.

point 3=It's condratictory to point 1, but if you find it simple and understand it, why not do chem? this is ultimately your decision, im just pointing out different options, no one can decide for you

I hope this helps hun

Last word! contradicts my whole post but i have decided. IF you are capable of doing chem to a good standard in yr 12 dont throw it away! there i said it haha gets scaled good, and if your a maths person or good a science pick it if it moulds to your capabilities

[vashappenin]

@gibsonaxxxs Thanks soooo much for taking the time and effort to write so much, really puts things into perspective!

The truth is that it IS a prereq for many courses at uni, and I think that if you later in the year decide to do one of the courses but can't get in because of chem, I think you'd be pretty annoyed.

Yeah I guess I didn't think about it this way!

I was in a similar situation to you last year; I only grasped stoich. I didn't study at all for chem (or any other 1/2), and resulted in averaging 70-80s.

This is exactly me. I didn't take it too seriously this year, and so I never studied for tests and left any homework to the last minute, yet still managed an 80-odd average for my tests

Personally, I would stick with chem. I think even though you think it's hard and all, the amount of studying would be less than either of the 2 you listed. When you understand the fundamentals for chem, you can pretty much do any question, and explain stuff properly. But for Legal and History, you need to memorise every little thing they could ask.

Yeah this is initially why I chose chemistry over the other two! After doing soo much memorising in psych this year, I didn't want too many memorisation-based subjects for next year!

Thanks for putting it all into perspective for me! I guess I was so caught up on the negatives of it I forgot that there are actually some good points to consider

[vashappenin]

@katykins:

Before yr 12 started i assesed my options. could i really cope with maths methods and chemistry in yr 12, or was there viable tertiary alternatives that i could achieve.

Hey! This is another point that also made me doubt choosing chemistry!

My goal at the moment and my ideal course all year has been midwifery/nursing at Deakin as well!

point=If you are good at the subject, but have no interest in it, don't torture yourself by taking it through the most stressful year, especially if you are really interested in alternative pathways that dont require chemistry.

COOL! It's only been recently that I've actually thought about this course, because I've always wanted to do something involving working with children and all that.. But I'm one of those people who changes their mind waaaaay too often... What if I change my mind next year and want to do something that needs chem as a prereq?? And overall I'm not too bad a student in chemistry.. Hence me contemplating on keeping chem or not!

Last word! contradicts my whole post but i have decided. IF you are capable of doing chem to a good standard in yr 12 dont throw it away! there i said it haha gets scaled good, and if your a maths person or good a science pick it if it moulds to your capabilities

Haha I guess I'll just stick to it.. I know so many people that regret not choosing it once  they try to choose a uni course. AND it gets scaled
I know I said this in the post above but I think I've been so caught up on the downside of chem to even remember these good points like scaling


Thanks katykins!

[teletubbies_95]

Hello there . As you can see my subjects below, Im doing chem next year and i really enjoyed it this year , one of my favourite subjects. I find chem is like no other science subjects , both maths and science mixed. A lot of people at my school dropped out of chem because it is really confusing for them ,etc. you seem like you get amazing marks, which is great thing. But the main thing is that you enjoy the subject, as katykins said , if you have no drive or interest you won't do as well than a subject which you enjoy. Snd don't think that you will not get into the course you want straightaway, because VCE isn't the end of the world!!
About the exam, I think it will be hard, with all that info in your head, but i guess the questions will be okay. In conclusion, I think you should do chem, your good at it, and maybe you will find the drive to do it next year!!!! Good luck!! ( sorry for contradicting heaps)

[nisha]

I cannot stress this enough, do chem ONLY if you love the subject

[Stick]

Ugh. I'm sooo stuck on whether or not I should continue Chemistry next year. As people may have probably seen through some of my previous posts, I actually do not like chemistry one bit. There are some topics I enjoy, but overall I just do not like it. Every time I think about doing it next year, I just feel weird inside, like I'll regret it and just be exhausted and stressed from all the hard work. I feel like it's not worth it :\

Why I chose it:
- It's a prereq for a lot of science courses at uni (yeah I know that physics and bio are too, but I'm not doing them), some of which I'm thinking of doing (BSc, Pharmacy)
- I go alright in some of the topics
- I enjoy stoich (well, what I've done so far in unit 1/2

Why I keep having second thoughts:
- I have no passion whatsoever to continue it. If it wasn't a prereq I would never even consider it.
- New study design= Longer exam, more marks and more explain questions.. AND NO MID-YEAR!!
- Its hard and I'll probably have a mental breakdown from trying to cope with doing it
- Some of the courses I want to do don't require it (Nursing/Midwifery at Deakin, Psychology with honours at Monash), and if I end up in one of those courses because I change  my mind about doing BSc or Pharmacy, then I'll regret doing chem in the first place as I won't even need it for Uni

I need a reason for myself to do it, otherwise I'm changing subjects to either Legal or History: Revs (which I'd actually do out of interest and thus actually enjoy)

I'M SO STUMPED.

So here's some questions:
Why should I do it?
Do you think the new SD's exam system will be harder than this year? If so, by how much?
How different is it from 1/2?
Should I just ditch Chemistry for Legal or History?
What would you do if you were in my situation?

Don't say 'It's different for each person', etc. I just want different opinions (yes, some may be biased. I get that BUT I'M DESPERATE)
I should've posted this earlier, but I have course confirmation tomorrow, so it'd be good to have some kind of an idea to tell my coordinators if I'm sticking to it or not.



Sorry for the long rant!
Thanks in advance

I noticed a hell of a lot of contradiction in your post:

- I go alright in some of the topics

- New study design= Longer exam, more marks and more explain questions.. AND NO MID-YEAR!!
- Its hard and I'll probably have a mental breakdown from trying to cope with doing it

- I enjoy stoich (well, what I've done so far in unit 1/2)

- I have no passion whatsoever to continue it. If it wasn't a prereq I would never even consider it.

- It's a prereq for a lot of science courses at uni (yeah I know that physics and bio are too, but I'm not doing them), some of which I'm thinking of doing (BSc, Pharmacy)

- Some of the courses I want to do don't require it (Nursing/Midwifery at Deakin, Psychology with honours at Monash), and if I end up in one of those courses because I change  my mind about doing BSc or Pharmacy, then I'll regret doing chem in the first place as I won't even need it for Uni

I guess that shows just how confused you are. Look, my subject selection was also quite confused so I know what you're going through. I'll make one proposition, however:

How could you possibly enjoy a potential career path if you do not like one of the prerequisite subjects?

Also, you did Psychology. I'm fairly sure this means you can still do a Bachelor of Science at Monash and then potentially get yourself into a pharmaceutical area.

[brenden]

As people may have probably seen through some of my previous posts, I actually do not like chemistry one bit.

Don't do Chem.

Every time I think about doing it next year, I just feel weird inside

Definitely don't do Chem.

Why I keep having second thoughts:
- I have no passion whatsoever to continue it. If it wasn't a prereq I would never even consider it.

Don't do Chem.

Why I keep having second thoughts:
I'll probably have a mental breakdown from trying to cope with doing it

Definitely don't do Chem.

I'm changing subjects to either Legal or History: Revs (which I'd actually do out of interest and thus actually enjoy)

Do Legal or History: Revs.

Why should I do it?

You definitely shouldn't.

Should I just ditch Chemistry for Legal or History?

Most definitely.

What would you do if you were in my situation?

Take Legal Studies and not get a 35.


In sum; Don't do Chem.


Also, Stick is correct, you can do a BSci and go from there.



What is it that drives your lack of passion? How come you chose it for this year? Prereq?

[gibsonaxxxs]

@gibsonaxxxs Thanks soooo much for taking the time and effort to write so much, really puts things into perspective!

The truth is that it IS a prereq for many courses at uni, and I think that if you later in the year decide to do one of the courses but can't get in because of chem, I think you'd be pretty annoyed.

Yeah I guess I didn't think about it this way!

I was in a similar situation to you last year; I only grasped stoich. I didn't study at all for chem (or any other 1/2), and resulted in averaging 70-80s.

This is exactly me. I didn't take it too seriously this year, and so I never studied for tests and left any homework to the last minute, yet still managed an 80-odd average for my tests

Personally, I would stick with chem. I think even though you think it's hard and all, the amount of studying would be less than either of the 2 you listed. When you understand the fundamentals for chem, you can pretty much do any question, and explain stuff properly. But for Legal and History, you need to memorise every little thing they could ask.

Yeah this is initially why I chose chemistry over the other two! After doing soo much memorising in psych this year, I didn't want too many memorisation-based subjects for next year!

Thanks for putting it all into perspective for me! I guess I was so caught up on the negatives of it I forgot that there are actually some good points to consider

No worries I know how hard it can be; I started out in Yr 12 doing 5 subjects, knowing well that I was going to drop 1 of 3 that I was doing. It was really hard to decide Maybe you could consider doing something like that if it gets really hard to choose?

Also, just thought I'd mention that despite getting 70s-80s in Yr 11, I pulled up my average to mid-high 90s through Yr 12. Fundamentals always got me through, despite putting near-to-no effort into chem even this year. See, I had already decided that it was going in my bottom 2 (I figured that a 48 in methods last year, with super-scaling from spesh and latin this year would fill up my top 4).

Honestly, if you're averaging 80s this year, it shouldn't be too hard.

Again, just my opinion

[Biceps]

Chemistry is a prerequisite for almost all courses but it is also pretty difficult if you don't enjoy it. If i were you i'd take a nice long look at all the careers that i may consider.
If chem is a prerequisite for most then just do it, if not then why stress out?

[Special At Specialist]

I had a similar dilemma when I was entering year 12. It was a toss up between chemistry and philosophy. I ended up doing philosophy.

Choosing philosophy over chemistry was one of the best decisions I made, because I love philosophy and I wanted to do it since year 9. Sure, chemistry is a prerequisite for a lot of degrees (such as BSci at Melbourne), but I hated it, I put no effort in and I was barely passing the subject in year 11 (though you say you're getting A's in year 11 chemistry, so that is a bit different to me).

There are still some science courses you can get into without science (eg. BSci at Monash), so you won't be completely boxed out if you choose not to do chemistry.

Do not choose history or legal because you don't want to do chemistry, choose it because you want to do that subject. If your only reason for choosing history (for example) over chemistry is that you needed a backup subject, you'll end up losing all motivation and practically failing history. If you don't really want to do history, then don't do it. Make sure that this is what you really want.

Good luck in making a decision!

[Stick]

Yep, just to confirm, Bachelor of Science at Monash will still take you since you've completed Psychology:

http://www.monash.edu.au/study/coursefinder/course/0050/domestic-requirements.html?courseview=domestic

It basically keeps every single one of your options open, so I don't see why you'd need to study Chemistry at all now.

[vashappenin]

Thanks for all your advice! I think I'll just keep chemistry. Yes, there are some negatives. But the pros definitely outweigh the cons.

Yep, just to confirm, Bachelor of Science at Monash will still take you since you've completed Psychology:

http://www.monash.edu.au/study/coursefinder/course/0050/domestic-requirements.html?courseview=domestic

It basically keeps every single one of your options open, so I don't see why you'd need to study Chemistry at all now.

Yeah I noticed I can get into BSc without chemistry, but if I do BSc I'll be doing it to do something that most probably requires some kind of background knowledge in chemistry, and so I'd be better off doing it. And Monash (Clayton campus) is so far away!


I think I've been so fixed on the negatives behind chemistry that I've made them seem more excessive than they really are. If I don't do it, I feel like I'll be letting myself down because I know I will be able to cope with it if I have the right mindset and put in the required effort. And it gets scaled up! That being said, I only want a score above 30.. I've already determined it'll be in my bottom two!

Oh I hope I stick to this decision instead of changing my mind for the millionth time..

[thushan]

Woohoo!