Chemistry

[yenho]

Hi all,
I'm currently in Year 11. At the start of the year I was doing Unit 1/2 Chemistry, however I dropped it and I'm starting to regret it as I have no sciences except Psych LOL .. I've spoken to my Chem teacher and she recommends against it as I will miss out on 'the Mole' which she believes is crucial?

Help!

[Alter]

Chemistry is a pretty tough subject to pick up without having the same learning as everyone else. As to whether or not you should pick it up, I think that could lie largely in what you what to study in university. If you think that you'll need it as a prerequisite, then by all means I'd encourage you to swap over (assuming it's ok with your school). We're only a bit over a month into the school year and this won't be much relative to how much you'll cover in Chem. It's also really important to pick subjects you enjoy and think you'll be good at. If you think you can catch up on the mole, I'd encourage you to take this path. If you're only doing a science for the sake of doing one (and not because you need it for university), or you don't have a strong interest in it, then I guess I'd lean more towards no, but the decision is ultimately in your hands.

[yenho]

Yeah the problem with my school is they only allow students to swap subjects within the first 2 weeks which I thought was pretty stupid as 2 weeks wasn't really enough to decide whether it was the right subject or not (well at least for me), the only chance I'll be able to change it is at the end of the semester.. Me being an indecisive person, I don't really know what I want to do after VCE I did all the sciences last year and enjoyed Chem the most but of course it's different in VCE

[vobinhood]

I almost dropped chem last year. However, it wasn't because I didn't enjoy studying Chemistry. It was purely because I hadn't devoted the time to study it, leaving me with bad results and a bad attitude towards the subject.

However this year, I'm putting more time and effort into the subject and have been seeing a gradual increase in results!

Thus, I highly suggest you find the true reason why you dropped chem. If you realise dropping it was the wrong decision, switch back! Otherwise, you may regret it. Chemistry is a prerequisite for many science and medicine courses. I mean, MANY. So to keep your options open, I highly recommend you keep Chem, especially if you're still undecided on your future course.

Hope this helps.

[keltingmeith]

The mole is important, yes.
Nothing a few days reading a textbook won't fix, though. IMHO, missing unit 1 is easily manageable, doing 3/4 is only really an issue without unit 2.

[yenho]

Thanks so much guys! Really appreciate it 

[nickel]

Your teacher is right. The mole is a drag to begin with, however after some time it becomes second nature.

IMO: If you pick it up now, you will only miss out on the mole, you can just look up some youtube videos and you should be fine. This is because everything before the mole is just year 10 revision really.

[odeaa]

All we did in unit 1 chem was some pointless history of the periodic table any the mole, and the like others have said, the mole is not too hard at all. Just depends whether you have the dedication to learn on your own