I'm Worried About My Chemistry Results.

[KatieWolf]

Hey everyone
So today I had just finished my first Chemistry SAC.
When I tell you I did bad, I genuinely feel as if I got maybe 50s if I'm lucky.
The thing is, I'm trying super hard in Chemistry. I've done all of the relevant checkpoint questions, Atarnotes topic test questions, additional exams/worksheets, practice sacs, textbook questions etc. I ask help when needed and overall, before this sac, I felt very confident in my abilities.
Until I walked into the sac.
I spent the majority of the sac sitting there crying because I didn't know what to do. Not a single question could my mind clear up and write at least something down.
I'm usually a very ambitious, high-achieving student when compared to my school cohort. I regularly do well in my other subjects, but I just can't seem to do well in chemistry.
I also attend Tutesmart for chemistry and regularly seek help when required.
I just can't understand how, through so much work and dedication, I still can't get the scores I want, or rather, need.
How do I overcome these struggles? I've had the same issue last year. I studied so hard for my semester 2 exam to get 61%.
Please help 

[Evolio]

Hey Katie.
I'm sorry about your chemistry SAC and hope that you feel better soon.

When you said that you had trouble with the SAC, was it because they were difficult questions and you had trouble understanding what they were asking you to do? Or you didn't know how to solve the question?
It's just that I was and am in a similar position to you about doing heaps of practice but not getting the desired results. I realised that I didn't actually really, deeply understand the content. I sort of memorised what I had to do and said to myself 'yeah, I basically get it' and applied it to each question accordingly, not taking into account how I would be able to apply my knowledge to way more harder application style questions. I sort of rushed through doing every question and was like 'yep, I'm done' rather than stopping to think about (and ponder) why I had to use that particular method in solving the question . For example, in Methods, I didn't ask myself questions like 'Why would differentiating give me the gradient function? What's the significance of that? How will that principle help me in solving this question?'

Why I'm telling you this is that there may be a problem in understanding the content really well (due to personal experience) which may be hindering you from being so confident in the content that you know how to answer virtually every question that is thrown at you.

It's ok. It's not too late and you still have lots of time to figure out the problem as to why you're not achieving the desired results. Also, maybe you could ask your teacher about why that might be the case? Your teacher might have seen other students struggle in the way that you have and so may be able to provide guidance about how to figure out the issue.

I hope this helps.

[colline]

Hi Katie, I totally understand what you're going through - I had a similar experience in chemistry last year, where I was getting VERY mediocre marks in all my SACs despite how much effort I was putting in (averaged 50-60 in SACs, got 40% on my school trial exam).

First, I'd say to not freak out yet because you just FEEL that you did bad - but you don't know your actual results yet, much less how you'd rank amongst your peers. Not to mention, this is only your first SAC - many people can perform below potential in their first SAC due to nerves or lack of experience with tackling SAC questions. Also, it's only March - you're not expected to be exam ready at this time of the year.

I know it absolutely sucks when you put in so much effort and get back so little in return, and I think this might be a sign that your study method may need to change. At the end of the day, it's not the quantity of effort that you put in which gets you results, but rather the quality, so make sure that you are studying efficiently. For example, if you are feeling tired or distracted, maybe try do something else, then come back to studying chem once you feel 100% again.

Tutoring is a bit of a hit or miss. I don't have experience with Tutesmart, but I found that it's no good *expecting* the tutor to be some magical being who can make everything click (I certainly expected that at first).

You can try making a list of all the topics that came up in your SAC which either stumped you or you didn't fully understand, and then try to fill in the gaps in your knowledge. You can also try to reflect on WHY these gaps are there, to avoid similar things in the future.

Good luck!!

[KatieWolf]

When you said that you had trouble with the SAC, was it because they were difficult questions and you had trouble understanding what they were asking you to do? Or you didn't know how to solve the question?

Hi Evolio,
I'd say it's a mixture of both. Some questions were genuinely just very difficult to understand and even with insight from the teacher during the SAC it still wouldn't go through my head what the question was actually asking and what formula or method I had to use
Some other questions I just couldn't solve, as in I didn't know how to solve it. I plugged in numerous numbers, equations etc. hoping I would get the answer but in the end nothing made sense. Like, you know when you look at an answer and it just doesn't look right at all? It was like that. Like for example the molar heat of combustion would be some absurd number that makes zero sense at all.

I know it absolutely sucks when you put in so much effort and get back so little in return, and I think this might be a sign that your study method may need to change. At the end of the day, it's not the quantity of effort that you put in which gets you results, but rather the quality, so make sure that you are studying efficiently. For example, if you are feeling tired or distracted, maybe try do something else, then come back to studying chem once you feel 100% again.

Hey Colline,
I definitely agree with the statement that I need to change my study method. It entirely depends upon the SAC to be honest when it comes to my study method. I usually like to write my own notes in my own words for theory-based content and then do a lot of practice questions and re-try the ones I didn't know how to do or I got wrong together
If you don't mind me asking, is there an alternative study method perhaps I can try to work on to maximise the quality of my studies? I know for sure I could've done a lot better 

Thank you both for your input! I'm such a perfectionist when it comes to school, as in I always want to make sure I get top marks whenever and wherever I can, otherwise I put myself down for it.

[caffinatedloz]

That sounds so frustrating Katie! I hope that you can find a way to be kind to yourself tonight and tomorrow. You put in lots of work, and you did your best. I understand how frustrating it can be when you put so much effort in and it feels like it doesn't go quite right at all. Once you get the marked assessment back, I'm sure there will be a way to move forward. Evolio and colline certainly had some great advice.

Love and good vibes, laura <3

[Stormbreaker-X]

Please continue to try hard, cuz you never know what you can achieve in the end. The good thing is you still outperformed some people and that is something always to be proud of.

[colline]

Hey Colline,
I definitely agree with the statement that I need to change my study method. It entirely depends upon the SAC to be honest when it comes to my study method. I usually like to write my own notes in my own words for theory-based content and then do a lot of practice questions and re-try the ones I didn't know how to do or I got wrong together
If you don't mind me asking, is there an alternative study method perhaps I can try to work on to maximise the quality of my studies? I know for sure I could've done a lot better 

Thank you both for your input! I'm such a perfectionist when it comes to school, as in I always want to make sure I get top marks whenever and wherever I can, otherwise I put myself down for it.

Hi Katie, I'm so sorry I completely missed your reply!

Your current study method sounds very similar to what I did in VCE - I found that it works, but can take time for the results to show, so it might just be a matter of doing more practice questions.

One thing I did for all of my maths/science subjects was to have a collection of the different types of questions that pops up - for example in chem you'd have questions that involves heavy calculations, you'd have theoretical questions asking you to explain your understanding of concepts, you'd have questions that ask you to draw diagrams etc. I made a list of all of these questions and wrote them down on my phone with really broad wording. When I have free time, I'd get it out and mentally list the steps to get to the answer. Most of the questions are actually super methodological, so once you have a clear vision of what steps lead you to the answer, it'll be a breeze.

That was one study method which really helped me, of course different people have different methods, but you can give that a go and see if it works for you!

[Failingvce]

I can relate, if it makes you feel better I got a 50 percent on my first SAC.