I wrote this because I saw Jane1234's guide on getting a 50 in Methods. So I figure I'll contribute too by writing one on Chem.
Foreword
VCE is the student's equivalent of World War 2, Priest's equivalent of Rapture (whatever you like). It's a year long battle in which you must grit your teeth and survive. All aspects count, I took VCE VERY seriously (as you should too), and it's not only about studying, but in my opinion a mixture of factors.
Exercise is very important, make sure you get at least half an hour EVERYDAY! It's helps to relieve stress and reduces your chance of getting sick prior Exams and SACs, your most VULNERABLE time.
Diet is good for you too, luckily I had some Asian parents who were very big on making sure I get the best food possible during this crisis. Combination of vegetables, fruit, water. Treat it as homework, WRITE IN YOUR DIARY 7pm=EAT FRUIT AND DRINK WATER. Get your parents to cook you something nice everyday. This both boosts you mentally and physically.
Studying generally should be done regularly, don't do 5 hours in one day and none the next. You are more likely to remember the stuff if you do say 2 hours EVERYDAY. Once you form a habit (like brushing teeth) you won't find it hard to study.
Summer Holidays, Crazy Asian style
Now we are getting into the actual part of HOW to study. Summer holiday is GOD's GIFT to you. 45 DAYS of time where you can get a head start on everything. This is a valuable time indeed which also prepares for the intense studying ahead. START reading the chem textbook, answer ALL chapter questions, you can leave the review for later. Correct ALL the questions and make sure you have at least a mild understanding of the entire study design. If you already have a good background in Chemistry. You can do 1 hour of chem a day and finish the WHOLE book 1 week before school starts.
Term 1, Have some fun!
This is the most relaxing time of the school days in year 12. You just started school, there's no SAC's yet. Everything seem easy and you feel you can cope. Everyone is still in holiday mode and not doing much work. THIS ISNT WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING. This is a great chance to create a greater gap between 90% of the lazy state and you. START studying, Year 12 is all about self-motivation now. By now you may SEEM to have forgotten most of the chem stuff you picked up in the holidays. THATS NOT TRUE, it's mostly stored in your subconsciousness waiting for you to retrieve it.
Revise all the Unit 3 stuff by reading through the book again, preferably a DIFFERENT textbook (Yes I did buy 2 textbooks). Do the review questions and if possible, chapter questions from another textbook. (Ask your teacher for another textbook, P.S My chem teacher seriously told me I had no life when I showed her my exercise book containing all the answers for the whole book).
Term 1 holiday- Midyear Exam
By the end of term 1, you should have studied enough to start doing practise exams. You have approx 8-12 weeks till exam. So whilst your fellow classmates are still doing titrations, you are already thinking about aspirin. START as early as you can withough forgetting the course material.
This is the time where you get a little exercise book containing ALL of your mistakes whilst doing practise exam. The first 10 pages can contain little tips on generally doing questions, e.g remember the structural formula of TMS. The rest may contain copied difficult questions from the exam papers you’ve done. This is handy as it makes sure you don’t make the same mistake again. (believe me, this happens VERY often). So you do your little exams, revise, look up your textbook and do more exams. DO as much as you can, I did 23 for mid-year but you can never do enough.
Other people argues that you should do the VCAA exam papers last, but if you follow my guide. I always do them first, just to get an idea of what the examiners are looking for. Usually you should’ve started exams 8 weeks prior to the exam. So you can re-do the VCAA exams 1 week before the REAL exam. Believe me, you WONT remember the questions (unless your memory is photographic). You’ll be surprised to find that you got tripped up on the same question.
ALWAYS mark yourself hard, pretend you are the MEANEST examiners. Usually if I didn’t write the KEY word in the answer for ONE worded question. I take all the marks off, you never know how the examiners may mark in the exam. So be harsh.
After mid-year (whew…)
Think you’ve accomplished great things? Think you’ve done well in the exam. Well you probably have, but DON’T celebrate. Whilst your friends are relaxing (mine did), GO START STUDYING. Simply revise or study ahead. Go ahead and do ALL the review questions and checkpoints if you have them. It’s better to do exam papers than checkpoints for exam revision. So do the checkpoints as revision for SACs. Repeat what you did in term 1, and start thinking about revising for the End-of-year exam EARLY. YOU HAVE 5 subjects (if you are a year 12). Therefore you should start exam revision EVEN earlier since you have more to study for.
I started studying for End of year by the 5th week of term 3. This allows me 12-14 weeks for exam revision. REPEAT what you did for mid-year and go ahead and do ‘em exams!
4 weeks prior to End of year
This is the MOST critical time, in 4 weeks your future will be decided. By this time, I started writing up a study timetable. It’s quite easy, plan everything ahead. Have variety in your study; don’t do the same subject for 5 hours straight. Allow for say 10 hours per week per subject, and some additional hours set aside for you weak subjects (or strong ones if you like).
I know people like to go home from school, wait for 4 hours to play. Then do homework. It’s always BETTER to do them as soon as you get home, and do them in 1 hour periods with 15 minutes breaks in between.
During the last week prior to exam, most schools will give you time off to study. Start exam papers EARLY, according to scientific studies you are most awake and refreshed in the morning. So do them hard papers in the morning.
Exam Time
This is the most stressed time of your life (probably). Try to reduce the amount of studying the day before an exam. Even if you panic and start stuffing all the knowledge in, you won’t remember most of it. So cut back, and do something you life to ease your stress. Look up your little theory book and do some light studying if you want. If you can’t sleep before exam, that’s cool, I had the same problem. But since you get all the adrenalin pumping in the exam. You’ll be fine. Just remember to rest later.
All in all, GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE VCE STUDENTS. Hope you get a satisfying score!
P.S: OMG I wrote over 1000 words! THIS IS AMAZING considering I only did 600 for my English Exam essay