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can I do chemistry????

Hi,
I am not sure whether I am good enough to do chemistry at a level my expected grades are:
english-C
maths-A
double award science-AA
Religion-B or A
ICT-A*
learning for life and work-B
hospitality-A

I enjoy all sciences especially chemistry and physics. I despise English and hate writing long winded answers.

I want to take on maths,physics and chemistry for a level but I don't know whether I can do it because everyone says that it is soooo hard. so if someone who has been there, done that and bought the t-shirt I would appreciate your guidance.

many thanks
Calum :smile:
(edited 11 years ago)

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Reply 1
How come you did double award science rather than triple?
Reply 2
because my school does not offer it unfortunately I would have loved to do it though
Reply 3
Oh okay! In that case I'd say your grades should be fine to start a Maths/Physics/Chemistry course, I did Maths/Further Maths/Physics/Chemistry and although the start of your AS year might seem like a jump up in difficulty, the fact you enjoy those subjects the most should help you do well in them :smile:.
Original post by stpiussstudent
Hi,
I am not sure whether I am good enough to do chemistry at a level my expected grades are:
english-C
maths-A
double award science-AA
Religion-B or A
ICT-A*
learning for life and work-B
hospitality-A

I enjoy all sciences especially chemistry and physics. I despise English and hate writing long winded answers.

I want to take on maths,physics and chemistry for a level but I don't know whether I can do it because everyone says that it is soooo hard. so if someone who has been there, done that and bought the t-shirt I would appreciate your guidance.

many thanks
Calum :smile:


A level Chemistry is indeed hard... however if you try really hard you will do it, you cant expect to just walk in there and expect it to be a doddle can you? Nothing comes from not working hard, you cant expect much without hard work can you?
Also if you really love the subject... GO FOR IT! I took AS level chemistry, i found it hard.. but i enjoyed it, it was very interesting.
Finally Good Luck!
Reply 5
thanks I will take that on board :smile:
Reply 6
Original post by stpiussstudent
Hi,
I am not sure whether I am good enough to do chemistry at a level my expected grades are:
english-C
maths-A
double award science-AA
Religion-B or A
ICT-A*
learning for life and work-B
hospitality-A

I enjoy all sciences especially chemistry and physics. I despise English and hate writing long winded answers.

I want to take on maths,physics and chemistry for a level but I don't know whether I can do it because everyone says that it is soooo hard. so if someone who has been there, done that and bought the t-shirt I would appreciate your guidance.

many thanks
Calum :smile:


If you enjoy them do it, and I mean naturally enjoy them, if you are thinking i sort of enjoy them then don't

Source: personal experience
Reply 7
if you are good with math and like chemistry in general and most importantly willing to work hard(or perhaps you are really clever), you are in for an enjoyable chemistry degree. otherwise, you'd find yourself to be in deep trouble few years in
Reply 8
Hardest unit is the first one in Chemistry, if you get a solid grip of it A level Chemistry is easy and wonderful.
Reply 9
thanks for all of your advice it is much appreciated
A/A in double with an A in math is more than enough. Which GCSE science course do you take by the way as in my opinion (as a A-level chemistry teacher) some are better preparation than others.

Sure, at the start you're going to have to work harder than a triple student with the same grades, but that's just because triple has content that is usually taught at A-level, so triple students will have already done some of the early work. There is no prerequisite knowledge that is needed that you don't have.

My school only recently started offering the triple science course, before that all students did double and many of those managed A-level chemistry perfectly well.

The elitism surrounding triple science seems to generate a stigma about double that puts people off doing A-level sciences, which is a shame. My most able yr12 student is a double scientist, and they got 100% in the January AS exam. The work their ass off though.

As a number of posters above have commented, more important is how hard you are prepared to work if you need to. There is no reason why you shouldn't do well at A-level sciences if you're prepared to put the work in.
Chemistry can be nasty at first as it's a step-up from GCSE, but as long as you put in the work it'll be fine! Make sure you make the effort to understand the concepts though; don't just memorise then 'cause then it will be hard! :biggrin:
Reply 12
Sorry to but in :') but I did OCR at GCSE Level, and I am going to doing AQA Chemistry next year. Will I be at a disadvantage?
Original post by Bobby2
Sorry to but in :') but I did OCR at GCSE Level, and I am going to doing AQA Chemistry next year. Will I be at a disadvantage?


21st Century or Gateway?
Original post by stpiussstudent


I enjoy all sciences especially chemistry and physics. I despise English and hate writing long winded answers.




well it may be true that you dont have to write essays for chemistry on my exam board (salters) there are questions around 8 marks long which in order to get all the marks you have to be able to use spelling punctuation and grammar. Also in year 13 we are required to produce a very very very long investigation which again i presume there will be points for your english skills.

that said chemistry is immensely enjoyable, as long as you pick up on the vocabulary etc at the start you should be fine, also dont fall behind and remember that its never to early to start revising :rolleyes: good luck with it!



by the way i recognise your school probably isnt stupid enough to pick salters but i just thought id say :rolleyes:
Reply 15
21st Century
Reply 16
Original post by gingerbreadman85
21st Century or Gateway?


21st Century
Yes! You can!

I would suggest just going through the triple science modules of chemistry so that you aren't behind at all. Your sixth form will take a few weeks to let those with double adapt, but it's good to be on the ball from the start :smile:

Good luck :biggrin:
21st century is seen as a little wishy-washy compared to the other ones, however there is enough chemistry content in C4,5 and 6 that you should be ok. My advice is to look over the stuff you found hardest and make sure you're comfortable with it, as it's probably the stuff they'll start with at A-level (and then make more complicated!)

AQA Chemistry has a slightly smoother start than for example OCR Salters, most of Unit 1 topics start with GCSE content and develop from there.
Reply 19
I got a AB in double award and im proberly gonna get a A in as chemistry(i already got a A in Unit 1);you just need to put in the extra work and if you enjoy the subject it should be easy.
(edited 11 years ago)

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