[IgorYakov]

Hi, for a-levels in September, i'm hoping to study Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Economics

So far i've heard that Chemistry can be really challenging and Biology is a lot of memorization
Could anyone possibly tell me more about them 2 and maths (and economics if you do it, however this is the wrong thread)

I wanted to know:
1) how hard you generally find these subjects
2) what is/can be the hardest topics/module/unit in them
3) How early should I started revising for Jan and Summer exams
4) Should I start revision for any of these topics over this summer break as i have A LOT of free time?
5) anything else I should know about the topic(s) you're talking about such as tips or important information

Thanks!

[TheWorldEndsWithMe]

I did those four at AS.

The most difficult in terms of content was definitely chemistry. However, I also found biology hard- not because the content is difficult, but because there's just a whole lot of it and mostly, it's quite boring.

I can barely remember what was easiest/most difficult in each topic though.

Honestly? You just need a system that works for you in terms of revising. I find it easier to cram, others find it easier to start early. Whatever floats your boat.

It might be worth getting hold of newspapers and reading the business/economic sections, just to have a better idea of what's going on - especially since its sonitwreying right now with Greece and the general Eurozone etc. it'll give you a bit of background knowledge, and that always looks good. For the rest? Not much point.

Can't think of anything really important to tell you, other than maybe learning how to structure essays is really important for economics, and never underestimate the helpfulness of a good essay plan.

[IgorYakov]

(Original post by TheWorldEndsWithMe)
I did those four at AS.

The most difficult in terms of content was definitely chemistry. However, I also found biology hard- not because the content is difficult, but because there's just a whole lot of it and mostly, it's quite boring.

I can barely remember what was easiest/most difficult in each topic though.

Honestly? You just need a system that works for you in terms of revising. I find it easier to cram, others find it easier to start early. Whatever floats your boat.

It might be worth getting hold of newspapers and reading the business/economic sections, just to have a better idea of what's going on - especially since its sonitwreying right now with Greece and the general Eurozone etc. it'll give you a bit of background knowledge, and that always looks good. For the rest? Not much point.

Can't think of anything really important to tell you, other than maybe learning how to structure essays is really important for economics, and never underestimate the helpfulness of a good essay plan.

Aaah right thanks!

In economics is it very essay based? Or in exams are there some short answers some long answers?

Also is it long essays such as those for english? Or short essays?

Thank you very much

[nicatre]

Biology is very intellectually interesting but for exams it is just memorising the key phrases, of which if you don't use them you dont' get the marks even if you do show you understand the content.

Chemistry is really fun but involves a fair amount of randomy memorising reaction conditions and products which is dull but it is interesting.

Maths is the closest to being assessed in terms of ability because you either understand how to find the answer or you don't. For some reason people find mechanics hardest in maths but I didn't.


All are a step up from GCSE but also very enjoyable for different reasons.

[TheWorldEndsWithMe]

(Original post by IgorYakov)
Aaah right thanks!

In economics is it very essay based? Or in exams are there some short answers some long answers?

Also is it long essays such as those for english? Or short essays?

Thank you very much

I can't speak for every exam board, as I was on CCEA, but the paper was split 50-50 on shorter questions and essays. It was out of 80, so 40 marks on each part. At AS there were around 6-8questions making up the data response/comprehension-type questions, ranging from about 4 marks up to 10. The essay was split intothree parts, 10 marks, and two 15 mark parts.

At A2 they had 4/5 questions at the data response, ranging from 5-15 marks. The essay is split into two, 15 and 25 marks.

In terms of comparing it to English, I think the essays are slightly shorter. We usually did 3-5 sides depending on topic an if we included diagrams. I also think they're easier though, because it seems in English uphill just be told to write on xyz theme or analyse the themes but in economics it's split into parts to make it more manageable and clearer what they expect.


Like I said though, I only have experience on CCEA, so you might want too look at the AQA/whatever papers and see of they're more or less essay based.

[IgorYakov]

(Original post by TheWorldEndsWithMe)
I can't speak for every exam board, as I was on CCEA, but the paper was split 50-50 on shorter questions and essays. It was out of 80, so 40 marks on each part. At AS there were around 6-8questions making up the data response/comprehension-type questions, ranging from about 4 marks up to 10. The essay was split intothree parts, 10 marks, and two 15 mark parts.

At A2 they had 4/5 questions at the data response, ranging from 5-15 marks. The essay is split into two, 15 and 25 marks.

In terms of comparing it to English, I think the essays are slightly shorter. We usually did 3-5 sides depending on topic an if we included diagrams. I also think they're easier though, because it seems in English uphill just be told to write on xyz theme or analyse the themes but in economics it's split into parts to make it more manageable and clearer what they expect.


Like I said though, I only have experience on CCEA, so you might want too look at the AQA/whatever papers and see of they're more or less essay based.

Ohh right, yeah just checked for AQA there are 25 1 mark questions
then you get a choice of quesiton 26 or 27
this question holds 50 marks split into 5 smaller questions, with 1 being 25 marks
like: http://gyazo.com/fab31e97e962b2f6e260a270ae5f3d78


So for this 25 mark question would that be the really long essay or around 3-4 sides?

[TheWorldEndsWithMe]

(Original post by IgorYakov)
Ohh right, yeah just checked for AQA there are 25 1 mark questions
then you get a choice of quesiton 26 or 27
this question holds 50 marks split into 5 smaller questions, with 1 being 25 marks
like: http://gyazo.com/fab31e97e962b2f6e260a270ae5f3d78


So for this 25 mark question would that be the really long essay or around 3-4 sides?

Yeah, the 25 marker is probably in the region of 2 or 3 sides.

[IgorYakov]

(Original post by TheWorldEndsWithMe)
Yeah, the 25 marker is probably in the region of 2 or 3 sides.

Aah right, is there emphasis on grammar and spelling etc?

And is economics hard overall? E.g. is it really hard to write 3/4 sides for the question and you have to write every point as a good point or can you sometimes waffle :P

[TheWorldEndsWithMe]

(Original post by IgorYakov)
Aah right, is there emphasis on grammar and spelling etc?

And is economics hard overall? E.g. is it really hard to write 3/4 sides for the question and you have to write every point as a good point or can you sometimes waffle :P

Not a huge amount of emphasis as long as you're able to be understood. It can get quite confusing if you're just going on and on without any real structure to it.

I think - again, only on CCEA since I know little about AQA - they usually give questions where you're able to talk at length about the given topic. Eg we were told to analyse whether oligopoly was the most desirable market structure in our last exam. So we were able to talk about price stability/wars, economies of scale, comparing them to monopoly and perfect competition, ability to go global etc. So there was loads to say for 25 marks. (this was one of three options, mind).
The hardest thing was tryingto decide which to put down first and trying to decide, generally, which points were the most important (since you're supposed to start with the most important and not some rubbish point). And writing a good conclusion is really difficult (for me anyway).

It's best not to waffle. Like our teacher said, dragging one point out over three pages won't get you anywhere near as many narks as six points, well and concisely explained (with examples if necessary) taking half a side each.

Now, that said, trying to get good points is often common sense - seriously, just think about some of the stuff and it practically writes itself - so waffling shouldn't be an issue.

[IgorYakov]

(Original post by TheWorldEndsWithMe)
Not a huge amount of emphasis as long as you're able to be understood. It can get quite confusing if you're just going on and on without any real structure to it.

I think - again, only on CCEA since I know little about AQA - they usually give questions where you're able to talk at length about the given topic. Eg we were told to analyse whether oligopoly was the most desirable market structure in our last exam. So we were able to talk about price stability/wars, economies of scale, comparing them to monopoly and perfect competition, ability to go global etc. So there was loads to say for 25 marks. (this was one of three options, mind).
The hardest thing was tryingto decide which to put down first and trying to decide, generally, which points were the most important (since you're supposed to start with the most important and not some rubbish point). And writing a good conclusion is really difficult (for me anyway).

It's best not to waffle. Like our teacher said, dragging one point out over three pages won't get you anywhere near as many narks as six points, well and concisely explained (with examples if necessary) taking half a side each.

Now, that said, trying to get good points is often common sense - seriously, just think about some of the stuff and it practically writes itself - so waffling shouldn't be an issue.

:O Thanks!

Would you consider it harder or easier than your other subjects and if you dont mind me asking which other subjects did you choose :O?

[TheWorldEndsWithMe]

(Original post by IgorYakov)
:O Thanks!

Would you consider it harder or easier than your other subjects and if you dont mind me asking which other subjects did you choose :O?

Already told you earlier on.
I did Bio, Chem, Maths and Econ.
Stopped Chem at A2.
For me it was my easiest subject, but that's because I found it genuinely interesting and I was forever reading around it. It's a shame I'm rubbish at exam technique though, I knew far more information than the rest of my classmates.
Chemistry was definitely hard, although I also struggled with some concepts in maths. On the whole, if you think you'll enjoy the subject them you should at least highly consider it. ^^

[hannahcoroner]

Try and stay on top of your work right throughout and make sure you understand everything before you move on!
I did biology, chemistry and maths. With all of them, just do as many past papers as you can, as much as you can when it comes to revision, then you know what to expect in the exam! None of them are particularly bad as long as you put the effort into doing well! I guess it also depends on what exams boards you will be on.
I wouldn't worry too much about the difficulty of them!


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[IgorYakov]

(Original post by TheWorldEndsWithMe)
Already told you earlier on.
I did Bio, Chem, Maths and Econ.
Stopped Chem at A2.
For me it was my easiest subject, but that's because I found it genuinely interesting and I was forever reading around it. It's a shame I'm rubbish at exam technique though, I knew far more information than the rest of my classmates.
Chemistry was definitely hard, although I also struggled with some concepts in maths. On the whole, if you think you'll enjoy the subject them you should at least highly consider it. ^^

Ohh right sorry :P And i'm doing exactly the same, which exam boards did you have for Bio, Chem and Maths?

[TheWorldEndsWithMe]

(Original post by IgorYakov)
Ohh right sorry :P And i'm doing exactly the same, which exam boards did you have for Bio, Chem and Maths?

OCR chemistry
AQA biology
CCEA maths and economics.

[IgorYakov]

(Original post by TheWorldEndsWithMe)
OCR chemistry
AQA biology
CCEA maths and economics.

Hows AQA Biology? I've heard mark schemes want specific words near enough exact sentences for the marks :O?

The exam boards for me will be AQA Biology Chemistry and Economics
and Edexcel Maths

[Larry31]

(Original post by IgorYakov)
Hows AQA Biology? I've heard mark schemes want specific words near enough exact sentences for the marks :O?

The exam boards for me will be AQA Biology Chemistry and Economics
and Edexcel Maths

Edexcel for maths is alright which applied module are you doing?
At least you got AQA for Bio and Chem though; I have OCR and they are the WORST exam board I have ever had the misfortune to come across :P

[IgorYakov]

(Original post by Larry31)
Edexcel for maths is alright which applied module are you doing?
At least you got AQA for Bio and Chem though; I have OCR and they are the WORST exam board I have ever had the misfortune to come across :P

What do you mean applied modules :O? Do you mean the ones like Statistics and Mechanics?

and aah damn how come?

[Larry31]

(Original post by IgorYakov)
What do you mean applied modules :O? Do you mean the ones like Statistics and Mechanics?

and aah damn how come?

Yeah, Stats, Mechanics or Decision?

Oh they just set the worst exams ever. You could know everything back to front and still fail the exam. But I hear AQA are much better so that's good news for you! Although they all seem to be pretty specific.

If it helps you at all, I loved my AS year of edexcel maths (I did stats). I hated it at GCSE but took it because I want to study medicine, and now it is one of my favourite subjects Obviously, I can't tell you what A2 is like, but we've done a couple of chapters of C3 and it seems fine so far (we haven't hit trig yet which is supposedly the killer :P )

[TheWorldEndsWithMe]

(Original post by IgorYakov)
Hows AQA Biology? I've heard mark schemes want specific words near enough exact sentences for the marks :O?

The exam boards for me will be AQA Biology Chemistry and Economics
and Edexcel Maths

Yeah. They're stupid like that. You could have a perfect answer and not say a specific word - maybe you used a different one that meant the same thing - and only get one mark out of three or something.

You do soon learn which words/phrases they're looking for though, so it isn't too bad.

I think the most annoying thing for loads of people is that they'll ask a how science works question with answers no-one would reasonably think of if they'd studied the course. :/ Or they'll be talking about one thing, ask something and suddenly expect you to switch the topic you're thinking about. (like you'll be talking about enzymes and them BAM suddenly you're on about muscle contraction or something, in the same question)

[IgorYakov]

(Original post by Larry31)
Yeah, Stats, Mechanics or Decision?

Oh they just set the worst exams ever. You could know everything back to front and still fail the exam. But I hear AQA are much better so that's good news for you! Although they all seem to be pretty specific.

If it helps you at all, I loved my AS year of edexcel maths (I did stats). I hated it at GCSE but took it because I want to study medicine, and now it is one of my favourite subjects Obviously, I can't tell you what A2 is like, but we've done a couple of chapters of C3 and it seems fine so far (we haven't hit trig yet which is supposedly the killer :P )

Aah right yeah! I thought about doing statistics as well because i'm hoping to do medicine too

And hopefully I should be okay with edexcel then

Thanks! and good luck for the trig