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Am I going to struggle w/ A level Chemistry?

I got a B in GCSE Chemistry and C in GCSE Maths. Will I struggle? (Willing to put in 100% extra effort - revising from books and internet)
Thanks

Reply 1

KanKan

I know people who got A*s at GCSE who ended up with D's in AS Level. However, I also know those who only did double science, and ended up with a high B. So certainly, if you're willing to but all the effort in through the whole year, you will struggle less when it comes to revision.

Reply 2

alygirl

It all depends on how you approach the subject and your determination. There may be a couple of things you need to catch up on and you might need to work a little bit harder to understand some more concepts but if you try hard no reason you won't succeed.

Reply 3

shengoc

some people do end up hating taking chemistry because they try so hard to memorise/rote-learn all there is in AS chemistry (which is not a lot, actually)

or you could begin to see that it all comes down to basic details - force, energy, interactions, sterics, electronics that govern almost everything, if not all, of AS chemistry and in fact A'level chemistry as well. i think if you enjoy physics and can do math, chemistry should not be too demanding. that does not imply that if you dont take physics, you'd be miserable in chemistry - no no. Math + chem and bio are fantastic combinations as well, just more so towards the biochemistry side - the chemical reactions in body - ie why cyanide or carbon monoxide poisons/kills you? etc.

Reply 4

Magenta96

I think you can. I suppose my experience could be helpful to you. In year 10 I did foundation science (whole school made to do it), so I ended up with a C. I begged them to let me do higher level Additional Science and scored 3 A*'s in biology, chemistry and physics so basically I have A*C in double award, they only let me do AS's in science slyly (actually need BB!).

I went on to do AS biology & chemistry after worrying like crazy if I was good enough, and now I'm predicted A's in both subjects and they aren't bad at all. AS chemistry was actually my easiest subject for most parts (excluding mechanisms). My point is you could do dual award science, and even do foundation tier in one of them and you STILL have the chance of succeeding, so if I can, so can you. I suppose the advantage I had though was being quite strong at GCSE maths/AS maths but I can see where you're coming from.

Edit: try not to be put off by chemistry, it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it most of the time, taking this AS was the best decision I've made out of all my AS's personally, hope this helped. :smile: