The Student Room Group
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>

Is HL chemistry or physics harder?

Will probably end up doing chem but I'm not sure :s-smilie:

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
Avatar for pbunny
pbunny
12
Original post by qewrtyu
Will probably end up doing chem but I'm not sure :s-smilie:


Both are hard. Which is harder is for you to determine since difficulty is relative. However, people generally perceive physics to be harder than chemistry.
Reply 2
Avatar for qewrtyu
qewrtyu
OP
11
Original post by pbunny
Both are hard. Which is harder is for you to determine since difficulty is relative. However, people generally perceive physics to be harder than chemistry.

I've always been better at physics but I feel the GCSE went badly :s-smilie:. Also I think chem would go better with bio even though I generally dislike chemistry :s-smilie:
Reply 3
Avatar for pbunny
pbunny
12
Original post by qewrtyu
I've always been better at physics but I feel the GCSE went badly :s-smilie:. Also I think chem would go better with bio even though I generally dislike chemistry :s-smilie:


Tricky situation! I'd advise you to go with the subject you enjoy more (physics) since you need to fully commit to your higher level subjects as you'll need to put in a lot of effort to do well. I agree, biology goes better with chemistry but there technically is no overlap in the core topics (only with options). So taking physics shouldn't cause you any issue but it is a odd combination!

What would you like to study? If it's medicine, dentistry, certain discplines of engineering or biological sciences then you definitely need to take chemistry as it's a requirement.
Reply 4
Avatar for qewrtyu
qewrtyu
OP
11
Original post by pbunny
Tricky situation! I'd advise you to go with the subject you enjoy more (physics) since you need to fully commit to your higher level subjects as you'll need to put in a lot of effort to do well. I agree, biology goes better with chemistry but there technically is no overlap in the core topics (only with options). So taking physics shouldn't cause you any issue but it is a odd combination!

What would you like to study? If it's medicine, dentistry, certain discplines of engineering or biological sciences then you definitely need to take chemistry as it's a requirement.

yeah I think I'm going to do a sciencey degree at uni and bio and chem definitely gives me a lot more options. I'm thinking that it would be better to force myself to do chem as it will be better in the long run
Reply 5
Avatar for pbunny
pbunny
12
Original post by qewrtyu
yeah I think I'm going to do a sciencey degree at uni and bio and chem definitely gives me a lot more options. I'm thinking that it would be better to force myself to do chem as it will be better in the long run


No offense is intended but are you sure any degree involving any sort of chemistry is what you'd like to pursue? If you can't stand it at GCSE level the likes of you finding it bearable later on are slim to none.

Do you personally dislike chemistry or is your lack of interest because you've had bad chemistry teachers?
Reply 6
Avatar for qewrtyu
qewrtyu
OP
11
Original post by pbunny
No offense is intended but are you sure any degree involving any sort of chemistry is what you'd like to pursue? If you can't stand it at GCSE level the likes of you finding it bearable later on are slim to none.

Do you personally dislike chemistry or is your lack of interest because you've had bad chemistry teachers?

hmm well I find some aspects of chem hard to understand and remember but I'm not actually bad at it. I would probably be more likely to do a degree involving more bio than chem i guess.
hmm i find my chem teacher isnt particularly helpful when i ask him to explain things
Reply 7
Avatar for pbunny
pbunny
12
Original post by qewrtyu
hmm well I find some aspects of chem hard to understand and remember but I'm not actually bad at it. I would probably be more likely to do a degree involving more bio than chem i guess.
hmm i find my chem teacher isnt particularly helpful when i ask him to explain things


I see. I totally sympathise with you about the chem teacher thing as I've had an equally useless teacher for IGCSE chemistry.

Have you thought about engineering? You seem to like physics so it seems like a feasible option since there isn't chemistry involved (unless you do chemical or biomedical engieering). If you want to stick to biological sciences you HAVE to take higher level chemistry. There is no way around it, unfortunately.

Btw what are your other subjects?
Chem and Physics keep the most options open.

I'm grappling with wether or not to take Chem at Higher along with Physics.
Reply 9
Avatar for pbunny
pbunny
12
Original post by RayApparently
Chem and Physics keep the most options open.

I'm grappling with wether or not to take Chem at Higher along with Physics.


Will you be taking higher level maths alongside physics? If yes, do yourself a favour and don't take higher level chemistry! It's a killer combination but if you are planning on going into chemical engineering or something of the sort you've got to take it.
Original post by pbunny
Will you be taking higher level maths alongside physics? If yes, do yourself a favour and don't take higher level chemistry! It's a killer combination but if you are planning on going into chemical engineering or something of the sort you've got to take it.


Yeah Maths, I had the induction practice lesson - bleeuuurrrggh.

I can imagine! I want to take Physics at Uni.
Reply 11
Avatar for pbunny
pbunny
12
Original post by RayApparently
Yeah Maths, I had the induction practice lesson - bleeuuurrrggh.

I can imagine! I want to take Physics at Uni.


You only need higher level maths and physics so I'd only do those two so that you can fully commit to them instead of having to worry about chemistry on top of them - consider standard level chemistry too since it's much easier than higher level. If I were you, I'd ensure that my third higher level is an easier subject to balance everything out.
Original post by pbunny
You only need higher level maths and physics so I'd only do those two so that you can fully commit to them instead of having to worry about chemistry on top of them - consider standard level chemistry too since it's much easier than higher level. If I were you, I'd ensure that my third higher level is an easier subject to balance everything out.


Any recommendations (I was going to take Economics). I'm no stranger to a bit of hard work haha
Reply 13
Avatar for pbunny
pbunny
12
Original post by RayApparently
Any recommendations (I was going to take Economics). I'm no stranger to a bit of hard work haha


I was just about to recommend economics! I was recommended to take it by my counselor since my other highers are pretty hard (bio/chem), she said it's a pretty simple group 3 subject and few people have problems with it. Plus, it has a high percentage of 7's relative to other subjects which is an added bonus!
Reply 14
Avatar for qewrtyu
qewrtyu
OP
11
Original post by pbunny
I see. I totally sympathise with you about the chem teacher thing as I've had an equally useless teacher for IGCSE chemistry.

Have you thought about engineering? You seem to like physics so it seems like a feasible option since there isn't chemistry involved (unless you do chemical or biomedical engieering). If you want to stick to biological sciences you HAVE to take higher level chemistry. There is no way around it, unfortunately.

Btw what are your other subjects?

I considered engineering for a bit but I'm definitely not good enough to do higher maths.:s-smilie:
Higher:Bio, psychology + another sciences probs chem
Standard: maths, eng, spanish ab initio
Reply 15
Avatar for qewrtyu
qewrtyu
OP
11
Original post by RayApparently
Yeah Maths, I had the induction practice lesson - bleeuuurrrggh.

I can imagine! I want to take Physics at Uni.

higher maths is so hard! A girl in yr 12 got 100 UMS in gcse maths and started off doing higher maths but is now doing maths studies!
not many people seem to get 6 or 7
Reply 16
Avatar for qewrtyu
qewrtyu
OP
11
Original post by RayApparently
Chem and Physics keep the most options open.

I'm grappling with wether or not to take Chem at Higher along with Physics.

Definitely want to do bio though as its my favourite science
Reply 17
Avatar for pbunny
pbunny
12
Original post by qewrtyu
I considered engineering for a bit but I'm definitely not good enough to do higher maths.:s-smilie:
Higher:Bio, psychology + another sciences probs chem
Standard: maths, eng, spanish ab initio


Good combo, mines is exactly the same and I'm also contemplating whether to take chemistry or not. Think I'll go for economics but I don't know.

If you think you can't keep up w/higher level maths you probably won't be able to handle an engineering course. Since you love biology so much I'd take chemistry so that you are able to study biology further on if you are interested. Bear in mind that biology courses require higher level chemistry and not even biology (HL Maths, Physics can be taken instead)! Biology is merely recommended!
Reply 18
Avatar for qewrtyu
qewrtyu
OP
11
Original post by pbunny
Good combo, mines is exactly the same and I'm also contemplating whether to take chemistry or not. Think I'll go for economics but I don't know.

If you think you can't keep up w/higher level maths you probably won't be able to handle an engineering course. Since you love biology so much I'd take chemistry so that you are able to study biology further on if you are interested. Bear in mind that biology courses require higher level chemistry and not even biology (HL Maths, Physics can be taken instead)! Biology is merely recommended!

I guess if you don't need chem for your degree its best to do economics cos it sounds easier and will maximise your score.
hmm thats really strange, guess biology is seen as the easiest science. haha i don't exactly love bio, I just prefer it to the other sciences.
I think that HL chem is harder. I do SL physics and that's more than manageable. The girls who do HL physics also do HL chem and they've all said physics is easier.
(edited 9 years ago)

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you