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Journey to becoming a physicist - year 11

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Original post by kennethdcharles
Aww thank you so much! I'm just hoping that I don't do worse than I did in my previous mocks! Youtube is usually fantastic for motivation... Until I get distracted. :biggrin: I need to keep disciplined. Thanks again :smile:


It's fine. Besides, they're only mocks. The only thing that matters is the actual exams which I'm sure you'll get what you want for, unless you don't keep away from YouTube.... :smile:
Reply 81
Original post by Ara8311a
It's fine. Besides, they're only mocks. The only thing that matters is the actual exams which I'm sure you'll get what you want for, unless you don't keep away from YouTube.... :smile:


Haha, I will try my best to do so :biggrin:
Original post by kennethdcharles
Haha, I will try my best to do so :biggrin:


I'll join you with that! :smile: On my third film of the day...
Reply 83
Just finished the spring term today! Man that went quick... Well anyways, im going to spend the next 4 days relaxing and doing light work, before I start my Herculian effort in revision on Monday. I am currently making my timetable adapted to cover everything I need to cover for the next 5 weeks, before my first exam in 39 days :0 .I will post that when I'm done :biggrin:
Original post by kennethdcharles
Just finished the spring term today! Man that went quick... Well anyways, im going to spend the next 4 days relaxing and doing light work, before I start my Herculian effort in revision on Monday. I am currently making my timetable adapted to cover everything I need to cover for the next 5 weeks, before my first exam in 39 days :0 .I will post that when I'm done :biggrin:


Don't stress yourself too much, seriously. When I did my GCSEs last year, I never really did more than 3 hours per day and I still did very well, especially in the subjects I liked to do (sciences, maths, history and french).

Even in AS levels now, I got 4 A's in my mocks (which I really really hope will carry over to my real exams, touch wood) doing roughly 2 hours at home on school nights, then about the same + homework on weekends.

Having said that, I'm only doing 4 subjects and I no longer have to spend time pouring over English exam structures and things like that.

Check out my study log if you're interested: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3933615&page=2&p=63428241#discussions-popular
Reply 85
Original post by richpanda
Don't stress yourself too much, seriously. When I did my GCSEs last year, I never really did more than 3 hours per day and I still did very well, especially in the subjects I liked to do (sciences, maths, history and french).

Even in AS levels now, I got 4 A's in my mocks (which I really really hope will carry over to my real exams, touch wood) doing roughly 2 hours at home on school nights, then about the same + homework on weekends.

Having said that, I'm only doing 4 subjects and I no longer have to spend time pouring over English exam structures and things like that.

Check out my study log if you're interested: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3933615&page=2&p=63428241#discussions-popular


Thanks for that. Yeah I'm definitely not stressing out, the thought of exams in 38 days hasn't really hit me yet. I'm just making sure I'm fully prepared, as I am aiming for straight A*s, which I probably won't get. :biggrin: I really appreciate your advice :smile:
Have you watched SimonOxfPhys?

Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 87
Original post by Edminzodo
Have you watched SimonOxfPhys?

Posted from TSR Mobile


Yes, indeed I have! I decided I wanted to go to Oxford after watching his videos. His channel is fantastic! Thanks :smile:
Reply 88
WP_20160325_003.jpgThis is a copy of my revision timetable up to the week of my first exam. I am going to make another one for when my exams get full under way.
Original post by kennethdcharles
Thanks for that. Yeah I'm definitely not stressing out, the thought of exams in 38 days hasn't really hit me yet. I'm just making sure I'm fully prepared, as I am aiming for straight A*s, which I probably won't get. :biggrin: I really appreciate your advice :smile:


I came out of exams feeling neutral, the only subject that I just knew I got an A* in was Maths, I just found it really easy.

Are you doing OCR 21st century? I did that and last year's C7 was really easy, so expect a hard one this summer.
Reply 90
Original post by richpanda
I came out of exams feeling neutral, the only subject that I just knew I got an A* in was Maths, I just found it really easy.

Are you doing OCR 21st century? I did that and last year's C7 was really easy, so expect a hard one this summer.


YesI am, and yeah I realised that in the mock, it seemed fairly simple, so yeha I guess we will get a harder one this year. Thanks again for your help :smile:
Original post by kennethdcharles
YesI am, and yeah I realised that in the mock, it seemed fairly simple, so yeha I guess we will get a harder one this year. Thanks again for your help :smile:


Nice, it's quite important that you understand the key concepts in C4, C5, C6 and C7 for when you progress to AS level. For example, do you know why potassium carbonate is K2 CO3 and why calcium carbonate is CaCO3?

Do you know why carbon can form 4 bonds? Do you know what a double bond is? Why are alkenes more reactive than alkanes?

Those are the extra bits of detail and key concepts that I tried to understand.
Reply 92
Original post by richpanda
Nice, it's quite important that you understand the key concepts in C4, C5, C6 and C7 for when you progress to AS level. For example, do you know why potassium carbonate is K2 CO3 and why calcium carbonate is CaCO3?

Do you know why carbon can form 4 bonds? Do you know what a double bond is? Why are alkenes more reactive than alkanes?

Those are the extra bits of detail and key concepts that I tried to understand.


Ahh yeah, those are the only interesting chapters of the GCSE so Im glad they will turn up at A level. Thanks again ever so much, you have been really helpful :smile:
Reply 93
Update 25/03/2016

As much as I aimed to rest until Monday, somehow, I have find myself doing little bits of work here and there :biggrin: Well that can't hurt anyone! Yesterday, I answered some past paper questions on R.S. (discipleship) as well as doing past paper questions from my additional maths exam booklet. Today, after football, I've been practising some more additional maths stuff. I have also organised my folders and made sure all my notes and mindmaps are in the right order, ready for me to easily access them. I'm switching my timetable around slightly this week; I had planned to do Geography (coasts) revision on Monday, however, my geography teacher decided to put on a booster class from 9-3 on Wednesday, which was the day I planned to do Biology (B7) and Chemistry (C7) revision, so instead, I will be doing these subjects on Monday.

I've also decided to completely neglect my phone from Monday onwards, to avoid distractions, so let's hope this final push for the exams is successful! :smile:
Reply 94
Update 29/03/16

So for the past two days, I have managed to fully commit myself to solid revision! Which is great :smile: I started off yesterday with an hour of Religious studies; I answered some exam questions on discipleship and conflict & argument. After that, I moved on to chemistry. This took up the majority of the day; 3 and a half hours (with breaks in between). I made some notes and flashcards on C7, and also answered some exam questions to make sure I fully understood the topic. Today, I did three past papers; two additional maths ones (June 2003 and 2004, 2 hours each) and a PE one (June 2014, 1h30). I marked the PE one (80%, A*) and the 2004 additional maths one (87%, A (maximum grade)) and I'm yet to mark the 2003 one. So I'm on track both in terms of work and grades :smile: Tomorrow, I have a geography revision day at school, so I will be doing about 5 hours of revision of the whole course. When I get back, I plan to do some physics revision :biggrin: I will be finishing off my P7 notes and flashcards, and once I'm done, I will answer some exam questions from my revision guide, before finishing the day with the Specimen Paper P7 exam. I hope to fully comprehend P7 by tomorrow, so I can move on. I'm also updating my timetable, so will post that when done. I'm keeping track of my past paper results in Excel, so I know what I need to work on etc. I'll update this as soon as I can :biggrin::h:
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by kennethdcharles
Update 29/03/16

So for the past two days, I have managed to fully commit myself to solid revision! Which is great :smile: I started off yesterday with an hour of Religious studies; I answered some exam questions on discipleship and conflict & argument. After that, I moved on to chemistry. This took up the majority of the day; 3 and a half hours (with breaks in between). I made some notes and flashcards on C7, and also answered some exam questions to make sure I fully understood the topic. Today, I did three past papers; two additional maths ones (June 2003 and 2004, 2 hours each) and a PE one (June 2014, 1h30). I marked the PE one (80%, A*) and the 2004 additional maths one (87%, A (maximum grade)) and I'm yet to mark the 2003 one. So I'm on track both in terms of work and grades :smile: Tomorrow, I have a geography revision day at school, so I will be doing about 5 hours of revision of the whole course. When I get back, I plan to do some physics revision :biggrin: I will be finishing off my P7 notes and flashcards, and once I'm done, I will answer some exam questions from my revision guide, before finishing the day with the June 2014 P7 exam. I hope to fully comprehend P7 by tomorrow, so I can move on. I'm also updating my timetable, so will post that when done. I'm keeping track of my past paper results in Excel, so I know what I need to work on etc. I'll update this as soon as I can :biggrin::h:


Wow you've done so much in two days! :smile: Now I have to get my skates on. :tongue: How do you motivate yourself to get up and start revising everyday?
Reply 96
Original post by Ara8311a
Wow you've done so much in two days! :smile: Now I have to get my skates on. :tongue: How do you motivate yourself to get up and start revising everyday?

Hey, so it really depends on the subject. For example, when it comes to revising maths or physics or any of the subjects I'm passionate about, motivation isn't much of a problem for me as I enjoy studying them. However for subjects like Religious Studies or French, where I'm not so strong at, it's hard to get motivated. I usually just make myself think; do I want to open the envelope in August and find out that I've completely messed up, or that I've managed to secure the A*s that I really want? This keeps me motivated. Also, I tend to look at success stories, either here on the student room, or on youtube. These stories show me how great it feels to succeed in exams, so give me the motivation to put in the work, even if I hate it. Hope that helps :smile:
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 97
Update 31/03/2016
Yesterday, as previously mentioned, I went to school for a revision day. We spent the day making mindmaps and answering past paper questions on coasts, urban, and wildfires. Once I came home, I spent about 3 hours and a half revising physics P7. I finished my notes, and then did a past paper in which I scored 45/60, although an A*, still a bit disappointed, so will look to improve. Today, I spent 4 hours on Biology. I made my B7 notes, and also did a past paper where I got 52/60, A*. I am currently doing my English homework, which is to go through the cie revision guide and answer some questions. Tomorrow morning, I am going to the library with my friends to revise some additional maths, and in the afternoon when I get back, I will be revising Religious studies - conflict & argument and death & resurrection. For this week I have been averaging 6-8 hours of revision daily, and it has been working as I have had many breaks and even had time to spend on tsr and youtube :biggrin:
Reply 98
Update 01/04/2016So it's now April... which means my exams start in a month's time:afraid: Well, the good thing is I am fully on top of my revision plan for this Easter. Today, I spent just over 3 hours at the library with a group of friends, and we went through some additional maths papers. I though that was nice, as not only did it add extra motivation, but it also meant we could share tips with each other, which was helpful. I completed the June 2006 paper and got 88/100, which was really good :smile: By the end of the 3 hours however, we kind of lost concentration, so we went to McDonald's :biggrin: After that, they went back to do some more work, but I went home, as I thought I'd be able to get more done from then on. At home I did 3 hours of R.S revision, with 30 minute breaks between each hour. I made a some notes on Jesus' conflicts with the Pharisees, but realised they weren't really working for me. When I make science notes they really work, and help me to understand everything more; not so much so with R.S. so I decided to just answer some past paper questions. I started off doing them with my textbook, as I am not so confident with the Conflict & Argument module, but as I am confident with the Death & Resurrection module, I answered those questions in exam conditions. As R.S isn't really a subject where I can mark my own work, my teacher happily (so he says :biggrin:) marks them for me and gives me feedback, which is really helpful. Once I have done all the past papers I plan to do, I will make flashcards which will provide me with last minute points before the exam. I finished my work today at around 8, and now I'm relaxing:tongue:.Tomorrow, I plan to make some Geography mindmaps on Urban areas; depending on how I feel, I may do this at home or I may go to the library. After that, I will be doing the June 2014 Unit 1 paper. Once I'm done, depending on how long I've sent, I may either make some more mindmaps or answer some more past paper questions for unit 1. I aim to fully understand unit 1 by tomorrow. I will also try to post a picture of my mindmaps.After this, I will then move on to some physics revision :biggrin::colondollar: I will finish off my P7 flashcard before doing the June 2014 P7 paper. After this, I will do the June 2014 paper for P1 P2 and P3. I should note that after all my past papers, I am noting down areas I struggle on I order to make sure I revisit that area and improve on it. If I get all the above done, tomorrow should be really productive, and since on Sunday I have a match, I may cover some of Sunday's revision tomorrow, depending how I feel.

I shall update again shortly :biggrin:
Reply 99
Here's an example of how I make my geography mind maps if anyone is interested. :smile:WP_20160402_014.jpg
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