Journey to becoming a physicist - year 11

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This holiday so far I have done:
Additional Maths: 6 hours
English: 1 hour
Biology: 4 hours
Chemistry: 11 hours
Physics: 4 hours 30 minutes
Geography: 7 hours
Religious studies: 4 hours
PE: 1 hour 30 minutes
I'm yet to do any GCSE maths or any French work. I will have to by the end of this week as I was given 4 GCSE papers as homework for maths and my French oral exam is next Monday.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 101

WhiteyBread101

Original post by kennethdcharles

That's an impressive amount of work :eek2:

Reply 102

kendo9

Original post by Gingerbread101

That's an impressive amount of work :eek2:

Cheers, thank you 😊 How is revision going for you?

Reply 103

richpanda

Original post by kennethdcharles

pas mal. I can already tell you're itching for a levels, no more english or PE :biggrin:

Reply 104

username2447825

Hey, I was in a similar position to you last year;
if you have any questions regarding the journey of a physicist, feel free to ask :wink:

Reply 105

kendo9

Original post by richpanda

pas mal. I can already tell you're itching for a levels, no more english or PE :biggrin:

Thanks , and you bet I am! I do enjoy PE, but English, it's one I look forward to leaving behind!

Reply 106

kendo9

Original post by AlphaQuark

Hey, I was in a similar position to you last year;
if you have any questions regarding the journey of a physicist, feel free to ask :wink:

Hey, that's cool! I'm guessing you're in year 12 then? How are your studies going and what are you studying?

Reply 107

WhiteyBread101

Original post by kennethdcharles

Cheers, thank you 😊 How is revision going for you?

My blog is over here if you want to take a look :mmm:

it's not going as well as it could, but I'm getting there slowly and steadily :smile:

Reply 108

username2447825

Original post by kennethdcharles

Hey, that's cool! I'm guessing you're in year 12 then? How are your studies going and what are you studying?

Going well, thanks. I'm studying Maths, Further Maths, Physics, and Chemistry, and I should be able to achieve A*A*A*A *fingers crossed*.
I'm in Year 12, and you should know that you've got everything sorted way more than I did last year :biggrin:

My revision at GCSE consisted of... Nothing because it didn't happen. A big mistake, but one that I've learnt from, and they turned out well in the end anyway :smile:

Let me know if you need any advice :smile:

Reply 109

kendo9

Original post by AlphaQuark

My revision at GCSE consisted of... Nothing because it didn't happen. A big mistake, but one that I've learnt from, and they turned out well in the end anyway :smile:

Let me know if you need any advice :smile:

Those are the exact A levels I plan on doing :biggrin:

How are you finding managing all 4 subjects? People say I'm gonna struggle, but I'm picking them because they are t he subjects I enjoy most and I'm best at. If you don't mind me asking, how did your GCSEs go? And do you know what you want to do at uni? Sorry for all the questions. :biggrin:

Thanks

Reply 110

username2447825

Managing the 4 isn't very difficult to be entirely honest. Unfortunately revision timetables don't work for me, which sucks but, hey, what can you do. I normally just have random spontaneous revision sessions whenever I feel like it; again, not the best way of doing it. The only subject I don't enjoy is chemistry, and I regret taking it; in retrospect I would've taken history, purely because my chemistry teachers are pretty terrible, and I lack the motivation to self study anything.

At GCSE I achieved 8A*s, and A^ in Further Maths, and 3As. I also did an AS level for Punjabi in year 10.

For university I'll be applying to one of Oxbridge (leaning towards Oxford), Imperial, (not sure about my 3rd option), UCL, and Surrey.

I don't mind answering questions, feel free to ask anymore :smile:

Reply 111

kendo9

Original post by AlphaQuark

Ah I see, at GCSE to, chemistry is the one I enjoy least to be honest. But I'm decent at it, and my only other options which I'm considering are computer science and economics, and so far I'm leaning towards chemistry.

Wow your GCSE grades 👌🙌, I'd be so happy if I could get that!! Especially with little revision. :biggrin:

Those universities are all world class, so if you get in, you'll be able to get the best education possible. I, for one, will love to get into Oxford. What are you planning to study at university?

Reply 112

username2447825

Original post by kennethdcharles

Those universities are all world class, so if you get in, you'll be able to get the best education possible. I, for one, will love to get into Oxford. What are you planning to study at university?

Physics without a doubt :biggrin:

If you're on the fence about chemistry, and enjoy computer science, in your place I would do computer science. At the end of the day I just don't find chemistry very interesting, which is why I should've taken history in retrospect.

Another word of advice; during the summer of year 11 I spent a week shadowing a physics professor at a crappy local university. The university wasn't great, but the experience was something that made me realise I definitely want to do physics. It might be worth you considering trying to sort out something similar for yourself.

Reply 113

kendo9

Original post by AlphaQuark

Physics without a doubt :biggrin:

Always nice to see another aspiring physicist :biggrin:

yeah I see what you mean, I need to have a good think about that.

In terms of work experience, I've been searching for a placement at a university but I haven't found one yet. When did you start applying and do you have any useful links to that? I'd love to shadow a physics professor!! What university was it? :smile:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 114

username2447825

It was at Saint Mary's university Twickenham, in London. It was the only place I talked to, and was lucky enough to get in :smile:

I contacted them in around January to make sure I had time to get something for the summer.

Reply 115

kendo9

Original post by AlphaQuark

It was at Saint Mary's university Twickenham, in London. It was the only place I talked to, and was lucky enough to get in :smile:

I contacted them in around January to make sure I had time to get something for the summer.

Alright then, I shall start looking. Thanks for your help :smile:

Reply 116

kendo9

Update 05/04/2016
It's been a long few days for me...

On Saturday, I went to the library to do some Geography work. I made some mindmaps, which I've already shared, on the Urban environment, before doing the June 2014 Unit 1 paper, which I will get my teacher to mark next week. This took me about 3 hours. When I got home, I did some physics revision; I finished my P7 notes and then did the June 2014 P7 paper, in which I got 49/60, A*. This took me about 3 hours also.

On Sunday, due to my football match, I didn't start in the morning. Instead, I started at around 14:30, with Chemistry C7 notes. However, I felt I couldn't really concentrate after about 2 hours (with short rests between). So I just stopped and after reading a bit of my quantum physics book, I went to bed.

Yesterday, I went to the library in the morning to do some Chemistry revision. I made some flashcards for C7 and tried to fully understand it,before doing the June 2014 paper, in which I got 47/60, A*. After that, I moved on to some Religious studies work. I answered some past paper questions on the 'Identity of Jesus,' and 'Discipleship.' For the Unit 16 exam, I am almost fully prepared now (apart from 'conflict and argument', which I am dreadful at). So from the next R.S revision session, I will be moving onto unit 3, Roman Catholic Christianity. I did about 6 hours yesterday.

Today, I just did past papers, a lot of them. In the morning, I did the June 2007 additional maths paper, which I got 85/100 for, A, then I did a GCSE maths papers which I am yet to mark. This took me up to lunchtime. After this, I did a PE paper, in which I got 68/80, A*. I was planning to do two more GCSE maths papers, but after doing one more, I felt that I wouldn't be able to complete the other one to the best of my ability, so I left it at there. All in all, that was 7 hours of exam practice today.

Tomorrow, I plan to do Geography (mindmaps, and a past paper) Physics, (past papers) and French (oral exam preparation). I will update again when I can :biggrin:

Reply 117

kendo9

Update 08/04/2016

Hey guys, thought I'd update you on my work for the thre days:

On Wednesday, I revised geography and physics. For geography, I started in the morning at nine, and spent about an hour and a half making mindmaps for natural hazards, such as the causes, effects and recucing the effects of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tropical storms, and wildfires. After that, I did the unit 2 paper and answered section A, all the questions on natural hazards. After lunch, I moved onto physics. I attempted to finish my P7 flashcards, which I didn't :tongue:

. Then I decided to do some past paper; I did the June 2014 and 2013 papers for modules P1,P2,P3. I scored 50/60 and 49/60 respectively. Although they were both A*s, I felt that I should have got a higher score, but considering I haven't revised those modules yet, it's not a problem.

On Thursday, I revised Biology and french. In the morning, I spent about two hours at the library; 1 hour revising B7 by making notes, and 1 hour doing a past paper, on B1B2B3 for June 2014, I scored 51/60, A*. When I got home, I did two more paper, the June 2014 B7 paper (50/60) and June 2013 B1B2B3 paper (46/60 :colone:

, somehow still an A*). After this, I spent an hour trying to memorise my french oral questions, which I'm feeling confident about.

Today, I started off quite late with some C7 revision at 10:30, but at 11:30 I needed to go to the babers, and I also had to go and by some lunch, so i stopped until 3. At 3, I moved on to some chemistry past papers, I did the june 2014 c4c5c6 paper, in whcih I got 50/60, A*. I took a short break before moving on the some R.S past paper questions. I did half of the June 2014 unit 3 paper. I'm finding out that past papers are extremely helpful for R.S, and all subjects in general.

I then spent the remainder of the evening trying to memorise my french questions again. :biggrin:

School starts on Monday, and I hope to try to spend at least 2 hours after school per day :smile:

Reply 118

kendo9

Wow, these holidays have gone extremely fast, and to think there are now only 15 school days until my first exam on the 3rd of May, that's scary!!

Yesterday, I procrastinated quite a bit, but I managed to do a past paper on Unit 1 for geography, which I'll get my teacher to mark tomorrow. I did a physics P4,P5,P6 past paper, which I got 48/60 for, A*. I spent the remainder of the evening preparing for my french oral exam which is tomorrow.

Today, after spending the whole morning at football, I came home and quickly tried to finish my English homework :biggrin:

before doing two maths past papers which I'm yet to mark. I'm now trying to finalise my preparations for my oral exam.