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General worries about some exams! Anyone feel the same?

Hi, I've just found this forum, v. helpful!

I've had a few worries in my mind that keep nagging at me, even though the exams are over and I can't do anything about them!

I did Edexcel English and for the poetry question on the language paper, I had to pick another poem to compare with Mid-Term Break. I chose "The Road Not Taken", and compared it saying that it was an event in terms of making an important life decision. Nobody I know has done the same poem and I'm just thinking I've written a load of rubbish! I was predicted 2 As in Eng/Eng. Lit and I just see myself getting my results paper and it being 2 Cs which I'd be heartbroken with. Anyone do the same or know whether I'll be marked down for this choice?

Also, the History papers on Edexcel. The first paper, the essay-style one, didn't go too terribly. I did one unit on Superpower Rivalry (chose the 2nd question) but there was one for 7marks on the Hungarian Uprising, which I wasn't sure on so blagged and totally got the whole thing wrong. I wrote about it being them protesting about Stalin trying to make Hungary a Sattellite state, not that it happened after he had done so. Will I lose all marks or keep 1 or 2 for structure etc? The source paper for History, I did USA: Depression and New Deal and Nazi Germany. However, I overran with the USA questions which I found pretty straightforward. I also kept to the structure and think I've got pretty good marks in that section, but when it came to section C, I'd written about 3 paragraphs and no real balance to the argument and no conclusion when I saw I had 2 mins. I quickly scribbled down one bullet point of an argument I'd make on section (d) and then had no time to finish (c) either. So that's probably 12 marks, plus however many of the 8 marks of question C down the drain. My coursework was pretty good, an A*, but I had visions and predictions of an overall A* and I feel its totally slipped away now. Any advice or anyone in the same position.

Also, Chemistry (I'm doing OCR Single Sciences/Triple Award). I totally f****d up the first paper last week, guessed 99% of the questions and left some out and totally had no clue about it, so I know I've got a D in that, and the extension paper (which I totally dont get) will probably drag me down more to an E or something. I'm rubbish at science but never thought it would be that hard. I don't care overly as Chem/Bio/Phys don't input in to any future career (want to do Hist/Sociology/Eng. Lit/Media Studies) but they still look awful. I've been predicted As and Bs mainly but have skimped on the revision and just know I'll get my results and it'll be Bs and Cs, possibly some Ds. I just want to cry. Plus I've got my Food Tech exam on Friday (the one about pastry and sporting events) and haven't revised hardly at all as I've had so much on top of me with these exams so far. I got a C in coursework (last minute computer crash losing EVERYTHING, and I had to do it in about a week, meaning I slipped from A* to a low-middle C :frown:

) so need a decent percentage to pass. Would I be able to get a B if I do well in the exam or can I only get a C??? Might as well just give up

Please anyone help me!
A xx

Reply 1

brimstone

I know for my OCR History paper, I think I messed up. The first one went OKish, but for the second one, I had no time to finish the last question properly. It's 10 marks, but I rushed it and there was no detail.

But you can't look back and worry. Forget about them and think positively now. You should only start worrying when it comes to results day. You never know, you might be pleasently surprised.

Reply 2

denzil

To be honest and in my own experience being slightly anxious after an exam meant that I did ok. And now what can you do? What is done is done. And anyway in response to how your English exams went, I think that examiners give the As for originality and so if you were one of the few to compare that certain poem then that shows originality and puts you in a better place for an A grade. I wouldn't worry about these exams. I've said before that it's not necessarily the grades that count it's the experience of doing exams for when it does matter, A levels. We all have good and bad days, and sometimes we have a bad one on exam days, not the end of the world :smile:

Reply 3

belli

for chemistry i know lots of ppl foudn the paper hard becase it seemed determined to ask most quesitons that are minor parts of syllabus liek abou ions and oxygen etc, so im thinking relatively low grade boundaries but if u say u havent revised then at least u have some time to revise fo extra bit (i nkow its hard but learn the tests for ions defiitely) then u'll be able to boost ur grade up. For english i computely messed mine up to lets jus say i chose the msot stupid poems one abotu blackberry-picking, one about the summer, one about the death of a son and one about the birth of a daughter as i seemed to temporarily loos my sanity in exam but basically all i cna say is ur not the only one. I think that food exam is 40% therefore u definitely will be able to get a B if u reviseand work hard so don't loose faith.

Reply 4

prettyblueeyes

Thanks very much. I know I can't change anything now, i'm just so worried about letting myself and everyone else down. All my family and friends have been like, "Oh you'll be fine, you'll get all As, you've nothing to worry about, you'll have done better than you thought," etc etc, and I just feel like I'm going to fail them all and my own expectations. Can anyone help what the tests are for ions??? See I'm so crap at it I don't know basic stuff. Extension Biology tomorrow... oh no!!!
A xxx

Reply 5

belli

have u got CPG? basically metals you add sodium hydroxide its Fe^2+ it will have a green precipitate if its Fe^3+ then red precipitate copper is blue precipitate and aluminium and sodium are white. For halides add nitric acid and silver nitrate and then it will be white for chlorine, cream for bromine, and pale yellow for iodine. Then to see is soemthigns a sulphate you add barium chloide and hydrochloric acid if there is a white precipitate then its a sulphate and to see if somethins a carbonate u add a weak acid if carbon dioxide is produced then it is.

I know there soo annoying but they seem to coem up alot, so i would learn them. And good luck for biology i've got it too and dreading it but at least at 9:45 there will be no more biology!

Reply 6

AliciaK

I'm revising for a chemistry extension paper (Edexcel) too!

Here are the basic tests for ions we were given (belli gave them, but we had some extra ones, so I thought they might be useful :smile:

):

1) Flame tests: (when these are heated, they give coloured flames) Na^+ : yellow/orange; K^+: lilac; Ca^2+: brick red; Cu^2+: blue/green

2) Add NaOH, which gives a coloured precipitate: Ca^2+: white ppt.; Cu^2+: blue ppt; Fe^2+: muddy green ppt; Fe^3+: red/brown ppt.; Al^3+: white ppt. which dissolves in excess of NaOH

3) NH4^+: add NaOH: NH3 gas produced, which gives white clouds with hydrogen chloride gas and turns red litmus paper blue (because it's an alkali)

4) H^+: turns blue litmus red since it's an acid

5) SO4^2-: add dilute HCl then BaCl2. Gives a white precipitate of BaSO4.

6) SO3^2-: Add dilute HCl. SO2 gas produced, which turns orange potassium dichromate green.

7)CO3^2-: Add any dilute acid. You get vigourous effervescence with release of CO2 gas, which turns lime water milky.

8) Add dilute HNO3 then AgNO3. You get different coloured precipitates: Cl^-: white ppt.; Br^-: cream ppt.; I^-: yellow ppt.

9)OH^-: Turns red litmus blue (since it is alkali). Otherwise: when heated with ammonium compound, it gives NH3 gas (which can be tested as before).

Hope this helps, good luck!

Reply 7

brimstone

Can we keep this on worrying please?

Reply 8

AliciaK

brimstone

Can we keep this on worrying please?

Sorry, I was just trying to help! Besides, in the OP's original post, she was asking for help, not for other people's thoughts on worrying, despite the thread title..

Reply 9

Excalibur

Don't worry about it! What's done is done (says the great hypocrite :rolleyes:

) - and that Edexcel English paper was evil, anyway :p:

If it's any comfort, one of my friends compared The Road not Taken with Mid Term Break too (I personally did it with The Barn, and badly at that)... and if you did OK in the other 5 sections, 1 question really won't do that much harm! I've already messed up one writing task on the paper anyway, so I'm in the same boat as you... and you're probably in a better position than I am, because as long as you justify your points clearly, the examiners will give you credit for even slightly obscure points, while I completely went off my rocker. So don't worry! :hugs:

Reply 10

kitty123

The same thing happened to me in english but i'm with another exam board. None of my friends used the same poem to compare and thats the one i'm most worried about! My friends just tried to reassure me saying that if you've made valid points, it doesn't matter which poem you compared - do other people think thats true?

Reply 11

brimstone

AliciaK

Sorry, I was just trying to help! Besides, in the OP's original post, she was asking for help, not for other people's thoughts on worrying, despite the thread title..

She asked for help with regards to wondering if she chose the right poem, not wondering what the basic tests for ions were.
:smile:

Reply 12

Two Tone

The OCR chemistry papers were realy hard last year, but people in my school came out with the grades they wanted, so it will prob come out in the wash.

Reply 13

AliciaK

brimstone

She asked for help with regards to wondering if she chose the right poem, not wondering what the basic tests for ions were.
:smile:

OK fine, fair point :smile:

. Whoops, is that off topic? :biggrin:

I'll shut up for real now :p:

Reply 14

Papillon

Worrying is fine. It shows you're human. But why do it? Worrying will not change your results. Surely you'd be happy knowing you've given it a good shot. But if you haven't done anything, as in absolutely nothing, then you have a problem. It is a good thing it seems you've done your homework.

As for the English, I am in a similar boat - although, I did AQA, not Edexcel. We were asked to compare the ways in which people are presented in Vultures and one other poem. I did Half-Caste. Nobody (not one) in my school made that comparison. I must admit, it is not the best of choices, and if I were sitting here with that paper in front of me right now, I would have chosen 'What Were They Like?' but do not worry. The mark scheme does not state which poems should be compared. At all. You will not be marked down for making a strange comparison, and the examiners will be more than happy to read a well structured piece of work about poems they did not expect. So long as you justified your points, you have no reason to worry. Class will show.

I am not sure what to say with regards to History. I also overran with Paper 2 (again AQA not Edexcel), but you'd be surprised what you can knock up in a short amount of time. So you have lost about twenty marks? That does not mean you will fail (well, unless the entire exam is out of twenty, in which case....) but no, you are still right in the game, and your coursework will help.

With Science, do not give up. Don't ever give up. With anything. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. So long as you do something, it will help. How much depends on how hard you revise.

If you do well in the exam (food) I think it is quite possible for you to get a B - but don't quote me on that.

Hope, somehow, what I have written will help/ease your mind a bit.