Beating BioChem Hell

Original post by Zoro.to

Year 13 student so far I haven't been productive at all throughout the year in terms of actively revising only been taking passive notes here and there. My subjects are Chemistry, Biology OCR A and Psychology AQA.
I want to:

-> Stay consistent and be disciplined with revision
-> Upload here once a day
-> Catch up to my predicted Grade
-> Be less Lethargic
Enjoy my journey I guess > :smile:

Productivity level right now is 1/10

Hey! I do the same alevels as you and in yr 13 too! Welcome to this forum. I honestly love being on here and l personally think posting my todo list on here makes more productive. I hope you enjoy being here and maybe we can help each other through this year!
Are you planning to go uni? If yes have you applied and for what?

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 3

OP

Original post by AspiringSurvivor

Hey! I do the same alevels as you and in yr 13 too! Welcome to this forum. I honestly love being on here and l personally think posting my todo list on here makes more productive. I hope you enjoy being here and maybe we can help each other through this year!
Are you planning to go uni? If yes have you applied and for what?

Sorry for the late reply but I am planning to go university and I am thinking about either doing Pharmacy or taking a gap year and re-applying for medicine but I think I'll come to a decision after I do my exams 😭

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 4

OP

Original post by emm4nuella

heyaaaaa, well done for making a gyg @Zoro.to :biggrin:

! i also do aqa psych - i take it you are finding it okay then?! can't wait to watch your journey :smile:

Yeah Aqa psychology is my coping subject I love how its so repetitive if I had to pick a topic I dislike its probably Issues& Debates only because I'm unsure about my notes other then that its fun.

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 5

Original post by Zoro.to

Sorry for the late reply but I am planning to go university and I am thinking about either doing Pharmacy or taking a gap year and re-applying for medicine but I think I'll come to a decision after I do my exams 😭

I am in the same position! I have a pharmacy offer that i am not planning to do and I will reapply for medicine next year. I hope it works out for us!

Reply 6

OP

Original post by AspiringSurvivor

I am in the same position! I have a pharmacy offer that i am not planning to do and I will reapply for medicine next year. I hope it works out for us!

Hopefully during GCSE's I was always fixated on medicine but ever since my failure in Y13 med application my resolve has somewhat shaken and I admit I was tempted to accept my Pharmacy offer but seeing some in a similar spot as me gives me courage to stick it out. Hopefully we get what we want 😭

Reply 7

Original post by Zoro.to

Hopefully during GCSE's I was always fixated on medicine but ever since my failure in Y13 med application my resolve has somewhat shaken and I admit I was tempted to accept my Pharmacy offer but seeing some in a similar spot as me gives me courage to stick it out. Hopefully we get what we want 😭

I shared a similar msg to someone else and it largely applies to you too.
I applied for foundation medicine because of my UCAT and I was devastated when i got rejected. It’s honestly so so competitive and some of us don’t get in.
[start]What i thought of was that I have worked so hard to then just give up on my dream of doing medicine so easily?[/start]
[start]I personally have decided to take a gap, do loads of work experience and hopefully do much better on my UCAT.[/start]
[start]Whenever i think that its going to be a waste of year and what if I dont get in again, i think that life is going to go by anyway why not try do something you wanna do.[/start]
[start]In my opinion, I don’t think you should completely change your focus immediately to pharmacy keep it as a backup if you don’t get in again, take your time! Think of how privileged we are to have choices to fall back onto if someone doesn’t work out. Call the uni and ask if you can defer the entry for next year if you decide to take a gap year. So relax a little bit( i know its sooo hard to rn) think it through and do what you need to in the gap year.[/start]
[start]Another option, which isn’t really preferred by many is studying is abroad. its a hard decision but it is relatively so much easier to get into medicine abroad, so thats another choice if you are determined to do medicine.[/start]
[start]But at the end of it, we have a very short life, and it feels like the end of the world getting rejection but its only making us stronger. if we don’t get into medicine next year as well, our life is not finished, there are so many other fields and careers which offer good money, appreciation and work-life balance that we can go into, we can’t just stop there.[/start]
[start]To conclude it, take a gap year perhaps relax a bit, do all you can for a good UCAT and if its still a rejection move on. You have done whatever you can on your part to be do medicine of it but if its not meant for you, you can’t change it.[/start]
[start]Rejection is just redirection, don’t give up yet. Admission into medicine doesn’t define me or you or anyone! I am so proud of you for getting so far! 🙂 [/start]

Reply 8

study23!

14

Original post by AspiringSurvivor

I shared a similar msg to someone else and it largely applies to you too.
I applied for foundation medicine because of my UCAT and I was devastated when i got rejected. It’s honestly so so competitive and some of us don’t get in.
[start]What i thought of was that I have worked so hard to then just give up on my dream of doing medicine so easily?[/start]
[start]I personally have decided to take a gap, do loads of work experience and hopefully do much better on my UCAT.[/start]
[start]Whenever i think that its going to be a waste of year and what if I dont get in again, i think that life is going to go by anyway why not try do something you wanna do.[/start]
[start]In my opinion, I don’t think you should completely change your focus immediately to pharmacy keep it as a backup if you don’t get in again, take your time! Think of how privileged we are to have choices to fall back onto if someone doesn’t work out. Call the uni and ask if you can defer the entry for next year if you decide to take a gap year. So relax a little bit( i know its sooo hard to rn) think it through and do what you need to in the gap year.[/start]
[start]Another option, which isn’t really preferred by many is studying is abroad. its a hard decision but it is relatively so much easier to get into medicine abroad, so thats another choice if you are determined to do medicine.[/start]
[start]But at the end of it, we have a very short life, and it feels like the end of the world getting rejection but its only making us stronger. if we don’t get into medicine next year as well, our life is not finished, there are so many other fields and careers which offer good money, appreciation and work-life balance that we can go into, we can’t just stop there.[/start]
[start]To conclude it, take a gap year perhaps relax a bit, do all you can for a good UCAT and if its still a rejection move on. You have done whatever you can on your part to be do medicine of it but if its not meant for you, you can’t change it.[/start]
[start]Rejection is just redirection, don’t give up yet. Admission into medicine doesn’t define me or you or anyone! I am so proud of you for getting so far! 🙂 [/start]

Great outlook here ^

I'm year 12 right now hoping to do medicine, but you should try and evaluate whether you'd be happy doing pharmacy or prefer trying again for medicine. Don't stress too much because at the end of the day it is not worth it. This year just try and focus on your final grades as they will determine if you get in for whatever route you decide! I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever you choose to do

Reply 9

OP

Original post by study23!

Great outlook here ^

I'm year 12 right now hoping to do medicine, but you should try and evaluate whether you'd be happy doing pharmacy or prefer trying again for medicine. Don't stress too much because at the end of the day it is not worth it. This year just try and focus on your final grades as they will determine if you get in for whatever route you decide! I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever you choose to do

Yeah this was the mind set I was having right now to just focus on my grades and make a decision from that point.

Reply 10

OP

Original post by AspiringSurvivor

I shared a similar msg to someone else and it largely applies to you too.
I applied for foundation medicine because of my UCAT and I was devastated when i got rejected. It’s honestly so so competitive and some of us don’t get in.
[start]What i thought of was that I have worked so hard to then just give up on my dream of doing medicine so easily?[/start]
[start]I personally have decided to take a gap, do loads of work experience and hopefully do much better on my UCAT.[/start]
[start]Whenever i think that its going to be a waste of year and what if I dont get in again, i think that life is going to go by anyway why not try do something you wanna do.[/start]
[start]In my opinion, I don’t think you should completely change your focus immediately to pharmacy keep it as a backup if you don’t get in again, take your time! Think of how privileged we are to have choices to fall back onto if someone doesn’t work out. Call the uni and ask if you can defer the entry for next year if you decide to take a gap year. So relax a little bit( i know its sooo hard to rn) think it through and do what you need to in the gap year.[/start]
[start]Another option, which isn’t really preferred by many is studying is abroad. its a hard decision but it is relatively so much easier to get into medicine abroad, so thats another choice if you are determined to do medicine.[/start]
[start]But at the end of it, we have a very short life, and it feels like the end of the world getting rejection but its only making us stronger. if we don’t get into medicine next year as well, our life is not finished, there are so many other fields and careers which offer good money, appreciation and work-life balance that we can go into, we can’t just stop there.[/start]
[start]To conclude it, take a gap year perhaps relax a bit, do all you can for a good UCAT and if its still a rejection move on. You have done whatever you can on your part to be do medicine of it but if its not meant for you, you can’t change it.[/start]
[start]Rejection is just redirection, don’t give up yet. Admission into medicine doesn’t define me or you or anyone! I am so proud of you for getting so far! 🙂 [/start]

No because the way I have said this to myself and also thought deeply of why I want to do medicine. One of the reasons I don't want to do Pharmacy is because I feel like I gave up on what I truly wanted to do, also my parents have offered a abroad medicine program but what if I end up regretting medicine and I am already abroad? However I like how you told me to try defer entry and do a gap year that way I can still have pharmacy as a backup if I truly want it but I hate the idea of being behind even though we all move at our own pace in life. So I just came to the conclusion to re-evaluate my decisions and focus on one thing which is A levels.

Also I applied to many foundation programs one of the ones I applied to I could've got in if I didn't get predicted high grades which made me regret working so hard but then again I would've been stealing someone who really needed that spot which makes me feel relief but at the same time annoyed 😭
My application failed because of my UCAT mainly and I feel worried to restart that cycle of UCAT again.
Why do you want to study medicine if you don't mind me asking?

Reply 11

OP

Original post by Zoro.to

Year 13 student so far I haven't been productive at all throughout the year in terms of actively revising only been taking passive notes here and there. My subjects are Chemistry, Biology OCR A and Psychology AQA.
I want to:

-> Stay consistent and be disciplined with revision
-> Upload here once a day
-> Catch up to my predicted Grade
-> Be less Lethargic
Enjoy my journey I guess > :smile:

Productivity level right now is 1/10

Lets start this thread.

Upcoming Mocks are Paper 2 Chemistry, Paper 2 Biology and Issues& Debates/ Biopsychology/ Memory and Research Methods Psychology Paper (Psychology seems a bit more tedious now...)
So I ended up doing 1 hour of Chemistry revision preparing for mocks which is a week away

-> Amides, Amines and Amino acid topic blurting material completed
-> Did past paper questions and didn't quite understand so I enhanced my notes
-> Attempted a few more questions with my new notes and understood the concepts a lot better.
-> Organised my Chemistry Notion Toggles - Completed all my First Year Organic Chemistry blurting material - (Still iffy about Haloalkanes)
Overall work done -> 1hour and 30 minutes.
Productivity level right now 4/10 -> Mostly made revision material and haven't began revising yet...
Tomorrow I'll revisit Haloalkanes and try juggle another subject building up my endurance to revise longer.

Reply 12

study23!

14

Original post by Zoro.to

Lets start this thread.

Upcoming Mocks are Paper 2 Chemistry, Paper 2 Biology and Issues& Debates/ Biopsychology/ Memory and Research Methods Psychology Paper (Psychology seems a bit more tedious now...)
So I ended up doing 1 hour of Chemistry revision preparing for mocks which is a week away

-> Amides, Amines and Amino acid topic blurting material completed
-> Did past paper questions and didn't quite understand so I enhanced my notes
-> Attempted a few more questions with my new notes and understood the concepts a lot better.
-> Organised my Chemistry Notion Toggles - Completed all my First Year Organic Chemistry blurting material - (Still iffy about Haloalkanes)
Overall work done -> 1hour and 30 minutes.
Productivity level right now 4/10 -> Mostly made revision material and haven't began revising yet...
Tomorrow I'll revisit Haloalkanes and try juggle another subject building up my endurance to revise longer.

Whoop whoop! Well done for starting. Your productivity level has already climbed 3 spots, so your journey to consistency is starting. And ofc you need to make the material first before you can revise from it, so you're getting closer to your goal. And it's only day 1!

Reply 13

OP

Original post by study23!

Whoop whoop! Well done for starting. Your productivity level has already climbed 3 spots, so your journey to consistency is starting. And ofc you need to make the material first before you can revise from it, so you're getting closer to your goal. And it's only day 1!

Thanks for the positivity I hope you enjoy Year 12 try to make Blurt sheets or Mind Maps of topics so you don't get overwhelmed during the end and it might sound extra but start researching about the UCAT earlier and ignore what others get or says works for them just focus on yourself. I struggled in disciplining myself with UCAT prep and felt overworked so try avoid that and good luck 😀.

Reply 14

study23!

14

Original post by Zoro.to

Thanks for the positivity I hope you enjoy Year 12 try to make Blurt sheets or Mind Maps of topics so you don't get overwhelmed during the end and it might sound extra but start researching about the UCAT earlier and ignore what others get or says works for them just focus on yourself. I struggled in disciplining myself with UCAT prep and felt overworked so try avoid that and good luck 😀.

Thanks for the tips! Yeah I’m scared for the UCAT even if it’s months away, I don’t know when revising is too soon or too late. I’ll take your advice though

Reply 15

Original post by Zoro.to

No because the way I have said this to myself and also thought deeply of why I want to do medicine. One of the reasons I don't want to do Pharmacy is because I feel like I gave up on what I truly wanted to do, also my parents have offered a abroad medicine program but what if I end up regretting medicine and I am already abroad? However I like how you told me to try defer entry and do a gap year that way I can still have pharmacy as a backup if I truly want it but I hate the idea of being behind even though we all move at our own pace in life. So I just came to the conclusion to re-evaluate my decisions and focus on one thing which is A levels.

Also I applied to many foundation programs one of the ones I applied to I could've got in if I didn't get predicted high grades which made me regret working so hard but then again I would've been stealing someone who really needed that spot which makes me feel relief but at the same time annoyed 😭
My application failed because of my UCAT mainly and I feel worried to restart that cycle of UCAT again.
Why do you want to study medicine if you don't mind me asking?

Omg thinking about UCAT gives me so much PTSD, makes me cry. UCAT is the downfall for so many of us its so sad. Hopefully we can make an amazing group where we all motivate each other to get an amazing UCAT when the time comes!
“I hate the idea of being behind even though we all move at our own pace in life” I was literally talking about this to my form teacher today and he said to me, to us because we are young it seems like a very long amount of time but its just 12 months, which you have given yourself to get a become an even better version of you so don’t be afraid of taking a gap year cause in the long run pf things it wouldn’t matter so much because we have reached the destination we wanted to do. Also my friend was saying to me that one of her cousin went to lancaster to do medicine and she feels soo out of place because everyone there is 21 and over when that person is 18. I personally believe we are so young at 17/18 to decide what we want to do for the rest of our lives which is why people change their careers and so many wide range of ages do medicine, don’t worry about being behind, you and me and so many others are in this together!
Lastly, why I want to do medicine? To be very honest and not going to answer like I prepared for the interview, it sounds cliche but its just something I have always wanted to do, i really enjoy challenges and challenging myself and I also want to continue learning and be associated with it for the rest of my life, keeping up with the research of how we work.
I also reallyy dislike the idea of doing the same thing day in day out all my life until I retire how boring does that sound? But medicine (so many other careers as well!) offers such a wide array of things you can go into so you don’t have to stay in one place, you can do some much, there is literally no limit as to when you can stop. And in the end you are helping people and there is no greater reward than that. I have had so many people say to me that you’ll have to do so many exams every year if u become a doctor but so what? If i am doing something with so much passion and i have so much hands on experience with it, it’ll be just like common knowledge to me, i wouldn’t be scared of it cause it to make me better at what i am doing and ensuring i dont do any mistakes.
Hope it answers your question, i hope what we get to do at uni and further on in life is something we are satisfied with. We can do this! :smile:

Reply 16

OP

I wrote a long message and accidently deleted it lol. But it was basically me thanking you for sharing your story and how we are kinda similar. Oh yeah and I will 100% give my dream another go

Lowkey heart broken my long paragraph got yeeted 😢

Reply 17

OP

Original post by Zoro.to

Lets start this thread.

Upcoming Mocks are Paper 2 Chemistry, Paper 2 Biology and Issues& Debates/ Biopsychology/ Memory and Research Methods Psychology Paper (Psychology seems a bit more tedious now...)
So I ended up doing 1 hour of Chemistry revision preparing for mocks which is a week away

-> Amides, Amines and Amino acid topic blurting material completed
-> Did past paper questions and didn't quite understand so I enhanced my notes
-> Attempted a few more questions with my new notes and understood the concepts a lot better.
-> Organised my Chemistry Notion Toggles - Completed all my First Year Organic Chemistry blurting material - (Still iffy about Haloalkanes)
Overall work done -> 1hour and 30 minutes.
Productivity level right now 4/10 -> Mostly made revision material and haven't began revising yet...
Tomorrow I'll revisit Haloalkanes and try juggle another subject building up my endurance to revise longer.

-> MCQ on Amines, Amide and Amino Acids -> Made mistakes so I enhanced my notes.
-> MaChem guy Hard Titrations video questions -> Made new mistakes each video
-> Blurting Biopsychology Localisation of Brain then did questions
Overall work done -> 2hours
Productivity level right now 5/10 -> I tried to push another hour but felt drained after blurting lol
I'll try incorporate Biology Tomorrow and revisit Haloalkanes.

Reply 18

OP