The Student Room Group

Advice for stress?

Hi, Its my second week of Alevels. Im taking chem maths and physics. Ive never been so stressed like this before. In gcses i got mostly 7's but i feel as though im just not understanding anything at all. We had baseline assessments and I did awful in them. Not only this but im not making any friends either. Im really lost as for what to do. If anyone has any idea as for how I can overcome this that'd be great thank u!
Reply 1
If I was you i wouldn't worry last year we had a chem baseline and I got the lowest in the class but now I'm hopefully predicted an A/A*. I would say that you had a whole summer so its unlikely you'll be as good as you were during the exam season. but just stick with it and try to stay organised and you'll do fine😀
(edited 2 months ago)
Original post by Anonymous
Hi, Its my second week of Alevels. Im taking chem maths and physics. Ive never been so stressed like this before. In gcses i got mostly 7's but i feel as though im just not understanding anything at all. We had baseline assessments and I did awful in them. Not only this but im not making any friends either. Im really lost as for what to do. If anyone has any idea as for how I can overcome this that'd be great thank u!

Heya,

Sorry to hear you're struggling. You're not alone, there is a huge adjustment from GCSE to A Level and it must feel overwhelming. It's good to seek advice now at the beginning rather than sitting with the stress of feeling like you don't understand what's going on.

It can be a lot of new information to take on all at once, so be kind to yourself. Ask your teachers if they can recommend any extra reading to help you understand the concepts that you're having difficulty with. Reading relevant chapters in the textbooks can give you a bit more context to help you see things in a different way. Don't try to read a textbook cover to cover, but look up the particular points you're having trouble with.

As far as maths and physics goes, and chemistry equations, it's all about practice. Keep in mind units of measurement and whether something needs to be converted for the equation ie milliMole to Mole or microlitre to Litre.

What have you been having difficulty with so far? Talk to your teachers, let them know you're struggling, and hopefully together you can come up with a learning plan. Don't be afraid to ask for extra support.

Hope things get a bit easier for you 🤗

Best wishes
Essex Student Rep - Hayley
Reply 3
Original post by 100%J
If I was you i wouldn't worry last year we had a chem baseline and I got the lowest in the class but now I'm hopefully predicted an A/A*. I would say that you had a whole summer so its unlikely you'll be as good as you were during the exam season. but just stick with it and try to stay organised and you'll do fine😀


ahh im so happy for you! do u have any advice for studying chemistry??
Reply 4
Original post by EssexStudentRep
Heya,
Sorry to hear you're struggling. You're not alone, there is a huge adjustment from GCSE to A Level and it must feel overwhelming. It's good to seek advice now at the beginning rather than sitting with the stress of feeling like you don't understand what's going on.
It can be a lot of new information to take on all at once, so be kind to yourself. Ask your teachers if they can recommend any extra reading to help you understand the concepts that you're having difficulty with. Reading relevant chapters in the textbooks can give you a bit more context to help you see things in a different way. Don't try to read a textbook cover to cover, but look up the particular points you're having trouble with.
As far as maths and physics goes, and chemistry equations, it's all about practice. Keep in mind units of measurement and whether something needs to be converted for the equation ie milliMole to Mole or microlitre to Litre.
What have you been having difficulty with so far? Talk to your teachers, let them know you're struggling, and hopefully together you can come up with a learning plan. Don't be afraid to ask for extra support.
Hope things get a bit easier for you 🤗
Best wishes
Essex Student Rep - Hayley


thats actually what i was struggling with, we jumped into si units and conversions which ive never seen before and i just feel a bit silly being caught up on it when everyone is dealing just fine with it
Original post by Anonymous
thats actually what i was struggling with, we jumped into si units and conversions which ive never seen before and i just feel a bit silly being caught up on it when everyone is dealing just fine with it

It's all about finding a way that it makes sense to you. Google conversion tables like the one below to help you visualise that all it really is, is moving the decimal point. That's what a multiplying factor is, if it's 10^n or 10^-n

You might be using milli, micro and nano and converting up from there. Like a question might trip you out if they give you 2 different units. See if they ask what unit the answer should be in. If they ask for an answer in grams then convert all your units into grams before you start working it out as it will make it easier. So 5 micrograms = 0.000005 grams

If it helps to keep a little cheat sheet conversion table in your notes to refer to when you're working out equations in class, then go for it.

Hope that helps!
Essex Student Rep - Hayley
Original post by Anonymous
Hi, Its my second week of Alevels. Im taking chem maths and physics. Ive never been so stressed like this before. In gcses i got mostly 7's but i feel as though im just not understanding anything at all. We had baseline assessments and I did awful in them. Not only this but im not making any friends either. Im really lost as for what to do. If anyone has any idea as for how I can overcome this that'd be great thank u!

I find allocating time really helps. Instead of disappearing down rabbit holes, set rough, flexible goals. i.e. 2 hours of study on this subject, 1 hour of work on this assessment, and plan it all out. And set out times to relax.
Playing an instrument really helps me vent stress.
When I am working, I listen to tracks on my noise.net It is the bbeessstttt website for study. It gets me into the zone to focus instantly and helps push away stress and stuff.

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