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i’m planning to crash Higher chem in S5

is this doable? or would the workload be too much because if it’s manageable then i was thinking to do crash higher chem in s5 and do advanced higher in S6
i’m in s4 now and im doing maths,english,art,biology,history,graphics and french

Reply 1

xiinan

Hello! To crash higher chemistry without National 5 is doable — but you must put in at least twice the effort into the subject, meaning that you will need to spend less on other higher subjects.
Higher is, if not the most, important and stressful year of high school and so, in my opinion, I wouldn’t suggest crashing a higher in s5, instead do it in s6 (where you have less subjects and more time to revise each).
Hope that helps!!

Reply 2

Jackowacko09

Original post by milanamxtx

Hey! I’m actually crashing chem in 5th year too! Basically I want to become a doctor but didn’t pick chem of bio (only physics) for Nat 5s as I had no clue at the time so my plans to crash higher chem in s5 and bio in s6. I’ve been speaking to lots of people, and as said it above it is doable but you need to be prepared to put in lots of effort. I’ve been going over little bits of nat 5, and during the summer after exams I’m going to get a tutor to help prepare me. Obviously a tutor isn’t necessary, and not everyone has the financial means to do so, though it will make things a lot easier.

(edited 3 weeks ago)

Reply 3

barrelmarble3

Yes, just make sure you cover calculations over the summer as its the most important part as to not get lost in the subject, most of the other parts of the subject dont have a HUGE overlap with n5 but calculations assumes you can do everything from n5, including know how to use the data booklet.

Reply 4

OnlySmartOneHere

I'm a current Higher Chemistry student and I sat Chemistry in Nat 5.

Like everyone else here has said, it's definitely do-able. I wouldn't say there's a huge amount of overlap between the Nat 5 course and the Higher course which will help to make it easier to do. There is some but a lot of it is new content that isn't visited in Nat 5. I would still recommend looking over the Nat 5 course at least a little so you can get a feel for what it is like and have some basic knowledge when you go into Higher - especially for things like REDOX reactions, some carbon chemistry like alcohols/alkanols and your very basics like figuring out the chemical formulae for a compound, mole calculations, balancing equations. I'd say going over the more calculations/maths-y sort of stuff is definitely a must-do for crashing Chemistry as I can tell you wholeheartedly that you still use those equations in Higher.

I'd also recommend you take a minute to think about how necessary it is to crash Higher Chemistry in S5 specifically. No Scottish universities ask for Advanced Highers so it's not as if you'd need to do it now to make sure you could get the Advanced Higher and get into uni. Your fifth year is a very important year in terms of Highers. If you can get five solid Highers at good grades in S5 then there are so many doors open for you. S5, as a student who is taking five Highers - all of which I got an A in at Nat 5, is a pretty stressful year as is and I personally wouldn't want to put the strain of crashing a Higher on myself during that time, especially since S5 Higher grades can determine a lot when it comes to uni places.

If you're set on taking it though, Chemistry is a difficult subject so you'd have to be prepared to put in the work for it but if you do then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to do it. :smile:

Reply 5

milanamxtx

Original post by OnlySmartOneHere

I'm a current Higher Chemistry student and I sat Chemistry in Nat 5.
Like everyone else here has said, it's definitely do-able. I wouldn't say there's a huge amount of overlap between the Nat 5 course and the Higher course which will help to make it easier to do. There is some but a lot of it is new content that isn't visited in Nat 5. I would still recommend looking over the Nat 5 course at least a little so you can get a feel for what it is like and have some basic knowledge when you go into Higher - especially for things like REDOX reactions, some carbon chemistry like alcohols/alkanols and your very basics like figuring out the chemical formulae for a compound, mole calculations, balancing equations. I'd say going over the more calculations/maths-y sort of stuff is definitely a must-do for crashing Chemistry as I can tell you wholeheartedly that you still use those equations in Higher.
I'd also recommend you take a minute to think about how necessary it is to crash Higher Chemistry in S5 specifically. No Scottish universities ask for Advanced Highers so it's not as if you'd need to do it now to make sure you could get the Advanced Higher and get into uni. Your fifth year is a very important year in terms of Highers. If you can get five solid Highers at good grades in S5 then there are so many doors open for you. S5, as a student who is taking five Highers - all of which I got an A in at Nat 5, is a pretty stressful year as is and I personally wouldn't want to put the strain of crashing a Higher on myself during that time, especially since S5 Higher grades can determine a lot when it comes to uni places.
If you're set on taking it though, Chemistry is a difficult subject so you'd have to be prepared to put in the work for it but if you do then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to do it. :smile:

thank you ! this and all the other replies definitely helps and one more minor thing i’m not sure if you are doing work or not but i will be starting work in a couple of months and i was wondering if you have any advice or knowledge on how i could balance my schedule between work and studying or in general with my studies to be honest because i will probably need to put in a lot of effort in chemistry if i do end up doing crash higher in S5. Im just in a bit of a predicament because obviously i don’t want to burn myself out and i would need time to myself to relax and as you said S5 is a very important year but i’m also not studying in scotland for university but i will abroad so would you also say that S5 is still very important or at this rate just my whole exam years (S4-S6)

I know this is a lot of questions i kinda got a bit sidetracked sorry! you don’t need to answer all ^^