Help for biochemmaths

Pls gimme sm advice… I need to get sm work done over the Christmas holidays.

I’m scared cuz I’m already DYING with the workload and most lessons I’m absolutely clueless and doing nothing to fix it.

The thing is it’s not tht I dint revise, like I spend HOURS but the actual work I get done is close to nothing cuz in tht time I’m zoning out, telling myself I have time and I’ll lock in LATER. I keep lying to myself, I never get any work done.

I NEED HELP DESPERATELY. over the holidays I wanna make bio and chem flash cards on ALL TOPICS AND CONTENT so far covered for first 15 weeks, how likely is it tht I will be able to get this done. Also for maths I didn’t really do any of the exercises, Wht do u recommend should I js do all the mixed exercises covered so far, every q or should I cherry pick? Also i tried doing tht for one of the mixed exercises but realised i got mostly all of it wrong cuz I didn’t do the other exercises in tht chapter.

PLS HELPPPPPP, I’m not kidding ts frying me😭

Reply 1

LXY0705

Firstly, breatheeeeeeeeeeeee.
Advice I would give to a friend in distress (I do bio, chem, maths, and further maths, in y12) - split your revision into these three components - understanding, memorisation, and exam practise/application of knowledge. It is far more effective to memorise after you have a good understanding of a topic and why everything works instead of just memorising random facts which make little sense. When memorising, incorporate active recall - I've heard anki is really good for this. You can use ai to make your flashcards or handwrite them, but personally, I'm not a fan of flashcards and prefer blurting, but this is subjective. After memorisation, complete as many past exam questions as you can. This is my rule of thumb when revising.
In terms of working, I recommend using the pomodoro technique - 50 minutes intense study, 10 minute break. I usually listen to some music because it gets me in the mood for studying, but music isn't for everyone and might be a distraction so this is subjective.
In terms of the exercises for maths, if you are confident in a certain style of questions, then cherry pick. If not, then do as many as you can. Focus on your weak topics instead of wasting time on stuff you already know.
Resources I would use - the specifications, which tell you EVERYTHING you need to know and all the topics and skills you need. Websites, such as PMT, save my exams. Youtube videos - Miss Estruch biology, Allery Chemistry, TL maths.
Hope this helps! feel free to ask for any more advice

Reply 2

University of Bradford

Official Rep

Hi @CelestialMD. First of all you are not hopeless and neither are you lazy so please do not feel that way! You are just overwhelmed and when your workload is immense and it almost feels impossible then your brain goes in to fight or flight mode which is usually quite common. In my opinion i think you should select one topic or subject per day and study or make flashcards for 25 mins, but make sure to set a timer so you don't burn yourself out. In regards to maths I would say don't jump straight in to it. I would try have a go at mixed questions so you can respond to the important ones without help. I hope this helped and good luck and please try stay calm because panicking will not get you anywhere. Good luck!

Kiran

Reply 3

sofs73

Original post

by CelestialMD

Pls gimme sm advice… I need to get sm work done over the Christmas holidays.
I’m scared cuz I’m already DYING with the workload and most lessons I’m absolutely clueless and doing nothing to fix it.
The thing is it’s not tht I dint revise, like I spend HOURS but the actual work I get done is close to nothing cuz in tht time I’m zoning out, telling myself I have time and I’ll lock in LATER. I keep lying to myself, I never get any work done.
I NEED HELP DESPERATELY. over the holidays I wanna make bio and chem flash cards on ALL TOPICS AND CONTENT so far covered for first 15 weeks, how likely is it tht I will be able to get this done. Also for maths I didn’t really do any of the exercises, Wht do u recommend should I js do all the mixed exercises covered so far, every q or should I cherry pick? Also i tried doing tht for one of the mixed exercises but realised i got mostly all of it wrong cuz I didn’t do the other exercises in tht chapter.
PLS HELPPPPPP, I’m not kidding ts frying me😭

I do bio chem maths as well and Im in year 13 - flashcards are good for learning equations and the main steps in processes but if you are thinking of making of flashcards for ALL the content, i am telling you now that is not sustainable as sadly the workload only increases going forward - especially bio

I think youer best off making revision notes pages where you write out the most important notes from your lessons with diagrams and extra information youve picked up e.g from ppqs and from your spec and then also doing ppqs

keep doing those exercises but focus on questions which make you confused just looking at them or questions you know for sure that youve gotten wrong in the past - its also good to practice questions that say "fully justify your answer" as often there is stuff other than working out you need to add
a levels are not like gcses - natural intelligence will only take you so far - soon you will only get out what you put in and as you progress you will get more correct which will give you more motivation

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 4

kitty15

Study Forum Helper

Original post

by CelestialMD

Pls gimme sm advice… I need to get sm work done over the Christmas holidays.
I’m scared cuz I’m already DYING with the workload and most lessons I’m absolutely clueless and doing nothing to fix it.
The thing is it’s not tht I dint revise, like I spend HOURS but the actual work I get done is close to nothing cuz in tht time I’m zoning out, telling myself I have time and I’ll lock in LATER. I keep lying to myself, I never get any work done.
I NEED HELP DESPERATELY. over the holidays I wanna make bio and chem flash cards on ALL TOPICS AND CONTENT so far covered for first 15 weeks, how likely is it tht I will be able to get this done. Also for maths I didn’t really do any of the exercises, Wht do u recommend should I js do all the mixed exercises covered so far, every q or should I cherry pick? Also i tried doing tht for one of the mixed exercises but realised i got mostly all of it wrong cuz I didn’t do the other exercises in tht chapter.
PLS HELPPPPPP, I’m not kidding ts frying me😭

A tip I have for you is to make flashcards not on every single content point but for the points where you most frequently make mistakes. I prefer making flashcards which take questions and answers directly from the mark scheme for biology and/or the specification for chemistry. That way I can start to spot a pattern between the key words that mark schemes and it gets you used to exam-style questions.

For maths I would recommend the mixed questions (at the end of the chapter of the textbook I used) or the general Review exercises if your textbook has. Because these questions are slightly closer to exam-style questions. Or use ones specifically marked as exam practice ones. MathsGenie questions can complement this. At my sixth form our homework was to do the earlier questions in the textbook chapter, but if you haven’t done these I would pick a few to do, instead of every one as you don’t want to be repeating the easier questions if you’ve already got the idea.