Chemistry HL Retake - Urgent Help Required!!!

[niranjan1998]

Hi everyone,

This might sound very retarded and I know I messed up a bit. I got my IBDP in May 2016 with a 35/45 with a 3/3 for TOK+EE. My 2 best subjects were Bio and chem HL throughout the 2 years as I had continuous 7s. Unfortunately I had a surgery a few months before the final exams which cost me 2 months of classes missing out on time to do my IAs, EE and I also missed a lot of the portion for the exams. My 2 best subjects ended up having the worst grades in my finals. (I know i hate my luck) I got a 5 in bio (missed a 6 by 1) and Got a 4 in chem (I WAS HORRIFIED). I'm applying for medschool so even though my 35 is way above the avg ib score I needed better scores in bio and chem. I am retaking them to improve my scores. I had to give my UKCAT in between and did exceptionally well in that and IELTS. I jut wrote my bio test and am expecting a high 6 or a 7. I was always more interested in bio than chem so i spent all my time reading and preparing for that. I also feel like I didn't like IB chem after my chem teacher changed for some reason. It felt more hard to read and concentrate on. Now i have 4 days till my IB Chem retake and I haven't revised anything. I'm petrified and every time i touch the huge textbook i get a flashback of my results and the night before the original exam when i realized I blanked out completely. 

It would be amazing if anyone can help me by telling what I can do in these 4 days to make my 4 atleast into a 5. I have a good IA score. I just need to make it a 5. I feel like the textbook is too big and I will jsut be demotivated to read even a bit if i try to use the textbook. Are there any youtube videos or revision pages you could suggest which would help me meet the Grade 5 boundary?

 

Thanking you. ( I hope no one else has to ever go through this. I know its my fault as well as I didnt equally divide time for both bio and chem) 

[Msj Chem]

I have a full range of videos on my website. The majority, but not all, of the videos have worksheets with solutions. 

http://www.msjchem.com/

If you can get hold of the May 2016 chemistry exams, it would be helpful. I believe they can be ordered directly from the IB web store here:

http://www.follettibstore.com/search?nodeid=202148&src=M

Edited November 10, 2016 by Msj Chem

[pahrooman]

6 minutes ago, Msj Chem said:

I have a full range of videos on my website. The majority, but not all, of the videos have worksheets with solutions. 

http://www.msjchem.com/

If you can get hold of the May 2016 chemistry exams, it would be helpful. I believe they can be ordered directly from the IB web store here:

http://www.follettibstore.com/search?nodeid=202148&src=M

your videos are really really great man, helped me self study for paper 3

 

also @niranjan1998I have the may (and all other) papers if you want to revise them. my suggestion is to study from the guide though. there's several websites (included MSJ's) that explain each bullet point from the guide, which is what IB assesses.

[ChocolateDrop]

7 hours ago, niranjan1998 said:

Hi everyone,

This might sound very retarded and I know I messed up a bit. I got my IBDP in May 2016 with a 35/45 with a 3/3 for TOK+EE. My 2 best subjects were Bio and chem HL throughout the 2 years as I had continuous 7s. Unfortunately I had a surgery a few months before the final exams which cost me 2 months of classes missing out on time to do my IAs, EE and I also missed a lot of the portion for the exams. My 2 best subjects ended up having the worst grades in my finals. (I know i hate my luck) I got a 5 in bio (missed a 6 by 1) and Got a 4 in chem (I WAS HORRIFIED). I'm applying for medschool so even though my 35 is way above the avg ib score I needed better scores in bio and chem. I am retaking them to improve my scores. I had to give my UKCAT in between and did exceptionally well in that and IELTS. I jut wrote my bio test and am expecting a high 6 or a 7. I was always more interested in bio than chem so i spent all my time reading and preparing for that. I also feel like I didn't like IB chem after my chem teacher changed for some reason. It felt more hard to read and concentrate on. Now i have 4 days till my IB Chem retake and I haven't revised anything. I'm petrified and every time i touch the huge textbook i get a flashback of my results and the night before the original exam when i realized I blanked out completely. 

It would be amazing if anyone can help me by telling what I can do in these 4 days to make my 4 atleast into a 5. I have a good IA score. I just need to make it a 5. I feel like the textbook is too big and I will jsut be demotivated to read even a bit if i try to use the textbook. Are there any youtube videos or revision pages you could suggest which would help me meet the Grade 5 boundary?

 

Thanking you. ( I hope no one else has to ever go through this. I know its my fault as well as I didnt equally divide time for both bio and chem) 

I'd say check out Richard Thornley videos on YouTube. He goes through the whole syllabus, point by point. I'd say focus on your weakest subjects. Working from weakest to strongest.   

 

A lot of easy points in IB Chemistry are the calculations, so make sure you go through them and master them. 

 

www.mrjdfield.edublogs.org/2014/02/02/calculations-for-ib-chemistry/

 

Try to get thinking that you only have to spend the next 4 days studying as hard as you can to get closer to your dream. 4 days of discomfort vs facilitating the rest of your life. 

 

Also try not to stress too much, that can make people perform worse than their capability. Seeing as you had surgery causing you to miss 2 months of lessons, you have what are called mitigating or exceptional circumstances. When applying to UK universities you can declare these mitigating circumstances and they may treat your application less harshly than someone without any. 

 

Richard Thornley: https://m.youtube.com/user/richthornley

[niranjan1998]

37 minutes ago, ChocolateDrop said:

I'd say check out Richard Thornley videos on YouTube. He goes through the whole syllabus, point by point. I'd say focus on your weakest subjects. Working from weakest to strongest.   

 

A lot of easy points in IB Chemistry are the calculations, so make sure you go through them and master them. 

 

www.mrjdfield.edublogs.org/2014/02/02/calculations-for-ib-chemistry/

 

Try to get thinking that you only have to spend the next 4 days studying as hard as you can to get closer to your dream. 4 days of discomfort vs facilitating the rest of your life. 

 

Also try not to stress too much, that can make people perform worse than their capability. Seeing as you had surgery causing you to miss 2 months of lessons, you have what are called mitigating or exceptional circumstances. When applying to UK universities you can declare these mitigating circumstances and they may treat your application less harshly than someone without any. 

 

Richard Thornley: https://m.youtube.com/user/richthornley

Thankyou very much,

I'll go through all the Thornley videos I can in the time I have. I guess trying to read up on the text or guide might take a bit longer and considering it isn't one of my most enjoyable subjects at present reading might be harder than i think at this point. I was wondering, if for some reason I perform worse than the first time will this new grade be shown in my IB diploma  . Like I blanked out the day before the exam due to stress and couldn't recall anything even though I studied everythign and had continuous 7s through the year. I'm really afraid if somethign like that happens and I jut end up sitting in the exam room completely blank. 

[kw0573]

14 minutes ago, niranjan1998 said:

Thankyou very much,

I'll go through all the Thornley videos I can in the time I have. I guess trying to read up on the text or guide might take a bit longer and considering it isn't one of my most enjoyable subjects at present reading might be harder than i think at this point. I was wondering, if for some reason I perform worse than the first time will this new grade be shown in my IB diploma  . Like I blanked out the day before the exam due to stress and couldn't recall anything even though I studied everythign and had continuous 7s through the year. I'm really afraid if somethign like that happens and I jut end up sitting in the exam room completely blank. 

Only higher grades will be updated to your diploma during an exam resit. I trust that with some dedicated studying before the exam you will be ok. I can't really "motivate you" across the internet but I do hope you find the motivation to study! It really doesn't take more than motivation and dedication to get a 5. 

[ChocolateDrop]

7 minutes ago, niranjan1998 said:

Thankyou very much,

I'll go through all the Thornley videos I can in the time I have. I guess trying to read up on the text or guide might take a bit longer and considering it isn't one of my most enjoyable subjects at present reading might be harder than i think at this point. I was wondering, if for some reason I perform worse than the first time will this new grade be shown in my IB diploma  . Like I blanked out the day before the exam due to stress and couldn't recall anything even though I studied everythign and had continuous 7s through the year. I'm really afraid if somethign like that happens and I jut end up sitting in the exam room completely blank. 

Your higher grade goes on your updated diploma. Sorry to hear about your exam blackout  . Everyone gets some degree of exam fear/ stress if they care about their academics, it's very normal.

 

Try taking deep breaths before your exam and chewing gum in the exam! Chewing gum is said to help concerntrate and calm down nerves at the same time.  Try think positive! Before your exam talk to someone positive about how you feel you might do worse, it might help if they reassure you. In the exam remember, you know the stuff it's just the stress that clouds your judgement and memory. Focus on what the question is asking you and look to your memory/ any given information to answer it. 

 

Best of luck!!