advice needed! lowest test scores in class

[macbakeib88]

Hi, 

 

I take chemistry HL and I recently got back my test. I got 80%, which was a 7, and to my standards, that's quite high because I'm normally happy with over 70%, and getting a 7 isn't really a common occurrence for me. However, I feel like I'm the dumbest person in my chem HL class because everyone scored over 90% and they didn't even revise for it. Half of the time, I don't get anything in class and I have to do double the amount of work in revising and reviewing my notes because I don't get it as quickly as them. I'm not sure what to do and I feel really disheartened that they didn't revise yet they still got better grades than me. 

 

Thanks if anyone has any comments on this or any advice. Greatly appreciate it! 

Thanks

[Wyatt Berckenhoff]

Greetings, 70% is really high! you should be really proud of yourself, high five!  I wouldn't drop out of the class even though its more tougher then other IB classes. It seems like you understand it just enough to get a high IB grade. Do you want to go into a chem science job or something else. The only other option would be replacing it with anchor science....i wouldn't recommend that. You just gotta stick with it, your doing a great job. If you need some help i can give you some links you might can use.

Hope this Helped, Pm me with any questions 

[SamirAliyev]

It is possible that they pretend that they never study. I have seen a lot of  people. So dont worry. If what they say is right, then in the next 3-4 months you will get higher hrades than them. But if they keep getting high, then it means they work as hard as you and they just pretend that they never study.

[penguins]

Hi,

Believe me I feel the same also, my classmates always understand the material in class but I can't unless I revise it after class and I have a heavier work load than them, just the way you feel about your class. I can understand your feelings and I know how it feels to think you're dumber than they are. That is not true. Everyone has a different way of learning (not saying that I like my way, I wish I understood the teacher and came back and lay down ...) and whether you like yours or theirs better all have a different advantage. You will remember it for such a longer period. And a quick note, don't try to memorise in Chem HL and instead put even more time to your revisions and understand the material so that when you see the question you will not come up with the correct answer in a second (after tons of repetition this might happen but lets neglect that fact please) and instead try to solve the question by thinking why the answer is the answer. By this way you will actually teach yourself and the next time you will spent less time on the revision. Hope it helps friend, wish you luck!

[macbakeib88]

On 9/15/2017 at 9:50 PM, Wyatt Berckenhoff said:

Greetings, 70% is really high! you should be really proud of yourself, high five!  I wouldn't drop out of the class even though its more tougher then other IB classes. It seems like you understand it just enough to get a high IB grade. Do you want to go into a chem science job or something else. The only other option would be replacing it with anchor science....i wouldn't recommend that. You just gotta stick with it, your doing a great job. If you need some help i can give you some links you might can use.

Hope this Helped, Pm me with any questions 

Thank you so much! I'll be sure to pm you in the future with any questions!

[macbakeib88]

On 9/16/2017 at 4:36 AM, penguins said:

Hi,

Believe me I feel the same also, my classmates always understand the material in class but I can't unless I revise it after class and I have a heavier work load than them, just the way you feel about your class. I can understand your feelings and I know how it feels to think you're dumber than they are. That is not true. Everyone has a different way of learning (not saying that I like my way, I wish I understood the teacher and came back and lay down ...) and whether you like yours or theirs better all have a different advantage. You will remember it for such a longer period. And a quick note, don't try to memorise in Chem HL and instead put even more time to your revisions and understand the material so that when you see the question you will not come up with the correct answer in a second (after tons of repetition this might happen but lets neglect that fact please) and instead try to solve the question by thinking why the answer is the answer. By this way you will actually teach yourself and the next time you will spent less time on the revision. Hope it helps friend, wish you luck!

Thanks so much for the advice, especially the one about not just memorizing but understanding. I'll definitely use that tip to help me in the future, thank you!  

[kw0573]

Personally I probably appear to be among the people you described during IB. However, consider the possibility that no one is trying to make you feel bad. If others seem to understand the topic immediately, it's possible that they have a strong foundation of all previous topics, and they are able to make class lectures efficient, not to get stuck on concepts that should have been understood previously. Well I admit that there is a small distribution in ability to learn new stuff, most of the time, your classmates just spent more time and effort in previous classes or earlier in the semester to really understand the basics.

All in all, the idea is not to find excuses for yourself or believe that others are simply "smarter". You should learn about their strategies to studying and not copy any attitudes of superiority or conceit. I would recommend 1) lightly read lecture materials before class, so if you actually process contents slightly slower, it would be your second time seeing the material in class which allow you opportunity to ask questions 2) try to understand what your teacher just said before writing it down. Personally I am sometimes quite confused and if appropriate, I would stop writing and try to figure out what was said (focus on understanding instead of multitask, remember literally everyone have the same notes and you can always ask a friend for missing sections after class). You often take notes faster when you understand/predict what teacher (will) say. If you can do this, you will turn notes-taking from write it down and figure it out at home, to understand then remind yourself all in class.