Sandwich Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 Chemistry is the hardest subject I take, for me. HL Biology is sort-of like skipping through a field of daisies in comparison.Actually, it's another place where there's a lot of disparity in difficulty between subjects. Physics and Chemistry are both considerably harder than Biology. So I'd say it depends on what you want to do at the end. Whether you think Physics/Chem will be useful or, if not, I'd save yourself a headache and go for Chem/Bio as your combination. Chemistry is epic learning, there're no two ways about it, and unlike Biology it's not straight-forward to remember! It's very interesting (in places...) but those points of most interest are either in the SL section or you can read up on them in the HL section if you're feeling dedicated. If I had any choice about not doing chem, I wouldn't have done it. No matter how good you are at it, it's hard work! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBdoc Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 How can you say that chemistry is the easiest HL? First of all, it is a group 4 subject at HL therefore there is no way it is the easiest. In my opnion, all languages and social sciences at HL are way easier. I also think that Bio HL is easier than Chem HL because bio is more "student friendly" and more straight forward than chem. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
moneyfaery Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 And Irene that is a great plan and generalized approach. But, if it was that easy then everyone would score high and wouldn't suffer from poor teaching.Poor teaching is something you can't prevent or control. But I find that past papers usually solves most of this - you practice and get to know the content. That's all there is to most of the subjects. UNDERSTAND, don't just memorize calculations. It also depends on how you study/how much you study. Doing one or two past papers won't suffice but if you actually buckle down and study for 40+ or so hours (total), I'll be damned if anyone gets a 2 or something.I will say this - that chemistry has one of the highest probabilities of doing something worng than even mathematics. Just because units are so germane.The issue with units can be solved with a bit of memorizing and understanding! Once you know the units for some variables, calculations become easier because you can 'cross out' units to figure the final variable (and double check that units are right).How can you say that chemistry is the easiest HL? First of all, it is a group 4 subject at HL therefore there is no way it is the easiest. In my opnion, all languages and social sciences at HL are way easier. I also think that Bio HL is easier than Chem HL because bio is more "student friendly" and more straight forward than chem.Fine, I rephrase my statement. Chem HL is easy for some people; others prefer Bio HL because of the memorization required? But I swear Chem HL is just memorization too... if you get a question wrong, it's often because of the easily forgotten nitpicky details... like IE refers to removing an atom's outermost electron in its GASEOUS state or 1 mol of gas at SATP is 24L and 22.4L at STP.Biochem - I don't like your teacher. She's preparing you for your IB exams... not college exams. I hope she's at least "dumbing down" her notes for you guys. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biochem Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 Oh I do agree with you. But the same "plan" can be built for other subjects, like HL Math. a fair step by step plan to solve any problem. But I agree with you Irene for a quiz for thermo, we were not taught perfect gas equations. Well..its turns out the question required it, and we all got it wrong because in "science its right". In another words, the notes were the basis for the quiz making, being taught the gas equations + thermo at the same time, the quiz was built on these notes. Beh. It's okay. I drove myself to the grave, but I got a 100% on the test Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
moneyfaery Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 Oh I do agree with you. But the same "plan" can be built for other subjects, like HL Math. a fair step by step plan to solve any problem. But I agree with you Irene for a quiz for thermo, we were not taught perfect gas equations. Well..its turns out the question required it, and we all got it wrong because in "science its right". In another words, the notes were the basis for the quiz making, being taught the gas equations + thermo at the same time, the quiz was built on these notes. Beh. It's okay. I drove myself to the grave, but I got a 100% on the test I am using the same plan for Math HL! Which is basically... study my brains out! It's been working so far. I seriously suggest getting the Study Guide though. Know everything in it and you'll be all set. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAYT Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 The only subject i don't study for is my English class, i just turn up to class listen to the teacher for the time he is talking carefully. That's the only subject i pay attention, most of the others i muck around in class and do most of my work at home. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanz Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 i use to think Chemistry HL was hard... and it is kind of hard... like in the bonding chapter... but i guess there is no difference between it and chemistry SL !! but only extra a little extra effort and hard work! GOOD LUCK EVERYONE =] Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB_sucks Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 to be honest, its not that hard at all. The standard level is kinda much easier than taking higher because its very similar to IG O-levels, but the higher isnt that hard either. Im taking it as higher level and you really only need to study like once a week and do homework/ study for any quizes. And dont believe all that crap about memorizing because there is actually little of that. Most of it is application of an idea that doesnt need memorizing. hope this helps you Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pod Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 As long as you keep up with the pace of your teacher, your fine. you start getting overloaded when you get a lot of work from other classes which prevent you to do your chem homework or whatever. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alldaylongchilling Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 Hey I am also taking Bio and Chemistry HLI expected a lot more from Chemistry HL. So far we have done all topics up to acids and bases. The SL stuff is always easy, but I find the HL stuff a lot harder and I have to do like 100 problems to fully understand all the calculations. Multiple choice questions are hard, too because you have to know everything in great detail. Also, I think that the chemistry course is way toooo theoretical.... but maybe that's just my teacher's class.Still, I must admit that I am quite lazy and always working last-minute so if you are a continous worker it should be alright. Biology SL is also easy and the HL concepts are again okay if you work continously. Also bio seems more practical to me. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAYT Posted April 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 (edited) Hey I am also taking Bio and Chemistry HLI expected a lot more from Chemistry HL. So far we have done all topics up to acids and bases. The SL stuff is always easy, but I find the HL stuff a lot harder and I have to do like 100 problems to fully understand all the calculations. Multiple choice questions are hard, too because you have to know everything in great detail. Also, I think that the chemistry course is way toooo theoretical.... but maybe that's just my teacher's class.Thats exactly true. The other day i had a chem test and a lot of the multiple choice questions had answers that were almost identical except for one really really tiny difference. And the only way u could get them was to know everything possible about everything. Those questions just really pissed me off. i was lucky to get a 70. but most people barely passed anyway.there was only 1 person who got above 80 and that was lyk sum girl that sleeps and eats with her books. Edited April 2, 2009 by JAYT Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
narathiel Posted April 5, 2009 Report Share Posted April 5, 2009 Chem Hl is relatively easyJust start stduying for tests a week before and do all your labs as soon as possible and you should be ok.Do all qs you can find in your books and ask for past paper questions or try to find them on the internet or even make tem up and give them to your teacher to mark, I spend on average half an hour on Chem a day- on most days nothing, on some days 2 hours. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.