Chemistry as an external candidate

theginsandwich

Hey,

I'm about to go into my final year of an Arts degree only to realise that I want to change direction and study Biomedical Science after I graduate, probably in Scotland due to the absense of tuition fees. However most of the courses in this subject require chemistry, which I did not do in the Leaving Cert (I did biology and physics). If I were to do chemistry as an external candidate, is it necessary to complete the lab book and, if so, how would I go about doing it? Thanks

jumpguy

No, unlike Junior Cert Science, it is not nessicary to complete a lab book for exam purposes. There is nothing else graded in the chemistry exam except your examination paper on the day of the exam. Good knowledge of the mandatory experiments is needed for the exam. The experiments are examined in Section A of the exam paper (rather like physics).

It is possible to just learn the experiments without doing them, or looking up demonstrations of the experiments on the internet (not too difficult to find). Chemistry is an interesting and rewarding LC subject (imo), however I think doing it alone would be difficult. The topics must be understood, and can't just be learned off like for subjects such as business, and even most of the biology course. If you can, get some sort of regular grind in it or something!

Best of luck!

dambarude

I did Chemistry as an extra subject outside school. The content of the subject is definitely manageable. It helps enormously if you enjoy it, and you want to learn it.