Studying lc chemistry outside of school by myself..

ultraviolence

when I chose my subjects for lc ( im doing ol english—- not enough places in hl so i have to stay at ol — ol math, ol irish, hl french, hl geog, hl bio & hl ag sci ) I didn’t know chemistry was a requirement for veterinary medicine so I have to study it outside of school. Would it be possible to get into veterinary without chemistry? I’ve heard from students that theres more biology than chem involved & they dont know why chemistry is a requirement since they start from the beginning & dont do a lot of it.. its weird that biology isn’t a requirement.

I want to know
1) is there any chapters that I can leave out? I need a h4/5
2) important chapters to focus on??
3) is there any websites that publish lc chem notes? Like theres mrcbiology.com for biology but is there something like that for chemistry? Its really difficult I don’t understand any of it. Thanks
** first poster so excuse me if anything is wrong with my thread **

Tristan_

Firstly, you definitely need to do chemistry. It's part of the requirements (alongside 60hrs relevant work experience) and there's no way around it, unfortunately. Maybe talk to the chem teacher in your school and try for some advice.

Secondly, you're going to need more than a H4/5 to get in! With only 5 HL subjects you would need to get the top grade in every subject to scrape the points, just going by this year's offers, which could go up in 2020. It wouldn't have even been possible with your original lineup of only 4 at HL would you consider moving up levels in one subject? Unless of course you are eligible for a points scheme of some sort, in which case I apologise ^^

spurious

If you don't understand any of what is going on in Chemistry, you really need to get a teacher, or grinds at the very least.

If you are capable of HL English, I would also try keep that up, as as Tristan_ says, you might not have enough HL subjects to get the required points for Vet.
Can you do HL Maths? The extra points would come in handy.

ultraviolence

thank you both for your replies.
1) I cant do higher lvl english & I returned all my hl books to buy ol books
2) no I cant do higher level maths.. im really bad at maths I dont even understand ordinary lvl maths lmao

Purple Mountain

I think you really need an urgent chat with a career guidance counsellor.

ultraviolence

Purple Mountain wrote: »

I think you really need an urgent chat with a career guidance counsellor.

Yep im currently waiting for an appointment as my tutor referred me to them. I hope they can help.

Smircle

Hi Second year vet med student here - I did biology and chemistry for the LC, but biology seems to be a lot handier to have, I'd have to agree. That being said, there's still a fair bit of chemistry involved in the course at the moment - organic chemistry/the molecular make-up of substances is quite important to understand, as are acids and bases, pH and redox reactions. We've done a few titrations in the lab, but they're very general and you get all the info you need in order to do them beforehand.

Chapters like water and chromatography aren't especially important for the course, but for the purpose of the LC exam, they could very well be the difference between a H5 and a H4, depending on what questions come up. There's a trend to the paper - always the 3 experiments (organic usually makes an appearance, as well as titrations), random Q4 questions (which are very easy to do well in if you know your definitions), organic chemistry, water makes an appearance every few years, the equilibrium question is a very nice one too if you practice a few questions and get the hang of them. Look through the papers and see which questions you're comfortable doing, then work on the ones you find tricky.

I'm not sure what book you use, but the latest edition of Chemistry Live (and the revision book of it) I found to be very well written and explained; it's colourful, has examples throughout and there's a workbook that comes with it for practice questions which I found very useful.

While there's not a lot of chemistry involved in the course at the moment, pharmacology is a big part of the course from 3rd year on, so if you find chemistry difficult now, I'm not sure if you'll enjoy the course. The volume of the workload can be very overwhelming at times, so you'd really need to understand the basic principals of chemical reactions/etc. in order to be able to keep up. If you really don't like chemistry, medicine mightn't be the best choice of course - I don't mean to sound so pessimistic, I'd just recommend that you look into the course in more detail (if you google 'sisweb vet med 2018', it gives you a rundown of the modules from each year). You're not going to like every module you study (epidemiology was my idea of a nightmare), but there's chemistry involved in each of the modules to different extents, so just keep that in mind.

Anyway, best of luck with it all, if you have any questions about vet med, feel free to ask me

ultraviolence

Smircle wrote: »

Hi Second year vet med student here - I did biology and chemistry for the LC, but biology seems to be a lot handier to have, I'd have to agree. That being said, there's still a fair bit of chemistry involved in the course at the moment - organic chemistry/the molecular make-up of substances is quite important to understand, as are acids and bases, pH and redox reactions. We've done a few titrations in the lab, but they're very general and you get all the info you need in order to do them beforehand.

Chapters like water and chromatography aren't especially important for the course, but for the purpose of the LC exam, they could very well be the difference between a H5 and a H4, depending on what questions come up. There's a trend to the paper - always the 3 experiments (organic usually makes an appearance, as well as titrations), random Q4 questions (which are very easy to do well in if you know your definitions), organic chemistry, water makes an appearance every few years, the equilibrium question is a very nice one too if you practice a few questions and get the hang of them. Look through the papers and see which questions you're comfortable doing, then work on the ones you find tricky.

I'm not sure what book you use, but the latest edition of Chemistry Live (and the revision book of it) I found to be very well written and explained; it's colourful, has examples throughout and there's a workbook that comes with it for practice questions which I found very useful.

While there's not a lot of chemistry involved in the course at the moment, pharmacology is a big part of the course from 3rd year on, so if you find chemistry difficult now, I'm not sure if you'll enjoy the course. The volume of the workload can be very overwhelming at times, so you'd really need to understand the basic principals of chemical reactions/etc. in order to be able to keep up. If you really don't like chemistry, medicine mightn't be the best choice of course - I don't mean to sound so pessimistic, I'd just recommend that you look into the course in more detail (if you google 'sisweb vet med 2018', it gives you a rundown of the modules from each year). You're not going to like every module you study (epidemiology was my idea of a nightmare), but there's chemistry involved in each of the modules to different extents, so just keep that in mind.

Anyway, best of luck with it all, if you have any questions about vet med, feel free to ask me

Hello thank you so much. Your reply was rlly helpful & I also looked at the different modules on the cours & it all looks interesting. Im studing chemistry by myself rn ( going so bad I regret buying all these new books LOL ) & its really difficult so I dont know how I will grasp it if im going to do vet med or med. the biology parts seem fine & interesting.
Is there a lot of group work on the course? Im an introvert.. I like working on my own but I dont mind working with others but prefer my own company. Do you have to introduce yourself to everyone on the first day? Could you go through the entire 5 years without saying a word to anyone or is it a really social course? Like I can go through a whole day in school rn without speaking a word to anyone so is it the same for college? Im not going to college to make friends im going to college to get a degree & focus on my career lmao. Thats always been my mentality.
Do you think I should apply to european colleges or repeat my lc ( i wont get 500+ points in 2020 ) and try and get into ucd? It’s annoying how theres only one vet med course in this country & they only accept around 100 people. The competition is real!!
Also are there any courses in this country that will let you transfer into vet med?
I cant think of anymore questions haha
Thanks

Smircle

Hiya

Regarding group work, there's a fair bit - you're put in groups for dissections, there's some project work, a few tutorials where you've to work in groups, and lab classes tend to be designed for pairs. I'm an introvert myself; really shy and awkward and much prefer working on my own, but as a vet/doctor, you've to work as part of a team, so getting us to work in groups for practicals is helpful in that respect.

You get to know most people in the class by the end of the year, and even some people from upper years - you're assigned a Peer Mentor from second year who shows you around and answers any questions you have about the course/college life. There's no obligation to make friends/talk to people; but you tend to do so throughout the terms, even if they're just 'school friends'. (Given the nature of the course, it's important to have people to talk to if things get overwhelming - whether they're on the course or friends from home, having people to talk to/spend time with is important, especially nearing exam times 'cause things get really stressful then; so having someone to put things into perspective is something I can't recommend highly enough.)

It's social enough - nights out are organised on a weekly basis, there're coffee mornings and talks in the evening from upper students/vets/etc., which students tend to go to for the free pizza and refreshments - I'm not into the drinking scene myself, so I don't go on the nights out and I don't feel like I'm missing anything particularly important (as far as I'm aware xD). You can join clubs and societies if they're more your thing - I'd recommend having at least one thing that's non-academic, really important to take a break and do something you enjoy, or you'll burn out quickly.

You're doing the LC in 2020? So, you're in 5th year now? (If so, have you looked into the vet med programme UCD runs during the summer for students going into 6th year?) You've plenty of time! Don't be worrying about not getting the points in the LC, everyone feels like that at first; 5th year is such a big jump from the JC, it's completely normal to feel overwhelmed. Just be consistent and get into a habit of doing some work every day - don't overdo it, just go over whatever you did in class that day and keep on top of things. It's only really the second half of 6th year when you need to get the ball rolling - the mocks are good at doing that: I got 540-ish in them, which wasn't enough for veterinary, so I completely freaked out and convinced myself I was never going to get the points needed, which isn't the best mentality to have a few weeks before the exams... I'd wait until 6th year hits before thinking about applying abroad - no harm in looking at the costs/opportunities, maybe talk to your parents about it being a possibility, but see how things go this year - you may surprise yourself with how well you do as time goes on

Question: is there a certain part of the chemistry course you're finding difficult? Calculations? Theory? Look around for different books - the one you're using just mightn't suit your style of learning. Ask a chemistry teacher from your school if they have any notes that could help you with understanding the material better, or look at videos/sites online. If you're still struggling after that, maybe a grinds teacher/tutor? Or perhaps someone from your family/a friend who does/did chemistry could help you out to begin with?

Also, regarding your subject choice - seriously consider doing another HL subject. Things can go wrong on the day of the exam very, very easily, it's really important to have a back-up subject in case that does happen. Is there any way you can go from OL to HL in any of the subjects? I wouldn't recommend taking up an 8th subject, way too much unnecessary stress. You're going to be hard-pressed to get the points for vet med with only 5 HL, and the points could very easily go up within the next 2 years, so think hard about doing another HL subject.

Sorry for the length of this reply; I'm procrastinating yet again xD Best of luck with things; if you've any more questions, feel free to ask. Good luck!

ultraviolence

Smircle wrote: »

Hiya

Regarding group work, there's a fair bit - you're put in groups for dissections, there's some project work, a few tutorials where you've to work in groups, and lab classes tend to be designed for pairs. I'm an introvert myself; really shy and awkward and much prefer working on my own, but as a vet/doctor, you've to work as part of a team, so getting us to work in groups for practicals is helpful in that respect.

You get to know most people in the class by the end of the year, and even some people from upper years - you're assigned a Peer Mentor from second year who shows you around and answers any questions you have about the course/college life. There's no obligation to make friends/talk to people; but you tend to do so throughout the terms, even if they're just 'school friends'. (Given the nature of the course, it's important to have people to talk to if things get overwhelming - whether they're on the course or friends from home, having people to talk to/spend time with is important, especially nearing exam times 'cause things get really stressful then; so having someone to put things into perspective is something I can't recommend highly enough.)

It's social enough - nights out are organised on a weekly basis, there're coffee mornings and talks in the evening from upper students/vets/etc., which students tend to go to for the free pizza and refreshments - I'm not into the drinking scene myself, so I don't go on the nights out and I don't feel like I'm missing anything particularly important (as far as I'm aware xD). You can join clubs and societies if they're more your thing - I'd recommend having at least one thing that's non-academic, really important to take a break and do something you enjoy, or you'll burn out quickly.

You're doing the LC in 2020? So, you're in 5th year now? (If so, have you looked into the vet med programme UCD runs during the summer for students going into 6th year?) You've plenty of time! Don't be worrying about not getting the points in the LC, everyone feels like that at first; 5th year is such a big jump from the JC, it's completely normal to feel overwhelmed. Just be consistent and get into a habit of doing some work every day - don't overdo it, just go over whatever you did in class that day and keep on top of things. It's only really the second half of 6th year when you need to get the ball rolling - the mocks are good at doing that: I got 540-ish in them, which wasn't enough for veterinary, so I completely freaked out and convinced myself I was never going to get the points needed, which isn't the best mentality to have a few weeks before the exams... I'd wait until 6th year hits before thinking about applying abroad - no harm in looking at the costs/opportunities, maybe talk to your parents about it being a possibility, but see how things go this year - you may surprise yourself with how well you do as time goes on

Question: is there a certain part of the chemistry course you're finding difficult? Calculations? Theory? Look around for different books - the one you're using just mightn't suit your style of learning. Ask a chemistry teacher from your school if they have any notes that could help you with understanding the material better, or look at videos/sites online. If you're still struggling after that, maybe a grinds teacher/tutor? Or perhaps someone from your family/a friend who does/did chemistry could help you out to begin with?

Also, regarding your subject choice - seriously consider doing another HL subject. Things can go wrong on the day of the exam very, very easily, it's really important to have a back-up subject in case that does happen. Is there any way you can go from OL to HL in any of the subjects? I wouldn't recommend taking up an 8th subject, way too much unnecessary stress. You're going to be hard-pressed to get the points for vet med with only 5 HL, and the points could very easily go up within the next 2 years, so think hard about doing another HL subject.

Sorry for the length of this reply; I'm procrastinating yet again xD Best of luck with things; if you've any more questions, feel free to ask. Good luck!

Thank you for answering my questions!! I appreciate it. Yep about my subject choice, I might just repeat the lc [ everything except for math irish english ] including chemistry so thats 5 subjects then im going to repeat it again with 2 new subjects and hopefully I will get into vet med lol

twiz

Hi, you might know more about this than me, but I'm pretty sure you have to complete all the experiments for chemistry and have the school sign it off! Just something to check!

You might also want to consider veterinary in Europe - check out the Eunicas website for more information on that.

dfx-

If you're in fifth year, you've plenty of time. LC Chemistry paper is very predictable and reliable.

But it will be difficult to teach yourself, particularly if you find maths difficult. You definitely need to be shown through it, imo.