Along this journey, many people told me that O levels was easy and you could easily excel in it. I never believed them. Many people told me that last minute chionging and mugging would bring miracles to your o levels. I was told it was never too late to start studying, even after prelims, because people have done so, and they did well. I never bought these stories. Yes, okay maybe it really works for some, but i am not entrusting my grades to these rumours. Afterall, you have no one but yourself to account for your acadamic grades.
About my subject combination.
I did really poorly in my mid years when i was secondary 2. I hated humanities. Math was my best subject. I disliked languages. I loved physics, was okay with chem and bio. My school only offers pure science and it was compulsory to take additional math. I was sure about my subject combination because i had one thing in mind: take as few humanities as possible. Which is one. Elective geography. This subject combination is quite popular and hard to get. I was afraid my grades would not allow me to get into this stream.
In my school, we get to 'choose' our stream. It is then dependent on our level position to ser if we are able to get into our preferred choice. If the class is full, students who did not do well and wants to be in that class would be given their second choice class, then third. Then random allocation i guess.
After getting a big shock from my mid year results, i made up my mind to study really hard for my end year exams (eoy). Since 50% of my overall grades come from the eoy , i still had the chance of getting into the stream i wanted. About a month before the exams, i went to tuition(math and science) almost everyday. I forced myself to read good essays before the essay exam (paper 1) and it saved my essays grades. I dont know if it is just me or everyone would also have this 'talent'. I would actually remember the sotrylines of the essays i have read. So during the exams, all i have to do is to use that storyline. Saves the thinking and planning time, and your story will not be too far fetched. But!!!! Due to a change in syllabus, in olevels, there is a chance narrative essays would not come out, so this method wouldnt work anymore.
I did fairly well after putting in tremendous effort in this examination. Scored A1 for mathematics and physics. B3 for chem and bio. B4 for english and C5 for chinese. I forgot my humanities grades. But they are probably Bs. My levels position was 81 out of about 300 students. Not the best but good enough for me. My class position jumped from 21(mid year) to 13 (end year). Most importantly, I got into the subject combination i wanted. Got into the best class. With the last level position. Meaning, i was the worst in my new class.
Tips on CHOOSING your SUBJ COMBI
Okay, after the boring read of my journey through the streaming year, i shall now give you some tips on choosing your subject combination.
1. Triple science. As crazy as it sounds, yes it is tough. Physics is all about understanding and applying. Do not be fooled by your sec 2 physics, sec 3 physics aint that easy. Biology is all about memorising. Understanding will help but memorising is key. Chemistry is a nice mix of physics and bio, you need to memorise and understand and apply. To me, chem is the easiest science.
2. Combined science. My schools doesnt offer it. But from what i heard from my other friends, the number of topics are half of the pure science. It would be a good choice to take pure chemistry and combined physics and bio because chemistry is really important in admitting to university. This combination seems great to students who dont really like science.
3. Double science. Two pure sciences. If you only like bio/phy go ahead and get this combination. I think chem is a compulsory science.
4. Double mathematics (elementary and additional). Most schools will have this mandatory. Students who flunked their sec 2 math might have to meet the principal/hod/teachers to 'refuse' additional math in my school. Students are usually given a chance to learn it, if they really cant manage, they will be allowed to drop additional math.
5. Humanities. Social studies is compulsory. It is taken with another elective to form one humanities subject. You have a choice of taking one elective+ss or one elective+ss and one pure. If you really hate humanities, i advice taking ss+ e.geog. It is apparently the easiest to score. Geography is about understanding, memorising and applying. History is about memorising. Literature is about english. I mean if you hate english please do not kid yourself into thinking that you will be able to excel in literature. The worst combination you can ever take is pure geog/his together with elective his/geog+ss. Killer combination. If you really want to do it, i wish you all the best in memorising. You would hope to have a SD card slotted into your head that stores all the information. I am not saying that lit is easy, but your english should ought to have some standard before considering lit.
Oh! If you are talented in music or art, it can also be considered as an elective humanities.
Combinations offered
i) double science (chem+ phy/bio) + double humanities
ii) triple science + single humanities
iii) triple science + double humanities
i am not sure combined science. Not many schools offer it anymore i think.
Of course, this adds on with english and chinese/ higher chinese.
In total you will take 8/9/10 olevel subjects.
What is my explanantion to each combination?
i) people who do not really enjoy sciences
ii) people who likes science but hates humanities
iii) people who likes science. However, they do not want to take a risk on only have one humanities subject. Humanities is compulsory in the calculation of L1R5. So if you have two humanities subject, you can "afford to not do well in one". In other words, backup plan.
L1R5 is the number of points you get after taking into account one langauge, one humanities, two math+one science or two science+one math. Your grades on the subject (ie A1,A2,B3,B4,C5,C6,D7,E8,F9) are added up. Best L1R5 one can achieve is 6 points. Unlike PSLE, the lower the better. There is a deduction of 2 points from the L1R5 if you get an EXCELLENT grade for your CCA record (25 points, its a new system implemented, the old system requires 20 points) and above in your CCA points or have at least a pass for your olevel higher chinese. Deduction can also take place if you school is affliated to a junior college (i think, not sure). Maximum deduction is 4 points. That is why schools like hwa chong and raffles can have a.entry score of 2-3 points even though the best you can achieve is 6 points.
Hahaha too much in one post. Getting too long. Anyway, getting into your desired stream is very important so do work hard for it. It is a tough journey but yes it is important. Very important. Good luck and work hard alright~ holidays after the o levels are seriously enjoyable^^
Saturday 7 December 2013
Self Introduction and Study Method
Why this blog
I have always wanted to create a blog about my journey through the o levels but i didnt have the time or energy to do it. To fulfil this wish of mine, i decided to make use of this holiday^^
Hmm, i wanted to create this blog to share my experience throughout this 2 years journey. At the start of sec 3, i honestly did not know what to expect of my life. I knew it would be tough, but how tough exactly can it be? I tried to search for blogs, hoping that i could get an insight to this brand new experience but sadly i found none. So i decided that i would write one myself, so that the next batch of students will be prepared.
Self Introduction
I am 16 years old. I come from a fairly good school (not a top school). My PSLE score is 243. My prelim's L1R5 is 10 points. I am still waiting for my o level results which will be out next year.
There will be a total of 10 blog entries to summarise this journey. I will share my study tips and opinions about some study methods but they are just advice.
Everyone has their own special and comfortable way of studying so do not take the advice wholeheartedly. I found my own method by trying out different methods of revision, some sucked and some worked marvelously. When i mean sucked, i mean i studied for the subject and just managed a decent pass during the exams (the paper honestly wasnt difficult) Yes, some study methods just dont work out right. So the most important thing you should get right is your study method, this is one of the major factors that you should be aware of.
That's all for this post! The next few posts will be about subject combinations, individual subjects and tuition classes~ till then:)
I have always wanted to create a blog about my journey through the o levels but i didnt have the time or energy to do it. To fulfil this wish of mine, i decided to make use of this holiday^^
Hmm, i wanted to create this blog to share my experience throughout this 2 years journey. At the start of sec 3, i honestly did not know what to expect of my life. I knew it would be tough, but how tough exactly can it be? I tried to search for blogs, hoping that i could get an insight to this brand new experience but sadly i found none. So i decided that i would write one myself, so that the next batch of students will be prepared.
Self Introduction
I am 16 years old. I come from a fairly good school (not a top school). My PSLE score is 243. My prelim's L1R5 is 10 points. I am still waiting for my o level results which will be out next year.
There will be a total of 10 blog entries to summarise this journey. I will share my study tips and opinions about some study methods but they are just advice.
Everyone has their own special and comfortable way of studying so do not take the advice wholeheartedly. I found my own method by trying out different methods of revision, some sucked and some worked marvelously. When i mean sucked, i mean i studied for the subject and just managed a decent pass during the exams (the paper honestly wasnt difficult) Yes, some study methods just dont work out right. So the most important thing you should get right is your study method, this is one of the major factors that you should be aware of.
That's all for this post! The next few posts will be about subject combinations, individual subjects and tuition classes~ till then:)
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