u/Greedy_Flounder_5665

i have the option to accelerate bio in yr 10, but im unsure if i should. i looked at the past vce papers, 2024 report and study design and it all looks TERRIFYING.

i literally saw a note in the report that said: ‘increasing the efficiency of photosynthesis’ or ‘improving photosynthesis’ is not the same as ‘increased photosynthesis’.

omg i would not get that correct. wth?? it looks like such a huge jump from middle school science!!

i do quite well and am top of my class in science atm, plus bio is the only one of my subjects i can accelerate (or literature which idk if its good) and it would be good to take the stress out of year 12 but omg. that marking criteria is harsh.

does anyone have experience accelerating bio? was it a very difficult transition? i feel like i can understand the content but i dont know if i can respond to that detail.

i have this friend ive known for basically my whole life, and in 8th grade i told her i cheated in a science exam. i said it in like a joking way to the whole friend group but this particular friend got genuinely mad and called me out.

shes also seen me write answers on my arms for writing exams nd stuff in 8-9th grade, i wouldnt say i cheated a lot but i definetly did it at least a couple times in the year.

two years later ive stopped doing that at all but my friend still thinks im a cheater and cant accept that ive changed. sometimes when i talk about how my studies r going, she goes "oh i bet ur gonna cheat anyway," and often says stuff like that in front of other ppl.

it makes me rlly uncomfortable since i geniunely don't cheat anymore and idk how to handle it. i cant really argue against the fact that she has seen me cheat in exams, but i dont know why im not allowed to put it behind me.

am i in the wrong? is there some way to fix this?

i've been struggling with finding the best technique to answer science questions (the conceptual ones not equations) since I always ramble too much and i still only get just below the full mark for each question

i just dont know what the assessors want, its like im always missing smth!!

for example this is the question:

Explain how antacids work and the purpose of them.

my answer:

Purpose:

Antacids are purposed to relieve/treat heartburn, indigestion, acid reflux, excess stomach acid, pyloric spasms, stomach ulcers and other conditions related to hyperacidity/gastric acid. They are generally recommended for fast, short-term use to treat symptoms, and often come in liquid or chewable tablet forms. It is important to note that they only provide temporary relief and have usage limitations, side effects and drug interactions.

Mechanism:

The stomach secretes gastric acid to digest food, but overproduction of acids due to spicy/sour foods or other occurrences can create acidity. Antacids work by neutralising this acid in the stomach by raising pH. When a base is added to acids, a chemical process called neutralization occurs, producing salt and water. This happens because the hydrogen ions from the acid and the hydroxide ions from the base combine to form H₂O, while the remaining ions form an ionic salt. Therefore, since antacids contain bases (alkalis), when consumed, they neutralize the gastric acidity in the stomach through this reaction. By modifying the environment of the stomach, they help with chemical digestion, acting as a buffer to neutralize excess HCl. They also inhibit pepsin, a proteolytic enzyme, to prevent it from damaging the esophagus when refluxed. In this way, antacids are able to effectively reduce the amount of acid in stomach fluids.

guess wht!! still not full marks!! got feedback that i needed to provide 'further scientific theory'. What!

the ones im thinking of taking are: chemistry, methods, biology, english, literature and philosophy

i can do tutoring for maybe 1-2 of the above, and im accelerating philo and (maybe) bio. which subjects did you find tutoring the most useful for?

ive always been mildly interested in kpop as a kid but recently i found a new group i really liked, and i mean REALLY.

they totally converted me from western music tastes to becoming the only group i listen to on spotify now. i watch all their youtube content and ive bought the merch that i can.

but im so scared of becoming one of those weird people who are obsessed with kpop (not saying that liking it is weird), especially since the group i like is a bg.

id like to be someone whos never had a boyfriend. idk why. does it count if a guy asked me to be his gf over snapchat when i was 12 or can i erase that embarrassing experience without a guilty conscience.

i currently live in melb and am wanting to pursue research in science, such as genetics/path/microbio, etc, or maybe a healthcare job in path. i am mostly interested in genetics.

is it worth aiming to go to an american uni or another country?

i would like to go to uni melb and do a bachelor of science (or biomed), as i am fairly confident i can achieve the atar requirements, but my family encourages me to go to uni in the US since theres more opportunities. however i have like zero extracurriculars so...

ive also heard good things about unis in singapore, korea, japan, UK, etc.

in the long run, is doing undergraduate studies in a non-australian country worth it for scientific research?

hi guys, does anyone have any experience/advice they can share.. im a year 9 choosing my y10 subjects and i need to pick what subjects to accelerate. my school lets us do 2 if our grades are good enough but i'm not sure what to pick yet.

here are the subjects i think i want to do for vce rn:

- english

- literature

- methods

- biology

- chemistry

- philosophy

methods, literature, bio, and philo are all possible to accelerate but im not even gonna consider methods. heres how im going in each subject:

english: my favourite subject since ps i find it really fun and easy at schl, although to be fair year 9 english is wierdly basic. i do english tutor and we do harder analytical stuff, which requires more actual studying but it comes pretty quickly to me. love english

maths: i hate maths it does not come easily to me. its not that im bad at it exactly, im just not confident and it takes me longer to get it than everyone else i guess?? however i am in the enrichment/higher maths class at school so that might just be bc everyone else r crazy good at maths. for context, most people in my class get 7/8 or 8/8 and i get 6/8 (myp criteria, its wierd)

science: i didnt do science much in ps so most of the stuff is pretty new to me, but im doing okay and i find it interesting. i def try hardest in this subject out of all at schl so far, coz i geniuenly like the content (idk abt this new physics unit tho...) yes the grading is pretty harsh but i find if i study and lock in i can get top of the class

for the vce subjects, unfortunately i have to do methods and chem bc i want to do biomed or science at melb uni when i graduate and they r prerequisites.

currently im thinking of accelerating biology and philosophy, but im unsure if thats a good idea or if i should do philo at all (since i heard its a relatively new subject and theres not a lot of resources).

head of science at my schl recommended me not to accelerate bio, she said that data shows ppl who accelerated at my school got worse results than they expected. but literally everyone online and alumni tell me i shoudl accelerate bio coz its content heavy and stuff. idk??

aside from those, im picking two english coz i feel like they r kinda interconnected with skills and stuff so i wont have to study more seperate content. i was originally gonna do triple eng lol but my schl doesnt offer eng language..

does anyone have any experience with the subjects i listed and any advice what to accelerate please !! open to suggestions for diff subjects too