How much study time is needed to excel in high school science subjects?

[prime-factor]

Hi All.
I am starting Grade 12 (Australia) in literally 1 week.
My aim is to study medicine after finishing my final year of school this year.
The subjects I am studying this year are:

>>Maths
>>Advanced Maths
>>Physics
>>Chemistry
>>Biology
>>English (compulsory)

I am interested to know from your experience how you learned for your subjects (or are learning) and how much time you think is best to spend studying in order to maximize chances of doing well in these subjects( I want to become a doctor and need to do very well).

Any advice on ways to approach different subjects and good habits to acquire would be appreciated. Also from your experience what works best for you?

 

[ank_gl]

study till you are enjoying the topic, then take a break. Unnecessarily sticking to the book seldom fruits results. In my case, i can sit for anything from 10 min to 2 hours(depending on the topic).

 

[prime-factor]

Good advice there. That's the same with me. I make sure I enjoy what I am studying, and it has worked so far :)

 

[Mentallic]

I'm also in year 12 in Australia, but we officially started the year in the beginning of 4th term - unless you live somewhere other than NSW which uses a different system?

- Ext 1 Maths
- Ext 2 Maths
- Physics
- Chemistry
- General English

I've found from talking to my career advisor that for better HSC results it requires that you do decently well in all your subjects, rather than excel very strongly in a select few and fail others (which I'm currently doing since I loath English and love the logic that comes with Maths).

While I spend approx 3 hours study per night on Maths alone (you wouldn't need to study that much for advanced math), I seem to do very well in Physics and Chemistry without homework because I listen in class. With the cramming 1 week before the exams to touch up on all my skills there, I've done very well so far. Thus, listening in class can replace study to a reasonable extent.

For English, my mind just doesn't work in that way. This is why I put in about 30 mins per night because I would go insane trying to sit there any longer, writing about crap that bores the hell out of me. Also, when it comes to essays, progress comes at a slower rate than usual so I tend to spend more time studying than the average general English student (from what I've seen).

ank_gl has a good point there. When you enjoy what you're studying, it produces much better results, and keeps your sanity in check

 

[prime-factor]

Oh My!, HSC, you'll do fine :), If your enjoying it and spending that much quality time learning you'd be fine. I'm in Queensland and basically each school designs its own tests (no standardized tests like in HSC), but we have a core skills test at the end of the year (basic stuff) which further separates results between subject areas. 99% of our final result is based on our school results calculated as an OP (overall position of 1-25, Op 1 = top 2% of state) and the 1% on the QCS (basically just pass the damn thing :P ).

 

[Mentallic]

So OP1 for medicine? That's going to take a lot of effort if you don't already have a natural gift in every subject you're taking.
I think of study as having 3 stages:

1) Understanding the concepts
2) Completing the assigned homework
3) Studying to touch up on skills

For those kinds of results, expect to spend a lot of time in stage 3

 

[prime-factor]

Yes. Stage 3 is going to be needed to be optimized to the best of my ability.
I have a natural gift in those subjects (Best in all of them at school, but hey it is queensland :P ). I will be fine :). I'm excited :)

 

[Mentallic]

Best in all of them at school:)

That's an impressive accomplishment! We call that the dux of the year.
Except, there's no true dux in my grade because I've taken first in Maths since year 7 and since Physics was available, that too.

 

[prime-factor]

Thankyou :). That's very kind. Congratulations to you too, that is quite a consistent achievement. What are you considering doing once you have your degree in pure/discrete Mathematics?. Applied Mathematics?, Research?, A simpler proof of Fermat's Last Theorem :P ?

 

[Mentallic]

I haven't researched passed first year courses in university, so I am honestly not sure what will tickle my fancy. But in short, anything to do with geometry I will try and avoid.
Applied mathematics sounds like a lot of fun, and those physics degrees... I just want one But so far I seem to be strongest in pure mathematics.

How are you doing in Chem and Phys? I know QL's courses are going to quite different to ours, but they reflect your skills in the subject nonetheless.

 

[prime-factor]

In QLD. the Physics Curriculum is quite different to Sydney. a lot less theory (plug and chug problems- hardly any). We got a lot of assignments that require self-teaching and research strategies. The tests we get are quite simple generally. In regards to tests themselves, this year we do write-ups in class under test conditions (That will be great for me, less stressful than Physics exams usually). In Physics I do well, but I could do so much better (I ended up with a good A- but I didn't study very effectively and was very lucky). This year I will ace it :)
By the way, first assignment is to design an experiment involving waves of any kind and to construct a report about the experiment and results.

Chemistry is fantastic. Great subject :). Organic Chemistry mostly this year as well as 'Chemistry of the Car'. Fairly easy, alkanes, alkenes, alkanes, basic hydrocarbons theory.
In chemistry I do the very well. How ever it is the hardest subject to get 'high marks' compared to other subjects. I like organic chem though :).