The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (or IGCSE as the cool kids call it) is happening right now, in classrooms all over the world.
Things for me unofficially kicked off May 10th, with the morning Driving Examination. Then things go crazy all the way until Friday, June 11th, when we start air-guitaring like it's gone out of style at 1:45PM.
As we get nearer and nearer to the last paper, I'll be compiling all the subjects a Science Stream students takes (I don't take the Commerce or Arts papers, I'm afraid) as well as my personal thoughts on the papers at hand.
Papers will be reviewed from my own account from 0 (WTF?) to 10 (Masterful) for you to get a better understanding of how well I thought the papers were (based mostly on length, time allocation, question variation, experience), not how simply by how easy it was.
*note: my thoughts may differ from yours, so share your thoughts in the comment box below beginning with the day followed by the subject.
LAST UPDATE: June 11, 2010 9:30PM
Subjects:
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• Week 1:
- Day 1 (Monday): Driving Exam 01 - Failed parking so there's really nothing much else to say. Looks like I've got to return to the soddy place on the 31st. But at least I passed the road test. (+5)
- Day 2 (Tuesday): Physics Practicals Paper 5 - Kept me on my toes all the time. Never made me feel good about myself at any given time. (+8)
- Day 3 (Wednesday): Mathematics (Extended) Paper 2 - This paper wasn't too difficult but put up enough of a challenge for your noggin'. (+9)
- Day 4 (Friday): English Language Paper 2 - Gorillas, chimpanzees, primates, beasts, creatures, monkeys, apes. Please don't let the next paper make us repeat these words again and again. (+7.5)
• Week 2:
- Day 5 (Monday): Business Studies Paper 1 - For lack of a more elegant way of saying it, I think the paper today was particularly brain-scratching & long. I'm gonna just hope my answers were approvable. (+7.5)
- Day 6 (Tuesday): Malay Paper 2 & Chemistry Practicals Paper 5 - Malay was Malay but Chemistry was Chemistry. Not confident about my answers for the latter, let's hope it's not a bad sign. (+10, +6.5)
- Day 7 (Wednesday): Mathematics (Extended) Paper 4 - Finally finished our first subject of the exam fest. The paper was easier than expected but there were questions that pushed our brainpower to the limit. Lost 4 marks for leaving a question I was about to answer, just didn't make it before "Put down your pens now!" (+7.5)
- Day 8 (Thursday): Malay Paper 4 & Biology Paper 5 - Malay was again Malay but I may have misread the last question entirely; hope not. Biology was quite alright. We've just finished another subject and all our science practicals. (+7, +8)
- Day 9 (Friday): English Language Paper 3 - For the second question chose the first descriptive essay. Great paper, but my hand was aching; rushed rewriting an entire page in 10 minutes because there were just too many scratches. & Another one bites the dust. Shazam. (+8.5)
• Week 3:
- Day 10 (Monday): Biology Paper 3 - Overall, I think the paper was just fine. Though to be quite honest, most of what I studied for didn't turn up in the paper (won't spoil, don't worry). I think it was the little questions that got me (those 1 mark buggers) rather than the big ones. We'll see come Sept. (+8)
- Day 11 (Tuesday): Chemistry Paper 1 - Our first MCQ Paper of the IGCSE. To start it off, I thought it was actually pretty good. Didn't expect that coming from a Chemistry Paper. (+8)
- Day 12 (Wednesday): Physics Paper 1 - Deja Vu only happens during the event. If only it happened before, but then I don't think it would be called Deja Vu then. Helps a little bit though. (+8.5)
- Day 13 (Thursday): Physics Paper 3 - Super challenging. I've lost at least 2 marks already (at least = greater than or equal to, mind you), and that's not including 9/10 of the paper. Really, no comment. Just hoping for the next 2 exams to give us more time in writing everything out. Tomorrow's gonna be the climax. (+7)
- Day 14 (Friday): Business Studies Paper 1 & Economics Paper 3 - The first paper was just crazy long. Hand couldn't stop shivering. Then after the paper, walked with Joshua Lee for about 10 minutes, rushed on back and the next paper started. The Economics paper wasn't as long as I thought it would be but they left so much space for the writing, they left all of us feeling guilty with our answers. All-in-all, I think both papers were actually really great. Now it's onto, the Driving Examination 02. (+8, +9)
• Week 4:
- Day 15 (Monday): Driving Exam 02 - PASSED. The place eventually sort of grew on me, but I don't think I'm ever going back to that place. Let's hope irony doesn't hit. (+10)
• Week 5:
- Day 16 (Monday): Chemistry Paper 3 - I thought today's paper was going to be hardest ever or yet. But to be quite honest, it wasn't actually that bad. It put up enough of a challenge but was generally do-able. Another subject down.(+8.5)
- Day 17 (Tuesday): Biology Paper 1 - Had it's fair share of challenging questions but was overall okay. (+8)
- Day 18 (Wednesday): Economics Paper 2 - Long, but okay. ONE MORE PAPER. (+8)
- Day 19 (Friday): Economics Paper 1 - IGCSE ends on the right note. VICTORY. (+8.5)
IGCSE 2010
International General Certificate of Secondary Education
11.05.2010 - 11.06.2010
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