Guide and Tips-O Levels

[Chanelle Chan]

I have no idea which subject to focus on (business or design)? I do quite well in business but I feel that I have the heart to design (interior design) ... but i did not take art.. because my parents forced me to choose physics and the both of the lessons are at the same time so i have no choice but to give up on art... and I am not sure which other subjects should i choose if i decide to take business as my main subject to score in my o levels which will be in less than 1 year please help me...

 

[alerans]

Hey guys please tell me what is the syllabus of chemistry -physics-biology in O LEVEL II . İf you can please tell me the exact chapter numbers or names.

 

[anushaleo]

Hey guys,
I'm a medical student with sociology, going into O2. Before I post my questions. I want to give a small background. Basically what happened in the past few months is this; decided to go for private O levels. Decided to give PST, Urdu, Isl in Oct/Nov 2014 and divide rest of the six subjects between May/June and Oct/Nov 2015. Found that Oct/Nov papers are with a different pattern, harder, lengthier and more of a risk. Decided to drop Oct/Nov session papers and complete the whole thing in 2016. Next, found that while entering proffesional college they give more privilege to regular students than private students. Joined school. Heard that school doesn't prepare with the right pattern. Joined coaching.
So that's basically it. These changes of paths so many time has dropped my self confidence to somewhere between -40 and I would really appreciate if you people would give me some words of advice and wisdom. Anything to ease me up. Now for the qs.
Q1: how does private O level and Oct/Nov papers work?
Q2: I am a pretty decent student. I always always passed with A*. I grasp logic quickly although I'm not so good with memorising. Now can you cross your heart and tell me that I can ace all 9 sub. Without coaching because I've taken a few classes of PST and Isl and they teach small tricks and rules that they do not teach in school.

 

[Dark Destination]

Hey guys,
I'm a medical student with sociology, going into O2. Before I post my questions. I want to give a small background. Basically what happened in the past few months is this; decided to go for private O levels. Decided to give PST, Urdu, Isl in Oct/Nov 2014 and divide rest of the six subjects between May/June and Oct/Nov 2015. Found that Oct/Nov papers are with a different pattern, harder, lengthier and more of a risk. Decided to drop Oct/Nov session papers and complete the whole thing in 2016. Next, found that while entering proffesional college they give more privilege to regular students than private students. Joined school. Heard that school doesn't prepare with the right pattern. Joined coaching.
So that's basically it. These changes of paths so many time has dropped my self confidence to somewhere between -40 and I would really appreciate if you people would give me some words of advice and wisdom. Anything to ease me up. Now for the qs.
Q1: how does private O level and Oct/Nov papers work?
Q2: I am a pretty decent student. I always always passed with A*. I grasp logic quickly although I'm not so good with memorising. Now can you cross your heart and tell me that I can ace all 9 sub. Without coaching because I've taken a few classes of PST and Isl and they teach small tricks and rules that they do not teach in school.

If you're smart, then you need not to worry.
You can ace Pakistan studies and Islamiat, which can definitely be done with self-study.
Coaching for those subjects are useless, in my opinion.
Just get some decent notes, and just stick to the books. Read every detail, and memorize stuff.
Then move onto past papers.

And yes, you can ace all 9 subjects.

About question 1, Oct-Nov papers are not that different from May-June ones. Idk who told you that the pattern is different, it's not.
It's the same pattern, same syllabus and everything.

 

[anushaleo]

If you're smart, then you need not to worry.
You can ace Pakistan studies and Islamiat, which can definitely be done with self-study.
Coaching for those subjects are useless, in my opinion.
Just get some decent notes, and just stick to the books. Read every detail, and memorize stuff.
Then move onto past papers.

And yes, you can ace all 9 subjects.

About question 1, Oct-Nov papers are not that different from May-June ones. Idk who told you that the pattern is different, it's not.
It's the same pattern, same syllabus and everything.

Thank u so much this was very helpful. I sure hope Ur right about the acing thing

 

[Dark Destination]

Thank u so much this was very helpful. I sure hope Ur right about the acing thing

You're welcome.

 

[MarcoReus]

I found PST and Islamiat's studies a waste of time actually. The only thing that I kind of gained there was some extra knowledge (especially on P2 Q2) that I didn't find on books. Though I didn't need that in the papers.

It's just memorizing for Islamiat and History, while for Geography it's a general paper. You need to have a combination concept, general knowledge and memorizing the book to ensure a perfect preperation (my Geography prep was awful as my general knowledge is close to nil and I am not good in memorizing). I had a E in Mocks but by some miracle (mostly coz it was a very easy paper in which no Trade, Industries topics that I had no clue about came) and I got an A.

 

[anushaleo]

If you're smart, then you need not to worry.
You can ace Pakistan studies and Islamiat, which can definitely be done with self-study.
Coaching for those subjects are useless, in my opinion.
Just get some decent notes, and just stick to the books. Read every detail, and memorize stuff.
Then move onto past papers.

And yes, you can ace all 9 subjects.

About question 1, Oct-Nov papers are not that different from May-June ones. Idk who told you that the pattern is different, it's not.
It's the same pattern, same syllabus and everything.

Thank u so much this was very helpful. I sure hope Ur right about the acing thing

I found PST and Islamiat's studies a waste of time actually. The only thing that I kind of gained there was some extra knowledge (especially on P2 Q2) that I didn't find on books. Though I didn't need that in the papers.

It's just memorizing for Islamiat and History, while for Geography it's a general paper. You need to have a combination concept, general knowledge and memorizing the book to ensure a perfect preperation (my Geography prep was awful as my general knowledge is close to nil and I am not good in memorizing). I had a E in Mocks but by some miracle (mostly coz it was a very easy paper in which no Trade, Industries topics that I had no clue about came) and I got an A.

That is Awsome! And lucky I guess. About the waste of time thing, I think it would be more useful if you study it for knowledge rather than you know, acing the paper. Which, ofcourse we don't. Anyhow, thanks for the opinion.

 

[MarcoReus]

Thank u so much this was very helpful. I sure hope Ur right about the acing thing
That is Awsome! And lucky I guess. About the waste of time thing, I think it would be more useful if you study it for knowledge rather than you know, acing the paper. Which, ofcourse we don't. Anyhow, thanks for the opinion.

Typo sorry. I meant I found PST and Islamiat's academies a waste of time.

 

[anushaleo]

Typo sorry. I meant I found PST and Islamiat's academies a waste of time.

Oh. Ok. Thanks.

 

[iqra khalil]

what are the easiest subjects to get A in it I can opt for giving this may/june if my subjects are bio, chem, phy +5 others. guide me

 

[vinnaykumar]

Hey, I have read a lot of your posts on this forum and realised that you are a very helpful person here....I need some help too.

I have in O3 right now, subjects I have are Maths, Urdu *syllabus B*, English, Physics, Chemistry, Computer and Sociology. I want to go into computers because I love that but I just find Add Maths too hard, I am also average at Maths. I am a non-muslim so in O2 I only gave Pak. Studies. I got a B in it.

I have few questions:
-I want to give additional subjects (I don't prefer it as I don't see point in giving exams which are not going to be helpful in future studies but I want to get scholarship in the college campus of my school so I will need to) so which one should I give? After doing some research I have come to realise that I should give Environmental Studies for sure and some other (most probably Commerce or B.Studies). I would also prefer giving Add Maths but can you tell you how much time does Add Maths take to be completed (along with Past Paper practice) ?
-I have seen many people suffer for equivalency report (i don't know what that is) because of no Islamiat....so should I give Islamiat in private this year to be on the safe side? or Bible or is there any other alternative? how much does Islamiat take to be completed?
-Do they allow A-Level Maths if you don't have Add Maths as your subject in O Level but you get B, A or A* in O level maths?

Reply please and help me.

 

[Dark Destination]

what are the easiest subjects to get A in it I can opt for giving this may/june if my subjects are bio, chem, phy +5 others. guide me

Sociology. EM. Commerce - Easiest shit ever.

 

[Dark Destination]

Is ICT (computers) a scoring subject?

Yep.

 

[MarcoReus]

Hey, I have read a lot of your posts on this forum and realised that you are a very helpful person here....I need some help too.

I have in O3 right now, subjects I have are Maths, Urdu *syllabus B*, English, Physics, Chemistry, Computer and Sociology. I want to go into computers because I love that but I just find Add Maths too hard, I am also average at Maths. I am a non-muslim so in O2 I only gave Pak. Studies. I got a B in it.

I have few questions:
-I want to give additional subjects (I don't prefer it as I don't see point in giving exams which are not going to be helpful in future studies but I want to get scholarship in the college campus of my school so I will need to) so which one should I give? After doing some research I have come to realise that I should give Environmental Studies for sure and some other (most probably Commerce or B.Studies). I would also prefer giving Add Maths but can you tell you how much time does Add Maths take to be completed (along with Past Paper practice) ?
-I have seen many people suffer for equivalency report (i don't know what that is) because of no Islamiat....so should I give Islamiat in private this year to be on the safe side? or Bible or is there any other alternative? how much does Islamiat take to be completed?
-Do they allow A-Level Maths if you don't have Add Maths as your subject in O Level but you get B, A or A* in O level maths?

Reply please and help me.

I'll answer the 2nd and 3rd points.

2nd, You see not everyone in Pakistan can afford O/A Levels - there is another local board which consists Matric (equivalent of O Level) and F.Sc (equivalent to A Level). To match our marks to theirs, they'll take your O Level and A Level grades (8 O Levels + 3 A Levels) taking to a total of 1100 (100 marks each). 90 marks for A*, 85 for A, 75 B, 65 C, 55 D. Your marks thus are calculated and matched with FSc students when applying to Pakistani unis.

Islamiat is mandatory, I am not sure how it works for non-Muslims. One of my non-muslim friends gave Bible Studies, got an A*. I'll ask around and get back on that. Islamiat takes around 2-3 months if you give normal time though it can be done inside a month if you are going full speed.

Ofcourse they do. Some schools only disallow Further Maths for people who don't take Add Maths.

 

[Jennifer Rosale]

Okay so I'm taking urdu A because my teacher said it's more easier than B as you have a full syllabus in front of you p.s my friend told me (she was not sure) that you CAN take urdu A book in your exams??

 

[MarcoReus]

Urdu A is ratta (rote calling) or literature. You just write about story/poems you have studied alot. I heard the new syllabus features unseen text though. Not sure.

Urdu B is unseen. You barely need to study for it. Like O Level English. You need a good grasp of the language.

Urdu A gets better grades tbh. I took Urdu B as I felt I won't get time to study Urdu A in exams.

 

[MarcoReus]

No - you can't take your book. Maybe the new syllabus allows it though. I think it's in A Level Urdu where a book is allowed.

 

[Dark Destination]

Okay so I'm taking urdu A because my teacher said it's more easier than B as you have a full syllabus in front of you p.s my friend told me (she was not sure) that you CAN take urdu A book in your exams??

My friends took Urdu A, studied day and night for it. Memorized stuff. Ended up with a B, only some got A.

I took Urdu B, never studied for it. They gave me an A. Many of my friends got A's and A*'s, in fact most of them.
The Urdu B paper is general stuff, and only requires memorization of ''Muhawaraas'', which too is only for 5 marks. I skipped that. Got 2 out of 5 right, though.
So with a good amount of past paper practice, one can easily get an A or A* in it.

So you can say that SOMETIMES it's easier to score in Urdu A since you already know the syllabus, but it involves a lot of hardwork and memorizing. So if you've got a lot of time, and are good in Urdu, then go for Urdu A.

 

[MarcoReus]

My friends took Urdu A, studied day and night for it. Memorized stuff. Ended up with a B, only some got A.

I took Urdu B, never studied for it. They gave me an A. Many of my friends got A's and A*'s, in fact most of them.
The Urdu B paper is general stuff, and only requires memorization of ''Muhawaraas'', which too is only for 5 marks. I skipped that. Got 2 out of 5 right, though.
So with a good amount of past paper practice, one can easily get an A or A* in it.

So you can say that SOMETIMES it's easier to score in Urdu A since you already know the syllabus, but it involves a lot of hardwork and memorizing. So if you've got a lot of time, and are good in Urdu, then go for Urdu A.

Quit giving false hope. Who got an A* in Urdu B?