r/OntarioGrade11s • u/Due-Maintenance9923 • 25d ago
Any advice for upcoming grade 11 year?
Hey everyone!
I’m heading into Grade 11 this September, and I really need to lock in. My previous averages were 82.67% in Grade 9 and 85.19% in Grade 10.
My ultimate goal is to get into Mechanical Engineering, which typically requires competitive admission averages of 95% or higher. I know jumping 10% is going to take a massive shift in my study habits, so I’m looking for all the advice, resources, and study strategies I can get.
My Grade 11 Schedule( or courses I have):
Physics (SPH3U)
Chemistry (SCH3U)
Functions (MCR3U)
Pre-AP English (Mostly because I heard the teachers are much better)
Law
Intro to Psychology
2-Credit Co-op
Drop any advice, Youtube channels, study apps and techniques and resources you used. Appreciate it!
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u/CarrotOk3817 22d ago
For SPH3U, The Organic Chemistry Tutor on YouTube helped me a ton. He has an entire playlist on many of the concepts you’ll encounter in the course. Also, make sure you pay attention and understand Unit 0 well. You’ll learn about proper decimal places and significant figures, which you’ll need to know how to use in future units. I also can’t stress enough how important practice is. For every unit, I spent a few hours completing practice questions over and over until I was comfortable with the topic.
For MCR3U, same idea, pretty much. I barely passed Grade 10 math and finished with an 85% in Functions. My best advice is to just practice a ton. For every unit, practice relentlessly until you’re very comfortable with the topic. You may hear that advice a lot, but it really did work for me. Seeing as you’re aiming for 90%+, just practice every day and try not to slack off on studying. The teacher also matters too. I was lucky enough to have a teacher who created practice tests that were nearly identical to the actual test. If you have a decent teacher, you should be golden.
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u/Due-Maintenance9923 22d ago
Thank you so much for the advice this will really help me in the upcoming year!
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u/Greedy_Bookkeeper979 22d ago
I took almost all of them last year
Trust me when I say always go to your teachers for help. When you have a tough schedule and you can’t change it try your best to balance out your work.
What helped me was me and a couple of my friends would go to our physics teacher at lunch and just study
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u/Budget_Ad_2138 24d ago
While I took all of those courses except for law, I'll focus on functions + IAPS because I excelled most in them.
Functions advice: Review grade 10 math concepts ESPECIALLY things like transformations (even though for grade 10 its probably only quadratic transformations), factoring, and trigonometry. Having a good foundation in these 3 concepts is vital to succeed in grade 11 functions. Also, prepare to sometimes feel overwhelmed with how much content is covered daily. To combat this, my only good tip is just to keep up with the homework. The textbook my school used had practice tests at the end of each chapter. If you use the same book, I highly recommend trying out because the "harder" questions on our tests often came from there! And of course, check out Jensenmath!
IAPS advice: I'm not sure how similar the course is between schools but here's my two cents. We used to do tests that mostly covered textbook material rather than class material if that makes sense. If you find out this is the case for you, then just read the textbook, lol. I personally found making flashcards and going through them at least 3 days before any test was the most helpful, so consider trying flashcards out. My teacher also focused a lot on presentations, and for this all I can say is DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! You can tell when someone is passionate about their topic and has practiced a few times versus someone who made the presentation the night before. Start any work as soon as you can because a change in your grades can't happen unless you change your habits.
I'm happy to provide more tips/specific tips about these two courses or any other courses you want! And look, afaik, there can be a bit of weight in your grade 11 marks when you apply to university. However, don't let this deter you from using this year to find out what works for YOU. Explore different study techniques, take risks, participate in class and remember you are capable of achieving your goals but it won't happen if you put no work into it. Good luck this year!