LC subject help

[Faith]

My parents seem to think that I can get 1000 points if i want, and my career guidance teacher couldn't give a crap, so I turn here for help and advice from people who've been through this all recently.

I am doing 7 subjects for the leaving cert, all honours so far. However, I'm stuggling a lot with Irish, and want to do pass. But there are problems.

The highest points I need for what I want to do in college would be about 550 if I went to Trinity, and about 480 in UCC. But what I really want to do is go to Edinburgh, where points don't count, and I would probably only need maybe 2 B's and 2 A's for my chosen courses, should I get accepted. So it seems to me like going to pass Irish shouldn't create any difficulties... Except the irish teacher is crap and cannot control a class EVER. At the moment, there is only 1 pass class, but there will be 2 next year.

So, what should I do? Keep struggling with the honours irish? Wait until next year to go to pass? Go now and take my chances?

On top of that, I feel I should have an extra subject to make up for pass irish, so I was considering Classical Studies. Can this course be done in one year? Is it advisable?

I'm sorry for the lenght of this, and it probably doesn't make much sense, but I'm really confused at the moment, getting different messages from everybody, and I really need some help. Thanks!

[the outlaw torn]

stick with the honours irish till its time to fill in the form for subject and level choice(unless you've already done this) and if at that time your still doubtful about honours change to pass. a struggling honours student would be an A pass student if you put the same amount of work into it. or maybe not, its been years since i did the leaving.

[Faith]

I'm only in 5th year at the moment, though.

[pablo]

I would stick with the Higher Level, if you work at it it will come off for you. Its always better to do the Higher Level subjects, I think, if you can manage them. Taking up another subject, an droppin Irish might be more trouble than its worth.

I was having problems in 5th year with Irish , or so my teachers said , and they expected me to drop down, I really think though they just wanted to fill the numbers. So I got a good grinds person and he gave me a hand, and in the LC I got a C1 in Higher. When my teachers were expecting me to fail it with flying colours a year before that.

[ciaran]

Remember a C3 in honours Irish is more points than an A1 in pass, I'd say don't rule it out yet if you can...

[MsKitty]

vicky thats wot i did. i did hons but went to pass in 6th yr as there was no way i was going into mr coffees class as the poor guy i feel sorry 4 him but he cant control a tap let alone a class.

i think thats ur best bet wait til next yr and ur only in 5th yr dont stress urself too much

[Faith]

Okay, thanks you guys!

Someone recommended Economic History to me as a subject to do in a year next year. Apparently they knew of someone who took it up halfway through 6th year, and got a B1 in it. Anyone know anything about the subject?

[pablo]

some people can get to grips with different subjects faster than others. So the story you heard might be true for people who have a brain for that sort of thing. Not that I am trying to put a damper on this or spiral you into a fit of depression. Just remember that normally you get points for hard work. There isn't a easy way to do it.

I did well at physics for the LC and but there was no way I could have done history as my mind prefers to see and try out what is actually happening, and was curios about the way things worked, not really about who made them first or how those machines effect the world.

[Tree]

you shouldnt need an extra subject ot make up for the irish really, unless another of the remaining six looks dodgy. i did applied maths extra for the LC to make up for my lanuage subjects. i know a lot of ppl who took geography or home ec for an extra subject. If you can make the points you want from the other six, stick at them and get your a1's

[DHBH]

def stick with the irish at honours level. remember that in regards to the poems and stories you still have to do the same type of Q on the pass course. pick out the thing thats troubling you most and concentrate on them. only thing about irish at honours level is that it's extremely rare to get an A let alone an A1. my teacher was brilliant and we all did great at honours simply through doing what's neccessary. just remem that:
a. your exactness of the grammer is vital.
b. the exam papers are a great source of revision
c. essay titles repeat almost every year, know violence, drink, terrorism and a wee bit on politics. same goes with poems and stories, questions repeat.

don't stress about it. you've got a year. talk as much as you can in irish, i swear t brought me up a grade. most of all enjoy yourself!!!!

[daveirl]

Dropping down to pass Irish in 5th year was the best decision I ever made. It was the only subject I had difficulty with, but the pass paper is a joke so the little bit of Irish that got me a D in my JC carried me through the exam. This meant I didn't open a book in Irish and gave me plenty of time to study my other 6 important subjects!

[Faith]

Dropping down to pass Irish in 5th year was the best decision I ever made. It was the only subject I had difficulty with, but the pass paper is a joke so the little bit of Irish that got me a D in my JC carried me through the exam. This meant I didn't open a book in Irish and gave me plenty of time to study my other 6 important subjects!
Yeah, that's the way m mind is seeing things too. I do the 3 science subjects, and they need a LOT of work, as well as honours maths. Ho hum... It's all so confusing. I can't sort out grammer in my mind, and I seem to suck at making up answers. I also seem to be physically incapable of learning essays and whatot.

[daveirl]

Well their's the crux of the problem, you're going to have to go and learn essays off while you could be doing stuff that's guarenteed to come up in the other 4 subjects you've mentioned. At the end of the day you'll probably get an A or a B in pass Irish. I got an A and like I said I never did a tap of work, so even if one of my other subjects had gone horribly wrong I still would have done well.

[claire.h]

If you're doing the three science subjects, have you thought about Applied Maths as an extra subject? It ties in really well with honours maths and physics, and reinforces knowledge and ability in both those subjects. It's great for points too - as a percentage of people taking the subject, more people get As in App Maths than in any other subject. I took it up in 6th year and got an A :)

Classical Studies, on the other hand, does not seem to complement your subject choices, and while interesting to study, is actually damned hard to get a good mark in. And it's a very "wordy" kinda subject, where your ability with language really matters, so if Irish is tough for you, then maybe Classical Studies isn't the way to go...

Oh and you should definitely stick with honours Irish for at least 5th year - then if you drop down to pass next year, you'll find it a doddle when you're stressing about everything else!!

[Faith]

I tried Applied Maths, but it seemed like a lot of extra work, so I stopped. Honours maths and physics aren't my favourite subjects, and the time and place it was on was really awkward. I loved history before I gave up, so that's why I was thinking Classical Studies. It sounds like you just learn off stories and things. But I did see that very few people get an A in it. I'm also mad about biology, but there's nothing extra I can do with that, is there?

[the evil belly]

faith if u decide to take up classics let me know and i'll see what i can do for you. at the moment i'm doing a joint B.A. in archaeology and greek and roman civilisation. i may have a lot of the books you'll need and could probably point you in the right direction if you were having trouble. send me a pm if you want to know anything in particular.

[stairway 2 hell]

i have friends who took up music 4 months before the leaving cert and got b3's. what i did, which helped alot was i dropped down to pass irish, to take the load off really, and then worked like hell at 5 other subjects. this payed off big time cos i got an a1 two a2s and 2 b1s in those subjects (the a2s were actually both 89.75% but i never bothered for the recheck). so it can be done. decide which subject you can afford to drop down to pass to, do it and then work like hell towards 5 of your 6 subjects. the final subject just arse around with it and aim for like a c1-b3. you'll be surprised how much time will open up if you do one pass subject. if maths is your thing it aint too late to take up applied maths.

[Tree]

applied maths is a lot easier than it seems, got a b1 in it w.o trying, if you know how to pick up attempt marks in maths or applied maths your sorted

[claire.h]

Faith, now that you're doing your summer tests* and all, what did you decide about subject choices? or are you leaving it all up in the air til next year?

*good luck!

[Faith]

I made the mistake of mentioning it to my parents, who freaked out at the idea of me doing pass irish. There was major drama, and the upshot of it is I'm staying in honours, but I'm not gonna make an effort. Might take up classicals studies next year anyway, out of interest, and to give me a bit of back up, but I'm gonna wait and see.

Thanks!

[the evil belly]

i repeat my offer of helping you if you do classics. just done my finals in it. dunno how much help i'll be but i can at least sort you out with some books and notes

[Faith]

Thanks a million, Belly. Much appreciated!

[the evil belly]

no bother. your're welcome to the stuff now if you like if you wanna do some reading over the summer. lots of the plays are actually pretty good reads

[Faith]

I might take you up on that, actually. I'll need plenty of reading material for the summer, so it might be cool! Is it greek mythology or what?

[the evil belly]

dunno whats on the lc course. try picking up the exam papers and i'll go through them with you. my course in college varied form greek myth, tragedy, archaeology, philosophy and architecture and more or less the same for the roman side of the course

[pablo]

Faith what did you choose in the end ? Honours or Pass ? And more importantly was it the right decision ...

[Faith]

I'm still in honours :( . I'm getting a grind, but I think he hates me because i'm so crap. I did go down to pass maths, though! That teacher actually recommended it, which I was delighted with. But no, still struggling with irish and there's no way I can do 2 pass subjects and still get the points i need.

[Cemetry Slut]

I dropped to pass irish.. there is no need for honours if your not fluent... So hard.
i took up a second lanuage tho... and its going good for me.

Girl we'll do good if we just keep working our asses off!