Easter revision courses

Funkstard

Is anyone doing these? I'm doing Art history & English in the Institute for the first week. Quite handy, I'm out of there at 12:15 and I'd only be getting up at that time anyway so it'll be good to do them.

Anyone else doing any revision courses?

Shrimp

Doing the Tute, all 7 subjects.. Art included.. two weeks...

Shrimp

3 Essays.. Yeah, but you need to have good essays, you should know that, you're doing history.

Raphael

Going to Yeats in waterford. English, Irish, French, Maths and Biology

smemon

im not going as i dont believe in paying for free education.

you can't buy respect or love, so you can take your revision courses and dump them. why should i pay for something i get for free anyway?

a big waste of money imo. get out there and enjoy your holidays, don't go to one of these study clubs. :rolleyes:

grimloch

Do these things tend to be booked up though at this stage? I appear to have forgotten about them.

I also don't like the thought of having to sit down for any long length of time trying to cram information into my brain for a two week period.

Borrowing the notes off people seems like a nice idea although considerably less effective I'm sure.

Shrimp

Well the main idea for these things isn't to cram but rather get decent notes, and get tips etc..

*Tripper*

smemon wrote:

im not going as i dont believe in paying for free education.

you can't buy respect or love, so you can take your revision courses and dump them. why should i pay for something i get for free anyway?

a big waste of money imo. get out there and enjoy your holidays, don't go to one of these study clubs. :rolleyes:

Yeah, whatever.

smemon

*Tripper* wrote:

Yeah, whatever.

love that song. anyway....... it's unecessary work, money and time. it's a lazy persons way out of studying, you just get everything handed to you (someone else's work and summaries).

thats not life my friends. mastercard can't buy you everything. how about raising the bar and trying to get A's by YOURSELVES. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :cool:

d4gurl

I go to the tute an am thinkin of doin a cuple of courses!oops! shrimp seben by god!woah!

Rockerette

"It's a lazy persons way out of studying, you just get everything handed to you (someone else's work and summaries)"

it kills me to say it... but i find myself agreeing with smemon?!?


oh god.

i better leave now..!




anyways... lets not turn this into another public V private V the institute thread... :rolleyes:

sariane

The leaving is stressful enough on students so if you can get help or for want of a better word get some of the work "handed" to you then why not? If you end up getting 600 points because of help from the institute then go for it what does it matter aslong as you get your course! Shrimp all 7 subjects, thats going to tough! I guarentee at the end of the 2 weeks you'll just have a big pile of notes on the ground... that'll you'll put off organising :rolleyes: you're choice but it would probably be more effective if you only did say 2 or 3 subjects but thats just my opinion! :cool:

smemon

Rockerette wrote:

"It's a lazy persons way out of studying, you just get everything handed to you (someone else's work and summaries)"

it kills me to say it... but i find myself agreeing with smemon?!?

*high fives rockerette* together, we can beat these losers who go to easter revision courses we'll sho 'em. a bit of elbow grease and getting the old hamster running is the best way to get an 'A'.

put it this way; when you get a flat tyre and dont know how to change it, you might get help a few times and forget about it. but there'l be one time, just that one time, where nobody will be around, your mobile will be dead and your left on your own.

it's better just to learn how to do it yourself. *note to self; i should write books, that stuff is genius*

sariane

*high fives rockerette* together, we can beat these losers who go to easter revision courses we'll sho 'em. a bit of elbow grease and getting the old hamster running is the best way to get an 'A'.


1. How are they losers if they are getting good grades?
2. If they end up getting their points because of revision courses.. who's going to know and who will care?!
3. Your little analogy was irrelevant because they might have done a revision course in irish.. when will they ever use that again?

smemon

sariane wrote:

1. How are they losers if they are getting good grades?
2. If they end up getting their points because of revision courses.. who's going to know and who will care?!
3. Your little analogy was irrelevant because they might have done a revision course in irish.. when will they ever use that again?

1. because theyve bought them. paid extra for them. bought other peoples notes effectively.

2. i care. i know. and so do those people. deep down they'll know it. no point in fooling yourself, you'll get what you deserve, there's no point in trying to cheat to boost results.

3. maybe if they become a teacher or translator? point taken, but stop trying to dis my wee analogy ur just jealous

Funkstard

Right, so going by that logic every 'Less Stress More Success' book is cheating, every study guide with a paper is trash, every tip you've been given about studying is wrong because they give you an edge; in fact using your textbook at all is wrong! Be damned, education full stop is the root of all evil!!

Come on, how are grinds 'cheating'. Is it not up to us to prepare ourselves as best we can (without anything illegal) for the LC? Saying revision courses is cheating is absolute bollix

DonaldDuck

smemon wrote:

1. because theyve bought them. paid extra for them. bought other peoples notes effectively.

2. i care. i know. and so do those people. deep down they'll know it. no point in fooling yourself, you'll get what you deserve, there's no point in trying to cheat to boost results.

3. maybe if they become a teacher or translator? point taken, but stop trying to dis my wee analogy ur just jealous

You better get rid of your school books,otherwise you're buying "notes" and education.Also you must discard any notes you wrote yourself based on those books and start from scratch without any information from any external sources.

Edit:Just read Funkstards post after skipping it and noticed he said the same thing.

ed6hellsfresh

smemon wrote:

it's unecessary work, money and time. it's a lazy persons way out of studying, you just get everything handed to you (someone else's work and summaries).

thats not life my friends. mastercard can't buy you everything. how about raising the bar and trying to get A's by YOURSELVES. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :cool:

yeh well i gotta say i agree with that. i did the leaving last yr and i found my friends who did these courses did not imrove their grades that much from the mocks.
i mean its kind of rediculous to think that in ONE WEEK you will make a significant difference to the points you will get. you have been given two whole years to learn the information needed for this exam, one week will not make a difference.
Also when u go out there and study yourself and engage with the material in the book and try to understand it, u will be able to answer your questions with a greater level of depth, which is what is needed. seeing my friends cart home an entire oak tree in paper a day was hilarious, because they ended up using them for about a week, making it some rather expensive recycling material.
Revision can be done alone, you do not need to pay to sit in a class, to go over material. If u have a good set of peepers and a chair in ur room, well then ur in luck, your very own revision course, and its FREE!

my advice get the marking schemes of the dept of education website, and start using them.
p.s. comparing 'less stress' books to institute grinds is pretty stupid, they do the same thing, but u can read them in your own time, they come with past papers and last time i checked are more than €100 cheaper, for the same service.

Rockerette

ed6hellsfresh, i applaud you.



its true.


learn things yourself.


i even notice when teachers hand me notes they've typed up, i dont absrob them or learn from them.

write them yourself, and ta-daa. you might learn something.



DonaldDuck, why would you discard notes you've written yourself??
thats just a childish approach :rolleyes:





i knew this thread would turn into this kinda discussion.
we're gettin predicatable in our old age...

grimloch

ed6hellsfresh wrote:

i mean its kind of rediculous to think that in ONE WEEK you will make a significant difference to the points you will get. you have been given two whole years to learn the information needed for this exam, one week will not make a difference.

I would disagree to a certain extent with that point. One week can make quite alot of difference, for example during the week before my French oral, my standard of French came on in leaps and bounds. I'd say the same thing about my Irish aswell.

If you're doing all seven or eight subjects over a one week period though, this might be different in which case my point is fairly redundant. Actually no, maybe it isn't, I got a fierce amount of revision done the week before my mock exams. But then again, I forgot a good part of it soon after the exams...

DonaldDuck

Rockerette wrote:

ed6hellsfresh, i applaud you.



its true.


learn things yourself.


i even notice when teachers hand me notes they've typed up, i dont absrob them or learn from them.

write them yourself, and ta-daa. you might learn something.



DonaldDuck, why would you discard notes you've written yourself??
thats just a childish approach :rolleyes:





i knew this thread would turn into this kinda discussion.
we're gettin predicatable in our old age...

You used a book you purchased,or were given to help you write them.Therefore its buying education as you were saying.

NADA

smemon wrote:

im not going as i dont believe in paying for free education.

you can't buy respect or love, so you can take your revision courses and dump them. why should i pay for something i get for free anyway?

a big waste of money imo. get out there and enjoy your holidays, don't go to one of these study clubs. :rolleyes:

I second that! Why would you pay for something you can get for free. It's a sign of people feeling pressure and paying to relieve it!

People go to these courses because they want high points. They want high pints to get a course in college. They want a place in College to earn some good money. Alot of high points courses have rewarding careers. Yet if you want to get really rich you don't pay for it. You HAVE to work. Most people have who go the easter revision courses obviously lack the self discipline to work for themselves and therefore will never be the wealthiest. The real entrepreneurs are the ones who go it alone.

Anyway. Is it not a bit of a paradox? Lets pay for something that I can get free so that I can get rich. I doubt any of todays millionaires paid for something they could get for free. Bit of a step in the wrong direction don't you think?

sully-gormo

The leaving dosent take account of whether you paid for your education or not. The reason teachers are teaching in the 'tute is because they are better than the free ones and are getting paid more because of it. At the very least doing one of these courses might give you a new perspective on a subject especially in subjects like english or history.
Of course theyre not some magic potion that will suddenly improve your grades but they do help you along the way and might just give you some more confidence when facing the exams in june; especially if you dont have alot of faith in your teachers.

d4gurl

Do people not realise that sometimes you need to be taught stuf wel!like chemsirty, math, pretty much everything. a lot of the time people hav **** teachers and hence go to revision courses!

smemon

NADA wrote:

It's a sign of people feeling pressure and paying to relieve it!

if you want to get really rich you don't pay for it. You HAVE to work. Most people have who go the easter revision courses obviously lack the self discipline to work for themselves and therefore will never be the wealthiest. The real entrepreneurs are the ones who go it alone.

Bit of a step in the wrong direction don't you think?

spot on NADA, these people are gloryhunters, looking for maximum glory with minimum effort. they are greed personified and lack the self discipline to sit down and learn things for themselves.

these are the people who get things handed to them when they click their fingers. the 'throwaway' generation which is beginning to meander into our modern society. a1 in english plz

Tom65

I don't like the idea of grinds, but unfortunately the way the Leaving Cert is designed, it's a competition. You compete with other students for places. If there is something which helps me gain advantage in this I'm going to do.

Also, why is the lazy way? I do grinds as well as other study, not instead of study. Couldn't that mean I do more than those who don't do grinds?

I agree with the point that you can't pay for everything in life, you have to work for it. That's why I'm doing grinds. I'm putting the extra work, doing the hour or so of grinds instead of sleeping. Then I'm going home and doing extra time on that subject. For me, grinds mean more work.

smemon

Tom65 wrote:

I don't like the idea of grinds, but unfortunately the way the Leaving Cert is designed, it's a competition. You compete with other students for places. If there is something which helps me gain advantage in this I'm going to do.

Also, why is the lazy way? I do grinds as well as other study, not instead of study. Couldn't that mean I do more than those who don't do grinds?

I agree with the point that you can't pay for everything in life, you have to work for it. That's why I'm doing grinds. I'm putting the extra work, doing the hour or so of grinds instead of sleeping. Then I'm going home and doing extra time on that subject. For me, grinds mean more work.

ive no problem wit dat. if ya work ur ass off for sumtin den yav earned it. however dossing about for 6 years den taking up grinds for 6mths and coming out with an A or B, i do hav a problem wit. people like that don't deserve a 2nd chance and should be left in the gutter to learn things for themselves as they only hav themselves to blame.

if u put in d work and dont leech off people just for d sake of improving ur results, den its not a problem.

ed6hellsfresh

sully-gormo wrote:

The reason teachers are teaching in the 'tute is because they are better than the free ones and are getting paid more because of it.

At the very least doing one of these courses might give you a new perspective on a subject especially in subjects like english or history.


they do help you along the way and might just give you some more confidence when facing the exams in june; especially if you dont have alot of faith in your teachers.

come on now lets not fool ourselves the teacher in the 'tute, as u like to call it, are not that much better than the 'free ones', the only time you hear the teaching quality being superior is in adverts taken about by, yes, the institute.the reason people think that the tute teachers are better is because of the methods by which they teach. i mean from what i can gather in the institute you are taught a subject in the context of answering a leavinc c question on it, and there is no denying it, in many of the subjects (yes i understand math etc excluded) you are spoon fed the right answer and told to right that.
so to your other point u dont really recieve a new perspective on the subject you are not recieving a deeper philisophical look into the mind of poets etc, you are given the answer that the markers are looking for, and told to replicate it.
and ironically the 'free ones' who try and actually teach you about the subject, make u understand it, i believe its called an education.

but this is not what the thread is about. . .

i think that in the space of 1 week you cannot make a significant discovery or achieve some enlightened view of a subject. especially if you are one of these people who think taking 7 subjects for however many euro is 'a good investment' you will not take it in, you will be burned out, and u will have wasted time and money.
and if its not cannot, its definatly should not, you should not be relying on a one week course, two months away from your exams to help you. you have had TWO years to learn it.

cramming two years of material into one week, i mean common sense says it wont work. no?

DonaldDuck

ed6hellsfresh wrote:

cramming two years of material into one week, i mean common sense says it wont work. no?

If it doesn't work you should care if some of us do the revision courses.If it doesn't work,people who get it shouldn't get an A or B as smenon(spelt wrong sorry) said.Because,it shouldn't make a difference?And therefore you wouldn't be critisising people that do them in this topic.If anything,these revision courses act more as a wake up call for people as it would help many of them reliese how much they need to do and often the notes you are given are much better than the information found in text books.

I would find it odd for someone to get an A or a B in any honorus subject without study themselves,I wouldn't believe someone if they told me that.Grinds wont change that,they still need to do work themselves.

Many schools,have extremly poor teachers for certain subjects..I know in my school for any students doing biolagy they are cursed with poor teachers,who would struggle to learn the course themselves-Never mind teach it.So if these people go to Ashfield Colleg or The Institute for grinds every week,or for the revision courses,are they really lazy?I know for a fact I couldn't teach myself some things in Physics or Accounting from books,I would need a teacher to explain it,can you honsetly say you could do everything yourself?

Rockerette

physics is my hardest subject, but i do all my work out of class.. (you really shouldnt sit besdie your friends... spend waaaay too much time talking). i use my textbook, and exam papers, a calculator, and a refil pad..

sin é.



the amount you learn in the good old fashioned way would probably surprise a lot of people.


a bit of cop on, and your textbook goes a long way...



i know everyone is different, but i feel as if too many people forget the fundamental requirements of studying, and instead rush out, desperate to get extra help, or shortened "simplified" notes, before they actually give 100% effort themselves.

smemon

Rockerette wrote:

the amount you learn in the good old fashioned way would probably surprise a lot of people.

a bit of cop on, and your textbook goes a long way...

exactly, even though people say you need something to be explained for you to understand it, i dont believe it.

for example, if i download some new software, say 'microsoft powerpoint', and i realise what it can potentially do, but dont have a clu how to work it, i'll fiddle about with it and explore every possible option and by trial and error i'll have mastered it by myself.

i wouldnt dream of paying for someone to teach me it as it's a lazy way out, plus you dont learn as much from other people as you do by yourself.

to quote a genius (me): "the most intelligent person i know is myself". i believe thats the same for all of us.

JCB

NADA wrote:

They want high pints to get a course in college.

That point just works for me on so many levels!:D

what you people think about free revision courses then? Is that cheating too?

NCI have free courses....

smemon

Deleted User wrote:

what you people think about free revision courses then? Is that cheating too?

NCI have free courses....

no, thats just good sense. you don't turn down anything that's free if it benefits you in some way.

Rockerette

hhmmm i'd disagree.. well, i dunno really.


if its near you.. and it doesnt take too much effort to get there, adn you wont be wrecked by the end of the week, go for it.

but otehrwise, stay home, rest, relax, recouperate at your own ease, and study from home is my advice.

tis what im doing anyway.. but sure what would I know..


at the end of the day, its not the financial aspect i have the problem with. its the fact that people dont put in enough effort themselves.


i agree with what smemon said a posts back back up ^ about people who did sweet **** all for 5 years, now go and ultimately pay to make up for it. im not saying they dont put in effort, its the fact theyre only bothering with it this year.
and yes, im surrounded by people like that.



(yes, im one of those nerdy kids who have done their homework everynight since first year.. studied for every test.... im not for a second sayin that makes me better than anyone else, but well... i have never got a grind in my life, or bought a less stres... book, cos i really dont feel like i need them.. over the last 6 years i've learnt that putting in actual effort BY YOURSELF can get you some damn good results.)




but sure, none of us really care what the rest of us think, its not gonna stop us going or not going to these revision courses...

so yeah..


pigeons.

DonaldDuck

I prefer the lazy way out:
Do nothing for junior cert
Do nothing in fifth year
Grinds in 6th year.

And to be completly honest,I wouldn't change anything if I could re-do school.I had a lot of fun for 1st,2nd most of third all of 5th and start of 6th year.I did homework in important subjects though for 5 year.

And I am completly aware its an awful attitutude to have towards school,but in the mocks I got well above what I needed and didn't fail any subjects so it worked fine for me.I started my study in november/december then I started getting grinds in january as an extra bit of help.

I may not have done as much work as some people(Like Rockerette) but I still do work.I wouldn't beleive anyone saying they did no work to even get 300 point.They may no do as much work as you,but they do put work in.

(I am quiet aware though there are people who do no work till easter,get notes,do no work until the end of may,but these people rarely ever do well still...)

get the points...

in any way you can...


people pick "easier" subjects to maximise their points, do extra subjects to act as safety nets, get grinds in subjects they're weak in, get grinds in subjects they want an A1 in.

Students are Students, the leaving cert is a competition, who wouldn't want an edge?

Funkstard

They're called 'revision' courses, not 'cram a 2 year course into 5 days' course. I have been working over the last 2 years, and as I start revising for the LC of course I want to know what areas to look over more than others, what are the most important things to know in the course and whatnot.

I'm sorry, but can anyone tell me they they studied the whole course in detail for the exam? Unless you did then you can't say a thing about people who do revision courses

Rockerette

Funkstard wrote:

of course I want to know what areas to look over more than others, what are the most important things to know in the course and whatnot.

look at previous exam papers - thats what i do for every subject, and the most important things are obvious, as they keep asking them..


basic cop on goes a long way..

sully-gormo

Whether the teachers in the institute are better or not; or whether their methods are questionable is beside the point; it seems as if you are somehow cheating if you pay for extra help to do well in the leaving cert. The main function of the LC exam nowadays seems to be to filter people for college . Yes its imperfect, its not based purely on the effort you put in. Two people may put in the same amount of effort and get very different results in the end. Yes its unequal as well, as not everyone is able to afford grinds.

But thats the way things work, a system where everyone has the same education is a communist one and that didnt exactly turn out well. Even without places like leeson street theres still inequality between schools; a ballymun school is likely to be worse that one in malahide.

The methods used in places like the institute arent really questionable. There is such a thing as a better teacher. Teachers in ordinary schools are just as exam focused. The idea that you get a higher quality education in a public sch. isnt really true. At the end of the day youre competing with everyone else.

That said theyre no substitute for hard work; they help you work better and more intelligently; but they dont mean youll have to work less

smemon

sully-gormo wrote:

But thats the way things work, a system where everyone has the same education is a communist one and that didnt exactly turn out well.

i disagree, communist countries have the best health and education systems in the world. communism works- when it comes to satisfying basic needs and rights.

obviously when it comes to making profit and reaching self fulfillment, communism falls on it's rear end.

everyone should be given the same shot in life, same education, same health facilities etc.. but should people fail to appreciate this education, they shouldnt be allowed buy themselves into college and ultimately onto a higher standard of living.

imo, it's too easy to pass the leaving and too easy to get 600points with grinds/ private colleges available. it reminds me of titanic where 'the better half' were put on lifeboats first, with the rest life to rot.

Aporia

I think at the end of the day it's not going to make a major difference. It's about the effort you put in and your capability to memorize. Your commitment.

No matter what they might say, you can't buy your LC results. Sure you might go off and get brilliant notes and hire a personal study adviser or something like that but you still have to sit down and learn the material. Nobody can learn it for you.

There's no such thing as cheating in terms of preparing for exams. The information is there for everyone to understand and learn. You either learn it or you don't, it's as simple as that really.

Aoibheann

With the fierce competitive nature of the education system we have in place here (though it does give you a more rounded education than say, the UK, in my opinion, and I also find it better than continual assessment that many countries have), I think if you're given the opportunity to maximise your results by grinds, revision books, extra subjects, whatever, and you feel you're up to putting extra time in it, then go for it.

I'll use myself as an example here. I got a B in my maths mock. My maths teacher says his classes usually go up about 15% from the mocks, which means I should get an A in my Leaving, with similar work as I've done til now/ a bit more effort. But, I need to get an A1 from this. I know there's a decent chance I'd get an A1 without grinds, but I need as close to 600 points in my Leaving (medicine ), so I decided a few weeks ago to start getting grinds, oddly enough, from my maths teacher. Now I find in a situation which is much quieter than my class, that I can get all the toughest c parts out. And all I need is a bit more of a push, and my teacher is the type that will get the best out of you one way or another. I'm delighted that I decided to get grinds, and I don't think I'm getting an unfair advantage. I pay for these grinds with money I'd saved up, I'm not relying on my parents. So who is anyone to judge what I choose to do with my money? I could mock many people for wasting it getting drunk (at least I'm doing something constructive like!), but that'd be just about as pointless as this entire discussion is.

If you want to use these methods to just increase your chances of getting the highest grade you can, by all means do. (Btw, on the other side, I think practicing papers on a regular basis is on a similar level, but setting aside the time for it is another thing. Grinds just ensure that you do take that time, that's why they're so effective.)

Do what you want, it's your leaving cert, study/don't study, get grinds/hate grinds, write in Blue/Black..

Who cares??

Rockerette

write in black.

always.



blue is a horrid horrid colour for pens!

NADA

Rockerette wrote:

write in black.

always.



blue is a horrid horrid colour for pens!

How. Black is so boring. I can't stand black pen. I rather green!

emma.oshea

guys what do ye think of examsupport.ie???

*Tripper*

Jesus christ superstar, are you trying to get us to do a report for you. Your only getting a very tiny minority of LC students here. **** sake

emma.oshea

tripper quit trippin out...Dont let the Lc get to u.I'm not tryin to piss ye off just wonderin if ye have tried and tested, sorry!

*Tripper*

Sorry bout that, one of those days. It should be sunny.