Leaving Cert. Chemistry

andrew

I'm in 3rd year, and i've chosen Chem for leaving cert. I was wondering if this was a bad choice - is it esp difficult/hard to get points in? i know its all relitive to some extent but in gen do people think that its a particularly hard course? Thanks.

Vulpiner

It can be difficult if youve no interest in it. When I did my Leaving Cert a few years ago, I chose it because I found it difficult. Seems strange but thats me. I did find it difficult and concentrated on "interesting subjects" rather than that.

Personally if I had the choice again and was looking solely for a points-based subject, Id have done Geography.

By the way, alot depends on the teacher that is going to be instructing you. A subject may be intensely monotonous but if you have a teacher that can make it interesting and make you want to learn it, thats half the battle. So find out who is going to be teaching you next year and see if you get along with them.

Of course all that is my opinion. (And it really doesnt explain why I studied it in college too:D )

andrew

Have geo down already and its too late now to back out if the teacher is bad . Im interested in chem so shouldnt be too bad i suppose. thanks

Civilian_Target

TBH, with the possible exception of Honours Maths, you'll find the subjects you're most interested in the easiest.

Personally, I thought that, with the exception of Accounting, Leaving Cert. Physics was pretty OK, easier than, say, Irish.

Chemistry's one of those subjects where you're either right or wrong, meaning it's harder to bluff your way into a pass mark, but much more straightforward to get a very high (70+) mark in, if you do your work.

JoseJones

if you have an interest in chemistry, you'll be fine...it's not that difficult to do well. the main thing they seem to be interested in is attention to detail. you have to be very specific in your answers and don't waffle...I'm looking for an A in chemistry, and I haven't worked that hard...I suppose a lot of it is thinking logically, rather than just learning stuff off.

white studs

andrew wrote:

I'm in 3rd year, and i've chosen Chem for leaving cert. I was wondering if this was a bad choice - is it esp difficult/hard to get points in? i know its all relitive to some extent but in gen do people think that its a particularly hard course? Thanks.

You’re in for a real treat!! Chemistry is really a fun subject if you got the general idea at Jr. Level you'll have no problems.
Don’t get snowed under if you find a section hard, I found organic chemistry hard commpared to other sections but had A's in all other exams and I'm not extremely smart.
Some advice is to study and revise a lot because you might understand at the time but it's easy to forget but honestly I think it’s a really enjoyable course, very interesting with great opportunities!
best of luck hope you in like it as much as i do!

Sandie-B

Make sure to know ur experiments!!!

u get three expt questions (you have to do at least 2) if you can all three ur laughing!! these are the easiest to deal with because you have physically done them and not just read about them in the book.

generally there are a few parts to each question with 2/3 marks going for each part, this is exactly why you are wasting your time waffling!! Chemistry is a science afterall, it's not like english where you have to discuss your opinion and can pad your answer out with flowery words!!

i did higher level and got an A2, lucky for me I love chemistry (i study applied chem in DCU) and had no problem doing the work.

start your work in 5th yr making sure to do ur homework everynight and at the end of each week read back over the main points of what you covered that week.

ur probably not gonna do that (i didn't till 6th yr) but it really would take the pressure off and give you more time to spend on other subjects when it comes to crunch time!!

Enjoy!!

JoseJones

Just one word of advice...work in fifth year. It really helps in sixth year.