Science Course

Pez

Hi i filled in the CAO last month and put this course down. Does any1 here do it that can give me any information like subject choices,timetables or anything. I dont really understand the prospectus. If i got it id probably choose the zoology part in the 3rd year so if any1 has info on that too would b a great help! cheers xxxx

Time Magazine

These might be of use to you:

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ApeXaviour

Ibid wrote:

These might be of use to you:

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Link

Good post Ibid. Pez if you have any more specific questions feel free to ask away. There's a couple of us here (including myself) who've gone through the aul' TR071.

King.Penguin

Pez wrote:

Hi i filled in the CAO last month and put this course down. Does any1 here do it that can give me any information like subject choices,timetables or anything. I dont really understand the prospectus. If i got it id probably choose the zoology part in the 3rd year so if any1 has info on that too would b a great help! cheers xxxx

Hey Pez,

i'm in final year zoology and naturally I think it's the best course ever.

fire away a few questions if you want and I'll answer them. I don't feel like going through the whole thing again, you'll find it in the links above.

Pez

King.Penguin wrote:

Hey Pez,

i'm in final year zoology and naturally I think it's the best course ever.

fire away a few questions if you want and I'll answer them. I don't feel like going through the whole thing again, you'll find it in the links above.

oh are you! in first year i know you do biology as mandatory but how many other choices do you have to do? I havent done physics or chemistry. do you have to do them? Id love to do zoology lol but if i cant even get to 3rd year to choose it... lol also do you have to do maths? I dont entirely understand the choices on the website.
thanks xx

King.Penguin

Do study Zoology in third year you need Biology in first year, biology1 and biology2 in second year and that's it.

You don't need to do any other subjects specifically.

In fact, you can't do physics with biology (in 90% of the case). If you're not doing physics or chemistry for the leaving cert. I might suggest you take up one of these subjects in College because having a general understanding of chemistry is important to natural scientists.

If first year you can decide between Maths and Maths Methods. Maths methods is kinda like ordinary (pass) maths. Again, a general understanding of maths is important for natural scientists.

you must choose either maths or maths methods. If you pick maths methods you'll have to do 2 subjects (chemistry and geography/geology) along with biology. If you pick maths, you only need to pick 1 subject to take with biology (chemistry OR geography/geology). In first year, Geography and Geology are taught together as one subject.

In second year you have to take 2 biology courses Biology1 and Biology2 and you will need to take one other subject usually either chemistry, geology or geography (in second year the courses are separate).

So here are you options if you are sure you want to do Zoology

First year
1: Biology, Chemistry, Maths
2: Biology, Geography/Geology, Maths
3: Biology, Chemistry, Geography/Geology, Maths Methods

Second Year
1: Biology 1, Biology 2, Chemistry
2: Biology 1, Biology 2, Geology
3: Biology 1, Biology 2, Geography

If you didn't do Chemistry in First Year, you can't do it in Second year. However, you can still take Geology in second year without having studied Geography/Geology in first year.

What i did was:

First year
1st Year: Biology, Chemistry, Maths
2nd Year: Biology 1, Biology 2, Geology
3rd Year: Zoology
4th Year: Zoology

It's also worth noting that even though you might want to do Zoology now, you may not want to do it in a few years times. Some courses, such as Genetics and Neuroscience require 1st year Chemistry at least. So to keep your options open you might do what I did, but of course, it's up to you.

Here is a list of requirements for biology

Pez

wow thanks a million! saving that post
ye that sounds really good! i prob would pick what you did. is the maths pretty hard? Is it like every other college where if u fail 1 subject u fail the whole year? i did the leaving last year and got 405 so.. guess i just have to wait and hope the points drop a bit..

King.Penguin

You never know, it can go up and down. Fingers crossed.

The maths in first year isn't that difficult. Most of the questions that come up in the exams are similar to questions from previous years. If you go to the lectures and tutorials and you work hard you'll do fine. If you didn't do honours maths for the leaving however, you may find it tough. I only got a D in the leaving cert but I didn't find the college maths in science particularly difficult. If you did ordinary level maths, or you find maths difficult in general, you may consider doing maths methods.

In first year, if you fail one subject, but you get between 36-40% you might be able to pass by compensation if your other results are good (if the average of all your results are >40%). If you fail the summer exam you have a chance to repeat it in September.

Pez

King.Penguin wrote:

You never know, it can go up and down. Fingers crossed.

The maths in first year isn't that difficult. Most of the questions that come up in the exams are similar to questions from previous years. If you go to the lectures and tutorials and you work hard you'll do fine. If you didn't do honours maths for the leaving however, you may find it tough. I only got a D in the leaving cert but I didn't find the college maths in science particularly difficult. If you did ordinary level maths, or you find maths difficult in general, you may consider doing maths methods.

In first year, if you fail one subject, but you get between 36-40% you might be able to pass by compensation if your other results are good (if the average of all your results are >40%). If you fail the summer exam you have a chance to repeat it in September.

ooh ok! if i got in id prob have to chose maths methods then lol i did pass. I hope the points drop. knowing my luck they won't
thanks again for all the info it's really helpful!

King.Penguin

Well there is always ucd and galway (and probably other places too).

The points for UCD science are usually around 300-350 points so you should be able to do that. It's a slightly different science course but if you're dead set on zoology you shouldn't rule it out (unless you live in balbriggan or something).