religion as an exam subject?

aliqueenb

has anyone on this done or doing religion for the leaving cert...whats it like?
i have an option of doing it as an extra subject like because i don't qualify for lcvp, it would be my 8th subject?...is their much point in doing it or would i be better focusing on getting a good grade in honors maths?

johnk123

Waste of time i think........ And thank god that you don't qualify for LCVP, its terrible!!! Im in 5th yr and i'm taking an extra subject outside school at the moment and it does take a bit of work. Religion would require loadsa work i'd say. Put your effort into HL Maths and you'll be glad of it when you get 100 points!

aliqueenb

johnk123 wrote: »

Waste of time i think........ And thank god that you don't qualify for LCVP, its terrible!!! Im in 5th yr and i'm taking an extra subject outside school at the moment and it does take a bit of work. Religion would require loadsa work i'd say. Put your effort into HL Maths and you'll be glad of it when you get 100 points!

oh but you see it wouldn't be outside of school...24 people who would do religion would be in the same class and when others have religion as a non - exam subject and lcvp we'd have religion as an exam subject like...

yeah but i actually don't know if i could get 100 points in maths tho...
i did get an a in jc but i dono...
i guess it is pretty retarded doing a subject that i got a b in junior cert like cos the only subjects i didnt get an a in were irish and religion lol

and i would be in the same class as my friends as they are planning to do religion...

Fad

well alot of people signed up thinking itd be an easy A but it wont be it wont be stupidly hard be it will take a considerable amount of work

nerdysal

To be honest I think you would be better concentrating on your 7 subjects and spending all your time on them instead of adding more pressure on.

BJC

No no no. I do religion and it is easy! Its like a very basic and waffly version of english, just got a b1 in the mocks with feck all work put in, I did it instead of LCVP and it's at least an easy 75 points in the bag, Its a substantial course but dont let that throw you off because its an easy one!

aliqueenb

would it be easier than irish though?

BJC

aliqueenb wrote: »

would it be easier than irish though?

Definitley easier than honours and was easier than ordinary level for me, but im brutal at irish. I would advise EVERYONE to do it, remember its the first few years of the subject and the classes are really small so the examiners are marking so easy aswell as the easy course. A's all around!

aliqueenb

BJC wrote: »

Definitley easier than honours and was easier than ordinary level for me, but im brutal at irish. I would advise EVERYONE to do it, remember its the first few years of the subject and the classes are really small so the examiners are marking so easy aswell as the easy course. A's all around!

yeah picked my subject choices for 5th year in this order: german, business, history and geography...
in junior cert i got a b in religion and irish so thats why i was thinking to do religion cos i know maths will probably be quite hard.

BJC

Maths is a bitch alright. Religion will carry you all the way. If you want easy points do religion.

aliqueenb

yeah i think i will do it and if i'm finding it really hard in 5th year i'll persuade them to let me give it up...even though i asked would they let you and they said no! but they can't actually force you to do it for lc can they? or can they just force you to do all the work in class so that you may as well do it for leaving cert?

lol i might not even get to do it cos there is a good amount of interest in it and they are only letting 24 do it.

philologos

BJC wrote: »

Maths is a bitch alright. Religion will carry you all the way. If you want easy points do religion.

Not as easy as you think then clearly. Whether you find it hard or easy is entirely dependant on the person may I add also. If you are good at stuff like History and Geography go ahead as it's all essay based.

turgon

Sometimes people get too caught up on the pints system, think which would look better on a CV for future employers for the rest of your life, good religion and **** maths or excellent maths???? I dont think religion would mean much for the future, not as much as history at least

Honors Maths is probably the best subject you could have and its worth putting a load of time into it if you need too

aliqueenb

turgon wrote: »

Honors Maths is probably the best subject you could have and its worth putting a load of time into it if you need too

yes but i could make your other subjects suffer if you spend too much time focusing on it?

BJC

But you have to focus on points, you employer will want to know your college degree long before your leaving cert subjects, so is it not more important to do whatever subjects get you the points you need..?? "Jakkass" is right, it is essay based but more like a very basic english essay. For instance A Q. I had was
"Elaborate on two contempory sources showing morality as a natural phenomenon in society"
I began by writing about 9/11, described how everyone was outraged, then talked about symbolism in a nirvana music video and then a modern day painting of jesus on the cross. Got an 75 out of 80 and it was all waffle and snippets of current events.

KeyLimePie

do religion
it's really easy

5uspect

Don't be too short sighted here. Religion will be of zero use to you in the real world. There's nothing worse than third level students with piss poor maths ability. If you put in the work now it'll stand to you in your future studies.

aliqueenb

i took my name off the list to do it...vice principle was going on about how much extra work we would have to put into it, like it being like history.
i really wan't to do honours maths (halfly for the snob factor yeah wateva!) so i think i would be better just focussing on 7 subjects because i would hate to get a C in any subject even if i wasn't counting on it for points.

philologos

5uspect wrote: »

Don't be too short sighted here. Religion will be of zero use to you in the real world. There's nothing worse than third level students with piss poor maths ability. If you put in the work now it'll stand to you in your future studies.

Even though religion forms the moral guidelines of many people throughout the world, and that you will always encounter people with religious affiliations. Understanding how other people see the world is actually incredibly useful if you think about it.

5uspect

Jakkass wrote: »

Understanding how other people see the world is actually incredibly useful if you think about it.

Sure, but no where near as useful as basic maths and the higher level maths has become diluted enough. If you want to learn about religion just post in the religious fora.

turgon

Im going to agree with 5uspect here

And about you leaving cert not mattering, when employers are judging 5 people with the same degrees there going to use your lc results to pick

Fad

5uspect wrote: »

Sure, but no where near as useful as basic maths and the higher level maths has become diluted enough. If you want to learn about religion just post in the religious fora.

well if you want be culturally aware, its a really interesting and engaging course, like i dont believe in god AT ALL but i still like the subject, theres some objectional content but i still think that im getting a better deal doing this than HL maths.

Matrices dont make good conversation, philosophy or talking about your beliefs is.

also as to posting in relegious fora: your more susceptable to just acting on someones opinion rather than any factual basis

Fad

turgon wrote: »

And about you leaving cert not mattering, when employers are judging 5 people with the same degrees there going to use your lc results to pick

to be honest id say reference to your leaving cert isnt all that common, and getting an A in HL maths is just as difficult as getting an A in relegion:)

also id imagine selection for a job is more based on suitablity for the job rather than second level academic achievement.

there are other qualifications of than the LC and a college degree

[sorry for the double post, but multi quote never seems to work for me]

aliqueenb

Fad wrote: »

to be honest id say reference to your leaving cert isnt all that common, and getting an A in HL maths is just as difficult as getting an A in relegion:)

which is easier to get a b in though!

5uspect

Fad wrote: »

well if you want be culturally aware, its a really interesting and engaging course, like i dont believe in god AT ALL but i still like the subject, theres some objectional content but i still think that im getting a better deal doing this than HL maths.

Matrices dont make good conversation, philosophy or talking about your beliefs is.

also as to posting in relegious fora: your more susceptable to just acting on someones opinion rather than any factual basis

There is nothing wrong with learning religion etc if you want to. What I'm saying is that it's worthless as an examinable qualification (unless you want to be a religion teacher...)
If you have an interest and the classes are available then by all means go, maths is fundamentally more important.

Having an A in HL Maths going to college to do any science or technical degree will be one of your biggest assets. So many students arrive unable to do even basic calculus that we constantly have to explain the basics. I had 4th years last year that didn't know how to use the midpoint rule ffs. Not to mention the availability of bonus points in some universities.

Fad

5uspect wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with learning religion etc if you want to. What I'm saying is that it's worthless as an examinable qualification (unless you want to be a religion teacher...)
If you have an interest and the classes are available then by all means go, maths is fundamentally more important.

Having an A in HL Maths going to college to do any science or technical degree will be one of your biggest assets. So many students arrive unable to do even basic calculus that we constantly have to explain the basics. I had 4th years last year that didn't know how to use the midpoint rule ffs. Not to mention the availability of bonus points in some universities.

same points are going for an A

and yes maths is useful, but is it really worth putting the unessecary strain on yourself?

and the bonus points arent on offer from the biggest universities

aliqueenb

i'm not going to do it, lol i have made up my mind that i would make myself work to a b in maths cos i would tbh be dissapointed with a c, and if i'm gonna work that much i may aswell put more effort and try get a good b or an a, instead of taking on a whole new subject, which i only got a b in the jc, unlike maths.

5uspect

Fad wrote: »

is it really worth putting the unessecary strain on yourself?

I would say so. If you're going to do a college degree it will benefit you significantly in the long run. The leaving cert isn't as traumatic as people make out. College exams can be must more stressful and it would be better to enter that environment with a proper foundation.

the bonus points arent on offer from the biggest universities

They are in UL at least and many are calling for their return for HL Maths and Physics across the board. That should be an indicator of the importance of the subject.

philologos

5uspect wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with learning religion etc if you want to. What I'm saying is that it's worthless as an examinable qualification (unless you want to be a religion teacher...)
If you have an interest and the classes are available then by all means go, maths is fundamentally more important.

Having an A in HL Maths going to college to do any science or technical degree will be one of your biggest assets. So many students arrive unable to do even basic calculus that we constantly have to explain the basics. I had 4th years last year that didn't know how to use the midpoint rule ffs. Not to mention the availability of bonus points in some universities.

That's the point isn't it? Surely if you are doing a humanities degree of some form like Philosophy, History, Theology etc etc. Religion would serve you better than a subject like Maths. It's relative to what you choose in your CAO. Maths wouldn't be of paramount importance in degrees like that.

nerdysal

aliqueenb wrote: »

i'm not going to do it, lol i have made up my mind that i would make myself work to a b in maths cos i would tbh be dissapointed with a c, and if i'm gonna work that much i may aswell put more effort and try get a good b or an a, instead of taking on a whole new subject, which i only got a b in the jc, unlike maths.

Good decision!

johnk123

I think an A or a B in Hons Maths will stand to you........ i hope it'll stand to me anyway!!

5uspect

Jakkass wrote: »

That's the point isn't it? Surely if you are doing a humanities degree of some form like Philosophy, History, Theology etc etc. Religion would serve you better than a subject like Maths. It's relative to what you choose in your CAO. Maths wouldn't be of paramount importance in degrees like that.

Sure but you'll find a Theology degree dispenser in most bathrooms!

Chunky Monkey

Fad wrote: »

well if you want be culturally aware, its a really interesting and engaging course, like i dont believe in god AT ALL but i still like the subject, theres some objectional content but i still think that im getting a better deal doing this than HL maths.

Matrices dont make good conversation, philosophy or talking about your beliefs is.

also as to posting in relegious fora: your more susceptable to just acting on someones opinion rather than any factual basis

To be honest I wouldn't trust a Catholic teacher 'teaching' me about other religions. In my own experience some (I'm not saying all) seem to have their own agenda and it's not one I'm interested in.

In an increasingly multi-cultural Ireland it isn't too hard to find someone with different beliefs and ask them about it. It makes for interesting conversation

JC 2K3

Jakkass wrote: »

That's the point isn't it? Surely if you are doing a humanities degree of some form like Philosophy, History, Theology etc etc. Religion would serve you better than a subject like Maths. It's relative to what you choose in your CAO. Maths wouldn't be of paramount importance in degrees like that.

I think he was talking about real degrees.

And being serious for a second. Maths is one of the only subjects at LC level that requires logical thought. Most other subjects, regrettably, are more about rote learning and learning how to answer questions in a specific way, and it's possible to get a high grade without actually having any real opinions about the subject you're studying. In college it's not like that, you need opinions of your own and you need to be able to write essays which are unique and contain logical arguments. Personally, I think that the person who got an A in HL Maths would actually be a lot better at this than someone who got As in other subjects, but only got an average grade in OL Maths, most of the time.

The skills involved in understanding Maths and Science and understanding and analysing Arts and Humanities subjects aren't really that different, though it's easier to bluff an understanding of the latter.

philologos

JC 2K3 wrote: »

I think he was talking about real degrees.

5uspect wrote:

Sure but you'll find a Theology degree dispenser in most bathrooms

I was expecting a somewhat mature take on it. But alas no.

I'll see how far you progress in learning Biblical Hebrew and Greek then. I'm sure it'll be no bother to you at all. :rolleyes:

philologos

Chunky Monkey wrote: »

To be honest I wouldn't trust a Catholic teacher 'teaching' me about other religions. In my own experience some (I'm not saying all) seem to have their own agenda and it's not one I'm interested in.

In an increasingly multi-cultural Ireland it isn't too hard to find someone with different beliefs and ask them about it. It makes for interesting conversation

I have a COI teacher

But the text book we use is pretty good and does cover all 5 of the major world faiths. So nothing to worry about really.

5uspect

Jakkass wrote: »

I was expecting a somewhat mature take on it. But alas no.

I'll see how far you progress in learning Biblical Hebrew and Greek then. I'm sure it'll be no bother to you at all. :rolleyes:

I reserve the right to act like a 17 year old on the LC forum!

Fad

Chunky Monkey wrote: »

To be honest I wouldn't trust a Catholic teacher 'teaching' me about other religions. In my own experience some (I'm not saying all) seem to have their own agenda and it's not one I'm interested in.

In an increasingly multi-cultural Ireland it isn't too hard to find someone with different beliefs and ask them about it. It makes for interesting conversation

well to be fair i have a catholic teacher (i also have the misfortune of attending a catholic school) and he is quite aware of my beliefs (or lack there of) and has never tried to push anything on anyone.

itsa subject, a bit like history, but with more scope for generating your own opinion, and more scope for puttinf foward you own opinion on the paper:)

JC 2K3

As a matter of interest, would you get marked down for cynicism, even if you argued it well?

Chunky Monkey

There was a question on the compulsary junior cert paper the first year it became so. I think it went along the lines of 'what is your idea of god'. If you said you didn't believe in any god fullstop, what could you have added to that to make it the 'right' answer? I mean it didn't ask you to say why you didn't believe in any god so, in my view, it wasn't a fair question.

Any opinions on this?

JC 2K3

Well you could say that God is a delusion or a mind virus etc. and explain why.

Chunky Monkey

Good idea Wonder would it be seen as the 'right' answer though?

JC 2K3

Well, Atheism, Agnosticism and Humanism are on the syllabus, I don't think the marking scheme would be biased against non-theists.

philologos

JC 2K3 wrote: »

As a matter of interest, would you get marked down for cynicism, even if you argued it well?

No, you won't. Infact you're meant to be totally objective in the coursework, they'll take marks off if they see that you are leaning too much towards anything. That is according to my religion teacher.

Fad

Jakkass wrote: »

No, you won't. Infact you're meant to be totally objective in the coursework, they'll take marks off if they see that you are leaning too much towards anything. That is according to my religion teacher.

in an ideal world yes, but in fairness id say the examiners will be almost exclusively (quite relegious) catholics.

BUT i think if you reason your answer well you will definitly get the marks

PolliPockets

Religion is probably the hardest subject I've taken, about 2 people in a class of 16 passed our mock and people really take it for granted. I really regret taking it but its very interesting.

Piste

UGH I hate religion! It's so boring and the oursework seems so tedious, wish I'd picked Home Ec or Biology instead

Montenegro123

aliqueenb wrote: »

has anyone on this done or doing religion for the leaving cert...whats it like?
i have an option of doing it as an extra subject like because i don't qualify for lcvp, it would be my 8th subject?...is their much point in doing it or would i be better focusing on getting a good grade in honors maths?

I'd say you should do Religion, as not only is it an easy enough subject, There is a great choice of topics on the course & you've 20% done before you even sit the exam!!!
I take it after school as an extra subject {my 9th!}, (there's only 2 of us), and We've had the course done for a while now.--->& I got an A2 in the Pre's (and he was marking hard!) and I only got a B in the JC!!!

Do it!!!!