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People who got 500+points in 2009 Leaving cert....
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I got 545 points and the biggest thing that helped was to download the syllybuses (syllybi?) of each course so you know what they're looking for. Also get the marking scheme for some past papers and read the reports from previous years. All available online.
OP, maybe tell us what subjects you're doing as that might help. The LC was a doddle compared to uni exams so 'enjoy' it while you can
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NightOwl91 wrote: »2bh, I just wanna do the LC once and give it everything I got.
7months isnt too much to give up compared to what im going to get out of it in the longrun...thats how im lookin at it anyway to keep me sane haha
I want to do general nursing in UCC....thing is, i need 500pts and over to secure a place a midwife told me on the open day....the joy
:eek: Coffee......:rolleyes:
As a matter of interest what subjects are you doing?
I really want to do nursing too
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I got 500 but I must admit, I didn't do a tap of proper revision until it came time for the mocks. I was always good with my homework and my essays and I was very organised which helped a lot with my revision.
It depends what you're good at aswell. I mean, I found French very easy and got an A1 in HL but then I had to work hard at English (never got higher than a C in essays, school tests, mocks etc) but even with the whole paper 2 catastrophe, I managed a B1. wayheyy.
So yeah, coming up to mocks I was doing about an hour and a half written homework and then maybe another hour and a half on a certain subject each night.
I did feck all at the weekends though, until after Easter.
Ah I miss the aul leaving cert, but I'm in NUIG now and loving it
Good luck!0 -
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I got 545 points and the biggest thing that helped was to download the syllybuses (syllybi?) of each course so you know what they're looking for. Also get the marking scheme for some past papers and read the reports from previous years. All available online.
OP, maybe tell us what subjects you're doing as that might help. The LC was a doddle compared to uni exams so 'enjoy' it while you can
I can't agree with this more!! I did Business, which I hated, and Economics, which I loved. Our Business teacher did exam questions the whole way through 5th and 6th year, by the mocks we had gone through all the exam questions once and most of them twice. But because I found it so boring I left it as my seventh subject and didn't go to any business classes after Easter, whereas I loooooooooooved Economics! It literally was the only thing I studied, but I never did any exam question and voila, I got B2s in both of them!
I got 510 overall, and the most important thing for me I think was not doing subjects I hated. I hated science for the Junior Cert so I didn't do any science subjects..but in fairness I had the luxury of not needing them, I'm sure there's any number of people who hate doing languages but have no option.
But yeah, I did feck all for the Leaving and was aiming for 400ish, so I can only put my results down to good old fashioned cramming!
French I got an A1 so I heartily, heartily advise doing a french exchange!!! That's what I did, and it worked for me! Obviously it's a massive help for the oral but even for the written opinion-y pieces, it's great to be able to talk about something you were doing while over there. And I don't think doing a French language course would be as good, with 2 or 3 weeks living with a family over there without hearing any English you'll be re-wired to think in French and you'll be flying it!
Irish I got an A2 and was expecting about a C, because I really messed up Paper 2. But I think that goes to show that with a good oral, good essay and good general knowledge of the texts you can do well in Irish without having to learn off reams of exam answers about an Bhean Óg or stair. I didn't understand the question for an bhean óg last year, so for those answers know lots of general stuff about the text, The stair question is equal to the same amount as the sliocht so don't freak about paper 2 too much. A little bit, but not too much!
Pass maths Usually, and maybe it's the same for honours I don't know, the question that was answered really badly in one year is repeated the following year. This year that was the case for the circle question as far as I remember. So I know it's a bit far away to be thinking about the morning of the maths exam but definitely get up half an hour earlier to cram those hard questions from this year.
Music I got an A2 and honest to God, our teacher was sh*t. not "the sh*t", just sh*t. The practical super important and easy to do well in, don't do like I did and chop and change which songs you're going to be doing on the morning of the exam like I did...it's a risk that paid off for me but i guess it wouldn't for everyone! Other than that I just listened to the works til I knew them backwards. Apart from Seachanges.....no one should ever have listen to that more than once, never mind listening to it til they know it backwards. We did go on some trips and things to see the works being played and interviews with the Deane himself so I guess they helped too! For the music theory, I did the ABRSM grade 5 theory exam in 4th year so most leaving cert stuff is covered in that, and I found our teacher tended to really over-complicate everything and confuse me, even though I knew what she was doing. So...make things simple in your head and then they'll be simple in the exam..Hopefully? not the greatest advice, i know.:P
English Like Pepsi1234 said get the marking schemes and know exactly what they're looking for.
But most importantly, don't freak out. Don't do nothing in 5th year per se, but don't learn things off by heart for the greater good, cos in June of the following year you won't remember it. Just understand what's going on and do lots of past exam papers and keep track of how you're doing in class tests. I think the key to the leaving cert is focusing on what you need to know for the exam instead of just learning, learning, learning..if that makes sense. I think it does. You don't need to study 4 hours a day to do well in the leaving. it doesn't do any harm, but working the system is easier I'm probably be biased, but I think working the system is easier for people who are good at languages, seeing as you have to do 3 of them. 0 -
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NightOwl91 wrote: »Heres the plan: 2hrs of Homework a night
3hrs of study a night
(not in full study blocks but i break every 30-35mins...I kinda need those serious 30mins to actually take in info)
Bed by 10 lol
Then about 8hrs on saturday AND sunday...
Is it enough?
....Thank god theres coffee....
:eek: No way was I doing that much last year, you must be joking?
You'll be burned out before the mocks.
Save the crazy hours for just coming up to the exams. Seriously.0 -
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study your arse off and get 500plus points or take it easy and have a good social life, in all honesty you wont make it throught your college course without a decent social life or people skills, i suggest u study that more and enjoy yourself, college aint no sweet ride after the LC, if your aiming high you'll have to study alot in your course to compete
Im not the best motivater am i? :P just being honest 0 -
MikeyCyrus wrote: »study your arse off and get 500plus points or take it easy and have a good social life, in all honesty you wont make it throught your college course without a decent social life or people skills, i suggest u study that more and enjoy yourself, college aint no sweet ride after the LC, if your aiming high you'll have to study alot in your course to compete
Im not the best motivater am i? :P just being honest
Thats actually a very good point. College isn't a free ride folks. Don't think the work stops just after the LC because its a big lie. It really doesn't. You need to keep the work up. Unless you do a course that isn't too demanding. But if your course is up in the 450's, 500's then prepare yourself for another few years of work.0 -
I got 600 in my LC so hopefully any tips I have for the subjects I got A1s in will be helpful!
English: I really loved this subject and enjoyed studying it (if that's possible
). The most important thing to do if you want a good grade is just practise, practise, practise. Take every little thing your teacher gives you as homework and write it as well as you possibly can, and you'll see the standard of your writing improving over time. DON'T learn off sample answers or essays for ANY part of the course. It's a complete waste of time and could drag down your marks a lot if the examiner knows you've learned off an answer (and believe me, it'll probably be VERY obvious). Pick out three poets you LIKE (out of the five or six that are most likely to come up - preparing any more than about four is very unproductive and, tbh, a complete waste of time) and get to know them really well. Prepare plenty of quotes and formulate your own ideas on each poet's work - showing that you've connected with the poet's work is probably the most important thing. For Shakespeare, know the play INSIDE OUT - there's really no excuse for not being very familiar with the play. Prepare notes/bullet points for comparative, not full essays. You've got enough rote learning to do without making English boring as hell as well.
Maths: The papers are absolutely ESSENTIAL here, as the questions in the book are a cakewalk compared to what you'll be facing in June. I did out every single maths paper I could get my hands on, and I spent about an hour on maths every night for the entire year (nerdy much??) It's a very very difficult subject to get an A1 in, and requires vast amounts of time, energy and plain old hard work. You've got to be able to cope with anything the examiners might throw at you.
French: Very difficult to prepare for. I found this subject rather frustrating at times :rolleyes:. At first I wasn't really sure how to prepare for it at all. The most important thing is to try and arm yourself with plenty of words 'n' phrases, and then just keep practising. The written section is the only one I really struggled with, but if you just keep doing out paragraphs as well as you can, it gets a little easier. Practise is essential for all other parts of the exam as well, especially the oral.
Chemistry: This was one of my favourite subjects, although it's quite tough at times. It's not like other subjects (apart from Maths and Physics, to a certain extent) - your ability to get your head around the later parts of the course is very heavily dependent upon your understanding of earlier parts, and there are many concepts that just keep reappearing over and over. You can't learn it (apart from definitions), you have to UNDERSTAND it. And that's something a lot of people struggle with. You need to know the course inside out to get an A1. I generally used to study a topic such as Organic Chem., then close the book, do out an exam question from memory and correct it with the marking scheme. That's definitely the best way to make sure you're ready for the exam.
History: Ugh, I really struggled with History. There's an absolutely gigantic volume of information to absorb for this subject, and the paper itself is invariably very nasty. You have to omit a lot of the course because it's just not possible to retain it all. Timing is absolutely vital - even if absolutely everything goes according to plan it's still very hard to finish on time, so you need to practise writing essays FROM MEMORY in less than about 40 minutes. Enjoyable stuff :rolleyes:
Music: There's not a lot in this course, but you do need to know it inside out. The Set Works are critically important, and there's really no excuse for not knowing them. Prepare a few topics for Irish Music too, because it's easy to pick up marks here if you put in the effort. For the rest of the written side of things, just keep practising and trying to improve all the time. Do out questions from the papers and correct them with the marking scheme - that's very helpful. Get your teacher to mark your compositions, esp. melodies. The practical is vital, and very easy to score well in - if you put in the effort throughout the year that is.
The most important thing is not to spend hours and hours studying if you're not being very productive. Don't think in terms of hours, think in terms of tasks. Decide what you're going to do each night, and then sit down and do it. Take notes for subjects like History and Chemistry - it helps keep you focused, and it's far more effective than simply reading the book (in my opinion).0 -
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Firstly, there is no one magic solution or cordial that will get you high grades. Different things work for different people. 1fahy4 saids she got an A1 in honours Maths by doing an hour each night. Pfft, I breezed it by doing Maths only every few days as "reward study" because I liked it and have a maths brain. I did the best in my class (honours, A1) and Im pretty sure I was one of the ones who did least work for it. Because I had passion and a natural ability.
So you can cram all you like, such as people have detailed above. But if you have passion or interest and a mind that takes to the subject at hand then you are more likely to score well. Some may think its too late for that. Wrong! Its never too late to start liking your subject. Thats where cramming fails - you invariably end up hating what your doing. I only got really into subject when I started studying for LC.
So try to get into the subject. I know this can be hard for some, but it can be done for most, especially the technical subjects like Maths, Physics and Construction Studies, etc.
Now for the more practicable stuff. Look, the LC is a system. I went into my Engineering exam so immersed in the system that I was smiling as I saw questions I recognized. I could have predicted the whole thing. So by playing the game I selectively learned what I needed to. More efficient study time.
Exam papers, and marking schemes are a must. One hour poring over past exams and schema's is better than 2 hours cramming (and that comes with the Eliot Rosewater guarantee of satisfaction :pac:). Seriously. If you aiming for a B what are you doing answering the abstract C parts worth like 0.2% of you exam? Know where the marks are and know which marks your going to get.
Finally, an exam like the LC is a tactical foray. Know what times certain sections are to be done in. Running over your section limit because you may answer it great? Tough **** - move on and come back later. The five minutes putting finishing touches on a question will never get you more marks than the 5 minutes put into the backbone of another question. In exams like Maths, Applied Maths, English and History you should be strict on this. Also know which sections you will do first. I went into my Tech Graph exam and turned straight to page 3 because I knew I would do best there. Stick to the game plan.
Best of luck guys. The LC suddenly shrinks in importance when your on this side of it. Theres much much more to life than study. And Im saying this as someone who did really well. 0 -
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:rolleyes:Eliot Rosewater wrote: »Firstly, there is no one magic solution or cordial that will get you high grades. Different things work for different people. 1fahy4 saids she got an A1 in honours Maths by doing an hour each night. Pfft, I breezed it by doing Maths only every few days as "reward study" because I liked it and have a maths brain. I did the best in my class (honours, A1) and Im pretty sure I was one of the ones who did least work for it. Because I had passion and a natural ability.
So you can cram all you like, such as people have detailed above. But if you have passion or interest and a mind that takes to the subject at hand then you are more likely to score well. Some may think its too late for that. Wrong! Its never too late to start liking your subject. Thats where cramming fails - you invariably end up hating what your doing. I only got really into subject when I started studying for LC.
So try to get into the subject. I know this can be hard for some, but it can be done for most, especially the technical subjects like Maths, Physics and Construction Studies, etc.
Now for the more practicable stuff. Look, the LC is a system. I went into my Engineering exam so immersed in the system that I was smiling as I saw questions I recognized. I could have predicted the whole thing. So by playing the game I selectively learned what I needed to. More efficient study time.
Exam papers, and marking schemes are a must. One hour poring over past exams and schema's is better than 2 hours cramming (and that comes with the Eliot Rosewater guarantee of satisfaction :pac:). Seriously. If you aiming for a B what are you doing answering the abstract C parts worth like 0.2% of you exam? Know where the marks are and know which marks your going to get.
Finally, an exam like the LC is a tactical foray. Know what times certain sections are to be done in. Running over your section limit because you may answer it great? Tough **** - move on and come back later. The five minutes putting finishing touches on a question will never get you more marks than the 5 minutes put into the backbone of another question. In exams like Maths, Applied Maths, English and History you should be strict on this. Also know which sections you will do first. I went into my Tech Graph exam and turned straight to page 3 because I knew I would do best there. Stick to the game plan.
Best of luck guys. The LC suddenly shrinks in importance when your on this side of it. Theres much much more to life than study. And Im saying this as someone who did really well.
Once again, different things work for different people in the "USE MARKING SCHEMES" approach.
Sure I'd use them for checking final answers and if I ever got a question wrong, Im sure I would had a look at what mistake the marking scheme maker made.:D Luckily we tended to agree on most things.
But for theoretical answers I think sometimes too much emphasis is put on the marking schemes.
For me, It made studying alot easier to take a more hollistic approach. I ended up liking my 6 main subjects rather than them being chores.
Im not saying you're a SWOT Elisha Pinkpseudofeather (or whatever your name is) but just saying to the youngins' here to use the marking schemes as an aid, not as a substitute for the book. Marking schemes change. The comfort of knowing you can adapt to any question is pretty great.
ps mathsbank is a good challenge for the mathsgeeks0 -
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thats what im doing this year! except honours eng instead of maths. hopefully twill work for me to! did u ever find that 9 was to much? im begining to have my doubts:(Ag_Ec_Grinds wrote: »I got 545 however I went a weird way about it.
I realised that languages weren't my strong point and I could never achieve anywhere near an A1 in them but I still needed to keep them up for entrance to my college.
So I took on extra subjects and sort of ignored the languages. Did 9 subjects and didn't count English, Irish or French. Worked well ended up getting my course.
And of course plenty of study! If the subjects you pick interest you it really helps in my opinion. I really loved doing a lot of the subjects I picked so getting my points was that bit easier.
Good luck!!!0 -
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i got 600 points in my leaving cert
de main thing to do is do all ur homework and expected study each nite.....den do 1.5 hrs revision of a topic u feel that you ave forgotten .
go over past exam papers...i took fridays off. spent arund 5 hrs on a saturday nd sunday studying....dont stress if there is any subject your finding tricky get extra help. dats it reali 0 -
smileygirlloves wrote: »i got 600 points in my leaving cert
de main thing to do is do all ur homework and expected study each nite.....den do 1.5 hrs revision of a topic u feel that you ave forgotten .
go over past exam papers...i took fridays off. spent arund 5 hrs on a saturday nd sunday studying....dont stress if there is any subject your finding tricky get extra help. dats it reali
How you managed to get a maximum leaving cert score with that kind of grammar/spelling is beyond me:eek:0 -
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