LC Higher Level Maths, Is It Really THAT Hard?

TehFionnster

Hi Guys.

I'm Just out of 3rd year and JC
and By the looks of things, Ill be doing HL maths for the Leaving
And some of the 5th and 6th years I know told me, It was extremely difficult
Is It Really?

Also I got an A2 in maths in the mocks
So I'm pretty confident I got an A2 or A1 in the JC
So Is Honours Maths for the LC really that hard?

Thanks:D

Indigo Sunrise

It depends on the person. Some people can get an A1 with ease and some work their ass if just to pass.

I'm really glad I did it though. I did put more work into it than my other subjects, although that's because I realised I love maths so it didn't bother me to work at it at all, whereas I get easily distracted doing other subjects(mainly English). It was to great to take a break from writing essays in English and then doing some maths. It's like a puzzle or something. You feel good when you get the answer right

...anyway, if you got an A in the JC I'd say you'd definitely be able for it.

pathway33

Don't worry. You'll be doing Project Maths which by all accounts is supposed to be easier than the HL Maths LC students have been doing up to now. The department of education (and skills?) want more people to be doing HL maths and so are trying to make HL maths more accessible. You can see mock papers on the bottom link but these should not be taken as an indicator of future papers as the syllabus is being implemented in stages as outlined in the timetable in the first link

http://www.projectmaths.ie/

http://www.examinations.ie/index.php?l=en&mc=sc&sc=ma

Plus rumour has it you will be getting bonus points for LC higher maths

TehFionnster

:eek: Double Points!

I'll definately be doing higher level
and Project maths, I have no idea what it is, sounds quite unusual.
But Double points is Epic.:D:D

jumpguy

Really, none of us can speak because very little of us have done Project Maths (only like 24 pilot schools and they only had a Project Maths paper 2).

Referring to the old course - if you genuinely like maths, you'll be fine. It'll be easy to put in the effort because you'll find it slightly enjoyable. Really, it's hyped up a ridiculous amount...I'd say it's bark is worse than it's bite. If you can get at least a B in JC HL maths, you should be okay.

E0inz

I would say if your competent in mathematics then you'll be fine.
The thing i would recommend is staying on top of the workload. I think most people who have trouble are overwhelmed by the volume of work. SO i'd say anyone can do it, just depends on your work ethic

hokeypokey

The main thing is to be able to think, if you're the typr of person who cant be off the cuff and write an answer and not regurgatate something. Also write anything down because you can get easy marks...

!?!

i really don't get why higher maths seems to put people off so much, it's probably not the content that's terrible but rather the way it is taught. if you think you should try for higher level, do! you can always drop down later if it doesn't work out.


having said that i haven't got my result yet..... :rolleyes:

wayhey

Only !?! touched on it, but I think you need the ethic and the good teacher. Without a teacher/grinds, unless you've a real talent, it's difficult to carry 6 Honours with it.

Good luck with it anyway, and results when they come.

EuropeanSon

I'd say yes, it's piss easy, but then I plan on studying maths at university. If you got an A in the junior you shouldn't be worried (do they do A1s and A2s at Junior? I thought it was just a generic "A" for anything over 85?) and should definitely find it manageable.

TehFionnster

Nah, I got my mock paper back and It said A2

But no, I'm pretty sure , it's just A no, A2 and the like

RoRoCullen

TehFionnster wrote: »

Hi Guys.

I'm Just out of 3rd year and JC
and By the looks of things, Ill be doing HL maths for the Leaving
And some of the 5th and 6th years I know told me, It was extremely difficult
Is It Really?

Also I got an A2 in maths in the mocks
So I'm pretty confident I got an A2 or A1 in the JC
So Is Honours Maths for the LC really that hard?

Thanks:D

Its extremely hard and takes up a lot of time. I know a girl who gets A's in it. In her LC mocks she got 99% in paper 1 and 42% in paper 2.. It goes like that..

Also a girl I know who does HL can basically come up with her own proofs.. You can say to her "Sara what's 783838 multiplied by 3828282" and she'll give you the answer..

Its extremely hard. Thats why they give extra points for it! BUT if you are good at maths, good for you and go for it! But be warned if your not good at time management stay well away from it, as it takes up a LOT of time.

x

WallyGUFC

I got an A in JC honours...and did pass from the start of 6th year. So I wouldn't be relying on that ****ty, pointless JC nonsense!:D

Foxx92

Got an A in JC. Went down to D3's essentially all through 5th and 6th year by putting in the minimum of work. Worked my ass of in maths in the 2 weeks before the LC and found I love maths and prob got up to a B2ish. If you put in the work you could get a very good grade but it does take up alot of your time if you want an A.

**Timbuk2**

I wouldn't be too interested what you got in the JC Mock, but rather how interested you are in maths. I've always loved maths, and found LC HL Maths to be quite enjoyable - I didn't find it a significant step up in difficulty from the JC. Everything is hard until you learn it and practice it.

If you are interested in maths, then you will be fine. Remember, you can take HL maths all the way up until the LC Mocks if you want, and then you can drop down to pass if you don't like it. A lot of my friends did that, and they said having done Higher Level made the Pass course extremely easy.

H2student

For me Maths was hell. It was difficult for me to understand how to get the answer most of the time and I forget the method by the time the next test came. However, I found Maths more enjoyable in 6th year because we got to use exam papers. The marking scheme lets me see where the answer came from in my own free time instead of needing the teacher to explain all the time.

So in 5th year, I'd really suggest you to go and look at some of the papers when you finished a topic e.g differentiation. It makes studying a lot more painless when you got hundreds of worked examples readily available to you. Beats looking at my own messy solutions anyway

And yes, JC means nothing unfortunately. Got an A myself and struggled to keep up in the two years.

ride-the-spiral

It's very different for each person, I didn't really like JC maths, but got an A anyway. But now I love LC maths and find it quite easy. But there are people in my class that also got As in JC and are finding it a good bit harder than I am.

That being said, one guy in my class got a C for the JC and is one of the best in the class now.

Digits

Personally I didnt enjoy JC Maths lots of learning proofs and repeating exam questions will get you an A pretty easily its a memory game more than a test of your understanding of maths...LC Maths is great though I love the challenge and it really gives you the chance to show your knowledge of Maths.

It is diffucult and requires lots of time but if you love maths give it a chance. Also having a good teacher is VERY important.

Best of luck if you do choose to do it though.

TehFionnster

Thanks for all the great replies guys.

By looks of things , I'll definately give Honours a go.:D

aine92

Got an A in HL for the Junior Cert, found it too much effort with too little reward and dropped down at the start of 6th year.

My advice? If you dont need it, dont like it and find it tough, dont do it. If you like it and need it, go for it.

turbanfever

It definitely depends on the individual so you'll have to wait until you've tried it yourself to know if you like it and are capable.
Myself? Did Honours from 1st - 3rd year. Loved maths since Primary School. Was top of the class most of the time. Got A after A in class tests. Got an A in my JC mock, B in the real deal. And now just finished 5th year and let me tell you i'm finding it hard. I just find it so difficult to understand. I'm keeping it up though dropped irish to do so!

But if you have a good teacher that will help. My maths teacher for 1-3rd year - brilliant. Personally found him the best teacher in the whole school. Sadly he retired as i finished TY and our current maths teacher is a disaster! he's brilliant and all but when it comes to teaching what he knows - hopeless.

TowlieMcD

It can be done. I did honours for the junior cert and got a B. I was always good at maths but i wasn't the class genius. Our honours class started off with about 20 at the beginning of 5th year. 6 people sat the exam a few weeks ago. Its tough but it isnt impossible. It requires more work than any other subject(in my opinion). However, like anything, if you practice,practice,practice you will be rewarded. Personally(i know i shouldnt be counting chickens yet but)I think i'll get an A or a high B in Hon Maths this year. Also i know this sounds a little arrogant but i find that you get that little bit of respect from people e.g. "Oh that lad/girl is doing honours maths...he/she must be awful smart!"

lc2010

It can defo be done!!!!
I got an A in the junior and always enjoyed maths however last year was a different story. I cruised my way through the year not doing a tap, i ended up failing the summer test and had to make the decision what to do. I decided stay at it but ensured i gave it no more time than my other subjects. I ended up loving it this year and am pretty confident of a decent result.
For this reason I think people who enjoy it and are not spending more time on it than their other subjects should stay at it until the mocks at least!!!
P.S. I'm planning on studying maths next year!!!!

johnmcdnl

Maths is grand if you like it at all... if your getting an A in the Junior you'll be flying in HL no bother.. it's just hyped up so much to be really hard so people who actually find it ok like me don't want to say to anyone that it's alright in case I look like a complete nerd or someone stuck up my own arse or something to that degree..

There's not a whole lot to it tbh - if you do the exam papers and just go through them all you'll have all the course covered and if you've seen it once you can do any question...

there's a lot of common sense involved is all but if you have a maths head on you you'll be grand..

Patri

!?! wrote: »

i really don't get why higher maths seems to put people off so much, it's probably not the content that's terrible but rather the way it is taught. if you think you should try for higher level, do! you can always drop down later if it doesn't work out.


having said that i haven't got my result yet..... :rolleyes:

I completely agree! I got an A in the junior Cert and an A2 in my 5th year exams but thats down to my retired neighbour who used to teach honours maths. My maths teacher in school is an obnoxious prick who constantly bullies students about them being poor or wealthy or whatever they're into. He's a d*ckhead. But in contrast my neighbour is a down to earth country man who loves explaining it in a way I understand, and he's freakin' hilarious, I mean what more do you want :P

HxGH

LC honours maths = very difficult
LC ordinary maths = too easy

But next year (people entering 5th year in 2010) will get to avail of the NEWWWWWWW honours maths.

Simplified and more enjoyable experience!

Poor me. Missed it by one year.

When I go into 6th year this September, Honours Maths will return.

dan_d

Most people are capable of doing honours maths. The question is more whether or not they're bothered to do it.A lot of people who drop down just couldn't be bothered to put the time in - it has very little to do with their ability.

The one thing about the existing course is that it's quite a large one, and takes a considerable amount of your time, regardless of how good you are it. However it is very do-able.

Without a doubt there are a number of people out there to whom maths comes very very easily - they can just read it, the way the rest of us can read a story! They get it, without as much effort as the rest of us. If you're one of them, fair play to you! Otherwise, there's no reason you won't be able to do it. Personally, I got a C in JC maths and went on to get a B in LC Hons maths, so I wouldn't worry too much about only A students being able to do LC Hons. A certain amount depends on your teacher, and it's true there are some woefully bad maths teachers out there, but hopefully you'll be lucky enough to get a halfway decent one!

One last thing - look at the bigger picture. If you do honours maths, you leave a lot of options open to yourself for the future. Many students do not consider it this way - they only think the short term of getting past the exams. I know that you're not at the CAO yet, but I'm seeing it an awful lot now with this recession. There's a lot of people out there who are qualified for several years, now have no jobs and want to change career direction completely - but many are limited because they did pass irish (teaching) or pass maths (lots of courses). Even if you have one particular area that you definitely want to work in and nothing else at all, you should try and keep as many options open to yourself as possible, especially if you have the ability to.

DancingQueen:)

Once you're willing to put the work in you should be fine but make sure you keep on top of the course when you're doing it because the work piles on if you don't. I didn't think it was as hard as people had made it out to be so don't worry too much : )

professore

As someone who got an A in the old Inter Cert Maths and went on afterwards to a Physics and Maths degree ... let me tell you a lot depends on the teacher. The teacher I had only showed us how to do the simplest problems on a chapter and then went off and gave us a load of the hardest questions for homework that had "tricks" in them that were not in the crap textbook we had. In short I did Honours Maths for about 6 months, then went to Pass, and was bored silly and naturally got an A in it. I did all the questions on each paper in the exam !!!!

I think he only wanted 5 or 6 of the top guys who would teach themselves pretty much or get Daddy to pay for grinds (in the days before d'Internet they were your only real options).

I had a look at my daughter's 1st year Maths book and it's the same appalling crap. The most basic of explanations followed by reams of problems. This is NOT the way to teach maths. Where are the worked examples ???? The practical application questions ???? No wonder we are way down the Maths league tables. For most people (engineers, programmers, accountants, economists etc) maths is an important tool ... not an abstract discipline and should be taught as such.

Maybe_Memories

You need natural ability at maths. Inspiration really helps too.

I got a B in the JC. My teacher was ****, I didn't care about it, and didn't work. I failed most of my tests. Realised I couldn't continue like that. I started working, and got a B.

For LC, I got a D in one test, then started working properly. I put hours in every week, and eventually realised I have a deep fascination with the subject. It all started coming naturally to me. My maths teacher kept pushing me, realising I have natural aptitude for it. All of my results were between 95 and 100%.
I took up Applied Maths by myself outside school. I bought the book, and worked through it. There was no one there to spoon feed me, so I had to figure everything out for myself. It really paid off.

Now I realise how much I adore maths. For every proof on the course I try to come up with my own ways to prove them using what I understand. The proofs I've come up with are perfectly correct too.
My physics teacher started hating me because I was better than maths than he was, and had to correct his mistakes.
Sometimes my maths teacher comes to ME with problems HE has.

In 13 days I am certain I will open that envelope and see an A1 beside maths and applied maths.


In short, if you work at it, and enjoy it, it can become a very easy subject. Good luck.

salthillman

I'd recommend doing honours maths (unless you're really bad at it) at least until 6th year. I did it up until Christmas of 6th when I dropped. It really is like 2 subjects. It's not really that the stuff is impossible but rather the sheer volume of stuff to do is OVERWHELMING!! Unless you've got a thing for maths you should be spending about 2 hours a night studying it in 6th year. Thats not to mention the AMOUNT of english to be studied as well as Irish and your other subjects. When I went to pass I was ssssooo happy. I didnt have to study it till the day before the actual exam and I defo passed it (not counting it). Only diff is Simpson's rule which (if you're good enough at maths) possible to learn off with the log tables. TBH if I was doing the LC again I wouldn't go near honours regardless of double points. The best advice I could give you would be to do pass English, Irish and Maths (unless you need 1 for matric) and do 6 other subjects - its what I'm advising my sister to do and my parents also think its a very good idea.

Ally7

I'm kinda nervous about Honours Maths now, especially when so many people who did well in the JC find it difficult

B0X

The most important thing is doing the homework, especially in 5th year. Dont worry if you cant get the most difficult questions at first (i.e part c's) but make sure you can understand the theory behind what you're doing and why (You can't just learn reams of this stuff off like most other subjects!)

If you've done this, by the time you get to revising in 6th year you'll have a good foundation work from. I wasn't even particuarly good at maths but it becomes quite rewarding when you start figuring questions out for yourself.

Oh and get the papers early, maybe even one of those books which has the exam question on one page and methods on the other. They're mad helpful.

salthillman

B0X wrote: »

I wasn't even particuarly good at maths but it becomes quite rewarding when you start figuring questions out for yourself.

Ya, that sense of figuring out a difficult question is veeeery satisfying!! Much more rewarding than in any other subject... Wish I experienced it more often!!

imp12

I got a B in my JC and my teacher told me I would struggle with HL leaving, but I litterally cruised through it! So, don't be put off by it!
In 5th and 6th year my friend and I sat next to each other at the back, we were both quicker learners than the rest of the class so we ould talk after finishing the q's which did make it more fun;) but it also was good competition cause we both got A's in all the class tests(very helpful, if your teachers not doing them do exam paper q's at home!)
I probably put less effort into maths than other subjects, cause I needed to! but I am confident I got A1's in maths and app.maths:D

coffeelover

Hi guys. I'm going into 5th year in sept and i don't know if i should do honours maths or not. I did it for the JC but I'd say I just about scraped a C. Should I give honours a go or am i wasting time that I could be using to focus on other subjects?

Patri

coffeelover wrote: »

Hi guys. I'm going into 5th year in sept and i don't know if i should do honours maths or not. I did it for the JC but I'd say I just about scraped a C. Should I give honours a go or am i wasting time that I could be using to focus on other subjects?

Give it your best shot is my advice. One of the best maths teachers in my area told me you can drop to pass anytime up to around the christmas of leaving cert. So give it a go, its tough at first anyway but make sure you get the homework done and you'll be sound.

i like pie

i got an A in the junior cert but found maths in 5th year very hard, a lot of people dropped to pass in 5th year especially when the maths got really tough! by summer of 5th year i had lost all hope of doing well in maths for the lc, i had gotten a D in the summer test after putting loads of hours in studying and doing homework!! but i'm so glad i didn't drop down! it's kinda hard to explain but everything came together for me around the pres! i found that i was panicking in tests when i came across a hard sum, having a chat with my teacher made me realise this, now i'm hoping for an A! try doing higher level at least until christmas of 6th year, then if you do drop down you'll have enough time to learn the pass course. good luck with it:)

coffeelover

Thanks guys. I'll give it a go and put in as much work as i can .

salthillman

Patri wrote: »

Give it your best shot is my advice. One of the best maths teachers in my area told me you can drop to pass anytime up to around the christmas of leaving cert. So give it a go, its tough at first anyway but make sure you get the homework done and you'll be sound.

You can drop to pass on the day if the exam if you want, or vice-versa - in any exam! I'd defo recommend doing it for 5th year cos then pass seems oh - so - easy!!

zoom!

All higher level maths seems difficult at the start. But if you keep at it and keeping doing questions over and over, you begin to notice patterns in questions and gain the ability to spot hints and ideas easier. Maths in essence is a skill. You don't really study it but rather practice...

Ruski

When you get your head around it, no.

Patri

salthillman wrote: »

You can drop to pass on the day if the exam if you want, or vice-versa - in any exam! I'd defo recommend doing it for 5th year cos then pass seems oh - so - easy!!

Ya but that would be silly without studying the course, whole different course!

Maybe_Memories

Patri wrote: »

Ya but that would be silly without studying the course, whole different course!

There's enough choice on the paper to be able to do enough on the OL paper if you drop down on the day.

coffeelover

Ya i'm going to stick at it for all of 5th year at least. I don't think i'd like to drop down to pass on the day though :rolleyes:

eoins23456

the key to doing well in higher level maths is exam papers.Do all the papers back as far as 1994.Then email examcraft and other mock paper companies for past maths mock papers.Alternatively ask your teacher for past papers.You will find questions in these that havent been asked before in detail.Also practise doing questions in more then one way.Find various ways of doing problems.Like in the circle using a geometric and an algebraic approach.The key is to be able to figure out what method to use and recall in your head when to use it.Be able to understand what your doing.Even if you dont know what to do if you see an awkward looking part c just think about if for a minute or two and make some sort of attempt.Do not leave out parts of the course.Also for the option question you could teach yourself further probability.It can be done much quicker then then the further series question imo.

Ally7

Will those old exam papers be any good to us now we're starting Project Maths?

i like pie

isn't there only a project maths paper 2 though at the moment? i don't think changes are being made to paper 1 until 2011, according to what i've heard, so yes you can still do the paper 1 q's for practice if this is true.

eoins23456

i mean if your going into sixth year now.The old exam papers would be good for the probability questions id say

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Patri wrote: »

Ya but that would be silly without studying the course, whole different course!

I never said you should! I was just telling him that he has the option of dropping down whenever he wants because some one else was implying that you can only drop down before Christmas:cool:

Depends whether or not you're good at Maths OP. I personally found it quite hard and its certainly difficult if you don't put in any work.