Absolutely Devastated with today

LC2010HIS

was out last night and about 5 people in my year got 500+:eek:

..how do they do it?!!!!

thegoth

LC2010HIS wrote: »

was out last night and about 5 people in my year got 500+:eek:

..how do they do it?!!!!

Grade inflation. Look at the papers from the 90's. THEY ARE MUCH HARDER

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

rainbow kirby

OP, the sister of a friend of mine was in your position a few years ago. She wanted to do nursing, but ended up with 305 points. She ended up doing the pre-nursing course in Dun Laoghaire, and absolutely loved it. She went to the University of Southampton after that (degree is only 3 years in the UK so that + pre-nursing adds up to the same amount of time as doing it here anyway), and is now a very happy nurse working in the south of England. If you really want it, things will work out for you.

Raedwald

Did the aul LC four years ago now and I had me heart set on doing History in Trinity.

Ended up making a complete mess of the exams and study beforehand, only got 330 points. So my chances of getting my course was completely gone.

Decided to do a one year course in Eng,Hist and Law, which stood me in good stead and got into Trinity on the back of that.

LC isn't the be all and end all of everything, although it might not seem that way now.

I'm delighted I did my extra year long course, as it gave me great insight into the level of work that was expected of me when I went to college and made sure I was miles ahead of everyone else on the course when I did get in the following year.

kennethk

thegoth wrote: »

Grade inflation. Look at the papers from the 90's. THEY ARE MUCH HARDER

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

Maybe we worked hard?!! I didn't go out all year, got up early in the mornings to STUDY. So it's not grade inflation:mad: it's called work

The___________

LC2010HIS wrote: »

was out last night and about 5 people in my year got 500+:eek:

..how do they do it?!!!!

12 of us got 500+ in my year-best results in the school's history

r3nu4l

SoulTrader wrote: »

Don't mean to litter this thread with posts, but here is a very good video worth watching. It doesn't matter what life throws at you OP, it's how you react to it that counts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

Funnily enough I rewatched that video only a few days ago. Plenty of people who are more successful and wealthier than I ever will be never went to college or else dropped out when their business took off. However, those people all achieved their goals. The goal of the OP is to get to Uni so all that video does is reaffirm that if you have a goal, go for it and keep going for it. The OP just needs to remember never to give up.

As young babies we all spend ages and ages learning how to walk. We stumble, fall, fail again and again but not one of us ever stopped and thought 'F*** that, this is too hard! Can't be arsed anymore!' As a result today, most of us can be pretty proud of the fact that we are expert walkers with years of experience at it

Dafydd Thomas

I'm not sure of the exact number but I'd say about 20 people in my year got 500+. Go to Ardscoil Ris in Limerick, it's probably one of the best schools in Ireland. I got 480. Delighted with that.

Larianne

LC2010HIS wrote: »

was out last night and about 5 people in my year got 500+:eek:

..how do they do it?!!!!

The course I'm studying at the moment (as a mature student) needed 525 points to get into last year. From what I've heard, my classmates pretty much killed themselves studying for the one or two years. Learnt off essays etc., had very good teachers who worked them hard but also they also have a good head on their shoulders.

But over the whole year, I noticed that a lot of them are goal orientated and do not give up on things whether its college work or training for a sport. Research different options and have a goal and aim for it.

Some people have the natural ability to study and remember things easily and do well in exams. For others, like myself, even if you have the knowledge, getting it down on paper can sometimes get mixed up. Learning study skills and exam techniques are very important in college. Just something else to think about maybe where you went wrong in the exams.

For those who were disappointed, do have a good cry. Get it out of your system. It is crap. You think you've worked hard and that you deserved more but sometimes it just doesn't happen. (Happened to me!) Think about your options - repeat, take a year out, do another course or do a PLC

OP, there are pre-nursing courses as stated before in this thread which you should look at. You do have to work hard to get the required distinctions but this standard of work will prepare you to go on and do the degree course.

I honestly don't know why schools don't push PLCs more. Many of them are stepping stones to degree courses here as well as the UK. <snip>

Don't lose hope. There are other options.

spurious

<snip>

+1
The old anti-'tech' snobbery probably.
There are people posting here who seem completely unaware of the 'back door' entry methods.

There's always another way.

se bear

hay when i was in the lc i was in the same position
i went for the cadets and didnt get it i was told dont know how true it is im sure someone will correct me that they were taking on people that had a degree because of funds this was in 2005 so if theres any truth in it its now.
so i went on to do nursing. qualified in october09 to no jobs so moved to england.
what iv found here is the student nurses are walking into jobs when there finished. its 3 years rather than 4 and once you get some experience youll get a job in ireland.
youll have a degree which brings your age eligibility up for the cadets
i wouldnt get to down about your results theres other ways

rebelmomma

I did the Leaving 12 years ago. I got the least amount of points of all my friends and (3 cousins at the same time).

Funny thing is I honestly can't remember exactly how many I got.

My parents were mad for me to go to University as the first person in my family! I got offered a Cert course which is what I would have preferred to do but I had pressure put on me to go to a Uni!

Long and short of it - I took the Uni course, dropped out after failing 2nd year and then took the cert course at night while working.

I have a pretty good, stable well enough paid job. More importantly I have two beautiful kids and an okish (lol) hubbie.

Everyone will tell you not to worry etc but I did when I didn't get what I wanted.

As one poster said it is not about what you get but what choices you make from now on.

If your parents are not supporting you then tell them if you can.

As a parent myself now I can say that we don't always get it right and sometimes we don't say or do the right thing! I think you need to talk to someone about this to get their professional advice about your options.

I wish you every luck and success in the future and remember the Leaving Cert does not define anyone!

starlit

Don't worry too much OP. How you do in your course and what you get in the end of the day from it is what's more important and that is what will matter and count more towards getting a job than your leaving cert results. They are important no doubt about that but its your college results that will get you to where you want to go, will determine what track you will go depending if you want to change courses or go into further study. Still loads of options for you. Remember you have tried your best and no more you can do about it except you want to repeat. You be more wiser about it alright if you go that route. You haven't failed you have passed your leaving cert with the world at your feet! Its not the end of the world! You will look back and think differently. Some things happen for a reason, some things aren't meant to be and other things are meant to be. That's life. You can go abroad to study too. You are young yet and have loads of time to decide what you want to do. Life won't stop at a stand still it will move on and you need to be able to go with the flow. Follow your dreams!

Best of luck OP.

bridgetown1

kennethk wrote: »

Maybe we worked hard?!! I didn't go out all year, got up early in the mornings to STUDY. So it's not grade inflation:mad: it's called work

check past papers, and i mean PAST!!! 20-25+ years ago past papers. much much harder.

in one particular case a question from a biology ordinary level paper in the mid 80's appeared almost word for word on a higher level paper in the 2000's.

Ashashi

I got 490, but missed out on Trinity for Law I believe. Gutted, furious about my B2 in Maths and B3 in english.

Second choice is more than enough though

LC2010HIS

parents are wreckin my head- we need a plan
how the fúck am i meant to know if i dont know whats gonna happen myself like????

taisteal

I was in the same boat many years ago. There really is nothing worse than being unhappy with your results when everyone around you seems to be delighted. The media make it worse. Bla bla got 7 A1s.. Argh
It's hard to feel it at the moment but everything happens for a reason. I repeated and ended up doing a course I loved and meeting great people. Whats more I was in a career that I love many years before a lot of my high achieving friends even found their paths. Looking back, even though it was so hard at the time, I wouldn't change a thing.
You'll find your path and you'll look back at this as a bump in the road!

thegoth

bridgetown1 wrote: »

check past papers, and i mean PAST!!! 20-25+ years ago past papers. much much harder.

in one particular case a question from a biology ordinary level paper in the mid 80's appeared almost word for word on a higher level paper in the 2000's.

Exactly. Im not saying that people didnt work just as hard. WHat I am saying is the papers are now easier. Id suggest that someone who got 580 now would have gotten 530-540 10-15 years ago.

onlyrocknroll

LC2010HIS wrote: »

parents are wreckin my head- we need a plan
how the fúck am i meant to know if i dont know whats gonna happen myself like????

Hey.

There are some good options open to you. As a few posters above have noted you can do a pre-nursing course and then transfer to a degree if you do well. Or try applying to an English university and do either Arts or Nursing there. Your points are good enough to get into some pretty good universities. Some of them have January starts as well so you mightn't have to wait a year. Sorry I don't have more details on this but perhaps get onto whoever's in charge of career guidance in your old school, they should be able to give good advice.

Also please don't let comparisons with your friends results affect your self confidence. As a teacher I can honestly say that the Leaving Cert is a terrible measure of intelligence, it's just a good measure of your ability to memorise a lot of random useless information and produce it again on a given day. That's a pretty useless skill set. It doesn't test your reasoning skills, your creative ability, your emotional intelligence or many other thing that are far more important.

I know many brilliant people who've done well in life with low LC results (and yours aren't low at all). And tbh I've known I fair few morons who've scored high too. The education system in Ireland is very backward and quite unfair in this regard.

Hope it works out for you.

bigred100

thegoth wrote: »

Exactly. Im not saying that people didnt work just as hard. WHat I am saying is the papers are now easier. Id suggest that someone who got 580 now would have gotten 530-540 10-15 years ago.

Although, to be fair to us you can only answer what's put in front of you. Give students 2 years with that standard of paper and I'd say results would stay the same, or thereabouts.

JamesJB

thegoth wrote: »

Grade inflation. Look at the papers from the 90's. THEY ARE MUCH HARDER

That's not entirely fair! It's not just down to grade inflation in every single case, and I think that you're making an unfair generalisation. Perhaps people just hitting 500ish points would be fewer in number, but if somebody gets like 580-600 it's probably due to a lot of dedication, among other things. You have to be pretty much perfect in each of your tests, across the board. There can be no major slip ups, and there is little room for a 'bad' exam. Even if the exams are easier, it's still hard to pull that off imo.

Maybe I'm just defending my own success, although I'm trying to be as unbiased as I can. I apologise in advance if it just looks like I'm making excuses. However, if I am on such a path, I did study each of my subjects beyond what the LC asked. Especially Biology, Math and French. Irish at higher level is still very tough and imo you really deserve it if you do well, especially if you didn't go to a gaelscoil or something like that. English? A lot of it is natural ability, it's been said. I reckon I agree but plenty of people who wouldn't claim such ability do well through hard work, too. (I went onto the 1995 HL paper and to be honest it seems fine; however, I can only speak for myself and I don't want to make any definite statements)

Even if it was harder back then, I know personally that I put in as much effort as I possibly could to study every single thing given in my course and to do as many exam papers as possible. Anyone who achieved their potential is the same, I'm sure, and would put in the work to get the same grade no matter what the standard is. Some things like the French listening have gotten far easier, but in general any high grade is well earned.

tl;dr I might just be being defensive here, but I reckon if you do well in your Leaving, you probably deserve it. Not everyone does well just because of grade inflation.

bigred100 wrote: »

Although, to be fair to us you can only answer what's put in front of you. Give students 2 years with that standard of paper and I'd say results would stay the same, or thereabouts.

I agree, to an extent. This sort of represents my view in a more concise manner. I'll add that you can only study papers from the past ten years+. I think I did math HL exam papers from 1996 on and they were definitely harder. If I had done the leaving in 2001, I'd have been doing papers from further back and simply adjusting to that standard as well as I could manage.

thegoth wrote: »

Exactly. Im not saying that people didnt work just as hard. WHat I am saying is the papers are now easier. Id suggest that someone who got 580 now would have gotten 530-540 10-15 years ago.

This seems like a more reasonable statement than just 'grade inflation'. I still think that if you put the 580 student in a class studying to take the LC as it appeared 10-15 years ago, they would apply themselves immediately and possibly come out with the same grade. Maybe if you took that student and made them sit the 10-15 year old exam this year, they wouldn't do as well, but it might not be the same course!

LC2010HIS

...im considering repeating but after a summer of relaxin, im back to square 1:eek:

yungwan

You havent neccesarily returned to where you were jsut becasue you rested for the summer!

I expect you will have alot of your preparation already done, i.e. notes , study material etc. So it will just be a case of adapting and improving these as neccessary.

If you are seriously considering repeating I think you should go for it. At least then you will never have regrets.

My sister repeated her LC and managed to add an addittional 150 points to her results the following year. She was delighted and to this day says it was the best decision she ever made (she met her now fiance in her repeat year!)

Would you consider going to a different school though? One of those private ones where you board/digs etc? I hear they get great results out of you and teach you fantastic stufy methods. They also treat you more like an adult and allow you a little more freedom (and usually no uniform!!)

Its an option if you genuinely dread returning to your old school.

LC2010HIS

i dunno. i mean, ill be 20 in May.
and everytime i think about repeating, i feel drained. the LC actually depressed me in a way.
i dunno. i also have no drive as ive no idea still wat i want to do career wise. thought it was nursing, but im just not excited anymore :eek:

felic

20 is nothing! Im 30 and im going into first year of a second degree!!!! Thats far worse! By 30 I thought i was going to be married with the house and the two cars and starting a family! Thats not the way things worked out.
And theres so many people I know around the same age doing the same thing.
I know its difficult but you have to stay positive and not get stressed out or worried about it all. the way i see it, had i repeated my Leaving cert, and just taken that one year to get myself into my first choice, i would'nt have floated through the last 10 years of my life having my future on a shelf!!!!
I know it feels like you gave everything you had to the leaving this time round.. but trust me... everyone i know who repeated got what they wanted the second time round. And it flies!
Ull be fine... just cry a little, let it go, regroup, plan.. and get back out there and fight to get what you want! No one else is going to do that for you.

LisaS

u definetly still could do nursing or arts... i was waaaay worse than you only got 205 points then i did a PLC in applied psychology and social studies in Ofiaich college in Dundalk, this got me into my level 8 arts degree and now I am finished.. dont knock the PLC because I think theyre great and only for it I wouldn't be able to do the primary teaching post grad that I am going to apply for. Ofiaich college in Dundalk do a PLC in nursing and then the Dundalk IT accept so many students from them every year to go on to do the nursing degree so i would advise you to look into this.

LisaS

the leaving cert is too difficult to repeat because not many people have much of an interest in the subjects that you have to do, at least with a PLC you will do better because you can choose one you have an interest in, and doing a PLC just adds on more points to your leaving cert results..

LC2010HIS

im thinking of doing the bioscience and then going back as mature student.

LC2010HIS

hey guys.
After much crying and tearing my hair out, ive decided to repeat.
Thanks for all yer advice. Really appreciated it.
Hopefully, ill get nursing this time....
And ill also consider the uk.
Thanks again!

Permabear

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