Schols prep

Snow joke

This message is really only for those serious about taking MSISS schols next year.

I am returning to college after a sabbatical and will be studying MSISS. I have the points for the course so I know I will be accepted and as such I have already started studying.

I am looking for one or more people in either JF, SF or JS who wish to study for the Foundation Scholarship exams.
There will be no messing around on this, I plan pass it and am currently looking for like minded people who share my goal.

Study arrangements can be made to facilitate but it will be a constant cramfest since I have been informed that the exams have been moved to January (not sure how good my intel there is but I am expecting it to be true).

If you aren't prepared to put in the work then i don't want to hear from you, I'm sorry for sounding blunt. (I'm actually a nice guy, honest ).

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

dominiquecruz

Is it a study buddy you're looking for? I think you'd be better off just focusing on yourself and your own studies.

Snow joke

I prefer studying with people, more ideas get bounced around and everyone always knows something different that is also relevant to the subject of study. It would be more efficient to study in a group of 2-5 people in my opinion. Maybe your study ability is different so i can see where you are coming from

Sorry to be off topic, but you know they're for second and third years?

Snow joke

true-or-false wrote: »

Sorry to be off topic, but you know they're for second and third years?

Not at all, I am aware of that, but they do tend to make exceptions for 1st years, I know a couple of people who did it in 1st year and passed.

Unless the rules have changed, I'm still working on the assumption that I can attempt schols.

Even on the off chance that I can't, whats the harm in getting as much work done for 1st year and schols the following year?

Aoibheann

true-or-false wrote: »

Sorry to be off topic, but you know they're for second and third years?

Not entirely true. While generally only second and third years sit the Schol exams, the odd first year has occasionally taken the exam (some, insanely, also getting them!). From the college calendar:

No students may compete for a scholarship until after their names have been entered on the College books as Junior Freshmen, i.e. they cannot compete as rising Junior Freshmen.

i.e. you can't register for Schols as a person who is not yet a student of the college (you're a rising JF student during the summer between your LC and starting college, if I remember correctly). So, yes, it's almost certainly a crazy idea, it's not one that hasn't been done before.

And OP, absolutely no harm done in getting some early work done. The only thing is that you might find the coursework quite dull and not particularly challenging if you've already covered a lot of it already!

Snow joke

Aoibheann, not to sound like a smart arse here, but i would rather the course work be dull and boring because i know it rather than the course work be interesting because i haven't a clue of whats going on .

If it makes a difference, I've already covered 2 semesters of calculus, algebra and java programming, with 6 months to go before college starts and 10 months before schols. So as in the original post, anyone who is interested in studying for it, let me know.

aas

Don't be such a weirdo

Snow joke

ah the benefit of anonymity on forums such as this. You say things here that you wouldn't say to anyone in person, well played sir.

oh and please do elaborate as to why I am a "weirdo"?

Sir Ophiuchus

Yes, they are now in early January. Yes, you can take them in any undergraduate year.

I knew it was possible to take in first year but I though it was pretty much never done. You're far braver than I!

Good luck

d93c2inhxfok4y

You would probably be better off just trying to nail down the first year's material to be honest man. I would really advise working to the pace of your course as a general strategy.

You're going to be examined on first and second year's work, but it's honestly far easier if you just follow the course as it goes along in the course outline, at the same pace as the rest of the class. I mean, there's no harm in trying to do some early work, but say you get the first two chapters of some textbook down in a week and your class is working on it for a month - it's going to be very awkward being out of sync with your lectures and you'll find yourself not going at all.

Whatever about second year, but for first year, definitely just work at the pace of your class/lecturer. That pace will honestly be fine. If you concentrate on getting every single topic you take down to a tee in notes, turning your textbooks into well readable notes and learning the material/thinking about it, that will be more than enough to take up your time. You definitely won't be left idle. When you finish first year you can ask yourself 'have I got literally every iota of examinable material down?', and if you do, then you've done more than enough.

stesh

Snow joke wrote: »

I have the points for the course so I know I will be accepted and as such I have already started studying.

How incredibly arrogant.

Snow joke

stesh wrote: »

How incredibly arrogant.

and you figure this out how?

I have been told by the head of the course that I am basically guaranteed a spot.

stesh

Assuming you're going through the CAO, you are definitely not guaranteed a place on any course - nobody is. Nobody knows if they 'have the points' or not for any course, since it can fluctuate wildly year-on-year depending on demand. Of course, there's nothing arrogant about studying; I didn't mean it in that sense at all.

Aoibheann

stesh wrote: »

How incredibly arrogant.

I would disagree, to some extent. I mean, if you've sat the Leaving Cert prior to this year and have a decent comfort margin of points about the previous course requirements then I wouldn't think it's arrogant to think you'll be accepted. Okay, the word "knowing" is definitely a poor one because you can never know (of course, there could be a massive increase in the popularity of the course or something of that nature causing a huge jump in points) - I mean, I was paranoid that I wouldn't get into TP here even though I'd previously been studying medicine and it was unlikely that the points would rise that high. I was still up at 6am on CAO offers day panicking just in case I didn't get what I wanted! >_< So actually, maybe I kind of agree with you, after all that! :pac:

Still, if you have a fair idea that you're going to get into a course, I don't see any problem in studying ahead. I wouldn't do it myself - I'm far too lazy - but it's nice to see such enthusiasm in someone else, and it won't do any harm so why not?

Snow joke

stesh wrote: »

Assuming you're going through the CAO, you are definitely not guaranteed a place on any course - nobody is. Nobody knows if they 'have the points' or not for any course, since it can fluctuate wildly year-on-year depending on demand. Of course, there's nothing arrogant about studying; I didn't mean it in that sense at all.

No i understood your meaning, but i did get a fair few more points than is required, and since they doubled the amount of spots the points will be lowered even further.

Snow joke

Aoibheann wrote: »

I would disagree, to some extent. I mean, if you've sat the Leaving Cert prior to this year and have a decent comfort margin of points about the previous course requirements then I wouldn't think it's arrogant to think you'll be accepted. Okay, the word "knowing" is definitely a poor one because you can never know (of course, there could be a massive increase in the popularity of the course or something of that nature causing a huge jump in points) - I mean, I was paranoid that I wouldn't get into TP here even though I'd previously been studying medicine and it was unlikely that the points would rise that high. I was still up at 6am on CAO offers day panicking just in case I didn't get what I wanted! >_< So actually, maybe I kind of agree with you, after all that! :pac:

Still, if you have a fair idea that you're going to get into a course, I don't see any problem in studying ahead. I wouldn't do it myself - I'm far too lazy - but it's nice to see such enthusiasm in someone else, and it won't do any harm so why not?

fair enough, i will agree about my poor choice of words, but isnt that even more of a reason that i'm not an english major .

I can just say i am Fairly confident of my chances, would that satisfy both parties?

Aoibheann

Snow joke wrote: »

fair enough, i will agree about my poor choice of words, but isnt that even more of a reason that i'm not an english major .

I can just say i am Fairly confident of my chances, would that satisfy both parties?

That would work! :pac:

From what I've seen, quite a people seem to struggle with the maths part of MSISS, so if you can grasp that material you'll be flying I'd say.

stesh

Aoibheann wrote: »

I don't see any problem in studying ahead. I wouldn't do it myself - I'm far too lazy - but it's nice to see such enthusiasm in someone else, and it won't do any harm so why not?

As I said, there's nothing wrong with studying anything.

Snow joke wrote: »

No i understood your meaning, but i did get a fair few more points than is required, and since they doubled the amount of spots the points will be lowered even further.

What was precisely my point is that you didn't get a fair few more that what is required: you may have gotten a fair few more than was required in some particular year. There's nothing to stop massive increases in points occurring this year (even if more places are being added - again, you can never be sure).

Every year there are people who get their Leaving Cert. results and breath a sigh of relief after meeting the previous year's cutoff for the course they want, only to miss out on a margin of as little as 10 points after offers come out. So I find it arrogant for someone to announce publicly that they're definitely going to get into a course, months before the Leaving Cert. has been marked, and months before offers have come out.

Snow joke

Aoibheann wrote: »

That would work! :pac:

From what I've seen, quite a people seem to struggle with the maths part of MSISS, so if you can grasp that material you'll be flying I'd say.

Maths wont be too much of an issue. gone through all the exam papers.
Economics sucks! thats my sentiment on the course

ApeXaviour

If you're up for it... it's worth giving it a shot in JF. It's been done.

When you become a registered student (or get a currently registered student to do this for you) I'd suggest downloading the past papers and using them to focus your study on what's relevant by trying to do the questions immediately... then if you can't, get out books and figure out how.

It's the best way to study technical subjects IMHO.

I encourage you to go for it... the kind of dogged determination you're displaying is actually exactly what you need to get something like schols. Determination and sweat... Talent is not the main deciding factor.
So keep it up, and don't let offhand remarks affect you. Have method and do it efficiently though

Snow joke

the points that are posted yearly are the points of the lowest person to get admitted. Its not really a set target. Furthermore, MSISS points have been dropping steadily every year for the last 5 years. and now with the increase in places it will continue to drop

Snow joke

And thanks Ape, appreciate the moral support

Again, to put the argument to rest, i apologise for coming off as arrogant, end of story.

Aoibheann

Snow joke wrote: »

Maths wont be too much of an issue. gone through all the exam papers.
Economics sucks! thats my sentiment on the course

Have you gone through the second year course, out of curiosity? I'd really suggest sitting in on some of those lectures in the first semester, if you have time. The lecturer is excellent, but his style can take some getting used to so it might be worth your while. I know the exams he sets in my own course can be quite tough, so the same probably applies for this course. However, he does seem to give a huge list of useful formulae in the exam you would be taking so it might not be too bad at all.

Oh, and do everything ApeXaviour suggests, that's the best advice you'll get.

Snow joke

Aoibheann wrote: »

Have you gone through the second year course, out of curiosity? I'd really suggest sitting in on some of those lectures in the first semester, if you have time. The lecturer is excellent, but his style can take some getting used to so it might be worth your while. I know the exams he sets in my own course can be quite tough, so the same probably applies for this course. However, he does seem to give a huge list of useful formulae in the exam you would be taking so it might not be too bad at all.

Oh, and do everything ApeXaviour suggests, that's the best advice you'll get.

Ive been looking at 1st, 2nd and 3rd year courses as well as the actual schols exams papers. Its very hard to make headway without the literature, but the Internet is sorta helpin out with it.

Groinshot

Aoibheann wrote: »

Have you gone through the second year course, out of curiosity? I'd really suggest sitting in on some of those lectures in the first semester, if you have time. The lecturer is excellent, but his style can take some getting used to so it might be worth your while. I know the exams he sets in my own course can be quite tough, so the same probably applies for this course. However, he does seem to give a huge list of useful formulae in the exam you would be taking so it might not be too bad at all.

Oh, and do everything ApeXaviour suggests, that's the best advice you'll get.

He doesn't give that list of formulae in schols..

Aoibheann

Groinshot wrote: »

He doesn't give that list of formulae in schols..

Ah! Less useful so. There is a link on his page to the list of formulae, so I guess the best thing to do is the print it out and just learn it pre-schols then? Or associate them with the style of questions that go along with them perhaps. Thankfully, most of my courses have either easy enough formulae to remember, or else a lot of them come from theorems I'm expected to know so it's not so bad. I'd imagine it could be a bit awkward to just learn a list of nearly meaningless letters/numbers/symbols when you don't have something to associate them with? (Edit: Actually, looking at the list again, they mostly seem to be theorem-based so maybe not so bad.)

Groinshot

Aoibheann wrote: »

Ah! Less useful so. There is a link on his page to the list of formulae, so I guess the best thing to do is the print it out and just learn it pre-schols then? Or associate them with the style of questions that go along with them perhaps. Thankfully, most of my courses have either easy enough formulae to remember, or else a lot of them come from theorems I'm expected to know so it's not so bad. I'd imagine it could be a bit awkward to just learn a list of nearly meaningless letters/numbers/symbols when you don't have something to associate them with? (Edit: Actually, looking at the list again, they mostly seem to be theorem-based so maybe not so bad.)

Doesn't stop there being so many small variations on single formulae. His exam isn't bad at all to be quite honest. LaPlace Transformations are possible the easiest question he gives.

aas

Snow joke wrote: »

ah the benefit of anonymity on forums such as this. You say things here that you wouldn't say to anyone in person, well played sir.

oh and please do elaborate as to why I am a "weirdo"?

I imagine I would say it to you in person, it's pretty good advice. College is about far more than the material you learn or exams you sit and the majority of the friends you make in the first semester of JF will be who you'll be hanging around with for the next 4 years.
If you lock yourself away studying for schols you'll meet very few people(you're not going to find any other first years willing to throw their social life away in the first semester of college), and those you do meet will think you're a creep. Can you give me any advantage at all for doing this in first year?

Snow joke

How about because i've done the whole college thing before and i have plenty of friends around dublin.

I went to the extreme of over socializing with no study the first year i went, work for a couple of years in dublin made a good few friends and now im going back to give a serious attempt, and what better way to solidify my ambition than by completing schols in JF.

The thing is, as long as studying for schols isn't getting in the way of your JF work, it's worth doing it. It doesn't cost anything except time, and how much time it takes can be determined by you at your own leisure. You've got nothing to lose, and everything to gain. If you get schols, you'll have money, accommodation, food, and you wont need to try for it in SF. Even if you sit them and don't get them, you'll have lots of work done, probably be near top of your class, be stress-free for a long time, and also be as prepared as anyone can be for sitting them the next year. It's a win-win situation once you don't go too mad on studying. Starting now is actually a good idea.

I think it's just that very often there's posts on education forums from people totally over-excited about their first year. Stuff like when they have to choose modules and they ask "is it possible to take all of them??", not realising that the enthusiasm doesn't last as long as the module will. You've made it clear this isn't you. You've thought about this and you want to get a head start. But you can't blame people for seeing it as a bit weird really.

Snow joke

Being a bit weird and being deemed a weirdo are really two separate issues. Sure its a bit weird to be overly enthusiastic about a difficult exam and wanting to study for it, but to be called a weirdo i kinda take as a personal attack from someone who only knows that i wish to take schols and knows nothing else about me.

Lawliet

Snow joke wrote: »

but to be called a weirdo i kinda take as a personal attack from someone who only knows that i wish to take schols and knows nothing else about me.

There's really no point in taking that kind of criticism personally. You have to remember you are on the internet; where everyone tends to act like a dick.

Snow joke

I dont let it bother me, i was just defining it as a personal attack thats all.

If I started caring what everyone on the interwebs thought you may fit me for a straight jacket :P