If you could go back....!

LMAO!

Hey, I'm new to boards.ie and I have a question!
I'm starting 5th year next year and I am still stuck on what subjects to take on! :rolleyes: At the moment its: Biology, Music, French, History, Irish, English and Maths. I'm wondering should I be taking on another science to keep my options open? (I detest business btw!)
Anyway, I'm wondering if you could go back would you choose your subjects differently and what subjects would you advise to keep on?
Thank you!

ElleEm

It depends on what you plan on doing when you leave school, whether it's a college course or job.
If you were going on to do science in college well then another science subject would help, but if not, you could do something a bit more specific to your interests, (woodwork, art, home- ec., etc.).
I tried to choose subjects that interested me and I think I chose well, so wouldn't change that... although if I could go back I would have studied more!!

Superbus

Those are my subjects but for Physics instead of Biology (and I do Latin) - I find it has a good variety and it keeps me interested. From JC I only dropped Religion and Geography (and the two other sciences), and I can't say I regret that.

I'd say go for that selection, you can always swap I guess if one is particularly objectionable.

Also, having one science subject keeps your options open well enough imo.

LMAO!

Thanks for your replies!
Well I really don't have a clue what I want to do after school So I suppose I just want to keep my options open so that when I have decided, I'll be after studying the right subjects for college. Everyone says History is unbelievably hard but I love English and did well at it in Junior Cert so I think I will go for those choices. A Musical Theater course is what I am thinking of pursuing after school so I suppose I'll stick with the choices I have. I was thinking of keeping on another science as a lot of courses in science ask for chemistry and physics or biology. Fingers crossed it will all work out anyway!

Sorry for my rant :rolleyes:

LilMissCiara

I did:

Irish, Maths, English, Physics, French, Business, History and I did Applied Maths outside school.. (All honours)

Changes:
Although I now do Pass Irish I wish I did it from the start,
Would have done Geography instead of History,
and
made more of an effort and Applied Maths.

Oh yeah, after ages of wanting to do it I dropped History at the start of 6th year because I couldn't stand the teacher.. I know it sounds petty but it was one of the best decisions I made!

LMAO!

Do you need to be very good at maths to do physics? I got a B in my Junior Cert but that was with lots and lots of study so I'm wondering if I should do physics?

And is History really as hard as everyone says it is?

Thanks

leaveiton

When I was going into 5th year, I talked to my guidance counsellor and she said that I should only do 2 science subjects if I LOVE science, and really think that it would be something that I'd continue on with. She said that if I wasn't sure whether I wanted to do science or not, or if I wasn't mad about it, I should just do one. I don't personally know if I'd agree with that advice, but that's what she advised

LMAO!

Thanks very much! Ya I suppose taking on one science subject is the right option for me since I'm not sure what I want to do. Biology seems like the right option too seeing as most people take it on, there must be something good about it!

Chuchoter

I do my normal three and then physics, biology, french and chemistry. I wish I'd done classics or history instead of physics. In my own personal opinion, you need to be good at and actually like maths to enjoy and do well at physics, because its a ****ing dry boring subject. Chemistry now is awesome.
3 sciences is a lot of science, sometimes it would be good to just go write a nice essay about architecture or Zeus or whatever. :rolleyes:

LMAO!

Ya a couple of people in my year are taking on 3 sciences!
Ya chemistry is another option. My guidance teacher advised me to keep it on but it looks so hard?!

teenagedream

History is probably my strongest subject (my highest result in the mocks)
and I think the main thing you have to ask yourself is that do you love history. Not the subject just in general. If you love it than the difficulty wont have any impact on your choice. To be honest I have an excellant teacher so I'm probably a bit biased but it really can be an easy subject.
Dont pay attention to whether you have a good teacher or not because you really have to put in the effort yourself outside the classroom and make your own decision regarding the exam. My teacher made a list of essays to prepare for the 2011 exam after the 2010 exam was finished and 99% came up on my mock paper, I'm not saying they'l come up in the exam but the thing with history is that if you know anything at all you know it well. Which is how I knew the information.
Another thing is that if you do history next year when you look around the class everyone whose there will be there because they want to be. People don't treat it as a subject like a language/business/science subject (where you might be there for a requirement). It's all about actually having an interest in the subject.

Anyway that's my 2 cent. Do history if you like it, even if it's hard having an interest will make it ten times easier.

ciara95

LMAO! wrote: »

Do you need to be very good at maths to do physics? I got a B in my Junior Cert but that was with lots and lots of study
Thanks

Just wondering could anyone answer this? Im going into 5th year and picked Physics. Im a B standard at JC higher level maths, but thinking of doing pass for leaving, just so I cam concentrate on my other 6 subjects so as to maximise my points.
Does anyone do Pass Maths and Physics?
Thanks!

PoisonIvy

Just do not do LC Home Ec if you're going for points.. While it is a really interesting subject and I loved it for JC I definitely regret doing it for LC.. And while I'm still managing to do pretty well its been a lot more work than other subjects It's a HUGE course and a difficult exam and covers too wide a variety of things to be easy to get the points in!

PoisonIvy

LMAO! wrote: »

Hey, I'm new to boards.ie and I have a question!
I'm starting 5th year next year and I am still stuck on what subjects to take on! :rolleyes: At the moment its: Biology, Music, French, History, Irish, English and Maths. I'm wondering should I be taking on another science to keep my options open? (I detest business btw!)
Anyway, I'm wondering if you could go back would you choose your subjects differently and what subjects would you advise to keep on?
Thank you!

Both Physics and Chemistry are considered difficult for LC so unless you were good at them for JC I wouldnt take them on.. Geography maybe? It counts as a science in a few Trinity courses.

partyatmygaff

LMAO! wrote: »

Ya chemistry is another option. My guidance teacher advised me to keep it on but it looks so hard?!

Chemistry is only hard if you don't pay attention. Once you have a thorough understanding of the basics you'll fly through it. It's not a subject that you can coast through at any rate.

Violafy

PoisonIvy wrote: »

Just do not do LC Home Ec if you're going for points.. While it is a really interesting subject and I loved it for JC I definitely regret doing it for LC.. And while I'm still managing to do pretty well its been a lot more work than other subjects It's a HUGE course and a difficult exam and covers too wide a variety of things to be easy to get the points in!

Really? :eek: Home Ec is by far my easiest subject points wise - I got an A1 in the Mocks without much study at all and am banking on it as an A1 in June. The whole consumer studies/finance section is dreary and boring, but I love the nutrition/food, and social studies is easy once you read over it a few times.
Do Home Ec.

plein de force

Unless you have a complete passion for history, don't do it. It is the bane of my life, i detest it. The only people who seem to do well are those who absolutely love it. The course is huge and there's no real strategy, you have to know everything plus it's extremely boring, even if you find history generally interesting (like you enjoy the odd documentary)

I didn't choose it, some strange way the time table came together meant i had no choice. But if i could've done something else it would've been geography(i genuinely found it interesting for the JC and most people i know do well in it) or economics because i love business subjects

LMAO!

Thanks everyone Ya I suppose gathering from what you've all said its important to take on the subjects your interested in, so i'll stick with my original. I might do chemistry outside of school, but i'll have to think about it! Its a pity there isn't any 'easy' subject in leaving cert

seriouslysweet

Learn how to study. Sounds daft but has saved me loads of time and stress. There are people who study this and can tell you exactly what way you study best etc, it's worth working it out and working on it before you begin 5th year. My one and only tip!

Maybe_Memories

ciara95 wrote: »

Just wondering could anyone answer this? Im going into 5th year and picked Physics. Im a B standard at JC higher level maths, but thinking of doing pass for leaving, just so I cam concentrate on my other 6 subjects so as to maximise my points.
Does anyone do Pass Maths and Physics?
Thanks!

My best friend did pass maths and higher Physics. He got a B1 in physics if I remember correctly.

Maybe_Memories

LMAO! wrote: »

Its a pity there isn't any 'easy' subject in leaving cert

Well "easy" is relative. For me, Maths, Physics and Applied Maths were the so easy I could solve a lot of the problems in my head, yet I found things like English extremely difficult. Whereas a lot of people would be the other way around.

Just choose the subjects your good at

Bbbbolger

If I was picking subjects again I wouldn't pick what I think will be easy. I'd pick what I actually like and will have an interest in. I was advised not to take any science subjects as I was fairly adamant that I wanted a career based on English and writing. But I enjoyed Science for the J.C. so I ignored my career guidance teacher and now Biology is one of my favourite subjects. It's not my strongest but I'm getting good marks because I have an interest in it and dont mind learning about it.

PictureFrame

Hi there, i'm in 5th year now and had difficulty in choosing my subjects last year. After a lot of decision making, I decided on Chemistry, French, Business, Geography and Accounting. I went into 5th year and did Chemistry and Accounting for 2 weeks and decided I absolutley hated them. I delightedly changed to Music and Economics instead, and I have to say i'm so happy I did!. I'm quite a business-y kind of person so taking 2 business subjects (Business & Economics) has suited me perfectly!. Also the combination of Business, Economics & Geography is an excellent one as it overlaps quite a lot!.

To be honest, I don't think you need two science subjects or more unless your really interested in Medicine/Dentistry etc. I don't do any Science subjects and i'm delighted about that! A lot of my friends have a lot of chemistry/physics homework whereas I don't get much at all!.

If I were to give any advice it would be to start learning the vocab for your languages straight away, it could potentially be the difference between you doing Ordinary or Higher.

Check qualifax.ie for course requirements of courses you may be interested in. I'll hopefully be doing Law & Business after next year! Fingers crossed!

Best of luck with your decision!

UrbanSea

LMAO why is it you hate business? I'd definitely recommend it.

LilMissCiara

LMAO! wrote: »

Do you need to be very good at maths to do physics? I got a B in my Junior Cert but that was with lots and lots of study so I'm wondering if I should do physics?

And is History really as hard as everyone says it is?

Thanks

The most maths that's in it is being able to derive formula and manipulate formula... It's by no means hard!

unknowntoown

right now the subjects i'm doing are
The 3 main ones , english ,maths and irish
the ones i picked where History , Geography , spanish and biology
if i could go back i would of picked technology or some sort of wood work over spanish anyday as i found out in 6th year i did not need it nor did i find it useful for anything i wanted to do in my future and my teacher sucks badly he became a teacher through fas and can barly speak a word of spanish himself , i asked to drop it i wasnt aloud
and biology , i wish i didnt pick it full stop, its not hard , but its not easy either , it takes alot of reading and concentration to do and sadly to say i just dont have it in me to do that subject, would of picked Art instead
spanish and bio are really the only 2 letting me down for my leaving cert as in points
history i strongly recommend you do if you love history
its so easy, they make the papers really easy
people say the mocks are marked harder or are harder, i got a b2 without studying, and in history if you find it difficult to learn, just learn it in bulletin points
for ordinary history that is though, very easy to get an A1 in. for higher level again its easy enough but requires alot of reading and practicing essays
if i did the leaving cert higher lvl paper now id get at least a c1 without study.
Geography is quite interesting , its the reason i picked it and i find it also easy
but if my school had a broader selection of subjects to choose from id probably pick something else as it involves a good bit of reading and takes up time for my other subjects

PoisonIvy

Violafy wrote: »

Really? :eek: Home Ec is by far my easiest subject points wise - I got an A1 in the Mocks without much study at all and am banking on it as an A1 in June. The whole consumer studies/finance section is dreary and boring, but I love the nutrition/food, and social studies is easy once you read over it a few times.
Do Home Ec.

Oh yeah social studies is easy but the nutrition questions can be crazy specific so you can get fairly screwed over on them... and the elective You doing systems and services elective?

LMAO!

UrbanSea wrote: »

LMAO why is it you hate business? I'd definitely recommend it.

I've just never being able to grasp it as well as other subjects such as music, history, english etc. I remember really studying hard for it in first year and the marks weren't getting any better! So now i'm allergic to all business

Gunslinger92

Do not do music unless you are very good at an instrument or singing. It sounds stupidly obvious, but this is what I did.

Kept on music after first year because I wanted guitar lessons. I did not get my guitar lessons. So instead I took up the flute, because there was a teacher coming to the school once a week.

I gradually came to detest playing the flute, because whenever I practiced my brother would make fun of me =/ Silly I know, but it really knocked my confidence and I ended up not practicing at all. Considering the practical is worth 50% of the marks in HL LC music, that was a terrible move. I ended up doing an awful practical, I just completely panicked and had to start 2 of my 4 pieces again =/ I barely scraped a C3.

Now, had I chosen geography over music, I would have gottten a B1 minimum, because I am more of a book smart person. I would have had no problem learning off stuff, not to mention I got an A in it for the JC :rolleyes: I would have had 500+ points instead of the 450 I have now..

So yeah, do not choose music unless you want to do music after school or unless you can play an instrument/sing well and enjoy it.

AlanBr

I wouldn't worry too much as you'll most likely change your subjects again..
I'm finishing 5th year now and recently i switched subject and in January I switched aswell
Basically i would not recommend music or any other "art" subjects either especially DCG which i detested....as for history i wouldn't be too confident about it with it having a massive course but if you love it by all means do it
With reference to science subjects if you really enjoy science then i would recommend doing 2 subjects as they do overlap in certain areas of their courses and if you look at the statistics there is a higher A percentage in science subjects than "art" subjects...i think art has 1.4 A% which is the lowest of all...
Overall i would strongly recommend scientific subjects and stay well away from arty subjects...however if i were you i would't rule at geo or a ag science too as they both combine excellently with biology

leaveiton

Have to jump in and defend music If you like it and you're good at it, then definitely go for it! The practical is worth 50%, but if your school offers music technology as an option for the practical, that's a great advantage. You'll have to do another activity along with it, either singing or playing an instrument, but the music technology is a great way to pick up marks. Then when it comes to the actual written paper, I honestly don't find the work too much harder than what was required for the junior cert. If it's a subject you do well in and really like, then I'd really encourage you to go for it!

Bbbbolger

Art does indeed have the lowest percentage in A's but I think it just needs to be said that that's mostly because of the out-dated course. It's the only practical subject without any form of project work. We have one day practical exams. In subjects like Engineerig and construction speed of work should be rewarded but in Art you cant expect everyone to be a fast worker. I'm fairly decent at drawing but I'm very precise and slow so the course doesn't suit me. Anyway, back on topic...

Music is definitely worth doing if you're good at an instrument. I know some people in my school treat it as a doss class but if you treat it like any other subject and actually do the work and study the theory a good grade is easily achievable. You already have 50% done with the practical so well worth it IMO.

TigerIsa

I would seriously recommend doing both biology and chemistry if you ever intend to do a science based course! In college they jump right into the hard stuff, presuming you know the basics from LC so if you don't you're screwed

If I could go back I would pick both, my first year of college (doing science) has been so hard with only one science.

That said, the physics we've done in college was fine with the maths and chemistry i had, so isn't (in my opinion) as important for a science based course - and I got a C1 after a lot of struggle in LC honours maths so I didn't have any advantage for physics