If you had to give one piece of advice?

Patriciamc93

Now that we are all in the height of studying with the lc only a few days away and maybe some, including me, now relise we should have studied more!!
What would be the one piece of advice you would give to the 5th years who will be sixth years next years and the 4th years who will be 5th years???

Mine would be for 5th years just study from the start ..... Doesn't have to be much just do some little bit.

For fourth years choosing subjects....... Take a glance at the exam time table when choosing subjects....... Some people have lousy timetables for their exams!

LittleMissLost

Mine would be the same.
Revise the topics you do in class on the same night and then again a couple of months later. If you are consistent the panic wont be like mine is now!
I'm procrastinating as we speak.
I am SO scared

Patriciamc93

LittleMissLost wrote: »

I'm procrastinating as we speak.
I am SO scared

Same...... And I really don't want to repeat

paulmclaughlin

Patriciamc93 wrote: »

Mine would be for 5th years just study from the start ..... Doesn't have to be much just do some little bit.

This.

paulmclaughlin

Also, if you don't start studying a little bit at the start, it is very difficult to start doing large amounts come the time when you need it.

UL

Don't pick physics if your not good at maths! study a small bit every night, maybe catch up on some things you fell back over this summer. Just dont fall behind and try stay ahead of your work.

J_E

Work from 5th year onwards. I'm not saying go crazy with work, but just work hard in school and do your homework, study isn't really necessary at that stage.

Don't burden yourself with Higher Level Maths if you're finding yourself needing to work hard for it and you don't see yourself using it. None of my courses had HL Maths and I was spending ridiculous amounts of time but I didn't decide to drop down until after Easter, made everything a lot easier and I wish I had done it a long time ago.

Take part in extra-curricular stuff in 5th year, it may be your last chance so go for a bit of everything.

C__

Take it easy in 5th year, do the work and study for your tests but don't go mad with study cause after the summer you will forget alot of it. To the incoming 6th years begin early try and do an hour a night or 2 until xmas then pick up the pace try and do more trust me it will stand to you. If only i followed my own advice

magicianz

The maths in physics isnt that hard? Ordinary level maths will get you through honours physics no problem!

Id agree with most people here, start studying. Clear space with no distractions, no music, no phones, no ipod, no random things hanging around, after this year I am a firm believer this makes a huge difference! Do a bit every night, it is worth it!

Find out what type of learner you are. Audio suit you? Mnemonics? Looking at it? REams of writing? Sooner you find out the more effective the study will be =]

Concentrate in class, everyone knows its hard at times but really, for myself anyway, a lot of the things i remember come from me remembering snippets of class work.

BE CALM! Dont let it stress you even in the last few days before the LC, It will blow eerything out of proportion! The exam wont be all nasty pieces in every question, just one or 2 questions, so have enough questions to cover it =]

double GG

My advice is to not to panic. At the end of the day they are only exams. The Leaving Cert is way overhyped. They are the same as any exams you have done during the year except with a small but more on the line. You write with the same pen on the same paper doing the same subjects.

The key is preparation. I can't emphasise it enough. Get to know the exam paper, how long do you have for each question? How long should your answer's be? Going into any exam you should know the papers off by heart. So often is the case where students run out of time at the end of an exam 'cos of poor timekeeping, 'cos they were finishing question C for 5 marks instead of starting a new question for 20 marks.

Learn how each question is structured, and ensure to read the questions thoroughly.

LC2010HIS

Study from the start. Cannot emphasise this enough.

- Do all homework during the week
- Revise it at the weekends
- Revise during the holidays
- Practice and refine English paper 1 skills by writing paragraphs and reading books
- Invest in papers in 5th year
- DO NOT let your languages slip!
- Have your aim in mind
- Study a little during the summer between 5th and 6th year
- Go to lecture weeks in the summer ..help get study going

I wish I could go back to 4th year and start again to be perfectly honest.
So I hope when my sister goes into secondary school next year, she does the right thing from the start instead of listening to what everyone else is "doing" like i did.

Iceboy

LC2010HIS wrote: »

Study from the start. Cannot emphasise this enough.

- Do all homework during the week
- Revise it at the weekends
- Revise during the holidays
- Practice and refine English paper 1 skills by writing paragraphs and reading books
- Invest in papers in 5th year
- DO NOT let your languages slip!
- Have your aim in mind
- Study a little during the summer between 5th and 6th year
- Go to lecture weeks in the summer ..help get study going

I wish I could go back to 4th year and start again to be perfectly honest.
So I hope when my sister goes into secondary school next year, she does the right thing from the start instead of listening to what everyone else is "doing" like i did.

All this is exactly what I should have done and didn't do

NotExactly

Patriciamc93 wrote: »

For fourth years choosing subjects....... Take a glance at the exam time table when choosing subjects....... Some people have lousy timetables for their exams!

TBH I wouldn't advise picking a subjects because they fit nicely into a timetable, i'd pick a subject i'm interested in & also a subject that's a requirement to a course i'm interested in e.g a Science.

Patriciamc93

NotExactly wrote: »

TBH I wouldn't advise picking a subjects because they fit nicely into a timetable, i'd pick a subject i'm interested in & also a subject that's a requirement to a course i'm interested in e.g a Science.

Obviously you have to like it but I know people and they have home ec, geography, business and French....... They said themselves they were sorry they didn't look at the timetable.

Framble

All this "do crazy work that no one ever does" advice is kind of useless. It makes perfect sense to do work in fifth year and I'm sure people are told to do it all the time but only the crazy people go crazy! My advice would be to go with the flow and don't worry about the work that you haven't done, think about the work that you can do from now on.

Griffen262

My advice, and I cant stress this enough is know what your getting yourself into...for my Subjects, I chose 4 with projects, Ag Science, DCG, Construction and Engineering. Also, Im a procrastinater so I leave things until they NEED to be done, if your not like that, read not further

N.B If i had my time back i would of still picked these subjects because firstly i have interest in them and secondly they are where the points lie for me.

As i starting off in september and I got stuck straight into 2 or 3 of these projects and thought "ohh, sure ive another half a year until this has to be ready, so ill take my time/do feck all"...time creeps up fast, think every step through, and plan it out!!


DCG Project:
The deadline for this was around febuary this year because of the bad winter weather, but it was originally a week into January or something along those lines...The good thing about this was that it was finished before the bombardment of the other project deadlines in March/April. Alot of work goes into this portfolio, and you dont realise it until you actually get stuck in! Also, other teachers (for other subjects) dont know the work that has to be put in and will nag and annoy you about the time you spend on it. I, along with all of my class spent many evenings after school completing the solidworks modeling. You get so used to using this program that it becomes second nature to you, again, just so much to do in it!! It is important to get a good start early in 6th year and planning is so essential, especially if you choose to concept design for Part B. Also--- Try not and neglect your Drawing like I did, You should nearly have the course covered in 5th year, so keep up the drawing during your Project because 8/9 months from the summer before is a long period without lifting a 2H pencil!


Ag. Project:
Not my strongest of subjects and only really picked it because I didnt want to do French, but saying that, its interesting and relevant in my locality! I dont have a farm but im aware and informed in the workings and practical sides of one, its not a necessity but it helps I suppose. I know you should never put the blame on your teacher, but being perfectly honest, my teacher is/was bloody dire, but we still got on relatively well in the interviews (I didnt get chosen, was probably the happiest day of my life ) and the projects. In the projects it really is up to the standard of what the teacher expects and what the other students produce, even though your class and teacher gets assessed from the department. I remember staying up until all hours of the night before, finishing it off and watching the ink gauge go from an "incertain 15%" to a "thank feck I had enough 2%". Again, Plan, plan, plan!!!...and get it out of the way to concentrate on your theory!


Construction Project:
Wow! what can I say, Im still feeling the effects form this one! Deadline was the 6th of May and started straight away in september! Wanted to do something different from the traditional woodworking projects, so I took on a renewable energy one. Even thought I liked the practical side of working in the woodwork room, I wanted to set myself apart from everyone else and thats why I picked a alternative energy porject, but low and behold, everyone else thought that aswel, so I was left with taking on a project that I will never forget. Long story short, It took way too much time to finish because the amount of detail I wanted it to entail "nod nod, wink wink....I used up my whole 2 weeks of easter"..If I had my time back, I would of planned it from the start, sometimes planning might set you back a week or two while everyone gets underway in manufactire, but Im telling you, it is really worth it!! Of course there is the folder aswell, and this takes the back seat while the manufacture is taking place, but be always doing a small bit for every heading along the way, and this eventually bulks up with information, as you learn more while manufacturing! All-in-all, it took a lot out of me with those long nights and while im not being cocky, It'll get me the marks, but it was definitely not worth the effort and time wasted while I could of been studying some theory.


Engineering:
My god, thinking back, I wasted so much fecking time on nothing! In engineering for the leaving cert, the brief allows you to design and manufacture a model of "something", last year it was a gantry crane, this year it was a snowmobile. The key to this project is...yup, you guessed it, PLANNING!!! I tried and tried for a week or 2 to come up with a design for a model and I can tell you, its bloody hard! So I kinda of got one together and started manufacture. Got one requirement for the brief completed and there I was saying to myself "what the hell will I do now"! Week upon week passed and I even stayed back in the evenings when ever the teacher or I could. The deadline was sometime in March, but shhhhhh...I only finished the wiring last week ...and why?...because I wasted so much time because I didnt adequately plan my project! There was a folder aswell, so time had to be put to that !...N.B Plan, plan plan!!


So, here I am a few days before my exams posting on my experiences from the last year while I should be cramming, and cramming because how stupid I was with my time. I blame myself, but also realise that if i could repeat the leaving a thousand times it still would turn out this way. I suppose, its the kind of person I am (Lazy). This post i hope gives a good indication on the work involved in the projects for the subjects I picked for the leaving cert, I know other subjects such as geography etc require projects but I know nothing about them, so sorry in that respect! If you read this to the end, thank you, it was quite reflective and also nice to be able to "tell my tail". But seriously, do get stuck into your projects from the very beginning, because with them out of the way, you can concentrate on your Theory, Irish, English and Maths. Ill leave you with this.

"Your projects and the time spent on them will mean nothing without an equivalent knowledge in your theory" -Griffen262

tldr; Plan your projects, dont waste too much of your time on them, study your theory

spurious

My advice would be, whatever happens, there is always another way to get the course you want.

Not doing as well as you hoped in the LC is not the end of anybody's world.

Salty

Patriciamc93 wrote: »

Obviously you have to like it but I know people and they have home ec, geography, business and French....... They said themselves they were sorry they didn't look at the timetable.

I'm one of those people with Home-Ec on the first day...I completely regret taking that subject. Besides the disadvantage of its position in the timetable, it's a sh!t subject, and the paper is ridiculously hard, both in content and in terms of even getting the whole thing done. I'm convinced it's going to bring down my entire lc tbh.

Enough about me:o...

To 4th years picking their subjects, pick ones you have an interest or an aptitude in. Especially for the like of musicians. If you play an istrument well, do music!! If you are fluent in a language other than the ones taught in school, do the course work for it and do the exam in it etc. Do not pick subjects just because your favourite teacher is going to be teaching that subject. Do not pick subjects just because all your friends are picking them. One of my friends did chemistry and history because a load of our other friends picked them...she's now having heart attacks over them. Also, make sure that you pick subjects that will allow you entry in to courses you're interested in. No point realising in 6th year that you don't qualify for your dream course because you didn't do a certain subject.

For 5th years...do all of your homework, always. When there is a class test planned, study for it, and do out notes that you can keep to revise for the lc. I did this up until Easter in 5th year and it was brilliant. It wasn't taxing in the least, I was never stressed, and always went to bed before 11 o' clock. I stopped due to personal problems, didn't pick it back up, and am now fooked for my lc.

For 6th years...follow all the advice for the 5th years plus this. If you have projects to finish, finish them early. Give yourself time to perfect them. If you let them drag on, you'll end up finishing them in a rush, and the quality will not be such had you put in the work earlier. Do not listen to other people who come in saying that they're doing no study. They're probably working their asses off...it's not a coincidence that these people tend to be the ones who get straight A's and top the 500 in the pres. Ignore the fookers, you'll be better off in the end. Go out every now and again. It's good for you. Make plans for the summer after the lc. It gives you the chance to see the bigger picture ie there is life after the exams.

niamhallen

Make a decent filing system and stick to it. Do not end up, like me, 3 days before the exams going through endless pages and never finding the one you want.

Daniel S

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