Leaving Cert Economics Help

aki

Hello im currently a fifth year student.
I plan studying economics for the first time from the summer onwards. Will be difficult but it is achievable and lets face the leaving cert is so miniscule in difficulty compared to the top college courses. I will be transfering to the institute in september but until the i would like to start studying it. The rapid revision book seems to be recommended by a lot of you guys. Im just a little worried it may ommit some tiny things. Should I use another book in conjunction with the rapid revision. Its hopefully just a temporary solution till the end of august.
Thanks

Chavways

aki wrote: »

Hello im currently a fifth year student.
I plan studying economics for the first time from the summer onwards. Will be difficult but it is achievable and lets face the leaving cert is so miniscule in difficulty compared to the top college courses. I will be transfering to the institute in september but until the i would like to start studying it. The rapid revision book seems to be recommended by a lot of you guys. Im just a little worried it may ommit some tiny things. Should I use another book in conjunction with the rapid revision. Its hopefully just a temporary solution till the end of august.
Thanks

I hope you're joking

BOHtox

aki wrote: »

Hello im currently a fifth year student.
I plan studying economics for the first time from the summer onwards. Will be difficult but it is achievable and lets face the leaving cert is so miniscule in difficulty compared to the top college courses. I will be transfering to the institute in september but until the i would like to start studying it. The rapid revision book seems to be recommended by a lot of you guys. Im just a little worried it may ommit some tiny things. Should I use another book in conjunction with the rapid revision. Its hopefully just a temporary solution till the end of august.
Thanks

College will hit you so hard even google won't be able to find you!

neon123

I did the same thing you are doing in economics, for last years leaving cert.If you are studying economics in the instituit nexy year (which I did),you will have no reason to start studying until september because the teacher will begin from the start of the syllabus from the start of the year ,and fits in everything nicely during the year.You are at no disadvantage starting a year late, I got a B2 in HL out of it,all is required is a decent amount of study and practice the exam papers. Hope this helps, its a good subject ,good luck in it.

aki

Yea thanks for replying.

I will be looking for the top grade in it. I'm sort of replacing irish with it, but a b2 is no good for me. I'm just wondering, how much of it is actually quote "wrote learning based"???

In other words is it like
a biology, geography way of learning things?
Thanks if you can answer this question.

As to leaving it to september, I really want to ensure i get the top grade so maybe having a blistering start because of the work i'd do in the summer would aid me greatly......

neon123

I only did Geography out of your examples and I can tell you Economics has a lot of theory to cover ,but the great thing for a person doing it in one year is that the syllabus is pretty small when compared to other subjects, and second you only have to answer 4 questions out 8 on the exam paper,which is brilliant because some parts off the course you wont want to touch.

If you want to start studying early that's fine,if you can handle studying on hot summer days:rolleyes:.The economics course is split into 2 parts Micro economics and Macro economics.If you are good at learning stuff on your own then study the Micro economics, some bits can be hard to understand and you really have to focus when studying this,because this is where all the graphs are.

Macro economics might be the better option when studying on your own,much easier to understand because it covers the broad issues off the economy ,the things you see every day on the news.A large percentage of your answers in this section can be your own examples which makes answering these questions much easier.

I would definitely get your hands on a set of exam papers,you would be amazed at how often the same questions appear every year, start preparing for these questions and your sorted.

aki

I really appreciate that advice. Thank you so much for that input.


Do you have to learn off most of those graphs for the micro or is it just a few??

Secondly, did the institute equip you comprehensively??
Did you have enough to achieve an A??

Lastly, can i ask which section cost you at getting the higher grade.... just curious:rolleyes:

Thanks.

neon123

If an economics teacher is reading this,they are going to slate me for what im about to say, but in my economics exam I only did one graph for the whole paper.The reason for this is that I did 3 questions based on Macro economics,the reason for this being I am genuinely more interested in that section ,and not because it is known as the easier part of the course.

My graph was put in the one micro economics question, the question was based on a part of the of the course that only has one main graph ,which is the fundamental one, that's what was required to anwer the question and thats what I put down.

At this point your probably saying to yourself ,no wonder he got a B2 if he didn't bother to put more than one graph in. But let me tell you this ,I asked another guy in another school what was the highest grade in his his class and he said a B2. This person was well known for being great at economics and always seemed to get an A, the person told me. The point to this being, economics is easy enough to get a decent grade in,but very difficult to get an A in,no matter how good you think you are.

If you really want that A ,not only know those institution notes inside out,but have expert well thought out answers that differentiate your answers from the rest. Do this by reading economic media such as the economist weekly magazine, which I suggest you take at least one look at, or maybe even go onto the Irish Independent business section which is perfect for a person doing economics for the LC,because it has well written articles about Irish current economics, and it daily.

Don't even worry slightly about the how good the teachers are in the institute,because they are first class,the teacher I had provided excellent notes and really gives you the best help in preparing you for the exam,for me I don't think I could have been more prepared.

Hope this helps.:)

aki

Again i can't thank you enough for your help.

I don't expect you to answer this because i've probably asked you too much:rolleyes:

I understand what you're saying about differentiating your answer from the rest but............ what I dont understand is this: if I learned off model answers that were given to you by the institute, are you saying even that isn't enough!!??

I mean how can you be penalised if you've made every single point word perfect, all the right examples, correct language usage etc.

It just seems astonishing that you can't get full marks if you've written something you've spent ages learning off, nearly word perfect, no ommissions..

Are you saying that I have to re-arrange most of the notes i've been given because everyone else is going to re-gurgitate the same stuff!!??
Or are you just saying that I should just add a little here and there on my answers just to really ensure the top mark??

I'm truly sorry for not fully understanding what you said.

If you're still with me, I have one final question.
Did you do business?
You think its any more easier than economics if you did study it?
Oh one last thing.... did you have the opportunity in the institute to show you're teacher all the answers/notes you made? This would certainly eliminate any answers that aren't 'top notch' and would end my relentless confusion as to what you said:rolleyes:

Anyway thanks again - any response to my questions would be greatly appreciated. I promise not to inondate you with more gruelling messages:)

Bears and Vodka

I think if your answers were 'word perfect', correct definitions, right examples and you shove a bit of current info like the unemployment rate, Budget Deficit figures then you will get your A, cmon like they are not too demanding. I might be wrong but I think Neon is doing a bit of scaremongering
If you learn your Institution notes really well and you will know your stuff you will most certainly get a very high mark. A1s may be tricky (on graphs make sure you label axis, equilibrium point and values etc.) but A2 is really manageable.
In short, I think there's no need to re-arrange your notes. Bullet point, explanation, example.

aki

Thank you sub zero
How did you get on in economics?

neon123

First of all ,im not trying to use any scare tactics, im just giving my opinion on the course.

I'm sorry if I cam om to strong about it being difficult to achieve an A, all I was trying to say that it is a challenge, alot of it comes down to the questions on the paper and who is correcting you exam. Of course if you learn everything the institution throw at you , you are will on your way to achieving a good grade( But I have a personal suspicion that the examiners can tell an institute students paper ,because you have around 100 people learning the exact same notes,but don't think to much about that.)Learn what you have from the notes, and put it down on the day, but what I feel very strongly on is that you have to give well informed examples to complement your answer, I think the examiners are impressed if you put in the extra effort to understand the subject.

Yes I did do business and got the same grade. I studied that for two years, I would have doubts if someone one could do it in one year, and come out with a decent grade.Business has a lot more information to learn, much more chapters, with a lot of theory in each of them.In the business exam there isn't as much choice in the paper which is also a draw back ,when compared to economics.

Yes I gave up plenty material for the teacher to correct, and my result usually varied between B and A grades, he said I usually had well written answers, but there were usually a few things to improve on , like any subject. The teacher was very good at marking my paper ,he market like a real examiner would, and didn't mark to easy or to hard.

Bears and Vodka

aki wrote: »

Thank you sub zero
How did you get on in economics?

Got a B2 and I'm kicking myself for not revising the Canons of Taxation! Our teacher who marked it also marks the LC Economics LC exams the odd year and he said he marked us very hard just so we dont get complacent and we give word perfect definitions in the LC etc. Anyway yeah on-route for a very high grade hopefully

neon123 wrote: »

Learn what you have from the notes, and put it down on the day, but what I feel very strongly on is that you have to give well informed examples to complement your answer, I think the examiners are impressed if you put in the extra effort to understand the subject.

Give us an example of a well informed example? Is that basically knowing the current facts & figures? i.e. unemployment rate is 14.3%, inflation is 2.5ish % and all that?

PictureFrame

aki wrote: »

Thank you sub zero
How did you get on in economics?

I got an A2 in the Mock and have taught myself the subject and never had a single grind in the subject. It's an easy subject, never mind people saying it's hard to get an A in, it's not. You just have to work. Also, do the Micro Questions, the marking is much fairer if you know your stuff

PictureFrame

neon123 wrote: »

If an economics teacher is reading this,they are going to slate me for what im about to say, but in my economics exam I only did one graph for the whole paper.The reason for this is that I did 3 questions based on Macro economics,the reason for this being I am genuinely more interested in that section ,and not because it is known as the easier part of the course.

My graph was put in the one micro economics question, the question was based on a part of the of the course that only has one main graph ,which is the fundamental one, that's what was required to anwer the question and thats what I put down.

At this point your probably saying to yourself ,no wonder he got a B2 if he didn't bother to put more than one graph in. But let me tell you this ,I asked another guy in another school what was the highest grade in his his class and he said a B2. This person was well known for being great at economics and always seemed to get an A, the person told me. The point to this being, economics is easy enough to get a decent grade in,but very difficult to get an A in,no matter how good you think you are.

If you really want that A ,not only know those institution notes inside out,but have expert well thought out answers that differentiate your answers from the rest. Do this by reading economic media such as the economist weekly magazine, which I suggest you take at least one look at, or maybe even go onto the Irish Independent business section which is perfect for a person doing economics for the LC,because it has well written articles about Irish current economics, and it daily.

Don't even worry slightly about the how good the teachers are in the institute,because they are first class,the teacher I had provided excellent notes and really gives you the best help in preparing you for the exam,for me I don't think I could have been more prepared.

Hope this helps.:)

I have to diagree with you about the concept that Economics is a difficult subject. With dedicated revision and practise of exam papers it is one of the easiest subjects to achieve a high grade in.

In my Mocks, I got 3 Higher Level A's (A1 Business, A2 Economics, A2 English) and to be honest, Economics is the only one I feel comfortable and fully prepared for at the moment. If you know the course, and more importantly the Micro in my opinion, your on your way to an A.

When you say 'The Institution' I assume you mean the Institute of Education? Their notes aren't really that good to be honest. If you study the marking schemes and prepare notes from them your way better off. I forked out (stupidly :rolleyes:) 250e for a Revision course there for Economics and I haven't once looked at the notes.

Also i've NEVER read any Economic articles, sure unless you do the Government and Expenditure Question why would you need it? MICRO ALL THE WAY

OP- Do Economics, it really isn't hard. If you put in any effort I can't imagine you could go below a B3 with a steady revision plan!

Bonne chance!

cianserian

Have to agree with some of the previous people. Economics is an easy subject to do well in if you put in a proper bit of effort. I noticed that it is only the people who did nothing that gave out about how hard it is and how bad the teacher is etc.

I did a steady amount of revision as we went through each chapter in fifth year and that is really all that is necessary in fifth. Sixth then is all about exam questions and revising.

Got an A1 in the mocks so it really is manageable if you know the paper well and what is expected in an answer - marking schemes are key for this!

aki

Alright guys....

Thank you for your input especially to Neon
and also subzero, pictureframe and ciaran

Very much appreciated.

Still unsure as to whether I should start the subject in June or leave it until I have regular classes in it in september. One thing I cant stand is learning from multiple sources...... also run the risk of learning something with insufficient detail etc.....

Il sera vraiment difficile parce que je voudrais recevoir un A1 :rolleyes:
Mais il est faisable, merci beaucup!

(Will be difficult especially since i havent touched the subject yet and I need atleast an A grade in it. Atleast its still a lot less work than a medicine course!
Anyway guys, thanks for your help!