Experience of the leaving cert

robbiep94

how has the leaving cert gone. was it a good experience? Would you repeat?

Dapics

Mines went ok so far,

I've resigned myself to not getting my points for my 1st Pref Course.

I haven't a bit of study done for buisness and I am really not in the mood to.

My estimated Results: (All Higher xcept Irish and german)

B1 -GEOG
B2-ENGLISH
B3/C1 - MATHS
A2/B1 - HISTORY
D3 -PASS IRISH

Looking for an A1 in economics on wednesday and a B3 in Buisness tomorrow. German on Friday will be alot of fun, no stress at all for it.

I wouldn't repeat. I'm not just not able to get motivated.

Whatsernamex33

I'm repeating, first time around I came out with 320 with very little study and really relaxed about it, surprised I even got that many points for that little amount of study :L

This time, I'm totally worn out and I don't think I'll do very much better than last year even though I have studied alot more.. :O

Caffman

I think it went fairly well. I'd love to say it's all overhyped and the media should stop every year but I'll see how it goes!

Not a chance would I repeat, physically wouldnt be able for it!

Bears and Vodka

No disappointments so far, apart from my Paper 1 short story, I was unhappy I couldn't show off the flair I'm capable of doing.

I have 3 important exams still to come but so far here are my estimated results:

LCVP - Distinction
~~~~~
English HL - B2
Maths OL - A2
Irish OL - C3
Russian HL - A1

robbiep94

subz3r0 wrote: »

No disappointments so far, apart from my Paper 1 short story, I was unhappy I couldn't show off the flair I'm capable of doing.

I have 3 important exams still to come but so far here are my estimated results:

LCVP - Distinction
~~~~~
English HL - B2
Maths OL - A2
Irish OL - C3
Russian HL - A1

Russian A1? wow:eek:

Togepi

I haven't a notion of repeating because I am this year. I don't remember it be as tiring as this, maybe I'm just getting old... :pac:

Last year I always said that hypothetically, I'd repeat if my whole year repeated so it'd actually be good craic. I also loved the sound of the new Irish course, the very small changes to the English course, and only having to do six subjects giving me loads of frees.

Only decided to repeat at the start of September. 'Twas grand. :P

Edit: Pessimistic Predicted Grades So Far:
English - C2
Maths - C3
Irish - C1
French - B2

I'd be absolutely gutted if I got any of those grades, last year I got 4 Bs, a C and a D.

Mysteriouschic

The second time doing the leaving cert. I won't be doing it again for sure.
Although last year I was saying all year round no matter what happens .
"I'll never repeat the leaving cert" and here I am now .

I've actually enjoyed the experience this time around and knowing I'm going to do so much better because I'm actually studying more. I also had the wrong subjects for last years exams . This years subjects suited me much more.
I've had a great year . I'm not sure what I've gotten in terms of grades, I don't want to predict anything yet at least until the rest of the exams are over.

Whatsernamex33

Have to say though, it is great craic repeating, and I met some really cool people never ever do it a 3rd time though

fizzyorange

So far I don't think it has been so bad. This is my first, and only, time doing the Leaving Cert. I only have 2 exams left and providing they go okay I think I'll have a fair chance of getting into my course! So I'm really excited. this is what I'm hoping for:

LCVP: Merit
Biology: C2
Geography: B3
English: B3
Physics OL: B1
German: C3

So that'll give me 370.

Realistically though, I'd be happy with 340+ because I only need 340 for my course.

123 LC

i've found the whole experience horrible to be honest :L i feel nearly dead, but i still have ag sci to go :L the only way i'll be repeating is if i fail irish english or maths, which is possible for english :L i'd be happy with any of my first 3 choices which go from 390 to 500. i've worked out i'll get about 460, that could be a bit lowgraded by me, but if luck is with me maybe 500, don't really see it happening though

finality

I absolutely couldn't repeat. Hated school. I hate the way it's exactly the same routine every day and I hate the restrictions they impose on us. In my school we're not allowed leave the school at any point during the day without a parent coming in to pick us up, and we have absolutely no responsibility for ourselves or our own education. I just hate it. I've always been willing to do the work, but I hate being given ridiculous homework that doesn't benefit me in any way and then being publicly insulted in class if I don't do it.

I hated German class for years (despite loving German and getting among the top 100 results in the junior cert) because my teacher didn't like me and made a point of keeping me back after class to give out to me.
One time she kept me back to ask "why didn't you open your book as fast as the others?" Bloody ridiculous, if I were struggling in the subject and she wanted to help me improve it would be one thing.

The excessive focus on appearance in Irish schools is really damaging to students too. In my school they care more about a student's appearance than their wellbeing.

I've also always hated Irish and resented being forced to study it. Overall leaving cert was a bit better as regards subjects than junior cert because I had mostly subjects I liked. Never enjoyed history or home ec much.

...I just basically hate school, hate the leaving cert, the day I graduated was one of the happiest of my life. There's basically no individuality or independent learning allowed in school and being treated like a child has bothered me since primary school.

I quite like most of my subjects though! And I'm confident enough of doing reasonably well in the exams. I'll hopefully get around 560. Can't say how I've gotten on in individual subjects as I haven't done half of my exams yet. I just reeeaaally can't wait to move on to college, I know it will suit me a lot better than the leaving cert (in terms of working independently and having more freedom). So I'm feeling pretty positive right now overall!

Bears and Vodka

finality wrote: »

And I'm confident enough of doing reasonably well in the exams. I'll hopefully get around 560.

Oh if only that was my 'reasonable' amount :pac:

Hayezer

Meh it's overrated but I'm not doing anywhere near as good I thought I was, mocks got my hopes up Got 485 in mocks and was hoping for 500+ but don't think thats gonna happen. Need 400 for my course!

Predictions, all HL
English-B3
Maths-C3, wanted a B
Geography-B3 hopefully
Biology-A1 hopefully, maybe A2

Still got Chem(hopefully A), Ag(hopefully A) and German(don't care, C would do :P)

HowAreWe

just like the pre's except I'm more focused and more relaxed...if that makes sense :cool:

English - C1
Geog - B3
Maths - B3/C1
French - A1
History - A1/A2
Economics - Hoping for a B3

Yes I have 6 subjects I dropped Japanese :pac:

Vetton

HL:
English - B2
French - B3
Geog. - B2

Ord.:
Maths - A2

HL again:
Hopefully I'll have PhysChem - A1/2
DCG - A2
Art - A2

Whatsernamex33 wrote: »

Have to say though, it is great craic repeating, and I met some really cool people never ever do it a 3rd time though

Agreed.

Freewheelin_

Predictions so far:
English - B2/B3
Maths - B1/B2
Irish (OL) - C2/C3
History - A2/B1

Left:
German - B1
Economics - C1
Music - A2

As long as I get no Ds I should be grand though.

biohaiid

I refuse to think of it negatively!
I remained positive throughout the exams (only exams in the bigger scale of things) and I know I have done my absolute best.
I dont want to try and estimate how many points I should get. whatever happens on the 15th happens and I'll deal with it.

mcpaddington

Didn't do any study at all for the leaving so may have to repeat, hopefully not though. I feel it went pretty well so far and I hope to get 420+.

Mista

biohaiid wrote: »

I refuse to think of it negatively!
I remained positive throughout the exams (only exams in the bigger scale of things) and I know I have done my absolute best.
I dont want to try and estimate how many points I should get. whatever happens on the 15th happens and I'll deal with it.

Well said! I hate all the pessimism that some people have, that they're sure they're repeating etc.. it'll only make you do your next exams worse.

Togepi

HowAreWe wrote: »

Yes I have 6 subjects I dropped Japanese :pac:

How did you get away with just doing six? A girl in my school dropped a subject before but apparently she was only allowed because she had LCVP as a seventh subject anyway.

Dwellingdweller

Really chuffed with how they've gone so far, actually My course was 515 points last year so I'm aiming for 540ish. Got 465 in the mocks.

Here's my predicted grades (optimistically predicted!)

English: A1 (A1 in the mocks)
Maths OL: B2ish, doesn't matter as I only need to pass it
Irish: A1 (B2, in the mocks I left out a whole question on the paper and there was no oral counted in it, so I'm hoping to do well!)
Biology: B1/A2, could go either way, definitely expecting a high B though! An A would be wonderful!
French: A1, my favourite subject
History: My worst subject, I was totally bricking it going in, but the paper was just amazing so I'm expecting a C1/B3
Physics (Monday!): If I get the grades I predicted above (3xA1, B2, and a C1, giving me 450), then a B2 would give me 530, so I'd have a 15 point cushion to get Biomed in NUIG. Might need a few extra points though, realistically an A1 in Physics would be amazing as it would give me a comfortable margin to get my course by.

My experience of the Leaving has actually been great Every exam has gone really well and just the feeling of finishing subjects knowing I won't have to do them again is wonderful! (despite the fact that I'll be doing both my science subjects and French in college, and I'm going to continue writing in my spare time :P) But yeah, I've actually enjoyed it tbh. Glad I studied so that everything came off smoothly in the actual exams. Overall I'm aiming for 520+ points.

Nitsuj

I have a feeling I will be repeating, because I doubt I will get any of my level 8s due to the little work I've put in, regardless of the fact that I'm reasonably smart. Just extremely ****ing lazy.

I also don't think repeating would be "torture", since I would have all the courses covered and would feel ahead of everyone else, resulting in me being quite confident.

I'm also not "worn out" at all, since English paper 2 went really bad (Plath, Heaney) and I pretty much burned out emotionally after that paper. Stopped stressing after that, because if English, what was my best subject, went so bad, I had no hope in doing decent in the rest.

... and if I was to repeat, I would repeat my 4 choices, OL maths, and would take up applied maths, technology and possibly ag. science, since they all seem to overlap with my other subjects and seem quite easy and short courses. I mean, ag science seems to have a lot of biology in it, applied maths has a lot of physics and maths (duh) and technology seems so easy from looking at the past papers.

Killian In The Name Of

I really REALLY don't want to repeat at all, but I have a horrible feeling I will have to. Don't think I'll be getting any of my Level 8s, which is quite depressing...

grantyrs10

a really optimistic prediction for me woud be :

ENGLISH HL B1

IRISH HL A1

MATHS HL C1

FRENCH HL A1

GEOGRAPHY HL A2

ECONOMICS HL A1

That wud give me 570... if i got that i would be so so so happy

Chuchoter

The exams themselves have all been pretty good to me so far, still got two hard ones left though so it could all fall apart now. I doubt I'll be repeating because I have courses over a really wide range of points and I'd enjoy any of them (I hope)

The 2 years studying? ****ing horrific. I don't even know how to describe how exhausted I am today, its soul destroying.

Enda93

I think the L.C is hyped up way too much, the exams themselves are actually fine if you've done the work over 6th year, yeah, obviously some parts were hard, namely project maths and the unpredictable English paper 2 but if those were the hardest things in the leaving then I'm feeling fairly confident to be honest.
Maybe I did awful, but I find that the best way to feel better about the leaving is think of how much better you did than in the pre and then think about your pre results, and how much higher you can expect to get ^^

Schonie

I'm mentally exhausted, I have nightmares about LC - last night I dreamt that I read all the Qs wrong on my biology exam and answered them completely differently-, I'm physically exhausted...but yeah...other than that the actual exams are okay - I haven't done any study so I'll be happy if I get one of my courses...If I don't get any of them, I will repeat but hopefully I won't have to...

My (being positive) predictions so far:
HL English: C1
HL Geography: B3/C1
OL Maths: B2
HL Biology: B3/C1
HL Art: B2
HL German: C2

And I have Chemistry left: C3/D1

If I went with the better options, I would get 425points
It is done now anyhoo..so I'll just forget about it when I'm finished my chemistry until the results night:)

Bubbleope

wasted a lot of my time on people who i wouldn't call friends anymore.. :L so i don't like that aspect of my whole leaving cert experience.

6th year is better than 5th year though. just cause everyone is so close.
i didn't study until the nights before each exam like. :pac: i'm hoping not to repeat but i will if i want my top course. it's my own fault for being an eejit and not properly studying for the past 2 years.

but i'm going to study good and well for these last 2 exams cause i don't want to be the only failure in my family.. evil sister got 565 points in her lc.
i'm just not looking forward to seeing that sheet with all my crappy results on it.

Murphdog94

In my opinion the whole year leading up to it has been the worst part. Constantly feeling guilty if you're doing anything and haven't done any study is just horrible. The exams themselves haven't really been that bad, they just feel a bit surreal because they've been built up so much and at the end of the day it's just an exam
I have 3 left though and can't wait to be finished on Thursday!
Optimistic Results:
All HL
English - B1
Irish - A2
Maths - C2
Geography - B2
Business - A1
Spanish - A2
Physics - C2
Music - Haven't studied all year, just hoping for a pass!
Points: 530ish

David1994

Bubbleope wrote: »

wasted a lot of my time on people who i wouldn't call friends anymore.. :L so i don't like that aspect of my whole leaving cert experience.

6th year is better than 5th year though. just cause everyone is so close.
i didn't study until the nights before each exam like. :pac: i'm hoping not to repeat but i will if i want my top course. it's my own fault for being an eejit and not properly studying for the past 2 years.

but i'm going to study good and well for these last 2 exams cause i don't want to be the only failure in my family.. evil sister got 565 points in her lc.
i'm just not looking forward to seeing that sheet with all my crappy results on it.

OMG! Are you me? Like seriously... :P This is exactly how I feel. My sister got 580 in her LC last year Its so annoying because I probably wont even get 470 I really do not want to see my results sheet being filled with(well not crappy grades) but disappointing grades for me! Before the exams I was hoping for 500 points but biology went terrible and dunno how the others went so there is no way I am going to get it :P
At this point I wouldnt mind repeating if I really have to as I know I could get 550+ if I just worked that bit harder....But look ya never know what could happen so I am going to stay optimistic for the moment anyways! Good luck to you in your last exams!

Sorry for the rant just needed to get it off my chest!

HeaneyBabe

My Predictions.. Most haven't gone as well as I've hoped

Exams I've done so far:
-English HL - B2
-Maths OL -B3 (Project Maths grrrrr)
-Irish HL -B2
-Geography - C2

Exams I will be doing next week
-Physics HL- D3 (I just want to pass it)
-Economics - A2
-Italian - A1/A2 hopefully!

I WOULD NOT WANT TO REPEAT. Dying of a really bad throat infection which was probably brought on by stress. So run down.

Nicole.

My experience of the Leaving Cert was overall a positive one, however I feel like I will explode if I have to repeat.

From the beginning of the year at school we were told that we're responsible for our own education; ifwe were struggling, we needed to talk to a teacher about that and hopefully find a solution. I had to do this a few times with maths in particular, although it was embarrassing having to ask for help, it makes you feel more independent.

I found the late nights studying while other people were watching tv or on Facebook very challenging but hopefully it will pay off.

It's scary knowing that it's all over. I'm terrified if I did badly because everyone I know, knows that I worked really hard. Most of my exams went fine but Biology was a disaster, I studied for it but I couldn't figure out what information they actually wanted.

I got 430 points in my mocks but I don't know if I have achieved that or more now.

Bubbleope

David1994 wrote: »

OMG! Are you me? Like seriously... :P This is exactly how I feel. My sister got 580 in her LC last year Its so annoying because I probably wont even get 470 I really do not want to see my results sheet being filled with(well not crappy grades) but disappointing grades for me! Before the exams I was hoping for 500 points but biology went terrible and dunno how the others went so there is no way I am going to get it :P
At this point I wouldnt mind repeating if I really have to as I know I could get 550+ if I just worked that bit harder....But look ya never know what could happen so I am going to stay optimistic for the moment anyways! Good luck to you in your last exams!

Sorry for the rant just needed to get it off my chest!

haha thanks for the luck! such high standards in our families!! O: haha and i don't think my grades will be crappy as in fails.(apart from possibly maths.. ).. but crappy as in not good enough for me or anyone to see... :L i'm really scared just thinking about seeing that sheet like! :pac:
i'd say i'd be able for 550+ too. seeing as these exams went i'd be lucky with 400+ in fairness. just wish i put in the work instead of watching tv shows and all this. /:
oh well. :L time will tell. :P

Schonie

Bubbleope wrote: »

haha thanks for the luck! such high standards in our families!! O: haha and i don't think my grades will be crappy as in fails.(apart from possibly maths.. ).. but crappy as in not good enough for me or anyone to see... :L i'm really scared just thinking about seeing that sheet like! :pac:
i'd say i'd be able for 550+ too. seeing as these exams went i'd be lucky with 400+ in fairness. just wish i put in the work instead of watching tv shows and all this. /:
oh well. :L time will tell. :P

you guys...this sounds kinda familiar to me:o ...It's not really my sister cause I'm the eldest, but my mum..She expects me to do so well because she did really well in her LC...ugh...
And I know that if I studied I would be able for more, but I was being lazy and stupid by deciding not to...beating myself about it now...I just never studied before - always got by in everything without studying..

finality

I'm hoping my results will surprise me. English in particular. I feel like I got around a B1 in it but I didn't think I'd get an A in the pre either and then got 94%. But it's so hard to tell. My estimates:

English B1
Maths B1
Irish B1
Biology A1
German A1

To do:
Chemistry
Physics
Applied Maths

I really can't even guess at what my grades will be for those 3. Depends on the paper and how much work I can be bothered to do between now and then. Got 570 in the mocks and that's around where I seem to be headed again, happy with that... just worried I'm being completely over-optimistic.

David1994

Bubbleope wrote: »

haha thanks for the luck! such high standards in our families!! O: haha and i don't think my grades will be crappy as in fails.(apart from possibly maths.. ).. but crappy as in not good enough for me or anyone to see... :L i'm really scared just thinking about seeing that sheet like! :pac:
i'd say i'd be able for 550+ too. seeing as these exams went i'd be lucky with 400+ in fairness. just wish i put in the work instead of watching tv shows and all this. /:
oh well. :L time will tell. :P

Exactly sure look we could surprise ourselves! :P I know I used to be really studious and stuff in 3rd year and did very well in it but I seemed to just slack off and stuff Anyways back to studying chemistry I go! Haha That results sheet will be my worst enemy hanging over me during the summer! Ah well..time will tell as you said :P

Chavways

Schonie wrote: »

I'm mentally exhausted, I have nightmares about LC - last night I dreamt that I read all the Qs wrong on my biology exam and answered them completely differently

I've been having nightmares that I put the wrong exam number down on some of my exams.I'm almost sure I didn't but it will probably trouble me for the whole summer.

Bubbleope

Schonie wrote: »

you guys...this sounds kinda familiar to me:o ...It's not really my sister cause I'm the eldest, but my mum..She expects me to do so well because she did really well in her LC...ugh...
And I know that if I studied I would be able for more, but I was being lazy and stupid by deciding not to...beating myself about it now...I just never studied before - always got by in everything without studying..

haha ah jaysus hopefully we'll all be impressed by the results though. hopefully. :pac:

David1994 wrote: »

Exactly sure look we could surprise ourselves! :P I know I used to be really studious and stuff in 3rd year and did very well in it but I seemed to just slack off and stuff Anyways back to studying chemistry I go! Haha That results sheet will be my worst enemy hanging over me during the summer! Ah well..time will tell as you said :P

oh no i wasn't even studious in 3rd year, didn't need to so much then though.. i was hoping for a turnaround in the lc but nope didn't happen. :pac: good luck with the chemistry!

Cruel Sun

I'd say I'll get anywhere between 430 and 480 depending on my last exam, I said before the leaving cert I'd get about 450/460 and I think that's what I'll get. I'll definitly have enough points for my course last year but it's going to go up a lot this year so it could be close.

PictureFrame

My experience of the Leaving cert. has been quite a changeable one the last 2 years. And truly, it was a 2 year experience for me anyway as I always tried to study and do extra bits and pieces over the last 2 years. Really, my Friends and my knowledge have been the only truly positive things I can take away from the experience, but in all other aspects- my experience of the Leaving Cert. has been almost a completely negative one.

Firstly, my School is undoubtedly one of the most negative, unhelpful ‘institutions’ I’ve ever seen. And whilst it has a reputation for students excelling and achieving excellent grades, this is not due to the Teachers, but more so the student’s defiance of the Teachers and their love of telling people what they can/cannot do.

Independent learning is NOT appreciated, whether it be in the Leaving Cert in general or in my School. About 15-20 students self-thought themselves a wide range of subjects in my school, including Phys-Chem, Music, Art, Ag-Science, Ag-Economics, Accounting and Economics just to name a few. At the beginning of this School year ‘we’ as in the students taking subjects outside of school, were told by our PRINICPAL and our CAREER GUIDANCE Teacher, in a meeting with them, that:

‘Doing subjects yourself doesn’t work, you’ll do terribly’

This is no exaggeration; they made us feel like stupid children and nothing more. And it actually turned out that most of the people who undertook the project of taking additional subjects did better in said subjects that most of their others that they were being taught in school. (For example Economics was my second highest grade- A2). This narrow perception of students, their willingness to work hard and achieve what they want was one of the most utterly negative experiences I’ve ever had and really cast a shadow over my experience of the Leaving Cert.

Also, I truly believe the Leaving is overly ‘hyped’, it’s ridiculous. Teachers doing stupid countdowns on the board, telling you everyday how many days you have left, all the work you have to do, all you don’t know, BULLSHÍT.. There’s way too much pressure on students as it is, no-one needs that additional stress in life, seriously. And to be fair hardly any of my Teachers had a clue about their respective subjects,




Another thing I really, really, hated about the Leaving Cert. system, the number of subjects you have to take in school. Now I’m sorry but 7/8/9 subjects whatever is just TOO much. I understand we need to do Maths, but English? Don’t get me wrong I like English and I’m hoping to get an A1/A2 in Honours in August, but for people that aren’t interested in English what is the point in wasting time/energy studying it? Taking English out of the scenario, I wasted 2 years of valuable study time in Irish/Geography classes which have no bearing on what I want to do after school. I hated Irish, plain and simple and never did a tap for it, I still went into the exam though, not a clue about the language and will probably get an A1/A2 in it (in OL btw!). it’s a complete joke, and a waste of time.

In my opinion, 3-4 subjects is ENOUGH to take. I knew from the start of 5th year that I wanted to study Law/Business in college. Surely it would make more sense to allow people to study subjects that would relate directly to their desired courses in great detail, rather than having a meagre and completely irrelevant knowledge of 8/9 subjects that won’t relate to what they want to study in University?

And I think it’s about time the DOE/SEC whoever, looked at the subjects they’re offering in schools today and whipped out the finger with some new courses that would be APPLICABLE to University for students. There should be, without doubt, some type of Subject for Sport/Recreation, Psychology/Sociology, IT and a Law based subject offered in mainstream education. But no, they’d rather offer minority subjects (no offence to anyone doing them, I have no experience of their relevancy or anything) such as Classical Studies, Ancient Greek and Religious Education. I’m sure they’re grand subjects or whatever but what is the point in a student having knowledge about Roman/Greek mythology and barely able to do Maths or speak a foreign language? Both of which will be necessary with the high levels of emigration in search of jobs.

And why isn’t Chinese offered in Schools in this day and age? I know it’s meant to be difficult but in fairness they offer it in Schools in the US as a mainstream subject and it should without doubt, be offered for students in Ireland. They offer Japanese as a subject but not Chinese? Bit silly and irrational in my opinion but alas, that seems to be the brainwaves of the Department of Education.

I won’t even mention the shambles the DOE has made introducing Project Maths, I believe each student will already have formed their own personal opinion on that well-debated topics. (IDIOTS)

Another aspect of the Leaving Cert. I really, really hated was the time pressure in the exams. I’m not finished, I have Economics on Wednesday (which again should be an extra fun, ‘no-thinking-allowed only writing kinda exam), but most of my subjects have been so writing heavy and pressurised it’s ridiculous. (English Paper II, Geography, Business). The DOE should realise that if they extended the time allowed for a subject, maybe the results might be higher.

See how that works?

More time=more thinky= higher grades!

(Stupid SEC Monkey :P)

But that’s my personal experience of the Leaving cert. Not a whole of positives I know, but that’s how I really feel about the whole shambles of a set up. I’m just trying to keep sane until the 21st of June at 4.45pm when I can throw my Music Composition paper at my examiner, walk out the door of that awful, awful school, laugh hysterically and walk off into the sunset with my friends like the ending of some terrible Disney Channel Movie.

Till then, back to Economics! :rolleyes:

Cruel Sun

While we're on the topic of subjects that the leaving cert offers/doesn't offer. Why isn't there Computer Science like in most other countries?

PictureFrame

Martin_94 wrote: »

While we're on the topic of subjects that the leaving cert offers/doesn't offer. Why isn't there Computer Science like in most other countries?

I asked that in my post above! It's stupid!

Coeurdepirate

fizzyorange wrote: »

So far I don't think it has been so bad. This is my first, and only, time doing the Leaving Cert. I only have 2 exams left and providing they go okay I think I'll have a fair chance of getting into my course! So I'm really excited. this is what I'm hoping for:

LCVP: Merit
Biology: C2
Geography: B3
English: B3
Physics OL: B1
German: C3

So that'll give me 370.

Realistically though, I'd be happy with 340+ because I only need 340 for my course.

Which is what? Is it Arts in NUIG? Since I'm quite sure that's where you're going, and that's what I'm doing!

My estimated results so far:
English: B2/B3
Irish: B3/C1
Maths OL: C3
French: A1/A2
Biology: D3/E
Business: C2/C3

Cruel Sun

PictureFrame wrote: »

I asked that in my post above! It's stupid!

lol, your post was so long I scanned over that bit, but I agree, it's so stupid.

iluvgreenday246

Well the year has been absolutely exhausting for a start!! I repeated this year for medicine after getting 505 last year and i've worked my absolute butt off.... Really miss sleep and my social life.... *sigh* :P I took up geography and ag science this year and i have never done them before. Ag science has been a breeze but the project was a bit of a pain and geography certainly took alot of work am optimistic of getting my first choice this year though!

This is how i think i've done so far:
English HL- A1
Irish OL- C1
Maths OL- C3
French HL- A2/B1
Biology HL- A1
History HL- A2
Geography HL- A2

And still have chemistry and ag science to go and am really relying on them for A1s!

Coeurdepirate

PictureFrame wrote: »

I understand we need to do Maths, but English? Don’t get me wrong I like English and I’m hoping to get an A1/A2 in Honours in August, but for people that aren’t interested in English what is the point in wasting time/energy studying it? Taking English out of the scenario, I wasted 2 years of valuable study time in Irish/Geography classes which have no bearing on what I want to do after school. I hated Irish, plain and simple and never did a tap for it, I still went into the exam though, not a clue about the language and will probably get an A1/A2 in it (in OL btw!). it’s a complete joke, and a waste of time.

In my opinion, 3-4 subjects is ENOUGH to take. I knew from the start of 5th year that I wanted to study Law/Business in college. Surely it would make more sense to allow people to study subjects that would relate directly to their desired courses in great detail, rather than having a meagre and completely irrelevant knowledge of 8/9 subjects that won’t relate to what they want to study in University?

And I think it’s about time the DOE/SEC whoever, looked at the subjects they’re offering in schools today and whipped out the finger with some new courses that would be APPLICABLE to University for students. There should be, without doubt, some type of Subject for Sport/Recreation, Psychology/Sociology, IT and a Law based subject offered in mainstream education. But no, they’d rather offer minority subjects (no offence to anyone doing them, I have no experience of their relevancy or anything) such as Classical Studies, Ancient Greek and Religious Education. I’m sure they’re grand subjects or whatever but what is the point in a student having knowledge about Roman/Greek mythology and barely able to do Maths or speak a foreign language? Both of which will be necessary with the high levels of emigration in search of jobs.

While I agree with you on everything else in your post, the stuff I bolded kind of irked me. The point of education isn't to prepare you solely for a job, but for life in general. I think our system is quite good, I like that you're quite a rounded person academic-wise when leaving secondary school.

grizzly_bear

Too many subjects done in a very short space of time. I did ten papers in a week. How ridiculous is that? The subjects themselves are taught to test which is of no fault to the teachers who hate the system just as much as we do.

We're not fluent in the languages we've been ''learning'' since we were 5.

Literary and numeracy skills are atrocious according to universities and employers.

We cannot think independently and in no case should we have such a limited amount of time for exams such as history,business,English etc.

FLAWED,FAILING AND FALTERING SYSTEM!!!

Dwellingdweller

PictureFrame wrote: »

And I think it’s about time the DOE/SEC whoever, looked at the subjects they’re offering in schools today and whipped out the finger with some new courses that would be APPLICABLE to University for students. There should be, without doubt, some type of Subject for Sport/Recreation, Psychology/Sociology, IT and a Law based subject offered in mainstream education. But no, they’d rather offer minority subjects (no offence to anyone doing them, I have no experience of their relevancy or anything) such as Classical Studies, Ancient Greek and Religious Education. I’m sure they’re grand subjects or whatever but what is the point in a student having knowledge about Roman/Greek mythology and barely able to do Maths or speak a foreign language? Both of which will be necessary with the high levels of emigration in search of jobs.

And why isn’t Chinese offered in Schools in this day and age? I know it’s meant to be difficult but in fairness they offer it in Schools in the US as a mainstream subject and it should without doubt, be offered for students in Ireland. They offer Japanese as a subject but not Chinese? Bit silly and irrational in my opinion but alas, that seems to be the brainwaves of the Department of Education.

Spot on. In a decade or two, pretty much everyone will need to know how to speak Chinese in order to succeed in big business. Looking ahead another 40-50 years, it's likely that Mandarin/Chinese will be the lingua franca of trade and business, because the reign of English is coming to a close. Not a bad thing of course, but the SEC should definitely be preparing us for this.

PictureFrame

Coeurdepirate wrote: »

While I agree with you on everything else in your post, the stuff I bolded kind of irked me. The point of education isn't to prepare you solely for a job, but for life in general. I think our system is quite good, I like that you're quite a rounded person academic-wise when leaving secondary school.

I definitely see your point of view and agree with you also! I think it's just irritating for people who don't enjoy 'mandatory subjects' like Irish/English and have to sit them as subjects that decide whether or not they'll get their dream course, although they may have no relevancy to the courses they wish to study! If that makes sense? :P

Dwellingdweller

PictureFrame wrote: »

I definitely see your point of view and agree with you also! I think it's just irritating for people who don't enjoy 'mandatory subjects' like Irish/English and have to sit them as subjects that decide whether or not they'll get their dream course, although they may have no relevancy to the courses they wish to study! If that makes sense? :P

As a solution to the problem, English should be divided into two separate streams - Literature and Proficiency. If students have no interest in English literature they could just sit a Proficiency exam, focusing on grammar and functional writing. For those with no interest in English literature, it'd sure beat learning off the reams of material involved for the exam :P Having said that the English paper overall is not too bad if you work (work as in, study regularly over 5th and 6th year) for it. But I can see why it'd be a real pain in the neck for some, that's why there should be a division made between Literature and technical writing.