LC subject choice - help

ellie182

(I'm sorry in advance for how bloody long this turned out)

Hello,

So I'm in TY now and I've to pick my LC subjects in a few days, but I'm having a bit of trouble. I've picked two of my options (excl. the mandatory ones) so I have two more to pick but I can't for the life of me decide which.
I've narrowed it down to either art or business as one and either biology or physics as the other.

I did art for my JC and I absolutely loved it, but I'm not great at it, so I don't know if it would be a wise choice? Like chances are I'd only manage maybe a C3 if even. I really do love it though, and I don't enjoy much else at school. Is a love of a subject worth getting less points than I could have?
I didn't do business, but apparently it's pretty easy to take up? I like the sound of it and I think I'd be pretty good at it, but I know I wouldn't enjoy it as much as art.
Then as for the science subjects, well, I despised science for my junior cert. Oh god I absolutely hated it, brings back horrible memories. But I want to keep my options open for when I finish school so I reckon I should do a science subject. I always did like biology, but it looks so dauntingly hard for the leaving. I'm kind of neutral towards physics. It's grand, like.

Basically I'm just a mess and I can't decide anything. I know it's my choice and none of you can tell me what I want to do, but even if anyone has any advice leaning towards/against any subjects in particular. Any help at all would be really appreciated. Especially the business/art part.

Thank youuuuuuuuu

EDIT: I should add, though this is only a guess like - I'd like to do either computer science, animation, game design or psychology when I finish school. But that's not for two years so I'll probably change those

EoghanIRL

Chemistry is the hardest science subject so if you didn't like science I wouldn't advise .
I would do biology and physics is important for games design.
At the end of the day it is up to you , you shouldn't have to decide yet anyways . You could try talking to a teacher or the career guidance teacher for advice .

peekachoo

I'd go with art and biology/physics. Art for the animation/games sides of things. Besides the art history paper is worth 40% and it's really easy if you have a genuine interest

As for sciences, physics would probably be handy for computers and biology just if you want to keep your options open

The Pheasant

Are you good at maths? If so I'd go with physics, otherwise pick biology...and business has an enormous and vague syllabus, very hard to score highly in

Aeternum

I picked art and I'm in sixth year now and seriously regret my choice. I loved it for junior cert and got an A in the exam but I find the leaving cert course incredibly boring.
The art history is very extensive and there is a lot of details, also there is no project like the JC, which I feel is a much better assessment. Instead you choose either a 2.5 hour design exam or a 5 hour craft exam.

I wish I picked biology instead of art but much too late now also the marking is a lot tougher for the practical than the JC, if you want to do well your work has to really stand out and be individual.

thegreatescape

It depends if you're looking for higher points or not in certain subjects.
Art is extremely difficult to do well in, even if you're Picasso.
I don't know where you heard that about business because I've been doing it since 1st year (I'm in 6th year now) and still find the course a challenge!
Biology would be considered the easiest science subject, but it's nowhere near easy. The course is so extensive!
I don't do Physics but in my year only 1 person in the physics class passed and they only passed by a few percent.

At the end of the day it's your decision!

ellie182

I know business is HARD, but I was talking to one or two of the teachers at a subject fair thing and they both said it's not too difficult to take it up if you haven't done it for the JC

Thanks for all the help, you're all faaaaaaab

aimzLc2

Just to add to what others have been saying, business yes can be hard but its not that hard to score well in! i have done very well in business you just have to be able to sit down and learn it well, simple as that but if you don't learn it ,you can't make it up because it has to be exact definitions. I know you would be doing business/art but honestly if you are willing to put in work for biology which is the largest course on the leaving in my opinion , which is not that easy then you can definitely do business, so don't disregard business straight away and as hard as biology is , it can be really interesting which makes it a bit easier to learn! i don't have any experience with the other 2 subjects..

SmidgeBall

Ok, I'm currently in 6th year and my options are french, music, art and biology, here's my advice.

Don't do a science because you think it would keep your options open, basically, you know at this stage of the game if you like science or not and many courses don't actually require one. I ended up studying biology simply because the way my school sorted out the options there wasn't really much else of interest to me. The course is HUGE and hard to get an a in but it's manageable and the exam itself is reasonably nice (no huge essay like questions) It's also all based on one paper (only one of my subjects that is). I would have done physics, as I feel it's the most useful leaving cert science but it clashed with music. Don't go near chemistry, from my friends I gather it's pretty impossible.

Leaving Cert art has a bad reputation but it's actually not that bad! I'm like you, I'm **** at art, well... I can't draw, but a lot is exam focused and if you're interested it's a nice bit of fun. The art history paper is VERY nice and easy to score very high in (I never get below 80% in my essays) The life drawing just work on proportions and practice but is only worth 10% (I failed the life drawing section in the mocks but still managed a C1 over all and my teacher thinks I will get a B in the real thing ) anyway, I would recommend it, if you just follow the exam techniques getting a b is not impossible! If you have any questions about the Art course I'd be happy to help, but yeah.. do art it's a nice break from the other subjects.

also if you want to do animation you'd wanna get cracking on your portfolio in 5th year, My friend is going for that and so far has gotten in everywhere she applied to

Medme

Biology is easier than physics unless your a Maths guru! Biology is long but not particularly hard, just a lot of content. I would defo do a science subject as it keeps your options open long term. A lot of random courses ask for a science so if your not certain what you want it's best to keep options open.

Business is no problem to pick up if you didn't do it in JC. I picked it up mid way through 5th yr and got anA2. Art - I've no clue but there's always ALOT of moaning about marking/projects/hard to get good grade etcetc!

EoghanIRL

Medme wrote: »

Biology is easier than physics unless your a Maths guru! Biology is long but not particularly hard, just a lot of content. I would defo do a science subject as it keeps your options open long term. A lot of random courses ask for a science so if your not certain what you want it's best to keep options open.

Business is no problem to pick up if you didn't do it in JC. I picked it up mid way through 5th yr and got anA2. Art - I've no clue but there's always ALOT of moaning about marking/projects/hard to get good grade etcetc!

I don't agree . Physics isn't harder . Biology has more volume , you will need to learn a lot . Obviously being a maths guru will make it easier but you don't need to be one to do good in physics !

Brendan1234

The only two subjects that I do are business and physics. Business can be boring at time, but if you're willing to just sit down and learn it, it's a very manageable subject. You also don't really need to have done JC business because everything is covered and you aren't assumed to know anything about business when you start.
As for physics, I see that some people are saying you have to be brilliant at maths for it, when in my experience this is not the case. Our physics teacher says that they kind of make it a rule that no higher level maths is needed for higher level physics. There is also no calculus. I personally find it a really interesting subject and I think that the JC course is a really poor representation of what is on the LC course. It was my least favourite part of JC science, but it's one of my favourite subjects now.

ellie182

To be honest I'm pretty dreadful at maths. Definitely won't be keeping on higher level

Medme

Bit of an afterthought - biology would be helpful if you do want to do psychology, for 1st yr psychology you'll study neurobiology. It's not essential at all, lots of peeps do it without but if you were super keen on psychology the biology would make 1st yr a bit easier. Been there done that.

Keep your options open, defo talk to ur teachers, they'll be your best advisors as they know you and your strengths. Remember all posts here will all be just our personal opinions/experiences.

DonallFitz

I'd recommend Economics, its basically common sense!

WoolyAbyss

DonallFitz wrote: »

I'd recommend Economics, its basically common sense!

Isn't business suppose to be the common sense subject?

LostBoy101

WoolyAbyss wrote: »

Isn't business suppose to be the common sense subject?

I wouldn't say economics is common sense, it's more precise than the business course which is quite broad in comparison to economics which is the smallest subject in the leaving cert.

Glee_GG

Don't do art or business but I do the three sciences, unless you actually like Physics at JC level, i wouldn't reccommed taking it on to LC level unless you like Maths and generally like questioning things and finding out how things work. The course can be pretty boring at times imo especially on chapters like electricity and magnetism. If you like Biology though take it to LC level, there isn't a huge amount to understand in the course its mostly just sitting down and learning it. There is a couple of new things on the course, like genetics is taken to much greater level but for a lot of things it just goes into a bit more detail on them than you do for the JC,

ray2012

I see posts here saying 'chemistry is impossible'. I'm clearly against that. Yes it is tough, but a lot of the time it can be really interesting. Experiments play a big role in the exam itself, and they usually aren't too hard. There is maths in it which can be quite difficult but attempt marks are fairly grand to get. Definitions have to be spot on, so you just really need to sit down and learn them. I must say that I find some parts of the course shockingly boring, but that's like in every subject. I do biology also and I find that the biggest bore. It doesn't interest me in the slightest, and some parts of it are really tricky in my opinion.

But yeah, for anyone choosing subjects I wouldn't cancel out chemistry straight away. I was never good at science for JC (got 25% in my mocks in JC, and a D in the real thing), but I had a look at the chemistry and biology syllabuses and they seemed interesting. I also wanted to keep my options open. I'm not wonderful at chemistry, but I'm not failing either. I'm hoping to get a B3 in the LC. But my advice would be to choose subjects that interest you.