Mocks - Leaving Cert Turnaround?

SeanyboyQPR

Ill be lucky to reach 400 points in my mocks, need 500 for Law in UCD next year! Fackin hell, someone reassure me

aimzLc2

Last year , i did nothing between mocks and the real thing and i went up about 35 points , work your butt off and you can do it

kingcobra

You mightn't feel like it now but you're in perfect position to get over 500 points in the real thing. Just keep a consistent study routine and you'll be grand!

Nicole.

I got 430 in my mocks, got 500 in the real thing. It depends on how much work you put in but it can be done.

Scuid Mhór

Got 415 in the mocks, need to be in the mid 500s. Don't know if it's possible to pull off but I'll try my best to make it happen!

SeanyboyQPR

Nicole. wrote: »

I got 430 in my mocks, got 500 in the real thing. It depends on how much work you put in but it can be done.

Did you make any drastic changes? What subjects did you sit? I'm gutted with business and economics, c3 and c1, was hoping for a b1/b2 and a b3, 69% in economics!

Jackobyte

All the teachers keep mentioning that students tend to go up by 15 percent between the mocks and the real thing. 15x6=90. And for each of them that would go up into A1 territory, the jump could be 20points.

Nicole.

SeanyboyQPR wrote: »

Did you make any drastic changes? What subjects did you sit? I'm gutted with business and economics, c3 and c1, was hoping for a b1/b2 and a b3, 69% in economics!

I always worked hard, the mocks aren't corrected right and the questions are not SEC standard. One of my mocks had to be recorrected it was so badly marked.

I sat English, History, Geography, Home Economics, Irish, and Biology at higher level. Ordinary level maths.

Don't worry about the mocks too much. I went up from low C grades in Home Economics to a B1, Irish to a B1 and Biology to B2. I got a low C in history and went up to a C1, I always found that subject interesting but difficult. The main thing I did was did EVERY single exam question that had came up that was relevant to the syllabus. The Irish Oral brought my points up a lot as we didn't have one for our mocks which I think is very silly considering how much its worth.

I was very disappointed with Biology because I got As most of the time and to get a C was heartbreaking but the marking scheme in any subject is something you need to have a grasp of, it will make or break you and that's where I went wrong. For example if I question is worth 20 marks you might need four points worth 5 marks per point or five points worth 4 marks. Always go with the maximum amount of points they may want within time constraints, if you can't think of anything come back to it later. My friends that did Economics said the same, the marking scheme is so important.

For your mocks you aren't finished your syllabus so you haven't prepared for everything or even covered it. The main thing was that after my mocks I had a chance to properly revise for my exams, I also starting studying way more on the weekends, before the mocks I only did maybe 2 hours a day, after the mocks I did at least 4.5 hours per day.

One piece of advise is not to let those results get to you too much because you need to study all of your subjects and there's a danger you'll spend too much time on economics and business and neglect your other subjects (I've seen it happen).

In the next few months your teachers will ask if there's anything in particular ye want to go over with as a class, flick through your books and figure out what you don't understand and ask your teacher to explain them.

Chances are that you're a good enough student and if you put your head down, study effectively and do exam questions for the next few months you'll get the results that you want. The Easter break is coming up so I'd strongly advise you to study then but have at least a day or two off or you'll burn out. Good luck.

SeanyboyQPR

Nicole. wrote: »

I always worked hard, the mocks aren't corrected right and the questions are not SEC standard. One of my mocks had to be recorrected it was so badly marked.

I sat English, History, Geography, Home Economics, Irish, and Biology at higher level. Ordinary level maths.

Don't worry about the mocks too much. I went up from low C grades in Home Economics to a B1, Irish to a B1 and Biology to B2. I got a low C in history and went up to a C1, I always found that subject interesting but difficult. The main thing I did was did EVERY single exam question that had came up that was relevant to the syllabus. The Irish Oral brought my points up a lot as we didn't have one for our mocks which I think is very silly considering how much its worth.

I was very disappointed with Biology because I got As most of the time and to get a C was heartbreaking but the marking scheme in any subject is something you need to have a grasp of, it will make or break you and that's where I went wrong. For example if I question is worth 20 marks you might need four points worth 5 marks per point or five points worth 4 marks. Always go with the maximum amount of points they may want within time constraints, if you can't think of anything come back to it later. My friends that did Economics said the same, the marking scheme is so important.

For your mocks you aren't finished your syllabus so you haven't prepared for everything or even covered it. The main thing was that after my mocks I had a chance to properly revise for my exams, I also starting studying way more on the weekends, before the mocks I only did maybe 2 hours a day, after the mocks I did at least 4.5 hours per day.

One piece of advise is not to let those results get to you too much because you need to study all of your subjects and there's a danger you'll spend too much time on economics and business and neglect your other subjects (I've seen it happen).

In the next few months your teachers will ask if there's anything in particular ye want to go over with as a class, flick through your books and figure out what you don't understand and ask your teacher to explain them.

Chances are that you're a good enough student and if you put your head down, study effectively and do exam questions for the next few months you'll get the results that you want. The Easter break is coming up so I'd strongly advise you to study then but have at least a day or two off or you'll burn out. Good luck.

My results were like this:

English B3 75
Business C3 60
German C1 (Haven't done the oral yet) 70
Economics C1 70
No history back yet though I'm expecting a D as the essays were all wrong for me, only one decent one I reckon..
No irish back yet either, hoping for a low B in that but after business Its hard to call, no oral yet either..
I also failed OL Maths which I never even look at...

aimzLc2

SeanyboyQPR wrote: »

My results were like this:

English B3 75
Business C3 60
German C1 (Haven't done the oral yet) 70
Economics C1 70
No history back yet though I'm expecting a D as the essays were all wrong for me, only one decent one I reckon..
No irish back yet either, hoping for a low B in that but after business Its hard to call, no oral yet either..
I also failed OL Maths which I never even look at...

I will just tell you , you might have underestimated business, like so many people do! i'm not being harsh i just want to say that its really easy to improve that , you need the exact definition for everything in business and you just need to learn off the points looking at the marking scheme , i got a d in my mock in business and then got a b1 in the real thing , don't worry too much

Nicole.

SeanyboyQPR wrote: »

My results were like this:

English B3 75
Business C3 60
German C1 (Haven't done the oral yet) 70
Economics C1 70
No history back yet though I'm expecting a D as the essays were all wrong for me, only one decent one I reckon..
No irish back yet either, hoping for a low B in that but after business Its hard to call, no oral yet either..
I also failed OL Maths which I never even look at...

You did well in English but as its my favourite subject and I know a lot about it, (studying it in college now) I'll give you advice on that). Go through your exam paper especially for English, make a card under headings like paper 1 comprehension, story etc. Write down the marks you got for each section. Then you'll know where you can improve. If you could improve on paper 1 read more, paper 2 is more of a case of knowing your material and quotes a little better.

For history I used bullet points to learn the material but for the exam never use bullet points (so I was told anyway). You also have to watch your paragraphs, style of writing and what your sentences must be clear. Knowing your case studies can bring you up a lot as there are only three of them and one has to come up. Your project will also help.

I sucked at ordinary level maths failed most tests my teacher set but came out with a B3 at the end. I did so many exam questions, looked at the marking scheme and there's a website http://www.studentxpress.ie/ which shows all of the possible ways you could have done the question. Try the question and then go on the website to find out how you do it if you can't or to just check the answer. I got grinds for the last few months to ensure that I passed. I was without doubt one of the weakest (if not the weakest in my maths class) so while all of the others were flying ahead with their work on their own I went up the teacher and asked for help. She also had me do extra exam questions which she would correct and explain where I went wrong. I can't really learn by seeing a sum done, I had to write out the steps that were taken beside it. There are also tutorials for maths on Eircom study hub for free if you're an eircom customer. I also used websites like youtube to show me how to do maths problems.

You'll need to work at maths because you need to pass maths to get into a university and do a law degree.

Lucan Bohs

My mate got 395 in the mocks last year and 530 in the real thing

yournerd

Law is mine bitch.

SeanyboyQPR

All back now, looks like this:

English HL 74% B3
Irish HL 67% C1
Maths OL 25%
German HL 68% C1
Business HL 55% C3
History HL 67% C1
Economics HL 69% C1

Works out at 415 total I think, bit of a mountain to climb!

Dani Pacheco

If you put in the work Law is definitely achievable. It will probably go down some points this year as well. You have two and a half months to go flat out which is loads of time if you study properly. Whatever you do, don't take shortcuts or do all this predicting crap so many students do !

SeanyboyQPR

yournerd wrote: »

Law is mine bitch.

Is that so? :P Where do you have down?

yournerd

SeanyboyQPR wrote: »

Is that so? :P Where do you have down?

1-10 :P wbu?

SeanyboyQPR

1-8, what colleges? :P

Dani Pacheco

New Law building open in UCD next year btw lads, looks absolutely incredible!

yournerd

Wasnt it meant to open this year?

UCD, Trinity, DCU, Maynooth might change it around

13spanner

Got 420 in the mocks, 470 in the real thing.

Went from 71% in English to an A, so anything is possible.

Best of luck.

OregonBaller87

I'm in the same sitch as the person who set up the forum. I got 265 in the Mocks and would obviously be aiming for 400+ but Arts is looking more and more likely.
Serious problem is my lack of study. I just can't do it?! Especially at home. First thing I'm doing over this break is getting rid of my iPhone and buying a heap of manore €30 phone so I can't be fecking around the internet when my concentration goes.

To conclude, I'm in huge need of advice and tips because I just can't do it alone. Help a brother out

Nicole.

OregonBaller87 wrote: »

I'm in the same sitch as the person who set up the forum. I got 265 in the Mocks and would obviously be aiming for 400+ but Arts is looking more and more likely.
Serious problem is my lack of study. I just can't do it?! Especially at home. First thing I'm doing over this break is getting rid of my iPhone and buying a heap of manore €30 phone so I can't be fecking around the internet when my concentration goes.

To conclude, I'm in huge need of advice and tips because I just can't do it alone. Help a brother out

First off, I know you're probably just using arts as an example because it's low points but never do a course just because you're offered it. I'm doing arts and I've seen so many people drop out because they did it for the college experience and 'to do something'.

Does your school do after school study? If so it might be a good idea. I have the same problem with regard to the internet distracting me so if I need to study I go somewhere with no internet access.

You need clear objectives to study, don't just say 'I'll study geography' say I'll study 'sedimentary rocks for geography' etc. Very simple things help.

Writing out exam paper questions are good if you find concentration difficult.

Regular short breaks will help you to keep concentration but they must be short.

Your environment where you're trying to study may be apart of the problem. Having a clean, bright, airy inviting space that it not too hot or cold will be beneficial.

You should do a quiz to figure out what kind of studier you are, some people are visual learners etc so this should be accounted for while studying. Many are available for free online.

Allocate yourself a rewards system e.g. if you effectively study the material you set out to do treat yourself by watching your favourite programme etc.

Set realistic study goals, setting unattainable goals can severely impact on your ability to study or vise versa being too easy on yourself won't be good either.

If you have to use the internet for a project etc download the info as a pdf, save it onto a memory stick or print it out as you'll end up on Facebook etc otherwise.

Your library might be a good place to start studying if you can't study at home or if your school doesn't have an after school study programme.

If you have to study at home allocate yourself a room where you will always study, routine is good. Make sure this room isn't too near noisy rooms like the sitting room or kitchen. Clear all distractions from the room e.g. laptops, take the modem from a computer and put it in a different room etc. Have everything you need to study in the room before you start studying. Take a glass of water with you because water helps your brain to function.

Set yourself a mini test straight after you revise a topic. This could be going through the info in your head or writing it out. Its a good idea to revise a topic, go to your exam papers and find all the questions that are relevant to that topic and either do them or if you don't have the time, write a couple of bullet points on what you would write if you were answering the question.

Write down any of the info you don't understand and ask your teacher to help, they'll be more than happy to. The truth about teachers is that it doesn't matter how good or bad you are at their subject, just show that you're making the effort and they will help.

A last point because many students don't do this write. EVERYONE of your CAO choices should reflect what you want to do in life. Don't think about points predictions etc. Fill in all of your level 8 and your level 7/6s etc and think carefully about them. There's always a way to do what you want so good luck to you and everyone sitting the LC this year.

If I think of anything else I'll add to this.