What subjects would be easiest to get 100 points in?

BetterThanThou

Alright, I've decided the course I want to do after my leaving cert, Physiotherapy at UCD. The course requires in excess of 500 points and a third language, currently, I'm not doing a third language, I'm going to take one up immediately on my own and I should be able to get at least a pass. However, the points are my main worry, currently, I'm doing:
Music - Higher, I expect close to 100 points.
Business - Higher, also expecting close to 100 points.
English - Higher, also expecting close to 100 points.
Religion - Higher, also expecting close to 100 points.
Physics - Higher, I'm not great at this subject, but, I will get grinds.
Maths - Ordinary, not great, I will get grinds, and I think I could definitely pull a high ordinary grade at least.
Irish - Ordinary, terrible, I feel I can pull together a pass with grinds.

As you can see, I'd have to do nearly perfect in every subject at the levels I have to reach my goals. I was thinking, taking up another subject would be a good option, but, I'm not entirely sure what subject, and would I realistically be able to get close to 100 points in a subject I've never studied for in a little over a year? I will definitely get grinds for this subject, likely starting this year, instead of waiting till next.

Patrick 1

Agricultural science can be easily done in a school year and while I won't say it's an easy A for anyone with any sort of motivation and drive the A is readily achievable.
Asides from that the above list looks good, I'd toss in Biology maybe but there is a good bit of depth to the course and having it for Physio may be quite useful. More difficult than Ag but if you can do Physics Biology is another good one to throw in. Also Biology will definitely stand to you in Physio.

ray2012

I'd go against the above poster really! I wouldn't advise studying it at all, as it can be a really tough course in my opinion if you have no interest in the subject. As well as that, the course is extremely long and questions can often be quite specific. Biology is really similar to agricultural science, so if you're not doing biology, I would really recommend ag science to be honest. Economics is quite an easy subject (again with study and constant revision). The course is short, and some parts of the business course may be similar in the economics course, I'm not sure. So yeah, I'd recommend economics.

ScummyMan

Accounting is very manageable in one year imo, the topics rarely change its more about practice than anything really.

dcam

I would also recommend ag science. I reapeated my Leaving Cert last year and I took it up as a new subject during my repeat year and I got an A1. The project does take up a lot of time though.

comeclosa

Don't think Economics would be too problematic to be honest. The course genuinely isn't that big, the books over-complicate it for sure. The paper has a fantastic choice, and there's a LOT of overlap between topics in the Macro Economics section, which is generally 3-5/8 long questions on the paper (You've to do 4/8 in the exam). There's a good bit of pure common sense involved in Economics, in my opinion anyway.

weirdspider

I would also agree with ag science. Very manageable, took it up this year too. I finished the course last month so now its just constant revision of exam papers/marking schemes. The project is a big pain IMO but its very enjoyable apart from that.

MickFleetwood

Business Studies, in a sense. Not easy by any stretch of the imagination but it's basically just remembering definitions, terms, etc. Along with the larger questions. Not a difficult subject at all, the only way one could do badly in it is by not studying.

I've passed common level exams (y'know, bits of OL, bits of HL, that sort of thing) literally without doing an ounce of homework or opening a book.
If I actually studied I'm fairly confident I'd be able to get, like, upwards of 60%. That said, I did fail an exam once.

BetterThanThou

Alright, in relation to Ag Science, I've heard you need a teacher to sign off your project in subjects even if you're studying it yourself, is this true?
Also, which language generally has the easiest exam? I'm looking for a pass in ordinary level, I doubt I'd be able to do much better.

comeclosa

BetterThanThou wrote: »

Alright, in relation to Ag Science, I've heard you need a teacher to sign off your project in subjects even if you're studying it yourself, is this true?
Also, which language generally has the easiest exam? I'm looking for a pass in ordinary level, I doubt I'd be able to do much better.

I'll probably go out on a limb here but.... you could try teaching yourself Japanese or Russian. The two subjects are designed to be 2 year courses, and aren't as complicated as they look. I took up Japanese last year, and am aiming for an A1 in honours in the LC this year. There's a good textbook for it called Nihongo Kantan, and once you learn off the alphabets, it's not the worst... Apart from that, German is nice enough too. The oral is really structured, you can learn off 2/3 of it pretty much.. But the rest of the exam can be a bit tricky at times.

maughantourig

Here's the statistics for grades achieved in each subject:
http://www.examinations.ie/index.php?l=en&mc=st&sc=r12

That should tell you what you need to know

Pea 9

What you seem to be forgetting is that you will be doing 9 subjects. I am doin 9 subjects in my leaving and I can tell you that regardless of how 'easy' a subject might be, it will take up a fair bit of your time. To be quite honest 9 subjects is a pain in the arse and other subjects may suffer if you let yourself fall behind.

Mr. G

I think economics takes up a lot less time, its more thought rather then learning stuff off. The macro stuff overlaps a lot as the above poster said. The papers are a nice way to practice and there's a maximum amount of things they can ask. Its common sense really.

Business is as well.

Look, I suppose if your interested in a subject you will work hard at it as you like doing it.

BetterThanThou

Pea 9 wrote: »

What you seem to be forgetting is that you will be doing 9 subjects. I am doin 9 subjects in my leaving and I can tell you that regardless of how 'easy' a subject might be, it will take up a fair bit of your time. To be quite honest 9 subjects is a pain in the arse and other subjects may suffer if you let yourself fall behind.

You have got a point here, but, I feel there's no other option, I'm hoping to whack one of them out of it during the summer, or at least a considerable amount, and then spend basically all my free time studying during 6th year.
Also, would anyone recommend a revise-wise or less stress book as a primary learning book? Or are they best suited for revision?
Also, do Japanese and Russian have orals?

comeclosa

BetterThanThou wrote: »

You have got a point here, but, I feel there's no other option, I'm hoping to whack one of them out of it during the summer, or at least a considerable amount, and then spend basically all my free time studying during 6th year.
Also, would anyone recommend a revise-wise or less stress book as a primary learning book? Or are they best suited for revision?
Also, do Japanese and Russian have orals?

They do, and I'm doing both, (Japanese as a school subject, Russian as a native speaker) and I can say that if you're looking for structure, go for Japanese. Both orals are worth 20% of your total grade, and both have three parts to them.
Japanese has General Conversation, Topic (one out of three pre-prepared essays that you've to pretty much rant off on topics such as country you wanna go to, study for leaving cert, favourite sport, your school, your future...) and a Picture (4 pictures, you're given them in advance, you pick one up randomly and you've to describe it, compare the aspect of Japanese culture shown with Irish culture, and give your opinion on it.) Again, you can pretty much learn off the topics and the pictures, but the examiner may interrupt you and ask questions if they feel you've REALLY learnt them off.

Russian on the other hand, has General Conversation- Narrative. (Talk about yourself, your family, school, hobbies, future.. same as in Japanese). Then a section about an aspect of Russian culture, in which you discuss eg: a novel, poem, film, essay etc you've read in Russian.
and a picture sequence, which are like the Sraith Pictuiri in Irish or the Bildergeschichten in German.

If you've any more questions, you can PM me!

Just Like Heaven

Yeah I did Japanese as well would be happy to answer any questions.

I also did Ag science in one year, got the A it's definitely possible but my God that project was war. Dunno if I'd actually recommend taking Ag science for an 'easy' A.

Patrick 1

For the Ag science I should probably mention that a lot of people tend to just rob someone elses project and proceed to copy and paste it, leading to whoever robs an A grade project grabbing said grade the following year. Needless to say it's a tad risky, but from what I remember apart from the plants the project wasn't that complex, and if you started it at the beginning of summer you'd easily be done within a month of putting in a few hours a week.

BetterThanThou

Thank you for the answers so far, how about Economics? I've heard you can pretty much learn that from past exam papers, would that be an easier A than Agricultural Science?

Pea 9

BetterThanThou wrote: »

Thank you for the answers so far, how about Economics? I've heard you can pretty much learn that from past exam papers, would that be an easier A than Agricultural Science?

I think economics would be a better option seeing as you dont do biology (which is why many people take up ag science because there is some overl between the two)

BetterThanThou

Economics seems like it'll be easy enough, judging from exam papers.
How about the Japanese/Russian orals? I'll likely be the only person in my school doing one of them if I do pick it, do I just go to another school to do it or something?

Just Like Heaven

The examiner comes to your school.

BetterThanThou

Thank you, has anyone got any idea what the best way to start on Japanese and Economics would be?
I'd assume with Economics, I'd just buy some books, learn them off and book some grinds.
As far as Japanese is concerned, I've got no idea where to start, I was looking for grinds, and there doesn't seem to be any Japanese grinds in Dublin.

Patrick 1

In relation to economics I can't really weigh in, my aptitudes lied more to the sciences than business so I choose subjects in relation to that, but the number one thing is that if you do have an ability to do it you should go for it, any sort of interest or willingness to do a subject will pay more points than if the subject is simply an easy one.

BetterThanThou

Thank you, and, come to think of it, how big is the Geography course? I was great at Geography for Junior Cert, and I got a B in higher level without studying even one bit, it's a subject I'm rather interested in, considering I took it for Junior Cert, would it be realistic for me to cover the Geography course in a year? I was looking at some exam papers, and it seems similar enough to the Junior Cert exam paper.

Patrick 1

From what I recall of friends it isn't to bad, but I never did it myself and it does seem as if it was a good two years worth of a course, just hearsay mind you, I didn't do it myself.

comeclosa

BetterThanThou wrote: »

Thank you, and, come to think of it, how big is the Geography course? I was great at Geography for Junior Cert, and I got a B in higher level without studying even one bit, it's a subject I'm rather interested in, considering I took it for Junior Cert, would it be realistic for me to cover the Geography course in a year? I was looking at some exam papers, and it seems similar enough to the Junior Cert exam paper.

I'd say don't even go there with Geography, but I guess that's a personal opinion. The course is REALLY wishy washy, and in my opinion at least, they LOVE asking questions that you've never seen before, and not only do you have to think on your feet, you've also gotta write insanely fast to finish that DEMON of a paper. That being said though, they give away marks pretty easily, and there's a project worth 20% of the LC. But again, it's a b-word of a course.

If you're looking for a place to start with japanese, start learning the first alphabet- the Hiragana. Start with A I U E O, proceed onto KA KI KU KE KO, etc the wikipedia page is all your really need, go straight down to "stroke order and direction" bit and start memorising and learning how to write ALL of them (read the table from right to left, top to bottom). Also I'd suggest investing in a Nihongo Kantan (conveniently, the most expensive text book out of all the LC ones :rolleyes: )

If you do start Economics, Demand, Supply and Market Equilibrium WOULD be a good place to start!

BetterThanThou

Thank you, as far as Japanese is concerned, would you say it'll be easier than say, German, once I learn the alphabet? I did German for first year, but, due to my absolute laziness and terrible attendance, fell behind and the school thought I had a difficulty learning the language, so, I was given an exemption, which, I don't see the logic behind, considering I was left doing Irish, but, I was a second year, of course I was gonna take a free class to do homework in. But, anyway, I do know the absolute basics of German already. So, would German or Japanese be a better idea? Also, what kind of things could I do over the summer to help me with it? So far, I'm planning on studying as much as I possibly can for the remainder of the year, to bump up my grades to all As, or close enough hopefully. Then studying the two subjects I take up during the summer, for even 10 hours a week combined, so I don't burn myself out. Come 6th year, studying as much as I can. Anyway, is there anything like some summer courses which might help me with the new subjects I decide to take up?

Just Like Heaven

I'd imagine Japanese will be a lot easier than German as Japanese is senior cycle only and assumes no prior knowledge, unlike German. The 日本語フォーラム is here, the LC has been discussed a good bit in it, lots of people on boards have taken one on one lessons with Japanese natives, not exactly grinds with teachers, but there aren't really any surprises in the Japanese syllabus (which can be found on examinations.ie).

There isn't much to the alphabet for LC, in addition to the kana it's something something like, 120 kanji. Really basic stuff.

You don't really need Nihongo kantan, it's just okay. Good as a reference, but it's meant for classroom teaching so if you're teaching yourself it might not be great, I didn't really get any use out of it anyway, probably would have found it more useful if I was being taught from it. It does include all the kanji you need to know, but they're printed in the syllabus as well.

I wouldn't stress too much if you can't get grinds as well, I did it without any lessons (having your first ever conversation with the oral examiner is kinda scary though ), and everybody I've spoken to who self studied did it without any help. If you do live in Dublin you could attend an evening class in one of the language institutes perhaps? And I know there was at least some school in Dublin giving free Japanese classes on Saturday mornings or something, but if you're starting in sixth year it might not be ideal.

comeclosa

I WOULD disagree and still recommend getting Nihongo Kantan if you're going to do Japanese. It would be nice practice for comprehensions, since there are plenty of short little ones, which don't make you jump straight into the complex exam paper ones. Also, at the back, there are tape transcripts (Japanese does have a tape section too.).. While the sound files etc. are available online, I'm not sure if their transcripts are, and for someone who's teaching Japanese to themselves, it could be a good idea to read over the transcripts afterwards.
That said, it IS an expensive book, so unless you can get it secondhand, I'd weigh my options before rushing in to buy it, there MAY be a way to teach yourself Japanese without using it.

ViveLaVie

Just make sure there isn't a minimum grade requirement for the additional language. You said you could scrape a pass but you may actually be required to achieve a Higher C1. I had to.

Claire1456

Economics, I would highly recommend it's extremely repetitive and actually very interesting. Buy the revise wise, past exam papers and maybe invest in a couple of grinds on the trickier parts - elasticity, demand etc and A1 all going well