history or geography?

lynchgirl

I am in TY and i dont have much time to decide what my subject choices are. Ive already chosen French, Biology Chemistry. I now have to decide the fourth subject, either geography or history. I prefer history by far and its one of my best subjects. But ive heard that the workload in lc is serious and the course changes a good bit. I'm thinking just in terms of points-go with the subject i like best or while geography be easier and get me more points?

JDOC1996

To be honest, the work load with history is highly exaggerated. It's really not that time consuming of a subject. I'm in 5th year, and we're nearly finished the course as well as our research projects. You're better off to pick subjects that you're interested in, so I would vouch for you 100% to pick history

hefferboi

Did the leaving 3 years ago. I loved history but found it tough. Geography was by far the easier.

user.name

It really depends on your interest in a subject. I don't do geography but I do history. I don't find it that time consuming, and not to bad with study. Leaving cert history is quite different to junior cert. However in saying it is quite a tough exam. You have to write 3 essays and do a documents question in 2.50 hours which is barely enough time. I think you should do whatever one you find most interesting as people usually do well in subjects they have an interest in

The green and red

As someone who does booth i will say that timing can be a factor with both exams as they both involve ALOT of writing. I enjoy them equally however I find geography the easier subject. I suppose it depends on your own ability and interest.

The Pheasant

History gets a higher number of A's every year, I do both and find History more interesting - also seen as you say you like history and it's one of your best subjects I'd go with that. If you're worried about work load they both have high work loads and though this will seem mad to a TY student, I think you'll find in 6th year that you won't mind working thaaaaat much seen as it actually has a genuine purpose this time

The green and red

Just to mention, LC history is worlds apart from JC history. Its more about formulating opinions and arguments rather than just regurgitating facts.

lynchgirl

Thank ye all for your replies- I've decided to go with history. I've heard many people say that there is too much work involved and realistically its very hard to get an A, but hearing your opinions and the fact that i really enjoy the subject I'll just go with it! So thanks!

meleanor

Neither. I'm in 6th yr, i.e. my LC is in a month. I do Geography: it's horrible. You have to basically learn off copious amounts of sample answers. Most of my friends do History: they're going out of their minds atm with essays and projects. Plus, for both, the exam time is ridiculous. 2hr 50mins! You don't have time to think about what you're going to write...

If I could choose again, I'd do Economics: it's supposed to be a grand!

Dropping No Eaves

Doing both, I much prefer history. I find it much more interesting and thus, studying is less of a challenge.

Canard

They're both extremely time consuming with mind-numbing amounts of information to learn and regurgitate. I did both, and I have to say geography is probably the better option. It's more organised and imo has more choice. The essays can be written in 15 bullet points for full marks (and if you make acronyms for those points it's actually really easy), the first 20 marks of a question are quite easy, there are short questions which are usually easy enough too (though this year they were difficult, so they might be trying to change that). The project is quite straightforward. There are set formats for a lot of the questions - in physical geography you can build up 10 of the 30 marks without even thinking by naming features, processes that formed them, naming any example and drawing a diagram of it. Its sections can overlap a bit, e.g. farming in regional geography with CAP in economic geography.

If you're quite an organised person and you can write quickly, geography is probably a good option. It's really relaxing as a subject once your notes are good - you just have to sit back and read the stuff a few times, whereas in history you have to learn who people were, what they did, what the consequences of their actions were...I dunno, I didn't enjoy it, but everyone's different.