Leaving Cert subject choices help?

AD15

I'm in third year and going straight into fifth year. I chose History, Physics, German and Accounting for leaving cert. However due to timetable restrictions I had to choose between History and Accounting (chose History, easy enough decision) AND German and Physics. I couldn't choose between German and Physics and so was told by principal I would have to do German grinds outside of school. My German teacher then told me that German would be too difficult to do outside school and that I should do Physics instead. My question is, would doing Physics outside of school put me at a disadvantage? I would still only be doing seven subjects. How would I go about doing experiments and such?? Would it be possible to do Physics outside of school and still do really well (like A1 or A2 at higher level...considering i would work really hard as i enjoy physics and i'm also very capable at maths). Would really appreciate advice as no one in my school is really being helpful

kingcobra

It's a tough question to answer. I don't do LC German but I know the basics can be hard to grasp but if you did it up to Junior Cert it shouldn't be too bad for the Leaving Cert. Some of my friends who do German think it's easy if anything. To be fair your German teacher will be a little biased answering that question as he/she probably doesn't have a great grasp of the Physics course.

That being said, I find the Physics course pretty good because I enjoy it, however my teacher is pure and utter codswallop :P I would have been better off not having a teacher because I'd have more drive to study the course. So as a result I came out of 5th year with a relatively bad standard in Physics but over 6th year I've done grinds and went to a revision course and now I find Physics is pretty easy in comparison to the other sciences.

However, if you're not doing a European language (besides Irish & English) I highly recommend you do German because there'll be less options available for you regarding college choices as it is a requirement for many of them. As well as that you'll have more first hand experience with German if you're in a classroom and you'll be able to speak it more and do listening which is really important for the Leaving Cert itself.

Another question is, is that do you really need or want to do Physics? Certainly don't do it for the sake of it as it'll be really hard to go through it yourself otherwise. If you certain about picking Physics, it's a grand course that's easy to comprehend. The only thing you'd be missing is in the classroom is the experiments and in the exam itself 3 of the 8 questions you answer in the exam must be on experiments. Some of the experiments really do need to be seen visually but I'd say the majority, if not all of them, are on YouTube and I know a couple of colleges do all the experiments in a crash-course. My teacher has done very little experiments with us too and to be honest once you understand what the apparatus in the experiments are you should be grand!

AD15

kingcobra wrote: »

It's a tough question to answer. I don't do LC German but I know the basics can be hard to grasp but if you did it up to Junior Cert it shouldn't be too bad for the Leaving Cert. Some of my friends who do German think it's easy if anything. To be fair your German teacher will be a little biased answering that question as he/she probably doesn't have a great grasp of the Physics course.

That being said, I find the Physics course pretty good because I enjoy it, however my teacher is pure and utter codswallop :P I would have been better off not having a teacher because I'd have more drive to study the course. So as a result I came out of 5th year with a relatively bad standard in Physics but over 6th year I've done grinds and went to a revision course and now I find Physics is pretty easy in comparison to the other sciences.

However, if you're not doing a European language (besides Irish & English) I highly recommend you do German because there'll be less options available for you regarding college choices as it is a requirement for many of them. As well as that you'll have more first hand experience with German if you're in a classroom and you'll be able to speak it more and do listening which is really important for the Leaving Cert itself.

Another question is, is that do you really need or want to do Physics? Certainly don't do it for the sake of it as it'll be really hard to go through it yourself otherwise. If you certain about picking Physics, it's a grand course that's easy to comprehend. The only thing you'd be missing is in the classroom is the experiments and in the exam itself 3 of the 8 questions you answer in the exam must be on experiments. Some of the experiments really do need to be seen visually but I'd say the majority, if not all of them, are on YouTube and I know a couple of colleges do all the experiments in a crash-course. My teacher has done very little experiments with us too and to be honest once you understand what the apparatus in the experiments are you should be grand!

I need Physics because I think I want to do something like Astrophysics after secondary I know that having said that dropping German and doing Physics seems to be the obvious thing to do, but i've only just turned 15 so I can't be sure that this is what i'll want in two years time!! The grinds I'm planning on going to is supposed to be really really good and the Physics teacher in my school is meant to be codswallop too so that's positive I suppose...as long as I know doing Physics outside the classroom wouldn't be a huge mistake then i'm content...Also, there aren't any colleges nearby so I might see if I could sit in on a Physics class whenever they're doing experiments??? (No harm in asking I suppose...) thank you so so much for your help, you've been ten times as much help as anyone in school

wnolan1992

I only did German, so I've no idea how hard the Physics course is, but:

Personally, I'd do the Physics outside school and do German with a class. Doing German one on one or in a small class with a teacher, IMO, could put you at a disadvantage to those who're in a class talking in groups, whereas I think doing Physics outside of school and having near one on one attention may actually be an advantage since it's a maths-y subject.

kingcobra

Yeah sitting in on a Physics experiment class would be a good idea, and if it is the same time block as German it'll be pretty handy. However whether or not the German teacher/principal will allow that is debatable. As a class we have done less than half the required experiments and even then I have most certainly never done a Physics experiment by myself, with a partner or in a small group (besides hammering tuning forks off the tables :P) as it has just been the teacher demonstrating it at the top of the classroom. So really it won't make too much of a difference if you see the experiments or not.

You clearly enjoy Physics if you want to do Astrophysics after and because you want to do a course I would definitely recommend you do Physics for the LC. I think it is highly likely that you could change your mind once you seriously start contemplating college courses in 6th year so keeping German on board would be a good idea. However only a pass is necessary to fulfill most requirements and that's easily attainable but since your Physics teacher seems to have his head in the clouds it'll probably be better to take up German in school as you could lose motivation or interest in Physics because of the teacher.

Don't jump straight in solely based on what I say though because after all it is just my own experience and others on here might feel differently. You'll be grand in the end anyway!

AD15

I'd say my German teacher and principal would be fine with me sitting in on experiments as i'd obviously catch up on anything I missed in class and I wouldnt be missing too often...thanks a million to both of you, taken a weight off my shoulders Only worry now is paying for grinds...may have to start babysitting or something *shudder*...all in the name of science I suppose anyway, can't thank you two enough, cheers