Is it possible to get 500+ points without doing all HL subjects?

whoopsadaisy

Hey everyone

I'm doing all HL subjects at the minute and Irish is really slowing me down. It's getting really obvious I'm nowhere near the standard as the rest of the class is and I'm really starting to think I'd be better off in ordinary level, it's just that I'm looking at minimum 475 points for the courses I want and I'm not sure I'd be able to do it with an OL subject

It takes me days on end to learn off notes for prose/poetry/aiste and my actual Irish is poor enough that I have to actually learn off every word or I won't be able to spoof it... I've been getting C's when the teacher has told us exactly what we need to know for tests. The course is huge so I just know getting even that C in the LC will be near impossible and I'm starting to worry if I stick it out that other subjects will suffer...

Is it worth dropping or should I stick it out for the points??

yoho139

Possible, yes, likely, no.

Try using lcpoints.eu (disclaimer: this is my site) to see what kind of points people typically get in your subjects.

peekachoo

how many subjects are you doing?
If it's 7 I'd say drop to OL and focus on your other 6!
And if you're doing 6 only keep up HL as long as you feel up to it but there's honestly no point bogging yourself down!

rainbowtrout

whoopsadaisy wrote: »

Hey everyone

I'm doing all HL subjects at the minute and Irish is really slowing me down. It's getting really obvious I'm nowhere near the standard as the rest of the class is and I'm really starting to think I'd be better off in ordinary level, it's just that I'm looking at minimum 475 points for the courses I want and I'm not sure I'd be able to do it with an OL subject

It takes me days on end to learn off notes for prose/poetry/aiste and my actual Irish is poor enough that I have to actually learn off every word or I won't be able to spoof it... I've been getting C's when the teacher has told us exactly what we need to know for tests. The course is huge so I just know getting even that C in the LC will be near impossible and I'm starting to worry if I stick it out that other subjects will suffer...

Is it worth dropping or should I stick it out for the points??

That really depends on what you are like at your other subjects.


If you need 475 from six subjects, and you get the bonus 25 points for passing HL Maths then:

475 -25 = 450

450/6 = 75.

You need 75 points from each of your 6 subjects + the 25 bonus points from HL Maths.

75 points are awarded for a B3. So the question is (ignoring your Irish dilemma for a second), can you get at least a B3 in everything else, to get to 475? Of course higher grades in some subjects will compensate for lower grades in others, but it amounts to the same thing. If you want 500+ then you will have to aim higher again.

500 is not impossible from 6 honours subjects. I know plenty of people who have scored in that bracket and taken OL Irish or maths usually. If you move to OL Irish and are just doing it to meet requirements then you can give more time to other subjects. Consider where you are with your other subjects before you consider moving to ordinary level.

I'm just gonna post here as what seems to be the forum's resident defender of HL Irish.
I would always advise to stick with HL for as long as you can. I know everyone has probably said this to you and you're fed up of people saying it because it's not what you want. It's exactly how I felt when people tried to convince me to stay at HL (And I'm so glad they did convince me)
I don't know about your teacher but mine was an incredibly hard marker. Constant low Bs and high Cs throughout and then I got an A2. There is a misconception that you need to be fluent to do well and that's just not true.
Lets put it into perspective; how much are the prose/ poems worth? 10% of the whole paper! (There is the chance to get more marks for saying the poem in the oral than writing about it on the paper for God's sake!)
That's the same as the tape and much less than the reading comprehensions. And you never see either of these until the day. Then there's the oral for 40%. The extra literature can be handy... I personally loved An Triail and could tackle any question on it!
Lowest result in my class was a C1 or something like that and my teacher had been failing this person.
Like I said, I don't know your teacher but I still think you should stay at HL as long as possible. Sure then if you do drop OL will seem so much easier

thegreatescape

I got 510 points with doing two ordinary levels, although I was doing 8 subjects. I got 3 A2's and two B1's in my HL subjects and a distinction in Link Modules which gave me the 510. Play your strengths and focus on the subjects you're good at. If you really think Irish is slowing you down, drop it. HL maths stopped me from doing well in the mocks, I dropped it after then and every single one of my grades in my other subjects improved because I had more time to focus on them.

Appleblossom42

Got 525 and I did OL maths so it's absolutely possible.
Did 7 subjects, got A2 in the maths so didn't count it.
If it's really stressing you out and affecting your other
subjects, maybe drop to ol so you can concentrate on the others.
How about grinds? Unfortunately this wasn't an option
for me because of the expense.

positivealf

math teacher is whining all the time because he's trying to teach 2 level math groups(hl and ol) in one class, thinking of getting grinds from another teacher who knows the course, good idea or not?

Jijsaw

positivealf wrote: »

math teacher is whining all the time because he's trying to teach 2 level math groups(hl and ol) in one class, thinking of getting grinds from another teacher who knows the course, good idea or not?

Seriously? :eek: That's mental, the two courses are so different! Are there shortages of teachers in your school or what?

spurious

positivealf wrote: »

math teacher is whining all the time because he's trying to teach 2 level math groups(hl and ol) in one class, thinking of getting grinds from another teacher who knows the course, good idea or not?

Yes, it's impossible for your teacher to cover both courses properly in one class group.
Disgraceful situation some teachers and students are being put in.

positivealf

Yeh it seems we do have a shortage of teachers, there's only 4 students in hl however. I find it really unfair and believe that the principal should look into it. I'm not going to have the option open that I dropped down to OL because of lack of teachers(if u get me)

Squidgy Black

positivealf wrote: »

Yeh it seems we do have a shortage of teachers, there's only 4 students in hl however. I find it really unfair and believe that the principal should look into it. I'm not going to have the option open that I dropped down to OL because of lack of teachers(if u get me)

It's not really possible for them to have a seperate maths class just for 4 students, with teacher shortages etc it'd be seen as a waste. Of course you can try saying it to the principal, but I wouldn't be so optimistic. I know in our school which was fairly small, the minimum numbers for a seperate class had to be at least 8. And keep in mind that the chances of all 4 of you sticking with HL by this June is unlikely.

Your best bet is to just do private grinds one afternoon a week or something.

spurious

_Tyrrell_ wrote: »

It's not really possible for them to have a seperate maths class just for 4 students, with teacher shortages etc it'd be seen as a waste. Of course you can try saying it to the principal, but I wouldn't be so optimistic. I know in our school which was fairly small, the minimum numbers for a seperate class had to be at least 8. And keep in mind that the chances of all 4 of you sticking with HL by this June is unlikely.

Your best bet is to just do private grinds one afternoon a week or something.

There could well be a couple of schools within a few miles with the same situation. A bit of joined up thinking instead of the old slash and burn of teaching resources would have allowed both levels to run.

EuropeanSon

One guy in my year did OL Irish, and got 590.

positivealf

Either way can someone link me to the project math curriculum so i can continue helping myself, i'll get grind later near the end of the year exams.