Dropping to Ordinary

manyoung

Okay, so got the Xmas results back. Not too bad bar two: Maths and French. These are my weakest subjects and am considering doing ordinary in one. I should mention that its higher maths and I'm doing 8 subjects in total, so some action needs to be taken.

I have spoken to the guidance counsellor for advice but would like a second opinion.

Maths is fairly tough. Some aspects like probability are head wrecking and the teacher is overwhelming and expects too much. I get a mixture of results: ranging form Es to Bs. I failed my summer and xmas. But there's 25 points...

French is not a subject I spend much time on, I have to admit. I have attempted to maser junior cert grammar along with immersing myself in the language (listening, oral and learning) daily but have failed to make any progress. The amount of time I would need to spend daily just isn't right. I'm not too sure about this subject: I don't like it and am not too good at it. I have gotten Ds with little effort but it is simply an entry requirement to me.

Any opinions/advice?

skippy1977

With regards to the Maths it's a tough one. To do well in Maths time has to be thrown at it. There are no options on the paper so everything must be covered and if you are bad at any particular topic you still need to work through it as it may well come up. If you are working hard at your Maths, failing all the time and spending less and less time on your other subjects then I would say that it may not be worth it as by the time you get the extra 25 points you'll have lost 5 points in 6 other subjects (5 x 6 = 30!!)

However if your other subjects aren't suffering I'd be inclined to try and keep it on. The mocks would be a good guage of how you're going and if after them you decide to go back what harm.

I guess it's all down to how much time you are putting into it and whether you think you'll have to put alot more in to get the pass.

Good luck anyway.

Canard

It's also worth mentioning that you don't necessarily get 25 points from it...I got a C3 in HL maths which meant I counted it instead of a HB3. That means I only got 10 points from it. Might not have bothered if I'd realized that in 5th year!

boogle

You're doing 8 subjects at higher level which is a heavy workload. Whether you drop to OL Maths depends on a couple of things.

Does what you plan to do at 3rd Level involve Maths? I don't just mean as an entry requirement, I mean will you use Maths in that course? If not, I'd seriously question the necessity of HL Maths, especially since you're struggling to pass.

Also, do you really need those bonus points? You said yourself you're aiming at a D. You could achieve similar points from getting a better grade in another subject that you had time to study.

Bottom line: it's great to have all those HL subjects on your Leaving Cert but spreading yourself too thin will bring every result down a bit.

whoopsadaisy

Are you me? I was in this exact dilemma a week ago!

I dropped to OL French after failing the Christmas test and I have to say it really is so far so good... The stuff we're doing in class and what's in the exam papers is Junior Cert stuff, it's piss easy.

The reason I chose OL French over OL Maths is because I know I have a higher chance of doing well in OL French than in OL Maths. My teacher told me that any student that's accustomed to Higher Level could easily get an A in pass French, it's that easy, and I know myself I have very little interest in languages. Whereas with Maths, I know it's not the subject itself I'm necessarily bad at, it's all this Project Maths ****e, which is the same at Ordinary Level so... And besides that, I'm too stubborn to have put myself through a year and a half of honours Maths to give up now

Look at what points you need and/or entry requirements, judge out your strengths/weaknesses and also your interests. Having a pass subject might really reduce some stress, at least I'm hoping it'll work out that way for me!!

manyoung

whoopsadaisy wrote: »

Are you me? I was in this exact dilemma a week ago!

I dropped to OL French after failing the Christmas test and I have to say it really is so far so good... The stuff we're doing in class and what's in the exam papers is Junior Cert stuff, it's piss easy.

The reason I chose OL French over OL Maths is because I know I have a higher chance of doing well in OL French than in OL Maths. My teacher told me that any student that's accustomed to Higher Level could easily get an A in pass French, it's that easy, and I know myself I have very little interest in languages. Whereas with Maths, I know it's not the subject itself I'm necessarily bad at, it's all this Project Maths ****e, which is the same at Ordinary Level so... And besides that, I'm too stubborn to have put myself through a year and a half of honours Maths to give up now

Look at what points you need and/or entry requirements, judge out your strengths/weaknesses and also your interests. Having a pass subject might really reduce some stress, at least I'm hoping it'll work out that way for me!!

Thanks. That's really helpful. I am considering dropping French but am given tye option of moving to an ordinary class or staying in the higher and just doing ordinary. The higher teacher isn't great though but I fear the other teacher will give a heavy workload.

boogle wrote: »

You're doing 8 subjects at higher level which is a heavy workload. Whether you drop to OL Maths depends on a couple of things.

Does what you plan to do at 3rd Level involve Maths? I don't just mean as an entry requirement, I mean will you use Maths in that course? If not, I'd seriously question the necessity of HL Maths, especially since you're struggling to pass.

Also, do you really need those bonus points? You said yourself you're aiming at a D. You could achieve similar points from getting a better grade in another subject that you had time to study.

Bottom line: it's great to have all those HL subjects on your Leaving Cert but spreading yourself too thin will bring every result down a bit.

I see what you mean about the other subjects. I don't need Hl level for my course (psychology) but there's obviously a large amount of stats covered. As for the bonus points, I am not sure. Thanks for the advice.