What combination of L.C subjects are best if I'm going for Medicine? (Really need the

Science mad

Hey everyone, I'm a 5th year student atm and currently my subjects are English, Irish, Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, German (all Higher level).

I've always enjoyed maths and considered myself pretty good at it, until I had an slab solute joke of a teacher for j.c (he only did half the course and most of the class failed, I got a C). This year, I'm in honours maths but my teacher is a dragon and is determined to remove me from her class as she thinks I'm not able. I am struggling with maths and I've started grinds which are a help.

Although it's not an entry requirement for medicine,I've heard from other people who are doing medicine that honours maths is a big help when doing the hpat? Is this true?

I'm not struggling with any other subject, I find English naturally easy and I'm a big reader so I have no problem with it, I enjoy all 3 sciences and am doing grand in them and again German is something I seem to have a natural love and ability for. So here's my dilemma : irish. I have never ever liked irish and I got a C in the j.c. I find it sooo boring and I have no intention whatsoever of pursuing a career which would need irish at any stage. I wouldn't say I find it over difficult I just hate the tedious learning of stuff I have no interest in at all!

Obviously for medicine I'm going to need a whole load of points, what I'm trying to figure out is should I drop to pass maths or pass irish? I feel myself maths would be a lot more useful but challenging , I'm hoping I can get some advice from you guys! Thanks!

(Sorry for such a long speel of info just thought I should put it all in there)

Huell

STUDY FOR THE HPAT. It is better to do very well on your hpat and ok on your leaving cert than vice versa.

Flickka

Hey. I'm in LC and do all the same subjects as you except French instead of German and also want to do Medicine. I dropped to OL English last year because I hated it, was doing nothing for it and had Ag Science as an extra subject. Best decision of my life.
In my opinion I would definitely drop the Irish and keep going with the HL Maths. You can use the extra time you have from dropping down and put that into your Maths. Maths really is all about practice. Plus nearly everyone aiming to study med will have those 25 extra points which would be hard enough to make up somewhere else.
Also, to be honest, I think it will be very difficult to fail honours maths this year. This is the first year that the project maths is entirely in and they want it to be viewed as a success. There has been a lot of uproar with all the changes and the lack of organisation etc. so keeping the failure rate as low as possible is definitely in their best interests. The attempt marks for every question are sky high as well so passing is certainly doable with a bit of effort.
In relation to the Maths being useful for the HPAT I'm not sure I'd agree with that. I'd say there's a strong correlation with people who are more logically minded and those doing well but you're not going to be using your HL Maths skills during the actual exam. It wouldn't be fair otherwise.
I'd speak to your maths teacher and explain your situation to him/her. Tell him that your willing to put a lot of effort in and that you'd really like to stay in the class.
The other option would be to take up another subject outside of school that you could get a high mark in and drop to pass in both. You're only in 5th year so you have plenty of time to cover another course. I just took up Ag at the start of 6th year and there is so much crossover with Biology it is very easy. Clearly you are scientifically minded so I doubt you's find it difficult at all.
Think about your decision as it is an important one but aim to have it made as soon as possible. Good luck.

Science mad

Flickka wrote: »

Hey. I'm in LC and do all the same subjects as you except French instead of German and also want to do Medicine. I dropped to OL English last year because I hated it, was doing nothing for it and had Ag Science as an extra subject. Best decision of my life.
In my opinion I would definitely drop the Irish and keep going with the HL Maths. You can use the extra time you have from dropping down and put that into your Maths. Maths really is all about practice. Plus nearly everyone aiming to study med will have those 25 extra points which would be hard enough to make up somewhere else.
Also, to be honest, I think it will be very difficult to fail honours maths this year. This is the first year that the project maths is entirely in and they want it to be viewed as a success. There has been a lot of uproar with all the changes and the lack of organisation etc. so keeping the failure rate as low as possible is definitely in their best interests. The attempt marks for every question are sky high as well so passing is certainly doable with a bit of effort.
In relation to the Maths being useful for the HPAT I'm not sure I'd agree with that. I'd say there's a strong correlation with people who are more logically minded and those doing well but you're not going to be using your HL Maths skills during the actual exam. It wouldn't be fair otherwise.
I'd speak to your maths teacher and explain your situation to him/her. Tell him that your willing to put a lot of effort in and that you'd really like to stay in the class.
The other option would be to take up another subject outside of school that you could get a high mark in and drop to pass in both. You're only in 5th year so you have plenty of time to cover another course. I just took up Ag at the start of 6th year and there is so much crossover with Biology it is very easy. Clearly you are scientifically minded so I doubt you's find it difficult at all.
Think about your decision as it is an important one but aim to have it made as soon as possible. Good luck.

Thank you so much for that, you're very helpful. I was considering taking up Music as an extra subject as I did it for j.c and started it in 5th year but thought I didn't have the time for it. Perhaps if I dropped to OL irish I could do it as it's not a very difficult subject and I sing/play guitar so I have a strong practical already which is worth 50%. That way I'd have an extra subject points wise just incase. Do some colleges not allow you to count music or art as one of your 6 subjects though?

Flickka

As far as I know music can be counted for all colleges. For medicine definitely, but I'd still go onto qualifax and look up the entry requirements for all the courses you're interested in to make sure. I'd be very surprised if some colleges didn't accept it. That sounds like a good option for you if you are determined and have someone to help cover the course.

Science mad

Flickka wrote: »

As far as I know music can be counted for all colleges. For medicine definitely, but I'd still go onto qualifax and look up the entry requirements for all the courses you're interested in to make sure. I'd be very surprised if some colleges didn't accept it. That sounds like a good option for you if you are determined and have someone to help cover the course.

My school decided to take Music off the timetable this year for some crazy reason, there's a lot of people wanting to do it, but the music teacher does it in non-exam subject times so I'll consider taking it up again, thanks for your help and good luck with your own Leaving