Honours Maths -Could I begin the course now and sit it this year?

Moshimoshi

Hi everyone,

I sat my leaving cert a few years ago but I'm interested in sitting the honours maths exam this year on its own. I haven't yet started the course and I know under normal circumstances it seems impossible to study the entire course in such a short time, but take into account that it is the only subject I would be studying and I also do not have a job and no other time commitments, so I have plenty of time in which to study. I figure if it is supposed to be a two-year course for someone studying 5+ other subjects then there may be some small chance I could get it done, but I don't know if this is delusional.

I don't know a lot about the new maths course and am just doing some research. I originally took ordinary maths, but at the time I had no interest in maths so I chose ordinary level based on that with the fact that there was no advantage to doing honours for me as it was disproportionately time consuming and I was teaching myself the leaving cert. Now I regret not fully exploring the subject and am interested in pursuing it further, and I think this would be a nice start.

So I would be really thankful if anyone can share their opinion as to whether it is possible to complete the project maths honours course between now and the exam, and how difficult this would be. Thanks!

Peregrine

I don't think so. It's 'supposed to be' a 2 year course but really, most teachers would need 3 years to teach it properly. And I know you're only doing one subject but still, there's only so much maths you could do in one day.

yoho139

Depends on how you'd be learning it and how good you already are at maths, really.

spurious

It might be more realistic to plan for the 2015 exam and take night classes.

Calvin

It'd be extremely difficult and stressful to try and learn the whole honours maths course in 6(?) months, especially since it's project maths. Probably be better to plan for the 2015 LC.

Ompala

Yes I would say it is doable if you work at it every day between now and June with no other commitments.
Tough enough but definitely not impossible either.

Mr Pseudonym

I think it's unquestionably doable: the Institute manages to teach the course in a year, and the exam is certainly not as difficult as it is purported to be. However, what with having been out of schooling for several years, and only having done Ordinary maths, I think it would be tough. As well as that, even if you put in an adequate number of hours, I think having them so bunched, rather than spread out, is not to your advantage.

Are you hoping to attain a good grade in it? Is your only reason for doing it to "explore maths"? Because, if it is, I would sooner recommend you study A-Level maths. It's definitely more difficult/advanced, but there are a number of advantages: there are two exam periods per year, so you if you didn't perform to your satisfaction in June, you could repeat in Jan; there are six short papers, rather than two longer ones (they needn't all be taken in the same sitting); there are a number of topics which aren't taught in LC maths - such as, mechanics (taught here as App Maths), and aspects of discrete maths; and, ultimately, because you'd be "exploring" a lot more.

There is an Irish A-Level centre in Dublin.

I'm not an expert, but if you want more info on A-levels, just ask!