Advice for Leaving Cert subjects .. Leaving cert stress :O

Dominique321

Hello guys !
Im currently in 5th year and I would like some advice.
I'm looking forward to do dentistry(570 points) Nearly impossible
Anyways,I can say my grades are really good ! At the moment I'm doing 6 subjects, which are English(H), Maths(O), Chemistry(H), Biology(H),History(H) and Music (H), and I will be taking Portuguese which is my native language and I would like to start taking French grinds outside school, because I'm really worried since English is not my first language and I wanted to have something to back it up, but most of my teachers are saying that seven subjects are enough. I would like to know your opinion pleaseee :):)
At the moment I'm doing 2 hours every night of study but I don't know if its enough ..
Thank you guys :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Calvin

You're only in 5th year! You've still got a full year to go. Relax a bit, don't do too much study, otherwise you'll be stressed to the max. Don't go down my route though, mocks in 2 weeks and I'm sitting here with no study done

FifaPlaya

You don't need French as a requirement to get into college as you are doing Portoguese but French can be useful for the points so i would suggest the grinds

Aspiring

Another subject you could pick up is business. It's pretty much all definitions and examples. Lot to learn off though, but if you're good at learning off you'll love it

TMG11

Chill out don't be too harsh on yourself. If you keep worrying about what you're gonna get, you're just gonna find it even harder to work your hardest. I'm not familiar with the subjects you're doing, one thing I know is that if you keep up to date and do some extra work in fifth year you'll be on the road to 570+. Make sure you don't wear yourself out and peak before the LC

megaanmaxwell

You still have like a whole year before the LC, honestly, I'd recommend you take advantage of it! Revision during 5th is good, just don't overdo it. 2 hours study in 5th year is great

Canard

Why not do Spanish instead of French? Spanish and Portuguese are ridiculously similar. So are Spanish and Italian, so at a bit more of a stretch you could say Portuguese and Italian are similar. Your English is very good so you'd have no real problem picking one (or even more...) of them up I imagine, but given that you're already in 5th year it could be a challenge - just an idea!

7 subjects is enough, but because even English natives don't always do great in English, a backup would be nice. I'd definitely advise Spanish over French though, purely because Portuguese is your native language.

Good luck.

ProjectManager

I think you are going about it the right way. I do agree with the posts that tell you not to worry too much coz you are in 5th year, however if you aspire to 570 points then you do need to be strategic about it and give yourself a decent chance. You aren't doing higher level Maths so the max you can get is 600. If you get 6 A2's (which is a fantastic achievement) then you will only get 540 points. So here is my advice:

1. Go for the Portuguese (and Spanish if it is very similar - i don't know how similar they are).
2. Dont rely on English. The LC English paper is written for people for whom english is their first language and it may be very difficult for you to get an A1 or A2 in it.
3. Make sure you do 6 higher level subjects in which you have a chance of getting A1 or A2. Sometimes it is advisable to do 7 HL (so that you have one spare just in case).
4. Consider Higher Level Maths. you seem pretty bright so I don't know why you are doing ordinary level. Higher level gives you an extra 25 points and despite what the media says it is much easier since the introduction of Project Maths. They have taken a lot of stuff off the course. I mentor people for free and some of my students made the transition and were happy that they did so.
5. Generally (for hard workers) subjects like chemistry, Physics, Biology Maths and applied Maths are easiest to get high points in because you either know the answers or you don't. Papers like History can be difficult because they require essay type answers. Of course you may have a passion for History and do very well in it. But do checkout examinations.ie where they show the percentages of a's for each subject and you will see what I mean.

Best of luck and you are welcome to pm me if you want any more detailed advice particularly in terms of transitioning to HL Maths

Dominique321

megaanmaxwell wrote: »

You still have like a whole year before the LC, honestly, I'd recommend you take advantage of it! Revision during 5th is good, just don't overdo it. 2 hours study in 5th year is great

I know its very stressful aswell, Thank you very much !

Canard wrote: »

Why not do Spanish instead of French? Spanish and Portuguese are ridiculously similar. So are Spanish and Italian, so at a bit more of a stretch you could say Portuguese and Italian are similar. Your English is very good so you'd have no real problem picking one (or even more...) of them up I imagine, but given that you're already in 5th year it could be a challenge - just an idea!

7 subjects is enough, but because even English natives don't always do great in English, a backup would be nice. I'd definitely advise Spanish over French though, purely because Portuguese is your native language.

Good luck.

Thank you very much for your advice ! I really think Spanish would be easier :):)

ProjectManager wrote: »

I think you are going about it the right way. I do agree with the posts that tell you not to worry too much coz you are in 5th year, however if you aspire to 570 points then you do need to be strategic about it and give yourself a decent chance. You aren't doing higher level Maths so the max you can get is 600. If you get 6 A2's (which is a fantastic achievement) then you will only get 540 points. So here is my advice:

1. Go for the Portuguese (and Spanish if it is very similar - i don't know how similar they are).
2. Dont rely on English. The LC English paper is written for people for whom english is their first language and it may be very difficult for you to get an A1 or A2 in it.
3. Make sure you do 6 higher level subjects in which you have a chance of getting A1 or A2. Sometimes it is advisable to do 7 HL (so that you have one spare just in case).
4. Consider Higher Level Maths. you seem pretty bright so I don't know why you are doing ordinary level. Higher level gives you an extra 25 points and despite what the media says it is much easier since the introduction of Project Maths. They have taken a lot of stuff off the course. I mentor people for free and some of my students made the transition and were happy that they did so.
5. Generally (for hard workers) subjects like chemistry, Physics, Biology Maths and applied Maths are easiest to get high points in because you either know the answers or you don't. Papers like History can be difficult because they require essay type answers. Of course you may have a passion for History and do very well in it. But do checkout examinations.ie where they show the percentages of a's for each subject and you will see what I mean.

Best of luck and you are welcome to pm me if you want any more detailed advice particularly in terms of transitioning to HL Maths

Thank you very much for your reply, I really appreciate it. I know I better keep up with my work, otherwise will be very hard for me next year, especially because I'm aiming very high
I never thought about Spanish as a Leaving Cert subject, but the funny thing is that when I was in Brazil, I did 5 years of Spanish. I better start my grinds thanks a million for this advice
I'm finding English fine for the moment, but I know how hard is to get a high grade on it, and that's why I need something to rely on.
I'm feeling comfortable with all the subjects I'm doing at the moment, except History, for the fact that we are having a substitute and he is not really good and I believe this is making the subjects really hard, and I can't drop it
I was thinking about moving to Honours, because I know 25 points does make a huge difference,but I'm really afraid, I really should talk to you about this
I agree with you, History can be very difficult, especially if you don't have a decent teacher.
Thank you very much for your advice ! Hope to talk to you soon !;)

TMG11 wrote: »

Chill out don't be too harsh on yourself. If you keep worrying about what you're gonna get, you're just gonna find it even harder to work your hardest. I'm not familiar with the subjects you're doing, one thing I know is that if you keep up to date and do some extra work in fifth year you'll be on the road to 570+. Make sure you don't wear yourself out and peak before the LC

Thank you, I know I should go a little bit slow now, yes I will continue to keep up with my work up to date, as doing this I will probably be on the right track

Aspiring wrote: »

Another subject you could pick up is business. It's pretty much all definitions and examples. Lot to learn off though, but if you're good at learning off you'll love it

Thank you for the advice, but I would say for the moments I will just stay with Spanish Thank you anyways

Calvin Leong wrote: »

You're only in 5th year! You've still got a full year to go. Relax a bit, don't do too much study, otherwise you'll be stressed to the max. Don't go down my route though, mocks in 2 weeks and I'm sitting here with no study done

I know, I should go slow haha
Hahaha I'd say you better star studying

FifaPlaya wrote: »

You don't need French as a requirement to get into college as you are doing Portoguese but French can be useful for the points so i would suggest the grinds

Thank you a lot for your advice, I appreciate it

Canard

(As an aside, it'd be better if you used the multiquote button next time - it's the button beside quote. Saves you from making so many posts at once! )

Dominique321

Canard wrote: »

(As an aside, it'd be better if you used the multiquote button next time - it's the button beside quote. Saves you from making so many posts at once! )

Thank you haha :P:p:):)