Course choice question

Khannie

Looking for some advice. My youngfella is making his choices for LC. He's in TY now and his JC results are like this:

A's in Tech Graphics and Art
B's in everything else except
C in Geography

All higher level.

We've narrowed the choice subjects down to: (in order of preference)

DCG
Biology
Business
Applied Maths
Physics

Of those 5, he'll only be taking 4. He's also doing higher level Art outside school.

I saw from another thread that there's crossover between physics and applied maths and it doesn't look insignificant. He enjoys maths. I suppose what we're looking for is people's opinion on whether the crossover constitutes enough benefit to consider dropping something that he'd have a stronger preference for. At the end of the day the goal is the highest number of points obviously, but enjoyment is a factor in that (obviously it's enjoyable to do less work, too if there's crossover ).

robman60

If he's very mathematical then doing physics and applied maths may suit him. I know a few people (my brother included) who got A1s in physics, applied maths, and maths. You need a real natural aptitude I think, but if it's there, your son should play to his strength in that field.

The maths in physics is easier than the maths in applied maths. I'd say definitely do physics if doing applied maths. He may find it awfully difficult to do well in applied maths if you didn't have some of the basis from physics.

I do business and find it quite interesting. I love learning about laws and the EU and how these things affect us, but there's a lot of learning. I wouldn't say that's a deterrent though, all subjects require lots of work.

I don't do biology but I hear a lot of people saying it's really broad but quite easy. Overall, I think sentiment towards business is slightly better. Your son needs to ask himself if he's more into science or business and I'd decide on that basis. If you're not interested in business you'd probably find it awfully boring and the same for biology if you're not interested in science. I'd wager he's more into science given the subjects you've mentioned but only you and your son can answer that accurately.

I can't give an unbiased comment on DCG as I absolutely despised TG in Junior Cert. Sorry!

Aspiring

I do business, physics, and applied maths. Everything robman said really. Even if he never takes an exam in applied maths (could do it outside school) it would benefit him so much. Physics and business are lovely subjects. Listening in class will make you confident in both subjects and an interest in the material and hard work along with this will make a student with high potential for good marks. The timing for business is tough though, you'll never have enough time to get down everything you want to onto the page unfortunately but there's a structure to the answers which if followed you're guaranteed high marks.

Peregrine

So just how many subjects is he planning on doing altogether?

Applied Maths looks at the Mechanics section of Physics in much greater detail but there's no real crossover between Physics and Applied Maths when it comes to the difficulty of the questions you'll be asked. Most of the questions he'd encounter in the Mechanics section of Physics would be introductory questions in Applied Maths. And while Mechanics is a big enough part of Physics, there are still other large chapters like Electricity, Magnetism, Waves, Light and Sound and Modern Physics and there's absolutely no crossover between any of that and Applied Maths, nada.

But in saying that, if he as a mind for Maths and Physics, there's no reason why can't do well in Applied Maths.

And like Aspiring said, even if he never sits the LC Applied Maths exam, it would still benefit him a lot.

missguided

Four of those subjects, art outside school, English, Irish, Maths and possibly a language? Nine subjects seems pretty extreme, you can only count six so it's limiting the time you can spend on each subject a lot..

d1234

If it was me I would definitely reconsider the art. For leaving cert, it is really a difficult subject and the low a grades reflect that. I would strongly recommend business studies as it really is all about technique & general knowledge. Best of luck!

Khannie

missguided wrote: »

Four of those subjects, art outside school, English, Irish, Maths and possibly a language? Nine subjects seems pretty extreme, you can only count six so it's limiting the time you can spend on each subject a lot..

8 in total, he'll take at least one pass subject purely to reduce workload.

Khannie

Thanks for the input everyone, it was very helpful. We decided that physics would come last so in the event that the other classes are full, or AM doesn't go ahead (a distinct possibility) it'll fall back to physics.