Subject Choice Advice

ruairibrady

Hello! Just wondering could anyone help me out here? Im in Transition Year and have about a week to chose my subjects for the Leaving Cert. Im definitely doing: English, Maths, Irish, French. But for my other 3 subjects im unsure of which science to chose and other 2 subjects. Heres my Junior Cert results so hopefully they'll help you know which subject I'd be more geared towards if its any help at all. I did all Higher:

English (B), Irish (B), Maths (B), French (B), Science (A), Geography (A), History (A), Art (A), Music (B), CSPE (B)

Im trying to decide along the lines of:

-Ag science, Biology, Chemistry or Physics

-History or Geography

-Music

Thanks all opinions would help as I feel like Im runnning out of time and I dont want to make a mistake

SamAK

I'd imagine it depends very much on your plans after the leaving cert.

Do you want to go to college? If so do you have any idea of what you'd like to do?

ruairibrady

SamAK wrote: »

I'd imagine it depends very much on your plans after the leaving cert.

Do you want to go to college? If so do you have any idea of what you'd like to do?

I literally dont have a single clue! Thats why Im finding it so hard choosing the subjects!

nb6696

I'm in 6th year right now and I wouldn't worry about it at all. Just pick whatever subjects you enjoy the most. Sure my plans going into 5th year are about a million miles away from where they are now. There are lads in our year who only recently made their mind up. Unless you have some specific idea as to what you want to do, which as you said you don't, there's really no need to worry about it in terms of after school plans.

shedu

Be aware that there are projects in Ag Science, History and Geography. I don't know anything about Music. Some people like the projects because they tend to score well on them. Others dislike them because they think they are time consuming. Best of luck with your choice

ruairibrady

Thanks everyone. I talked with my Careers teacher today and she helped me work through the list of subjects available and see whats best. In the end this is how we faired out:

1) French
2) Physics
3) History
4) Biology or Geography

I cant decide whether or not to take Biology or Geography as my last choice. Opinions?

sopretty

ruairibrady wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I talked with my Careers teacher today and she helped me work through the list of subjects available and see whats best. In the end this is how we faired out:

1) French
2) Physics
3) History
4) Biology or Geography

I cant decide whether or not to take Biology or Geography as my last choice. Opinions?

Did you find physics easy in the past when you did it for JC? It's just a tough subject to grasp, unless you're that way inclined (which I wasn't lol).

If you're happy with the workload you're taking on, and have an affinity for certain subjects, any choice is a good choice.

However, if you want to have an easy ride, pick subjects which you find to be EASY-PEASY.

For e.g. I went with French, Bus Org, Biology, Chemistry. I found Bus. Org. daunting in the first week or two (possibly because the teacher suggest we buy the Financial Times to do dummy investments, and I didn't know of any shop locally who might sell such a 'foreign' :eek: item to me. )

So, I switched to physics (there were places available in the physics class - I know the reason why now! :eek:). I was absolutely pure and utter crap at it.

If I could have, I would have with hindsight, chosen Home Economics rather than Physics, as I would have had some cross-over knowledge from Biology, plus I would have gotten to cook once a week! Ha haa. It would have been my 'points' subject, so to speak - the one I would probably have sailed through with little work....

Hope the above have given you food for thought.

Also. I'm sure you know this already, but some entry requirements specify certain subjects - such as two Sciences to LC, to even apply for medicine.

Your results would suggest you've a broad range of ability I think?

In the heel of the hunt, I went to study Marketing with languages lol! It's a tough one really!

ruairibrady

sopretty wrote: »

Did you find physics easy in the past when you did it for JC? It's just a tough subject to grasp, unless you're that way inclined (which I wasn't lol).

If you're happy with the workload you're taking on, and have an affinity for certain subjects, any choice is a good choice.

However, if you want to have an easy ride, pick subjects which you find to be EASY-PEASY.

For e.g. I went with French, Bus Org, Biology, Chemistry. I found Bus. Org. daunting in the first week or two (possibly because the teacher suggest we buy the Financial Times to do dummy investments, and I didn't know of any shop locally who might sell such a 'foreign' :eek: item to me. )

So, I switched to physics (there were places available in the physics class - I know the reason why now! :eek:). I was absolutely pure and utter crap at it.

If I could have, I would have with hindsight, chosen Home Economics rather than Physics, as I would have had some cross-over knowledge from Biology, plus I would have gotten to cook once a week! Ha haa. It would have been my 'points' subject, so to speak - the one I would probably have sailed through with little work....

Hope the above have given you food for thought.

Also. I'm sure you know this already, but some entry requirements specify certain subjects - such as two Sciences to LC, to even apply for medicine.

Your results would suggest you've a broad range of ability I think?

In the heel of the hunt, I went to study Marketing with languages lol! It's a tough one really!

Yeah I always found it to be my favourite part!

Really? I was talking with my science and maths teachers and they both said I'm quite logically minded in the way I work and think and would be suited for a subject such as physics. I do really want to do it and having a class with only about 7 others in it would allow me to get a lot more attention than I would in a class like Chemistry which will be crammed with about 25 people.
I really am looking forward to Physics next year so I think I'll enjoy it and WANT to put in study time and effort!

Is the subjects Im keeping on a lot of work? Is it doable? All the teachers I asked said that Id be able for it and would be happy to teach me next year for the subject?

also can someone explain to me how Applied Maths works and if its a good idea to study or not?

Thanks!

sopretty

ruairibrady wrote: »

Really? I was talking with my science and maths teachers and they both said I'm quite logically minded in the way I work and think and would be suited for a subject such as physics. I do really want to do it and having a class with only about 7 others in it would allow me to get a lot more attention than I would in a class like Chemistry which will be crammed with about 25 people.
I really am looking forward to Physics next year so I think I'll enjoy it and WANT to put in study time and effort!

Is the subjects Im keeping on a lot of work? Is it doable? All the teachers I asked said that Id be able for it and would be happy to teach me next year for the subject?

also can someone explain to me how Applied Maths works and if its a good idea to study or not?

Thanks!

Only you yourself can know what subjects you find easy. My brother loved physics and maths, I hated them.

I loved languages - he hated them.

If you enjoyed physics and are looking forward to it - GO FOR PHYSICS ha ha. Just because I was crap at it, doesn't mean you are!

sopretty

Also, just to note, your choices might be a heavy workload to you if you're not interested in them. I couldn't understand physics very well, and from JC, my favourites would have been Biology & Chemistry (Got an A in JC Science, and A's in both Biology & Chemistry in LC, and an A in ordinary level physics).

So, while for you, you might LOVE physics and find it easy, I'm a little bit less that way inclined , but loved French, Chemistry, Biology.

Hope you don't feel disinclined to go for the Physics if you're clearly drawn to it.

Also - Two A's in Art & Music? Hats off to you boy!

ruairibrady

sopretty wrote: »

Also, just to note, your choices might be a heavy workload to you if you're not interested in them. I couldn't understand physics very well, and from JC, my favourites would have been Biology & Chemistry (Got an A in JC Science, and A's in both Biology & Chemistry in LC, and an A in ordinary level physics).

So, while for you, you might LOVE physics and find it easy, I'm a little bit less that way inclined , but loved French, Chemistry, Biology.

Hope you don't feel disinclined to go for the Physics if you're clearly drawn to it.

Also - Two A's in Art & Music? Hats off to you boy!

Yeah I know that I really enjoy the subjects Im picking so I think im doing the right thing (I hope) Im just kind of freaking out because Im not 100% sure what I want to study for 3rd level! Im just decided I'd chose the subjects I enjoy and decide what I want to study from there! Wow you did all 3? Well done! :eek:

sopretty

ruairibrady wrote: »

Yeah I know that I really enjoy the subjects Im picking so I think im doing the right thing (I hope) Im just kind of freaking out because Im not 100% sure what I want to study for 3rd level! Im just decided I'd chose the subjects I enjoy and decide what I want to study from there! Wow you did all 3? Well done! :eek:

In hindsight my choices were not the brightest choices I have made lol, but I was sort of heavily influenced by my brother's experience of the subjects he had studied and found easy.

Once you're happy with them, go for it.

shruikan2553

The history exam takes a lot of writing. I didnt do it myself but Ive seen people who did and I would recommend geography over history unless you want to go on and do it in college or really really really enjoy the subject. Physics tends to have a smaller class so the teacher might be able to help a person who is falling behind better. I'll also point out that you may not actually need French, I was always going to go into science or engineering and the NUIs dont require a language for these (I would confirm that before fully committing). If you are doing physics and honours maths it might be worth your while looking into applied maths.

shedu

ruairibrady wrote: »

can someone explain to me how Applied Maths works and if its a good idea to study or not?

Thanks!

Some people who are honours maths and physics inclined find it a good extra subject to do. You can do it on your own at home with the book and exam papers. Then you tell the school when they are filling out your subjects in sixth year on the exam form to put you down for applied maths.

shedu

ruairibrady wrote: »

I cant decide whether or not to take Biology or Geography as my last choice. Opinions?

Geography has a project which counts for 20% while Biology does not. In 2012 the average mark for projects at ordinary level was 88% and at higher level was 84%. Source: chief examiner's reports

http://www.examinations.ie/archive/examiners_reports/2012_Chief_Examiner_Report_LC_Geography.pdf

So at that rate, say if you get 18/20 in the project, you only need 37/80 = 46.25% for a C3.

Here's the biology chief examiner's report for 2009

http://www.examinations.ie/archive/examiners_reports/LC_Biology_2009.pdf

ruairibrady

Right I think I know what Im doing:

1) French
2) Physics
3) Chemistry
4) History

I think those would be 2 good science subjects to choose because Chemistry is necessary for courses like Veterinary Medicine, Pharmacy and Medicine so it would leave my options open. Opinions? Am I taking on too much work?

sopretty

ruairibrady wrote: »

Right I think I know what Im doing:

1) French
2) Physics
3) Chemistry
4) History

I think those would be 2 good science subjects to choose because Chemistry is necessary for courses like Veterinary Medicine, Pharmacy and Medicine so it would leave my options open. Opinions? Am I taking on too much work?

Sounds good to me - main thing is that you're happy with your choices and will feel comfortable with them. It's good to keep your options open when you're still uncertain. Best of luck for the future!

ruairibrady

sopretty wrote: »

Sounds good to me - main thing is that you're happy with your choices and will feel comfortable with them. It's good to keep your options open when you're still uncertain. Best of luck for the future!

Thanks! I think I've made the right choice :P