Biology or History?

ConorD21

Im in TY and i now have to pick my subjects , i cant decide between history and biology could someone with experience in them 2 or just one of them even give advise? Im definitely doing art and business aswell

lenoude

Well from my experience I would pick Biology over History. History is , or at least feels like an awful long course . There were times during the 2 years it felt stagnant and almost like we were going over the same things even though it was a totally different topic.

Biology although I haven't taken it since the Junior Cert. would be a better bet. It would keep your options open for college because its a good choice when combined with your other subjects if you know what I mean.

There's a little bit of everything with your subject choices. My opinion is go for Biology, but what I would say is talk to people who have previously taken the subjects and see how they found them and how or if they influenced there college choice. You might be surprised!

ConorD21

I doubt i will do a college course involving science so thats what was turning me off biology

tim3000

I did both for my leaving cert in 2007. Regarding history I liked the European and American aspects of the course a lot, however I found the Irish side if it quite boring, If I recall correctly the Irish aspect accounts for half the course. You do a project in history about any period or person you like. I did it on the Raid on the St Nazaire docks in 1942.

I did higher level, but I was disappointed in the course and the teacher so I guess this is influencing my opinion. For history you do need a good grasp of the English language especially for the project. My history teacher said that if you were doing Ordinary level English then you should do Ordinary level history as well. I don't know if this is the case in other schools.

I also did Higher Biology. Its quite in depth with a lot of lab time you do learn a lot about photosynthesis, DNA Translation and Transcription and the various systems in the human body. I am more scientifically minded (I studied biology in college) so I did enjoy this class.

They are very different subjects but I hope I helped you somewhat in your choice.

longhalloween

History involves a ton of rote learning for the exam so if you're not good on that then I'd give it a miss. All the questions are essay based so you'll need to know how to structure your essays.

Also if you're not interested in Irish History (not just the wars, but the politics, economics ann the suffragettes) then I'd give it a miss too.
Other than the Irish history I thought it was a very interesting course and I did well in the LC

Mr Pseudonym

People study four topics (two Irish and two Europe and Wider World - nearly everyone does 'Ireland (1870-1914)' and 'Europe (1920-1945)', and the choice of the other two varies with teacher). Three questions (one from each topic) have to be answered in the exam, and it is unpredictable in which section (Ireland or Wider World) you will have to answer two.

Here is the syllabus. Be aware that there are actually two History subjects - Modern and Early Modern (I think <1% do the latter).

I personally found the Irish history lacking in significance and, therefore, I lacked interest in it. I found it really hard to care about a crisis (The Troubles) in which a handful of thousands had died, and which was pointless, versus the Vietnam War (which we'd just covered) in which several million died and whose consequences still effect the world. My interest in Irish history has since developed, but that was my experience at the time. As well as learning the information, one has to develop writing skills. If you write slowly, I would discount it immediately.

Biology has a higher A-rate despite having a much larger cohort (about three times the size), and I would recommend that one take it.

Emlie

Hi i'm in 5th year atm and studying biology - the best thing that could ever have happened to me. Like you I was also considering history and actually ended up putting it down on the form with art, music and German. Ofcourse art clashed with history then and I certainly couldn't dismiss art! So I had to pick something off another line...there really wasn't much thinking to do. It was either bio or physics for me and I picked the 'safer' subject, biology. Although I was sad, things could not have worked out better. Sure history would have been interesting n all that but thinking about all those long essays and project makes me feel so happy I did not get it. By any means biology is no walk in the park, the stuff can be boring and learning experiments is a nuisance, however, besides all that, its a very manegable subject and if you do the hw and study, its no bother... Look i have never appreciated the subject until this year, everything is given to and you just have to learn it. Not alot of thinking needed. People often say art is the 'break' and although i love art and the art history, bio is prob my most least stressful sub. This might not apply to you but definitely give bio serious thought. I know id absolutely regret picking history if i ended up getting it. Good luck anyways with whatever you do.

Mr Pseudonym

Mr Pseudonym wrote: »

People study four topics (two Irish and two Europe and Wider World - nearly everyone does 'Ireland (1870-1914)' and 'Europe (1920-1945)', and the choice of the other two varies with teacher). Three questions (one from each topic) have to be answered in the exam, and it is unpredictable in which section (Ireland or Wider World) you will have to answer two.

Here is the syllabus. Be aware that there are actually two History subjects - Modern and Early Modern (I think <1% do the latter).

I personally found the Irish history lacking in significance and, therefore, I lacked interest in it. I found it really hard to care about a crisis (The Troubles) in which a handful of thousands had died, and which was pointless, versus the Vietnam War (which we'd just covered) in which several million died and whose consequences still effect the world. My interest in Irish history has since developed, but that was my experience at the time. As well as learning the information, one has to develop writing skills. If you write slowly, I would discount it immediately.

Biology has a higher A-rate despite having a much larger cohort (about three times the size), and I would recommend that one take it.

Forgot to mention the first section (25%): Document-based questions.

Popescu

Is this not a duplicate thread?
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057181290

Jolly Red Giant

longhalloween wrote: »

History involves a ton of rote learning for the exam so if you're not good on that then I'd give it a miss. All the questions are essay based so you'll need to know how to structure your essays.

Also if you're not interested in Irish History (not just the wars, but the politics, economics ann the suffragettes) then I'd give it a miss too.
Other than the Irish history I thought it was a very interesting course and I did well in the LC

History does not require rote learning - in fact if you just rote learn you will do poorly - in fact there is more rote learning in Biology.

You will need to learn essay writing skills.

As to the OP

Can't speak about Biology in any detail - but if you want an idea of what is involved in History have a look here -
http://leavingcerthistory.net

ConorD21

Yes Popescu but people were going off topic on that one so i deceided to make a new one but with only a choice between 2 subjects

Popescu

ConorD21 wrote: »

Yes Popescu but people were going off topic on that one so i deceided to make a new one but with only a choice between 2 subjects

Well, the advice I gave on the original post stands.

Mr Pseudonym

Popescu wrote: »

Well, the advice I gave on the original post stands.

...unfortunately.

spurious

I think since you're already doing Art and many artistic movements followed historical movements, you might be able to make more connections between the Art course and History. You might not be using a science subject for college, but some of what is covered in Biology is useful life information.
Really, it's the type of choice only you can make. The grass is probably going to look greener no matter which one you choose.