Economics and Physics for Leaving Cert

pewpew16

Hello,

I am currently 16 and in the middle of studying for the junior cert. I am interested in doing Economics and Physics for the Leaving Cert and will have to decide next week my 3 subjects for leaving cert.

My question is what do these subjects involve? We were given a talk about sunject choices about 2 months ago and the teachers giving the presentations were hopeless. Also, I am unsure if I will be able for them as I hear they can be quiet difficult talking to present leaving cert students in my school. I am interested in doing Mechanical and Electronic Engineering. Could anyone with past or present experience in these subjects please share their thoughts and opinions with me

Thanks,
Pewpew16

AtomicKoala

If you're interested in Engineering, definitely do Physics, that goes without saying. If you don't like it, you can change, and think about some other fields that interest you.

It's not easy if you're not that academically orientated (it has a relatively high percentage of OL students), but if you're an A/B student it probably is the same workload as most other subjects. You cover topics like light, mechanics (pressure, simple harmonic motion etc), electricity, and some atomic level stuff

To be honest, I didn't really enjoy it at first (I suppose, I didn't realise I had to study to pass a test, a valuable lesson ), but now it's fine, we have a good teacher, and the course is manageable. It's not my favourite subject - Chemistry is, but it's hardly a class I dread

As for Economics, I hear that it is relatively easy, perhaps for better students at least. Apparently it's important to be somewhat informed on economic events, it seems to be well liked by my friends anyhow.

Could you tell us how good you are at the subjects you are doing right now? In particular Science, Maths, and Business. Personally, I wouldn't recommend Physics to anyone getting below a C in honours Maths. The maths is generally basic, but you need a fairly logical streak.

EDIT: It might also be worth reading through the Chief Examiners' Reports for Physics and Economics here.

LostBoy101

I recommend Economics anyday if you are interested on being informed on current affairs and the economic situation. I did it last year and managed to get a C2 in higher level. The short questions caught out a few people like myself as they are now making it less predictable.

It is a relatively short course compared to business studies and as the SEC are now making papers less predictable you need to be understand the subject than just rote learn.

pewpew16

AtomicKoala wrote: »

If you're interested in Engineering, definitely do Physics, that goes without saying. If you don't like it, you can change, and think about some other fields that interest you.

It's not easy if you're not that academically orientated (it has a relatively high percentage of OL students), but if you're an A/B student it probably is the same workload as most other subjects. You cover topics like light, mechanics (pressure, simple harmonic motion etc), electricity, and some atomic level stuff

To be honest, I didn't really enjoy it at first (I suppose, I didn't realise I had to study to pass a test, a valuable lesson ), but now it's fine, we have a good teacher, and the course is manageable. It's not my favourite subject - Chemistry is, but it's hardly a class I dread

As for Economics, I hear that it is relatively easy, perhaps for better students at least. Apparently it's important to be somewhat informed on economic events, it seems to be well liked by my friends anyhow.

Could you tell us how good you are at the subjects you are doing right now? In particular Science, Maths, and Business. Personally, I wouldn't recommend Physics to anyone getting below a C in honours Maths. The maths is generally basic, but you need a fairly logical streak.

EDIT: It might also be worth reading through the Chief Examiners' Reports for Physics and Economics here.

Going by my mock results C's in both Science and Maths and a B2 in Business, but I expect to go up atleast one grade in all of those subjects for the real thing :v Thanks a lot very helpful

Corkmansam2

i, I'm currently in 6th year and the Leaving Cert is about 7.5 months away. I currently do 6 HL subjects (business,biology,geography,Ag science,English and French) but struggle in french. I was thinking of possibly taking up Economics and teaching myself the course in order to maximise my points. Is it possible to cover the whole economics syllabus within this time period and if so what topics should I consentrate on? I understand one has a choice to do 4 of out 8 questions in the exam , this may mean I might only need to cover sections of the course rather than the entire thing. If anyone can help Id really appreciate it, thanks

gerard98

Corkmansam2 wrote: »

i, I'm currently in 6th year and the Leaving Cert is about 7.5 months away. I currently do 6 HL subjects (business,biology,geography,Ag science,English and French) but struggle in french. I was thinking of possibly taking up Economics and teaching myself the course in order to maximise my points. Is it possible to cover the whole economics syllabus within this time period and if so what topics should I consentrate on? I understand one has a choice to do 4 of out 8 questions in the exam , this may mean I might only need to cover sections of the course rather than the entire thing. If anyone can help Id really appreciate it, thanks

I'd say you would be better off putting the time into french or another subject then trying to start a new subject.
I know people in my school who tried to pick up a new subject in sixth year and it only ended up burning them out or lowering their scores in other subjects because they had lost to much time when trying to cover their new course.

Mr Rhode Island Red

If you like maths you'll like physics.

In the LC Physics class in my school there's about 20 students.

Anybody doing OL Maths is also doing OL Physics, by choice
Anybody doing HL Maths is also doing HL Physics...go figure

Corkmansam2

gerard98 wrote: »

I'd say you would be better off putting the time into french or another subject then trying to start a new subject.
I know people in my school who tried to pick up a new subject in sixth year and it only ended up burning them out or lowering their scores in other subjects because they had lost to much time when trying to cover their new course.

I understand what your saying , but I would have to put in an extreme amount of work to get a decent grade (C1/B3) in French, so was just wondering would it be worth my while putting that effort into Economics where I feel I'm more capable to achieve a high grade. It's a tricky situation because of the risk of burn out.