Question to people who already did their leaving cert.

Badwulf

I'm gonna keep this simple. I got 245 in my mock, failed higher level bio by 2 percent and higher level AG by 10 percent. I didnt study for my mocks at all. I need 300 points. And I've only started studying in the last 3 or two weeks, I do about nine hours a day, so my question in a nutshell is, did anyone who done there leaving cert last year have any success stories where they only really studied for the last 3 weeks ish and managed to get 300+ points? or do you know of anyone who managed to pull this off? im basically asking for last minute success stories to give me hope and make me feel better. Tell me your thoughts :P:eek:

dee_mc

Mine was several million years ago but I improved on my mock results by well over 100 points. Like you, I did very little for the mocks, although I did nothing like 9 hours of study a day at any point!
All you can do is your best: I convinced myself to forget about points and aims, ignore how much study others said they were doing, and just focus on doing as much study as I could stomach to get on as well as I possibly could.
Best of luck!

Badwulf

still though, I like hearing success stories like these because they give me hope

9bred4

Badwulf wrote: »

I'm gonna keep this simple. I got 245 in my mock, failed higher level bio by 2 percent and higher level AG by 10 percent. I didnt study for my mocks at all. I need 300 points. And I've only started studying in the last 3 or two weeks, I do about nine hours a day, so my question in a nutshell is, did anyone who done there leaving cert last year have any success stories where they only really studied for the last 3 weeks ish and managed to get 300+ points? or do you know of anyone who managed to pull this off? im basically asking for last minute success stories to give me hope and make me feel better. Tell me your thoughts :P:eek:

Well last year I too didn't study, got about 270 in my mocks.. didn't study for the real thing and got 380. Buuuuuuut... I'm back again this year... still not studying. I'll never learn!

Anyway, my point is the mocks are more about getting the timing right, they're corrected by different people and the papers are sometimes not exactly great so put in the work and chances are you will get it!

_Redzer_

I went up 100 points from my mocks. I wasn't a big studier, but I pretty much always did my homework and listened.

Crammed for my mocks, and I crammed for the LC and I did pretty well.

Keep cramming and studying hard. You'll do well if you do.

Badwulf

redzer and 9bred, you guys are gonna make me cry like a little asian school girl :') If I just got that extra 2 percent in bio I would be on 290 points been cramming for it like crazy the past two weeks and I think I could bring home a C in it now

9bred4

Badwulf wrote: »

redzer and 9bred, you guys are gonna make me cry like a little asian school girl :') If I just got that extra 2 percent in bio I would be on 290 points been cramming for it like crazy the past two weeks and I think I could bring home a C in it now

The fact it is a week away makes me want to cry like a school girl to be honest ha

Afroshack

Badwulf wrote: »

I'm gonna keep this simple. I got 245 in my mock, failed higher level bio by 2 percent and higher level AG by 10 percent. I didnt study for my mocks at all. I need 300 points. And I've only started studying in the last 3 or two weeks, I do about nine hours a day, so my question in a nutshell is, did anyone who done there leaving cert last year have any success stories where they only really studied for the last 3 weeks ish and managed to get 300+ points? or do you know of anyone who managed to pull this off? im basically asking for last minute success stories to give me hope and make me feel better. Tell me your thoughts :P:eek:

Got 180 in my mocks and 430 in my LC

It can be done - although nine hours of study is far too much for you to really take anything in.

_Redzer_

Badwulf wrote: »

redzer and 9bred, you guys are gonna make me cry like a little asian school girl :') If I just got that extra 2 percent in bio I would be on 290 points been cramming for it like crazy the past two weeks and I think I could bring home a C in it now

Also I studied the bare minimum of 6 and I figured out the test papers well. Also revise wise is great. There's far too much useless crap and filler for the LC.

There's still over a week left. You'll get for points if you keep up the work. Good luck

Afroshack wrote: »

Got 180 in my mocks and 430 in my LC

It can be done - although nine hours of study is far too much for you to really take anything in.

That's how I pass my college exams on study week. Head into the library when it opens and leave an hour or two before it closes at night.

Never underestimate the power of cramming

LiverpoolLad95

My mate went up a whole 1400%, honest.

....He got 5 points in the Mock, and 70 points in the Leaving.

He's enjoying his jam-making course now.

(Only messing about the Jam-making, serious about the points, only passed french because in the Listening, he marked all the A's on the multiple choice sections).

Hope this helps OP.

Badwulf

well I guess that kind of counts liver pool lad hahaha, looking for better stories than that tho

Penny Tration

It's a good few years since i did my LC (2006), but I went from 280 in my mocks (without much studying, as I'd been very ill), to working my arse off and getting a little over 500 in the actual exams.

Put the work in, and you absolutely can do it. Best thing I found was doing exam papers. Writing down everything helped it to stay in my mind. When I got bored, I'd do a little doodle next to some stuff, and funnily enough, I remembered the doodle in the exams, which helped me to remember what I had written!

Afroshack

green_screen wrote: »

It's a good few years since i did my LC (2006), but I went from 280 in my mocks (without much studying, as I'd been very ill), to working my arse off and getting a little over 500 in the actual exams.

Put the work in, and you absolutely can do it. Best thing I found was doing exam papers. Writing down everything helped it to stay in my mind. When I got bored, I'd do a little doodle next to some stuff, and funnily enough, I remembered the doodle in the exams, which helped me to remember what I had written!

Yeah by this stage - you should be just revising exam papers and sample answers in note form. The textbook won't help you so just make sure what you are studying is brief, concise and to the point. Then cram, cram, cram!

LiverpoolLad95

To be honest, I know people who've gone up 200 points, and gone down as much as 100. My cousin went from 340 to 470.

Anyways, for people like us who've left it toooooo late, its all about the last minute study and luck. If what we study comes up, we will do well, if what we study doesn't come up we're going to have to repeat. Just happy thoughts.

Also, just a quick question for anyone doing History, is it all right if a mate learns the same essays as you, only his aren't that good and mine are better. Anyone go in with the same essays as classmates?

oncex

LiverpoolLad95 wrote: »

To be honest, I know people who've gone up 200 points, and gone down as much as 100. My cousin went from 340 to 470.

Anyways, for people like us who've left it toooooo late, its all about the last minute study and luck. If what we study comes up, we will do well, if what we study doesn't come up we're going to have to repeat. Just happy thoughts.

Also, just a quick question for anyone doing History, is it all right if a mate learns the same essays as you, only his aren't that good and mine are better. Anyone go in with the same essays as classmates?

Yep thats fine... although I assume theyre different seeing as yours are better. You can't just write the answer out though. Adapt the essay to the question asked. so regardless yer answers will be somewhat different.

LiverpoolLad95

oncex wrote: »

Yep thats fine... although I assume theyre different seeing as yours are better. You can't just write the answer out though. Adapt the essay to the question asked. so regardless yer answers will be somewhat different.

Whoops, meant to say he's learning mine as his aren't that good, no doubt on the day the argument will be different but the facts are the same, if you get me. So e.g. the Franchise Act of 1884 trebled the amount of Irish voters whereas he's been saying it greatly increased threefold.

Badwulf

All I need to go up is 50 points, will all you guys light me candles? since I've started studying in the past three weeks though I've relised that knowledge stays in my head REALLY DAMN EASY, kinda wish I started earlier and I would of got waaayyyyy higher then :P

_Redzer_

Badwulf wrote: »

All I need to go up is 50 points, will all you guys light me candles? since I've started studying in the past three weeks though I've relised that knowledge stays in my head REALLY DAMN EASY, kinda wish I started earlier and I would of got waaayyyyy higher then :P

I started properly the weekend before the LC and I studied my engineering notes the night before. Got a HB1 and I couldn't remember 75% of what I'd learned an hour after the exam.

Keep it up and I'll say you'll do better than what you need even.

Badwulf

engineering is a handy subject to have, probably one of the easiest subjects to do in LC

Helloya

Got 280 in mocks, 250 in real thing. Didn't study much, did a plc year after, went on to do a law degree, qualified as a solicitor a year ago. The leaving cert isn't the be all and end all.

_Redzer_

Badwulf wrote: »

engineering is a handy subject to have, probably one of the easiest subjects to do in LC

It would be in fairness. Handy enough points if you're doing it.

Badwulf

Helloya wrote: »

Got 280 in mocks, 250 in real thing. Didn't study much, did a plc year after, went on to do a law degree, qualified as a solicitor a year ago. The leaving cert isn't the be all and end all.

To me it is the Be all and end all I don't even know how PLC's work

Ompala

Yes, I know someone who went up 300 points from their mocks!
You are better prepared now than you were for the mocks, and won't make any of the same mistakes as regards timing etc twice. Its well doable.
Best of luck with it

spurious

Badwulf wrote: »

To me it is the Be all and end all I don't even know how PLC's work

Look at PLCs now and even if it's a bit late, apply for some now. You can use some FETAC courses to access Level 7 and 8 courses.
Otherwise, if things don't go to plan, your only option is to repeat.

Badwulf

Ompala wrote: »

Yes, I know someone who went up 300 points from their mocks!
You are better prepared now than you were for the mocks, and won't make any of the same mistakes as regards timing etc twice. Its well doable.
Best of luck with it

jesus what did he get in his mocks :O

Ompala

Badwulf wrote: »

jesus what did he get in his mocks :O

Slightly over 100 points.

Moose9999

Like a lot of the posters here, its many years since I did mine, but my advise to you is study as much as you can from now till the end of the LC just make sure you get enough sleep before each exam. You'll wont get few weeks again. Generally your LC results will be a lot better than your mocks. And if it doesn't go as well as you'd like, its not the end of the world. Best of luck!!!!

kayla221

ok so since fifth year my english teacher has marked me extremely hard! (says i have problems with expression) i have never gotten anything over a D3 on any essay including comparative, poetry, macbeth and personal writing! i spent anything up to eight hours on one essay but the grade was always the same. in my mock i got 61%. for macbeth i got 38 marks out of 50 and for comparative i got 51 marks out or 70 i ran out of time so didnt get the poetry done, but i got 15 out of 20 on the unseen. i was delighted as id be nearly failing all year but my teacher said the paper was marked extremely easy and i deserved a D. i feel completely lost with english now and im afraid all the work i have prepaired is only D standard. i really cant afford to fail! can anyone, like literally anyone help me, im freaking out!!

Badwulf

kayla221 wrote: »

ok so since fifth year my english teacher has marked me extremely hard! (says i have problems with expression) i have never gotten anything over a D3 on any essay including comparative, poetry, macbeth and personal writing! i spent anything up to eight hours on one essay but the grade was always the same. in my mock i got 61%. for macbeth i got 38 marks out of 50 and for comparative i got 51 marks out or 70 i ran out of time so didnt get the poetry done, but i got 15 out of 20 on the unseen. i was delighted as id be nearly failing all year but my teacher said the paper was marked extremely easy and i deserved a D. i feel completely lost with english now and im afraid all the work i have prepaired is only D standard. i really cant afford to fail! can anyone, like literally anyone help me, im freaking out!!

English teachers are all mostly see you next tuesdays. I got 74% in my mock and then a weak later all my teachers had to fill in a "Predicted grades" section for an access form to a college (what grades they thought I would get In my actual LC)


English teacher thinks I'm gonna get a D3

kayla221

its really unfair for them to make students doubt themselves, especially if you got a B in the mocks thats brillant! im so confused now think i might fail in the real exam!

pumpkin222

got 120 in the mocks...managed to scrape 320....back again doing it and praying i get something on the cao! mocks mean nothing they don't determine your grades at all.....I do exam papers from each topic(especially in biology) and i find it helps....the lc isn't be all and end all take it from a repeat!
good luck

truedoom

i studied the night before each exam, and ended up with 400.

know another lad who studied every night for the month leading up, and only ended up with 460.

It's more of a case of lazyness/information retention.

Badwulf

truedoom wrote: »

i studied the night before each exam, and ended up with 400.

know another lad who studied every night for the month leading up, and only ended up with 460.

It's more of a case of lazyness/information retention.

You're my new inspiration :pac:

DaimNut

Got 375 in the mocks this year with no study and no idea what to expect for the leaving cert now 😰 only really started studying the past two weeks like an idiot :P

MightyMandarin

kayla221 wrote: »

ok so since fifth year my english teacher has marked me extremely hard! (says i have problems with expression) i have never gotten anything over a D3 on any essay including comparative, poetry, macbeth and personal writing! i spent anything up to eight hours on one essay but the grade was always the same.

My teacher is almost identical, she's known in our school for hard-grading and she pretty much slaughters our class' work. I know one of my friends got 95% on poetry essay in the mock and a guy in my class who copied the essay (same question) got 53%. I know I'm one of the 'better' students in our class though, yet the best result I've ever gotten was 71% on a comparitive essay. Hopefully I'll get better in the LC, as I had the opposite in JC ,averaging 90+ and got a C.

Badwulf

DaimNut wrote: »

Got 375 in the mocks this year with no study and no idea what to expect for the leaving cert now 😰 only really started studying the past two weeks like an idiot :P

You are also my inspiration :pac:

thelad95

There is no generic 'you'll go up" or you'll go down, it all depends on the amount of work done after the mocks. Some people peak at the mocks and no amount of work will advance their grades. Others do nothing for the mocks, get their shít together for the last few months and do incredibly. Others do enough to maintain the points from the mocks (most people are in this category).

You know yourself which you fit into.
And as someone mentioned here, these exams are blown out of proportion by the media. They are only one route to your dream

DavidDaly

Honestly one reassuring thing I say is how results can change radically. Like loads of people say oh well if I did **** at this in the Junior cert I am absolutely screwed for the leaving. Not true. For science in the Junior Cert I at a C(barely I reckon) in Biology I got a B1. I was **** at English and only got a D in HL in the junior cert, a D3 in the leaving cert pre but a C1 in the leaving cert. I mean it can be very strange cause I also went down from a B1 in the pre in Business to a D2 in the leaving cert. Luckily I got my course in the end but honestly a huge chunk of success in the leaving cert is your attitude on the day. If you go in think your screwed you are probably gonna do badly cause your just not going to focus and answer the questions properly cause your distracting yourself by thinking negatively.

131spanner

Went from 420 to 470, not a huge leap but a bit all the same.

The mocks are hit and miss. Lazy correcting all over the shop. The highest of our HL English class in the mocks was 72%, and 6 of us ended up getting A's in the real thing.

Good luck.

robman60

131spanner wrote: »

The mocks are hit and miss. Lazy correcting all over the shop.

^This.

Especially subjects like English and Business which have no set answer. Correctors will just throw a few ticks on the page and guess a grade from the little bit they actually bother to read. Was the case for my mock anyway.

Badwulf

Im still fairly pissed I failed Bio by 4 marks :pac:

WeHaveToGoBack

Two years ago I got 240ish points in the Mocks with two fails and no studying.

In the LC ilI got about 320ish and passed everything. And to be honest, I did little study.

I think Mocks are marked much harder.

Pat_McGroyne

I don't want to appear naff, but does anyone know of anybody who went from 500 in their mocks to 580+ in LC with no great increase in study effort/hours??

Badwulf

Pat_McGroyne wrote: »

I don't want to appear naff, but does anyone know of anybody who went from 500 in their mocks to 580+ in LC with no great increase in study effort/hours??

sounds doable

MightyMandarin

Pat_McGroyne wrote: »

I don't want to appear naff, but does anyone know of anybody who went from 500 in their mocks to 580+ in LC with no great increase in study effort/hours??

Really depends on luck. If the stuff you've learned comes up and have a great 6 exams, its possible. It's unlikely though.

Badwulf

if
photosynthsis
respiration
defense immunity
plant reproduction
ecology
enzymes
human reproduction
cell division
food
genitics
breathing system
excretion
come up for higher bio Ima get an A

dee_mc

MightyMandarin wrote: »

Really depends on luck. If the stuff you've learned comes up and have a great 6 exams, its possible. It's unlikely though.

Ah in fairness, it also depends on how hard the mocks were marked!
It's a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question - best advice at this stage in the game, for OP and all other students, is to forget CAO altogether until the offers come out, and just focus on doing your best (something you still have control over).

Pat_McGroyne

dee_mc wrote: »

Ah in fairness, it also depends on how hard the mocks were marked!
It's a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question - best advice at this stage in the game, for OP and all other students, is to forget CAO altogether until the offers come out, and just focus on doing your best (something you still have control over).

I think that's a sound piece of advice, thanks.

VenomousFish

i'm lucky enough to be blessed with good information retaining skills. if find it easy enough to pick up topics in class. i got 520 points in my mocks and the only study i did was a glance over each subject the night before.(although admittedly i only barely scraped a pass in english) i'm hoping my methods won't fail me now...

bb1234567

VenomousFish wrote: »

i'm lucky enough to be blessed with good information retaining skills. if find it easy enough to pick up topics in class. i got 520 points in my mocks and the only study i did was a glance over each subject the night before.(although admittedly i only barely scraped a pass in english) i'm hoping my methods won't fail me now...

LUCKY :mad: I have to go over material so many times to remember it....

spurious

bb1234567 wrote: »

LUCKY :mad: I have to go over material so many times to remember it....

You might be the sort of person remembers things you hear better than things you see/read. Try recording a sound file of some topic and see does that help.
Very many people don't know what style of learner they are.