Having Completed Your Leaving Cert What Advice Would You Give To Those Who Haven't?

plmko

So the Leaving Certificate is nearly over.

There's been tears, stress and funny moments!

Having climbed this treacherous mountain what advice would you give to incoming fifth and sixth years?

My advice:
-Make notes every night as part of your homework which sum up what you did each day in each class.
-Learn definitions as soon as you cover them.
-Be prepared to get a little selfish this year.

So what would your piece or pieces of advice be? I know that if I were about to enter into my Leaving Certificate years I'd want some valuable insight from those who have done it

DublinArnie

plmko wrote: »

So the Leaving Certificate is nearly over.

There's been tears, stress and funny moments!

Having climbed this treacherous mountain what advice would you give to incoming fifth and sixth years?

My advice:
-Make notes every night as part of your homework which sum up what you did each day in each class.
-Learn definitions as soon as you cover them.
-Be prepared to get a little selfish this year.

So what would your piece or pieces of advice be? I know that if I were about to enter into my Leaving Certificate years I'd want some valuable insight from those who have done it

Looks like this thread will be helpful for me, thanks. good luck with the results in August!

plmko

DublinArnie wrote: »

Looks like this thread will be helpful for me, thanks. good luck with the results in August!

Thankyou very much!

jwcurtin

I personally didn't do this, but in hindsight I really should have: My best friend had 2 note books, important phrases, grammar etc for French in one and another for English quotes, key definitions. She was very organised and it will stand to her.

Oh and definitely learn you quotes as you go along. Don't say you'll learn them at the weekend, because you won't, unless you're very disciplined. Avoiding procrastination is key!

Huell

Avoid hanging out with people who will drag your results down, i see people who got a few A's in the junior now they are in with the wrong crowd and will be lucky to pass most subjects.

Daniel2590

Start studying early... Even if its 30 mins on a topic each night you have no idea how much easier your life will be at this time :pac:

Delightfully Bright

Do 15 minutes more study than you would normally do each night. It won't feel like much when you're doing it but it definitely helps in the long run.

plmko

Get up early to study at the weekends!

Daithi MacG

Make sure you get notebooks that have a lot of pages and will last for two years. At the start of fifth year I bought two 80 page A4 notebooks which had a flimsy paper "cover" on them. They started falling apart and by 6th I didn't have many maths notes left from them. You can get 160 page A4 notebooks in easons with plastic luminous covers on them (green, orange pink and yellow I think) and they definitely won't fall apart. Also, have a bookshelf in your room or study room. This wasn't possible for me because mine is a converted attic and there isn't room and my books ended up scattered all over the floor. If I was more disciplined I probably could have found a solution but I'm lazy. But a bookshelf will definitely help keep you organised. I also ended up with loose sheets everywhere, so FOLDERS. Just try to keep all your books and notes in place and you won't waster valuable time looking for them later on.

robman60

Don't be unrealistic with your ambitions in September. Fortunately I didn't fall into this, but my friend did. Aim to do 2-3 hours of homework or study each night before Christmas, no more. The year is long and it really isn't necessary to do 5 hours a night. Consistency is more important.

Oh and don't be afraid to take a few days off every month. I mean, keep socialising. Whether this is going to the pub or just chilling out, remember it's an important part of maintaining your well-being.

Swan Curry

-Your weekends are valuable.Get up early,get some study done,and give yourself time to rest.

-If you're taking a day off (As you should from time to time),make sure you deserve it.Work harder the day before,it will feel even better.

-Prepare to be disappointed now and again.You're going to have a lot of tests over the next two years and you're not going to do well in all of them.It's natural,sometimes life just gets in the way.What's important is that you evaluate each test.Find out what you did wrong and how to do it better.Find out what you did well and aim to keep it that way.

-Up until the very day of your Leaving Cert,don't be afraid to try new things in exams.Every exam up until your Leaving Cert is a chance for you to take a risk.If you have a preprepared answer,change it around a bit.If it works,you'll always remember it,if it doesn't,you've still learned something.

-DO NOT CHEAT IN YOUR MOCKS.You're only fooling yourself if you do,and you'll have a lot of explaining to do when you get your results and your points have dropped massively.And believe me,they will.

e:Most of all,do your best.Come out of your last exam sure that you got everything out of those 2 years.Whether it's 625 or just passing all your subjects is irrelevant.If you did your best,no one can judge you.

thelad95

Every single subject is a two year course. Therefore make sure you work at it for two years.

Buy packs of flashcards and write definitions etc. on them and drill yourseld regularly.

Despite my first point, new subjects can be taken up any time in 5th year but you've got to be willing to work hard at them.

If you feel you don't have six subjects you can rely on, the likes of Business,Economics, Geography, Biology, Chemistry can be learnt with a grinds teacher or by yourself. People have taken these up as late as Christmas of 6th year and got A's.

bb1234567

Be realistic about your potential. Many people think theyll be the ones to get over 500 points when in reality its only the very top who achieve this, getting over 500 in the leaving is a huge achievement only top 8-9% of the country get over 500. At the start of the year I thought this was me, Im aiming for like 420 points now haha. But yeah just be realistic about your goals were not all extremely smart nor are all of us willing to put in the huge amount of effort needed to get high gradea!!

bb1234567

thelad95 wrote: »

Every single subject is a two year course. Therefore make sure you work at it for two years.

Buy packs of flashcards and write definitions etc. on them and drill yourseld regularly.

Despite my first point, new subjects can be taken up any time in 5th year but you've got to be willing to work hard at them.

If you feel you don't have six subjects you can rely on, the likes of Business,Economics, Geography, Biology, Chemistry can be learnt with a grinds teacher or by yourself. People have taken these up as late as Christmas of 6th year and got A's.

As a student who loved and worked hard in both geography and biology over the last two years I think it would be extremely unlikely youll do well in either subject learning them on your own or picking them up late. The courses are just too vast

plmko

Swan Curry wrote: »

-DO NOT CHEAT IN YOUR MOCKS.You're only fooling yourself if you do,and you'll have a lot of explaining to do when you get your results and your points have dropped massively.And believe me,they will.

Wow, so true. Listen to this guy!

a little sliceof lemon

To *all* students (even the really lazy ones) I'd say whats really important is doing everything that is given to you. Every bit of work the teachers tells you to do just do all of it and it'll help you immensely when you go back to study because you'll already know the concepts and just have to learn them.
And second, like another user said, don't cheat on the mocks, theres no reason why you should. I cheated on my higher history exam and was ****ting a brick the day because I had no idea what level I was at.

missguided

To follow up what everyone has said, definitely don't look at hints/spoilers for the mocks. It will be great at the time doing amazing with one nights study, but when it comes to the real thing it's a different story. Doing okay in the mocks with little study (due to hints!) can lull you into a false sense of 'ah sure it's grand', so really don't do it :P When people said this to me around the time of the mocks I took no notice, really wish i did though..

As well as this, sort out your study notes early on, it will really benefit you when you're rushing to organise things in May.

Study for the sraith pictúirs early in the year, even if it is only writing one out a week and learning one picture a day, having some basis before the weeks before the oral will be a great help. I spent the days before mine writing out notes for them, so yeah, learn from my mistakes :L

Not so much to do with the leaving cert, but try as much as possible to maintain a healthy diet. Easier said than done, but the dreaded sixth year stone creeps up on you very easily..

For this summer, try to figure out what exactly you want to do. Research courses in universities, IT's, further education and studying abroad. I wish I had applied for UCAS now, but i left it way too late. If you know what you want to pursue though it will be such a weight lifted off your shoulders:)

Basically, learn from my mistakes

Pidge96

Don't compare how you're doing to how others are doing it'll only make you upset and destroy morale. If you're working as hard as you can then you'll do your best.

thelad95

If you want to work hard and do well, forget what others say. It's not cool to do no work and fail tests.

9bred4

It is what you make of it. Work hard, expect results. Sit and pass time, expect what's coming to you.

plmko

missguided wrote: »

To follow up what everyone has said, definitely don't look at hints/spoilers for the mocks. It will be great at the time doing amazing with one nights study, but when it comes to the real thing it's a different story. Doing okay in the mocks with little study (due to hints!) can lull you into a false sense of 'ah sure it's grand', so really don't do it :P When people said this to me around the time of the mocks I took no notice, really wish i did though..

As well as this, sort out your study notes early on, it will really benefit you when you're rushing to organise things in May.

Study for the sraith pictúirs early in the year, even if it is only writing one out a week and learning one picture a day, having some basis before the weeks before the oral will be a great help. I spent the days before mine writing out notes for them, so yeah, learn from my mistakes :L

Not so much to do with the leaving cert, but try as much as possible to maintain a healthy diet. Easier said than done, but the dreaded sixth year stone creeps up on you very easily..

For this summer, try to figure out what exactly you want to do. Research courses in universities, IT's, further education and studying abroad. I wish I had applied for UCAS now, but i left it way too late. If you know what you want to pursue though it will be such a weight lifted off your shoulders:)

Basically, learn from my mistakes

So so true! Wish I applied for UCAS also and omg THAT SIXTH YEAR STONE!

Christy42

Don't completely take a year out from your life. Yes you have to study throughout the year but I've seen people shut themselves away for the year and get 100+ more points than they required for their course. You are only young once, make sure you enjoy it as well.

As course choices can still be changed, pick in order of preference! Words can't stress the importance of this. If your second choice is probably 100 points more than your first than so what, you probably won't end up in that course but that isn't the point. If you are on track for 600 points and your passion is history don't listen to all the idiots telling you to do medicine. Do the top history course you can get into (or maths, economics, German, chemistry...). Picking a course that is high points over a course you want to do is the dumbest thing you can do right now.

thelad95

Christy42 wrote: »

Don't completely take a year out from your life. Yes you have to study throughout the year but I've seen people shut themselves away for the year and get 100+ more points than they required for their course. You are only young once, make sure you enjoy it as well.

That's not a good attitude to have to be honest..Why shouldn't people try to maximise their points as best they can? As for getting over the points required for a course, if the points are 450 that means that was the points of the lowest candidate offered the course. Everyone else got way above that so you should aim to maximise your points to make sure you get in, not get around 450 and leave yourself open to disappointment.

I've done the LC twice now and believe me, if you make any comment to a student about the amount of studying they are doing be it too little or too much, it only adds to the stress and pressure.

Christy42

thelad95 wrote: »

That's not a good attitude to have to be honest..Why shouldn't people try to maximise their points as best they can? As for getting over the points required for a course, if the points are 450 that means that was the points of the lowest candidate offered the course. Everyone else got way above that so you should aim to maximise your points to make sure you get in, not get around 450 and leave yourself open to disappointment.

I've done the LC twice now and believe me, if you make any comment to a student about the amount of studying they are doing be it too little or too much, it only adds to the stress and pressure.

All the replies I have seen thus far have been about good times to study. When they go to college next year they will hear the same thing again. Then some may end in a job with long hours to save up money and then their youth has been spent. That is what I always hated, that people were always saying that this was the year to knuckle down and get the work done. I started to wonder when it will end that this is the year you put the work in. I feel that it should be pointed out that they should feel entitled to relax every so often. The LC isn't the end all and the be all. Yes it is important to get into a course you want to do but keep it in context that a bad LC won't destroy their lives either.

I am not advocating aiming for the minimum required as you will probably miss and you aren't told the minimum beforehand anyway. It is all about balance but unfortunately that is a lot easier for me to talk about than to do.

a0ifee

don't be like me and start learnng your sraith pictuirs two weeks before the exam :pac: I'll never forget that stress

ignore what everyone else is doing seriously, it'll only make you freak out. Just work to the best of your ability


CHECK YOUR COURSE ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

practise exam papers like nothing else especially for exams with short questions I feel

make a study timetable for like a week or two ahead it'll be so benefital because you won't feel as aimless in your study

RELAX. it's a hard two years and you need time for yourself. Don't burn yourself out before the exams. Keep your healthy mental state in mind

Nicke011

Try reading lessons before you go into the class. For subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, Geography etc.
Take a quick read, even if you don't understand it, it's ok. If you listen your teacher in class everything will get into place! And you're on the top. By doing only these two you're have most of the work done for those subjects. And if you do homework, you'll have 80% work done for the subject.
Stay up with this strategy and you'll have no problems.

bb1234567

Try your hardest to do well in all your practicals and orals in the months leading up to the exams. Like geography and german didnt go all that well for me, but I did a great geography project (20%) and german oral (25%) so Im really not worried because I have those two nice cushions to fall back on !

2thousand14

FLASH CARDS!!!!!

Daithi MacG

I'd also recommend knowing the layouts of each exam you have to do inside out. For some subjects like Languages and Geography and maybe History it might be worth your while deciding in what order you're going to answer questions. If you have a mindset like that before you go into the exam and you know the timing for each exam it will help A LOT. Whatever you do, don't be reading the instructions on the front page of the exam paper the morning of the exam, you'll probably misread something. So know the exam layouts.

nailforhammer

Study marking schemes religiously! This obviously doesn't work for English, Irish or most language based subjects. However you'll soon figure out the ones it does work for. Biology and business especially. They have the exact answers to the questions in the marking scheme. Learn these off and you can be guaranteed to do well. It also helps you understand how many points to give and know how to pick up marks.

a0ifee

nailforhammer wrote: »

Study marking schemes religiously! This obviously doesn't work for English, Irish or most language based subjects. However you'll soon figure out the ones it does work for. Biology and business especially. They have the exact answers to the questions in the marking scheme. Learn these off and you can be guaranteed to do well. It also helps you understand how many points to give and know how to pick up marks.

i'll second this for economics!!! the marking schemes are great for it

Isitthough?

Start studying early I dont care if your mock result was good with no study done, study early the earlier the better you dont have to kill yourself just an hour a night to begin with but do it over a long period rather than cramming a month before. Another one Id give is do study weekends and During holidays, For me sometimes I Would have those days where I didnt study at all cause I wasnt in the mood and there fine to have perfectly normal as long as you get back into things the next day. with holidays they're like golden dust lots of hours to do what you want, maybe wake up 9am do a few hour study and enjoy the rest of the day off even, Im not saying you have to study alot during holidays cause everyone needs a break but please do something

Yeah if your organized that's great I really did try to be organised but it dwindled and now my room is just a mess with books flung and sheets everywhere but it does help to be somewhat organised especially with like sheets teachers give out makes sure theyre not lose alot of mine were and Id spend a good few minutes looking for certain sheets so just like keep them in a folder.
Next is exampapers..There very important cause thats what your exam is going to look like. I felt it was especially important for maths, thats all I literally did for maths I didnt use the book although I prob should have but for maths the only way to study is practice practice and Oh yeah practice! so do exam questions my grades in maths have improved alot from doing that.

For languages I had like massive piles of study cards with words on them and Ide go through them every once in a while. Id keep adding to the pile when I came across new words etc.. The study cards are very effective for putting words into your long term memory which is important for a language. I would keep going over and over them and if I didnt know them Id put it in its own pile with the rest of the ones i didnt know and learn them again and rinse and repeat. It helped alot in my language study like id come across words in comprehension I remembered or sometimes when Im doing writing and thinking of a word in english a german word or irish word would just pop into my head and I would write it down even if Im not sure of it and usually its right.

I think english is tough one for me anyway, I think the way to do this is do exam questions and hand them up to be corrected and try and get better but I didnt do this till like the last month so yeah but I found it helped me improve on my comparatives anyways so so maybe do a question a week or something it should help you also we were recommended to read articles etc.. to improve on paper 1 but I never really did this, prob why Im not the best at english

Christy42

Use paragraphs:P.

Isitthough?

Christy42 wrote: »

Use paragraphs:P.

anything for you;)

Thoie

• Listen to your parents/older siblings. They've probably been through this themselves, even if you think "it's all changed now". They're not nagging you to study out of mean-spirited badness, they're doing it for your benefit. Their life would be a lot easier if they didn't give a **** about you, or your grades - there are a lot more fun things they could be doing than arguing with you about your homework.
• Ask for help. If you don't understand something, ask your teacher/friends/random passing experts. Even if your parents aren't familiar with the subject, just talking out loud about it can help.
• During your downtime, take some time to prepare for life away from home. Ask your father why he's using that particular setting on the washing machine. Figure out how much toilet paper costs, and how often it needs to be replaced. Think about why the immersion timer is set the way it is. Talk to the chef in your family about the different cuts of meat they buy, and why they chose that one instead of the other, and what ways can it be cooked. Offer to do some of the cooking.
• For foreign languages, read websites in that language about topics you're interested in. For example, if you're going to read Cosmo, why not read the Spanish version? If you like Agatha Christie books, order some in the language you're studying. Your vocabulary and sense of language flow will improve without much effort.

artanevilla

How much to to study and how to study varies from person to person.

My advice would be just relax, do what works for you and don't worry about it.

Days 298

5/10 Would not recommend to a friend

DarraghFitz98

Hi everyone,
I'm 16 and just finished TY,like most people in my year I'm enthusiastic about "the big quiz" but I know that energy will soon burn out for most of us! I have so good attitude towards school and I'm so get around 470/480 points

Was just hoping for some guidance on what to do to succeed in the leaving and what to avoid

I'm doing :
HL Irish
HL English
HL Maths (Will probably drop down)
HL Geography
HL History
HL Business
HL German

Subject specific advice also welcome

Many thanks in advance,
Darragh

dee_mc

Hi Darragh!
2 pieces of obvious advice (but they're obvious for a reason!)
-Get organised before 5th year starts with folders/large hardbacks for your notes etc for each subject
-Listen in class, do ALL your homework, and if you don't understand something in class get the teacher to clarify it until you do understand.

Study strategies are very personal, I'd say as long as you start strong you'll find something that suits you well enough that you can maintain it.
One other piece of advice: don't aim for a certain number of points; aim for your best.

DarraghFitz98

dee_mc wrote: »

Hi Darragh!
2 pieces of obvious advice (but they're obvious for a reason!)
-Get organised before 5th year starts with folders/large hardbacks for your notes etc for each subject
-Listen in class, do ALL your homework, and if you don't understand something in class get the teacher to clarify it until you do understand.

Study strategies are very personal, I'd say as long as you start strong you'll find something that suits you well enough that you can maintain it.
One other piece of advice: don't aim for a certain number of points; aim for your best.

Thanks very much I'll take that all on board! That doing your best rather than setting a goal is a great tip

thelad95

DarraghFitz98 wrote: »

Hi everyone,
I'm 16 and just finished TY,like most people in my year I'm enthusiastic about "the big quiz" but I know that energy will soon burn out for most of us! I have so good attitude towards school and I'm so get around 470/480 points

Was just hoping for some guidance on what to do to succeed in the leaving and what to avoid

I'm doing :
HL Irish
HL English
HL Maths (Will probably drop down)
HL Geography
HL History
HL Business
HL German

Subject specific advice also welcome

Many thanks in advance,
Darragh

You might want to reconsider HL English :P

For geography, I would recommend getting exam skills by sue honan. Fantastic book. For business, I would recommend learning from the marking schemes from the beginning of fifth year. Read through your textbook to get an idea of the material, but paying close attention to the marking schemes from day one will give you every chance of an A1.

You seem to be negative about your chances in HL Maths but if you work hard at it from day one (investing in a set of exam papers in 5th year worked a treat for me) you could at least achieve an honour which is better than an OL A1.

I was hopeless at history so all I can do for that is wish you the best of luck!

For English, make sure you make yourself familiar with whatever your Shakespeare play is and make sure you stay up to speed with all poets. You will probably do 3 poets in 5th year which can seem intimidating but if you take 1 poem a week and learn it well you will be well on top by 6th year.

I didn't do HL Irish so I can't be a help with that

For your European language, read as much as possible, whether it's articles on the internet, comprehensions, whatever, just read. Make sure you do every bit of work your teacher gives you because languages are very difficult to catch up with if you don't put the work in.



Also, I say this to every TY/5th year asking for advice, but I would strongly advise buying an Economics textbook (Positive Economics is the best) and learn the course yourself. You could even do it this summer and next summer. It's such a manageable subject and really easy to do well in. Whether or not your school offers it is irrelevant. If you don't think you'd be up to doing this, don't fear, you should be fine as it is.

DarraghFitz98

thelad95 wrote: »

You might want to reconsider HL English :P

For geography, I would recommend getting exam skills by sue honan. Fantastic book. For business, I would recommend learning from the marking schemes from the beginning of fifth year. Read through your textbook to get an idea of the material, but paying close attention to the marking schemes from day one will give you every chance of an A1.

You seem to be negative about your chances in HL Maths but if you work hard at it from day one (investing in a set of exam papers in 5th year worked a treat for me) you could at least achieve an honour which is better than an OL A1.

I was hopeless at history so all I can do for that is wish you the best of luck!

For English, make sure you make yourself familiar with whatever your Shakespeare play is and make sure you stay up to speed with all poets. You will probably do 3 poets in 5th year which can seem intimidating but if you take 1 poem a week and learn it well you will be well on top by 6th year.

I didn't do HL Irish so I can't be a help with that

For your European language, read as much as possible, whether it's articles on the internet, comprehensions, whatever, just read. Make sure you do every bit of work your teacher gives you because languages are very difficult to catch up with if you don't put the work in.



Also, I say this to every TY/5th year asking for advice, but I would strongly advise buying an Economics textbook (Positive Economics is the best) and learn the course yourself. You could even do it this summer and next summer. It's such a manageable subject and really easy to do well in. Whether or not your school offers it is irrelevant. If you don't think you'd be up to doing this, don't fear, you should be fine as it is.

Thanks very much for your help! I'll consider taking Economics as an 8th subject

XtotheZ

Stay on top of everything and make sure you understand it as you cover it. Itll all come back then the second time around