Leaving cert chemistry

Bilbobaggins6

Hello everyone. So basically I'm choosing my subjects for the leaving cert and I don't know if I should choose business or chemistry. Im going to be doing English, Irish, maths, German, economics, biology as well. I really want to do something in science after school and I really love biology and find it fascinating. I would choose chemistry over business because I find it interesting but everyone I talk to about LC chemistry says that it's really hard. The only reason I'm doing business really is because it's supposed to be really easy (my brother got a B1 HL) and I'm worried that I won't get enough points for what I want to do if I do chemistry. The only subject I'm really bad at is maths and I'll be doing OL. I got a B in HL JC science but I never really listened in class (I was ignorant about school in 1st and 2nd year) so would LC chemistry kind of go over some of the basics at the start ? I have heard some people say that a lot of LC chemistry is rote learning, is this true ? Because understanding some of the harder concepts is where I fall down. (hence why I'm bad at maths) I would greatly appreciate any help, thanks.

smileygurl123

I'm in 6th year doing leaving cert chemistry and biology because I love science too but yes chemistry has quite A LOT of maths!! And learning but its a very rewarding subject to have if you put the work in!

Corkgirl18

Bilbobaggins6 wrote: »

Hello everyone. So basically I'm choosing my subjects for the leaving cert and I don't know if I should choose business or chemistry. Im going to be doing English, Irish, maths, German, economics, biology as well. I really want to do something in science after school and I really love biology and find it fascinating. I would choose chemistry over business because I find it interesting but everyone I talk to about LC chemistry says that it's really hard. The only reason I'm doing business really is because it's supposed to be really easy (my brother got a B1 HL) and I'm worried that I won't get enough points for what I want to do if I do chemistry. The only subject I'm really bad at is maths and I'll be doing OL. I got a B in HL JC science but I never really listened in class (I was ignorant about school in 1st and 2nd year) so would LC chemistry kind of go over some of the basics at the start ? I have heard some people say that a lot of LC chemistry is rote learning, is this true ? Because understanding some of the harder concepts is where I fall down. (hence why I'm bad at maths) I would greatly appreciate any help, thanks.

Hiya, chemistry is a difficult subject. Business is fairly straightforward, its mostly learning and not a huge amount of understanding is needed. Chemistry has some learning in definitions etc, it has a good bit of fairly straightforward maths but its very conceptual. You need to understand the concepts for you to have any hope. Have a look at a Leaving Cert chemistry book to get an idea of what its like.

aleks96

I'm in first year Science now. I did both Chemistry and Business for the LC and although i did enjoy business i find it's way more difficult to get a good grade (A's and high B's) in it. The marking scheme is tricky and it's not that easy to decide how much to write and how long your answer should be, timing was one of my biggest problems - i rarely had enough time to finish an exam. The material is not too bad - quite straightforward and interesting, SQ are predictable, however the marking scheme and timing make it difficult to score high. Chemistry definitely requires work, it might be hard to get your head around it first but once it all clicks it's actually not that bad! there is quite a lot of maths but its OL, easy maths like formulas, percentages etc. the paper is predictable - organic and volumetric make up almost half the paper... and there are only about 27? chapters. If i were you i'd go for chemistry especially if you want a job in science in the future

trixychic

Hi there. I did biology, chemistry, German and geography for mine. Now it was 8 or 9 yrs ago but i was really glad i did chemistry when i went to college.

There is am awful lot of definitions that have to be learned by heart and experiments, but if your willing to put in the study time for them it will stand to you for science in college.

Id say 90% of science courses in college do all 3 sciences in first year regardless. You having done chemistry already will give you a great boost for college. Its all very similar to 6th yr school sciences.

I think you.ll have to decide on the amount of study your willing to do. Chemistry will take a good bit but it is doable. Really hope this helps.

Zen 2nd

If you're picking Chemistry be prepared to put the work in for it.

Business on the other hand, is pretty straight forward learning.

whoopsadaisy

If you wanna do something in Science in college, having LC chemistry will really give you an advantage. I know certain courses where you have to take like a miniature crash course in LC chemistry before starting college, because while it might not be a requirement for all science courses, they generally do presume in college that you have prior knowledge of chemistry.

I did business and chemistry for the LC and while I loved business and was always gonna do something business in college, chemistry was actually one of my favourite subjects. You do have to put the work in but I honestly found it quite a rewarding subject. It's most definitely NOT rote learning (whereas biology is) and the exam doesn't involve much waffling. Once you understand the main concepts - bonding, organic chem, electronic configuration etc - it all kind of clicks together and for anyone I knew that took chemistry, that moment of realisation where it all came together and made sense always happens.

Business has a picky marking scheme and while the material isn't the hardest to learn, answering the questions can be a bit hit and miss. If science is what you wanna do I'd definitely encourage going for chem.

Bilbobaggins6

whoopsadaisy wrote: »

If you wanna do something in Science in college, having LC chemistry will really give you an advantage. I know certain courses where you have to take like a miniature crash course in LC chemistry before starting college, because while it might not be a requirement for all science courses, they generally do presume in college that you have prior knowledge of chemistry.

I did business and chemistry for the LC and while I loved business and was always gonna do something business in college, chemistry was actually one of my favourite subjects. You do have to put the work in but I honestly found it quite a rewarding subject. It's most definitely NOT rote learning (whereas biology is) and the exam doesn't involve much waffling. Once you understand the main concepts - bonding, organic chem, electronic configuration etc - it all kind of clicks together and for anyone I knew that took chemistry, that moment of realisation where it all came together and made sense always happens.

Business has a picky marking scheme and while the material isn't the hardest to learn, answering the questions can be a bit hit and miss. If science is what you wanna do I'd definitely encourage going for chem.

Hi thanks for the advice but you mentioned that chemistry has to click whereas biology is mostly rote learning. This worries me as I am confident with Biology but I'm wondering is that just because it is rote learning. So I'm worried that if I pick chemistry the material won't click and I'll do terribly. Would you compare chemistry to maths as in the understanding or would you say its different. Thanks again.

EoghanIRL

I have first year biochem and it's presumed you know all the lc chemistry.
If you are considering doing any medical /health science course they make you take biochem in first year and second year and I doubt you could pass it without lc chemistry knowledge . So if any of those course interest you do it . Chemistry is probably a course requirement for those courses anyway.
Perhaps in other courses they might teach you lc chemistry . I know biochem degree students get taught lc chemistry in semester 1. In regard to higher point courses you won't be taught it, it is expected of you to know it.

The only way you will know if it will click is if you try it . Nobody here knows if chemistry is for you or not .

Bilbobaggins6

Just a quick question to everyone that did LC business. Would you say that it is possible to do it outside of school at home ? If I get the book (business teacher said its a really good book) and put in the hours in every week do you think I'd still be able to get a B. This would be in case I end up being terrible at chemistry. Would you know how to answer the questions on the paper through the book alone? (I could also ask my brother for help). Thanks everyone!!

aleks96

Bilbobaggins6 wrote: »

Just a quick question to everyone that did LC business. Would you say that it is possible to do it outside of school at home ? If I get the book (business teacher said its a really good book) and put in the hours in every week do you think I'd still be able to get a B. This would be in case I end up being terrible at chemistry. Would you know how to answer the questions on the paper through the book alone? (I could also ask my brother for help). Thanks everyone!!

I had a really good business teacher for the LC. We had a book (Global business i think was the name of it... but it was horrible! Loots of information missing etc) but we never really used it, she used to photocopy chapters from another book and added some bits that were missing. I think it is manageable if you put in the work and do exam papers, it would be great if you could get someone to correct them for you and give you feedback - especially with the ABQ and Long Questions