9 Subjects???

Mldj

Next year im going into fifth year, and im hoping to do 9 hl subjects:
English
Irish
Maths
Applied Maths
French
Chemistry
Physics
Economics
Music(outside of school)
Do you think this is too much of a workload? I know for sure that I am doing 8 but is 9 too much?
I speak fluent Irish and very good french. I did grade 8 in music. I got 10 As in the junior cert mocks (not doing ty and dont have actual results yet). Ive got a really strong ability for maths amd got 100 in the mock.

Any advice from somebody who did 8 or 9 subjects would be much appreciated.

Mr Rhode Island Red

Would you not just be putting unnecessary stress on yourself with 9 subjects, considering only your best 6 are counted for points?

But if it's for personal achievement, why not?

JoeySully

I don't normally reply to these topics but anyway
what do you want to do after LC ? if your doing a course that needs 300 points then id probably just do 5 subjects you probably get 300.
If you need 600 then do 6. Extra subjects, in my opinion are a wast of your time! BTW in 10 years time no employer will care that you did 6 or 9 subjects or none at all .

DarraghF197

I'm doing 8 subjects this year. It's not a problem at all. However, if you look at the leaving cert timetable, you're leaving yourself with five exams on the last week.

I'm doing subjects quite similar to you. I Don't do Chemistry or Music, and do Accounting instead. From the subjects you have listed, all of them are quite nice to study and don't require a massive amount of study.

Perhaps, if you were to do nine, maybe look at Business instead of Chemistry? You're timetable would be a lot nicer then.

I'd imagine you'd be fine, really. Plenty of people do nine subjects just for the hell of it. If you're simply looking for points, however, there's no real need for all those subjects.

mayogirlie1

don't do 9 higher level i'd say its nearly impossible unless you intend to be a hermit over the next 2 years. I am finished 5th year and hardly anyone in my year does 7 higher let alone 9!
I am currently doing 7 higher and I completely neglect one of my subjects and I intend to drop down to ordinary in it next year! it is far better to do less and do better! Honors Maths includes the work of two subjects to be honest!!

Varik

Did 9, needed high points and i sucked at language so it was 6 higher and 3 pass. Could have dropped ol English but it was only ol and i had to do the class itself.

ShaunDaSheep

I did 9 this year. Is fine aslong as they are not all higher. I did OL maths and irish so took the pressure off. It can be a pain during the LC exams as you get no proper time to study so you must have all your work done before exams start

randylonghorn

Why spread yourself so thin?

Is there any particular reason for doing 9?

It's often because someone is taking Irish and Maths at OL, and they want 7 HL subjects, but that obviously isn't the case here.

knopemeyer2016

I did 8 HL in the Leaving Cert, it was completely fine. Started with 9 HL in 5th Year which was also fine, I just dropped the one I was taking on the weekends due to a chronic illness, but not because the workload wasn't manageable. My parents just felt that getting up early on a Saturday wasn't doing me any good.

Don't listen to people saying you can't do it. It's something I've noticed among Irish people that they almost look down on those who go above and beyond in school. Yes, you can only count 6 grades in the CAO, but secondary school is about more than just learning for the sake of points to get into college. You might want to explore different subjects before you make decisions about what to study in college, or you might just enjoy learning for the sake of learning. Everyone has varying levels of ability, and some just enjoy the challenge.

Taking 9 HL subjects doesn't necessarily mean spreading yourself too thinly. It can, so I'd always advise you to proceed with caution, especially coming straight out the JC, but you don't sound like a slacker and there's no reason to doubt that you won't be up for it.

Also - I did nearly all those subjects (I did Biology, not Economics, but I study Econ in university now, and having looked at the LC exams I reckon it's no harder than Bio, especially if you're good at Maths). You'll be fine as long as you do your practice problems for homework, keep neat notes, and keep all your notes organised. The courses are perhaps more difficult conceptually for Physics, Chem, Econ and Applied Maths than subjects like Business and Geography, but the courses are shorter and when you understand the concepts, you don't need to do as much rote learning.

Mldj

Thanks for all the responses!:) Didn't think I'd get so many.
This is more of a personal goal rather than a matter of points. Im hoping to do Arts in college and study maths and french at UCC. At 350-400 points thats not going to be a huge stretch.
As I said in the first post I'm doing music outside of school. Im going to start studying that over the summer with my piano teacher who also happens to be a music teacher.
Maths and applied maths isn't going to be a problem. I got my hands on a copy of an old applied maths book in the school and have been tipping away at that throughout the year, covering qs 123 and 8. Im doing 4 classes of it a week in school next year anyway.
The only "iffy" subjects are the languages, especially English.
Thanks for all the advice. If the workload does become too much, I'll drop music or take the combined physics chem paper instead of seperate subjects.
Thanks again.

if832uspx4eogt

Well, I certaninly wished I hadn't dropped Business cause I didn't need it, apparently. I certainly wished I kept it after that disaster called English paper 2!

jjC123

If you're doing it for a genuine love of learning, then go for it.
Otherwise, why stress yourself?

dazzadazza

I do 9. It's not that big of a deal. Just keep on top of them and you should be fine considering you're more than likely a strong student.

knowwhos

I'm doing 9 although one of them is russian which doesn't really count. If you can motivate yourself and get stuff done you'll be grand. You can do 9 and just drop ones that you find boring and you'll find it really easy with the rest of them

Konata

I did 8 subjects at higher level for my Leaving and got A1s in all of them. I can understand both sides of the argument regarding doing extra subjects so I'll just throw in my 2 cents

Doing 8 subjects at a standard high enough to get A1s in all of them was really tough and extremely time-consuming. I feel like if I had taken on a ninth subject, it would have impacted negatively on my other subjects and possibly reduced my results in some of them. Eight was hard enough, nine would not have been worth the added stress in my opinion. You spread yourself thinner and thinner with each subject you take on.

I'm out of school a few years now and the reality of it all is that doing 8 subjects has not really benefited me any more than doing 6. If I had done 6, I still would've gotten the same CAO points. Once you've got a degree employers aren't usually too bothered by your LC results, let alone what individual subjects you did. You will never get a job based on the fact that you studied a particular subject at school - it's really only what subjects you studied at 3rd level that count.

Based on my own experience, I would not advise students to take on eight subjects at higher level for the leaving, let alone nine. I think seven HL subjects is really all that's necessary if you're looking for high points. It's simple not worth the added time and stress, as well as the potential negative impact on your other subjects - and the number of subjects you study will really have very little (if any) bearing on your future studies and career.

However, I do understand that maybe you wish to study subjects you're interested in and in that case 6-7 aren't enough for you. Obviously learning is great but don't forget that you have your whole life to learn. There are so many opportunities these days to keep furthering your education, even when you're working. While it seems like you have a back-up plan (potentially dropping music) OP, I would still advise you to think carefully about taking on so much work. You have not yet begun the LC cycle and you may be underestimating how difficult and stressful it can be. If you do go for your 9 subjects, make sure you keep a good track of how you're doing and do not hesitate the drop one of them as early as possible. If you end up struggling, the longer you struggle the worse it'll make things.

Anyway, best of luck with whatever you decide OP! Just remember that what matters most in the LC is what points you get at the end and not what individual subjects you studied. You'll have your whole life to gain qualifications and knowledge of other subjects but your LC only happens once (hopefully!) so really do think about how you can maximise your chances.