Leaving Cert 2016/17 Off-Topic Thread

Mr Rhode Island Red

Manufan123 wrote: »

Has anyone made any kind of study plans yet?

I haven't even got my books yet, once I have them to hand I might think of something

smiles_1998

Mr Rhode Island Red wrote: »

I haven't even got my books yet, once I have them to hand I might think of something

Do ye not have to buy your books during the summer?

And I actually don't know what I would have done in 3rd year without Saturday study- it was the only place I had to keep my mouth shut and my phone turned off! going to the library after school today with my friends reminded me why I never used to get any homework done on a Friday evening in 2nd and 3rd year :rolleyes:

ElmW13

smiles_1998 wrote: »

Do ye not have to buy your books during the summer?

And I actually don't know what I would have done in 3rd year without Saturday study- it was the only place I had to keep my mouth shut and my phone turned off! going to the library after school today with my friends reminded me why I never used to get any homework done on a Friday evening in 2nd and 3rd year :rolleyes:

Your schools have Saturday study :eek: Wed hardly have after school study, what's there would be cancelled cos numbers would drop

Mr Rhode Island Red

smiles_1998 wrote: »

Do ye not have to buy your books during the summer?

And I actually don't know what I would have done in 3rd year without Saturday study- it was the only place I had to keep my mouth shut and my phone turned off! going to the library after school today with my friends reminded me why I never used to get any homework done on a Friday evening in 2nd and 3rd year :rolleyes:

Book rental scheme, only job :pac:

smiles_1998

Mr Rhode Island Red wrote: »

Book rental scheme, only job :pac:

Lucky we have to buy all of our books and we can't even get them second hand because almost every year there is different edition of the same book published... :rolleyes:

spurious

smiles_1998 wrote: »

Lucky we have to buy all of our books and we can't even get them second hand because almost every year there is different edition of the same book published... :rolleyes:

That's a right racket the publishers have going.
The book rental schemes should be across the board.

NOS3

I'm exhausted after just 3 days. I have physics, chemistry and biology notes which I was going to go over tonight, but then I got called to go babysitting. I guess it's not all bad, watching kids movies and eating snacks. :pac:

On the bright side, I think I'm settled in now. Today I found that everything wasn't as daunting as it was a few days ago.

Significant399

I'm also exhausted after my 4 long days. Homework in every subject, but so far the workload is bearable. Was too tired to do anything tonight, so I'll have to make up for it tomorrow and Sunday

Liordi

This week went by a lot quicker than I thought it would. 5 full days :rolleyes:
I feel like next week will be worse as some teachers are saying "since it's your first week, we won't give as much homework" which means the workload will be heavier.

I dunno if I'll start a study plan before Christmas exams. I think doing homework alone will be enough for me to start off at least. :P

carefulnowted

I started back on Monday so I've settled in at this stage. I found the first couple of days really difficult since everything was so different compared to 3rd year, but towards the end of the week things got a bit easier. Still miss our base class which has been split up because of Transition Year, but I'm getting used to the new one now.

I found Physics really confusing and abstract, in a way, at the start of the week and I almost ended up switching to a different subject which would have been a shame since I have an interest in Physics. When I got my book I just went through and made some of my own notes on the chapter we were on which cleared it up for me a lot.

All my other subjects are fine and homework seems manageable (so far...!). Hope everything's going well for the rest of ye

Troxck

carefulnowted wrote: »

I started back on Monday so I've settled in at this stage. I found the first couple of days really difficult since everything was so different compared to 3rd year, but towards the end of the week things got a bit easier. Still miss our base class which has been split up because of Transition Year, but I'm getting used to the new one now.

I found Physics really confusing and abstract, in a way, at the start of the week and I almost ended up switching to a different subject which would have been a shame since I have an interest in Physics. When I got my book I just went through and made some of my own notes on the chapter we were on which cleared it up for me a lot.

All my other subjects are fine and homework seems manageable (so far...!). Hope everything's going well for the rest of ye

I was the exact same with Physics, getting Cs and DS throughout 5th Year. In Sixth Year it clicked and I started getting consistent As and some Bs and I'm now studying it in college! Just keep going!

carefulnowted

Troxck wrote: »

I was the exact same with Physics, getting Cs and DS throughout 5th Year. In Sixth Year it clicked and I started getting consistent As and some Bs and I'm now studying it in college! Just keep going!

Thanks a million for the encouragement! I've heard that Physics is similar to Maths in that regard, so hopefully it will all come together in Sixth Year like it did for you. I'm hoping to study something engineering or computer science related in college so I thought LC Physics could help me decide what I was most interested in.

Best of luck in college!

Troxck

carefulnowted wrote: »

Thanks a million for the encouragement! I've heard that Physics is similar to Maths in that regard, so hopefully it will all come together in Sixth Year like it did for you. I'm hoping to study something engineering or computer science related in college so I thought LC Physics could help me decide what I was most interested in.

Best of luck in college!

I was in the exact same situation as you! Planned on doing Computer Science but had a change of heart at the end of Sixth Year.

Also, the topics covered in fifth year were very boring to me (optics, heat etc) and the more interesting topics were covered in Sixth Year (Electricity ,Modern Physics and Particle Physics).

Also, I was barely able to answer Exam Style questions in fifth year but by the end of Sixth Year I was doing 2-3 mock exams a week! Our teacher taught us how to think in a certain way in order to answer the questions. Break it down, use what you know and you'll have it. Obviously some people in the class will be better at thinking logically but never stop trying.

YUAND

Hey guys,

Long time lurker and this is my first post so here goes:

I'm actually liking 5th year or as our school calls it 4th year The week went by really quick and as an added bonus I got no homework (not that I'm expecting that to last). I was kind of getting tired of TY by the end and wanted to move on and on an even better note I got all good teachers this year, well except French but it's one of my strong subjects so I'm hoping I can make up for that. Doing Physics, Accounting and DCG

schoolsucksLC

5th year is grand so far except for one class. My English teacher forces people to read their answers aloud. Absolute nightmare for someone like me. Thinking of dropping down to ordinary just because of that.

spurious

schoolsucksLC wrote: »

5th year is grand so far except for one class. My English teacher forces people to read their answers aloud. Absolute nightmare for someone like me. Thinking of dropping down to ordinary just because of that.

Speak to your class tutor. Silly reason to drop a level when an explanation to the teacher involved can avoid conflict.

What career are you hoping to do that avoids speaking in public?

teafanatic

schoolsucksLC wrote: »

5th year is grand so far except for one class. My English teacher forces people to read their answers aloud. Absolute nightmare for someone like me. Thinking of dropping down to ordinary just because of that.

You could try giving the teacher a note from your parents saying you don't have to read out, that's worked for everyone I know who wanted to get out of it. Worth a shot at least

Troxck

schoolsucksLC wrote: »

5th year is grand so far except for one class. My English teacher forces people to read their answers aloud. Absolute nightmare for someone like me. Thinking of dropping down to ordinary just because of that.

Talk to the teacher at the end of one of the classes about how you find it difficult to talk aloud. You will not be the first or last student with this problem. However, DO NOT drop a level due to something as small as this.

It's very difficult to talk in front of a class, I used to have a very similar problem. I literally just had to force myself to speak and now I can do public events with no problem.

The best way to start to get rid of this problem is reading the answer to yourself at home when you have the question done. When reading it in class it should be familiar.

Teachers often cop on to people who find it difficult (in my case I had a stutter and lisp so the teachers would skip over me, except for one who mocked me :rolleyes:) so don't worry or panic over this!

carefulnowted

Troxck wrote: »

I was in the exact same situation as you! Planned on doing Computer Science but had a change of heart at the end of Sixth Year.

Also, the topics covered in fifth year were very boring to me (optics, heat etc) and the more interesting topics were covered in Sixth Year (Electricity ,Modern Physics and Particle Physics).

Also, I was barely able to answer Exam Style questions in fifth year but by the end of Sixth Year I was doing 2-3 mock exams a week! Our teacher taught us how to think in a certain way in order to answer the questions. Break it down, use what you know and you'll have it. Obviously some people in the class will be better at thinking logically but never stop trying.

Haha, we could be twins! For a year or so I was completely set on doing Computer Science but now I think something broader could be better for me because I don't want to limit my options.

Were you very interested in the Electricity side of Physics? That was the part that I found most difficult for Junior Cert, but our teacher was very unenthusiastic about the electricity chapters which kind of rubbed off on us, I think.

We haven't started in on the exam questions yet (I'm not complaining!). From your description, the style sounds similar to Tech Graph, where you just use what you've learned to make sense of the question and figure out a solution. I'm a fairly logical person so hopefully that'll be an advantage for me.

schoolsucksLC wrote: »

5th year is grand so far except for one class. My English teacher forces people to read their answers aloud. Absolute nightmare for someone like me. Thinking of dropping down to ordinary just because of that.

Talk to your teacher after class. I had this same problem and classes are far more enjoyable when you feel comfortable and at ease. I can almost guarantee you aren't the first person who's had an issue with reading aloud.

Like Troxck said, you should practise reading out your answers at home. This is amazing for spotting grammar/spelling mistakes and it also helps you to learn how to control your breathing when you're reading aloud, so you don't get breathless or start stumbling over words.

Troxck

carefulnowted wrote: »

Haha, we could be twins! For a year or so I was completely set on doing Computer Science but now I think something broader could be better for me because I don't want to limit my options.

Were you very interested in the Electricity side of Physics? That was the part that I found most difficult for Junior Cert, but our teacher was very unenthusiastic about the electricity chapters which kind of rubbed off on us, I think.

We haven't started in on the exam questions yet (I'm not complaining!). From your description, the style sounds similar to Tech Graph, where you just use what you've learned to make sense of the question and figure out a solution. I'm a fairly logical person so hopefully that'll be an advantage for me.

I only ever did the Biology chapters for JC science, never touched the Physics of Chemistry chapters! My teacher was terrible.

My LC Physics teacher was brilliant though so that was good. I loved Electricity for LC, others hated it! I guess since I had an interest in Electronics and Motors, a lot was common sense to me already. the second last section we covered, it's pretty tricky.

JC Science gives a really poor idea of what the natural sciences are like too btw!

On a sidenote, there's a programming module on my Physics course. Just because you don't do CompSci doesn't mean you can't learn programming!

Tantutribesman

Btw I am a new user ☺I came straight from the Jc and tbh I am kinda glad i didn't do Ty as all the JC knowledge is still in my head. I do French, Music, Business and Geography.

carefulnowted

Troxck wrote: »

I only ever did the Biology chapters for JC science, never touched the Physics of Chemistry chapters! My teacher was terrible.

My LC Physics teacher was brilliant though so that was good. I loved Electricity for LC, others hated it! I guess since I had an interest in Electronics and Motors, a lot was common sense to me already. the second last section we covered, it's pretty tricky.

JC Science gives a really poor idea of what the natural sciences are like too btw!

On a sidenote, there's a programming module on my Physics course. Just because you don't do CompSci doesn't mean you can't learn programming!

I've definitely heard that JC Science is so simplified that it's practically false!

That's very interesting info about the programming, thanks! I'd be afraid that if I did pure Computer Science, I'd get tired of it eventually. Did you ever consider doing engineering in college? That's another one I'm interested in, although I obviously have a while to think about it yet!

Troxck

carefulnowted wrote: »

I've definitely heard that JC Science is so simplified that it's practically false!

That's very interesting info about the programming, thanks! I'd be afraid that if I did pure Computer Science, I'd get tired of it eventually. Did you ever consider doing engineering in college? That's another one I'm interested in, although I obviously have a while to think about it yet!

I did but unfortunately only got a D1 in Maths (54.6, they round down!)

Anyway, I didn't confirm my choices until the final deadline.

Go to as many open days as you can too

Significant399

What opens days do people plan on going to ?

Manutd_4life

Significant399 wrote: »

What opens days do people plan on going to ?

I'll be going to the UCD and TCD one for sure. My mate and I were considering making the trek down to Cork and Galway for their open days in October but I have mid term exams then. But I think there is another UCC open day in April so i might go to that one

teafanatic

Significant399 wrote: »

What opens days do people plan on going to ?

Definitely TCD, UCC and UCD, might go to DCU if I can make it yourself?

NOS3

Significant399 wrote:

What opens days do people plan on going to ?

UCC and CIT anyway. I'll try to make it to a couple in dublin also.

ElmW13

Significant399 wrote: »

What opens days do people plan on going to ?

Definitely going to UL and possibly Mary I. Went to CIT and UCC last year. The school made a right mess of the UCC day though, they took us shopping first even though the hadn't told us about itvand then we had about an hour in UCC because we had to be back for school buses, we didn't get a talk because we didn't have enough time and we didn't have a long enough to have a good look around the place.

Going to the higher options thingy in the RDS next Friday, with my sister and her friend. Anyone else going?

Bored_lad

I must be the only person not going to any open days. Our school don't even organise trips to them and I find it weird that some schools do. Considering most the year will have no interest in the college and will only go for the doss.

carefulnowted

Bored_lad wrote: »

I must be the only person not going to any open days. Our school don't even organise trips to them and I find it weird that some schools do. Considering most the year will have no interest in the college and will only go for the doss.

I'm pretty sure my school don't either, at least, I've never heard of any. They sound really informative though!