LC stress

Chocpizza23

Hi there,
Im currently sitting my leaving cert. I do HL biology, business, history and engineering. I also do HL maths LCVP and OL Irish. Im aiming for 500 points. In my mocks I got H3s in all my options and English but I failed HL maths. I have always struggled with maths and im thinking of dropping but im not sure. If I did drop it I would count LCVP instead. This would mean my overall points with a distinction in LCVP (66 points) would only be five less than a pass in HL maths (71 points). However to get my course I would still need an O4 in maths. Ive heard that OL is completely different to HL not only in difficulty but also in content. Im wondering whether to continue with HL and grind a pass (40-50) or risk it and drop to OL to try and get the O4 (60-70). I have very good knowledge of all my other subjects but I can’t honestly say ive gotten into LC study mode but I am motivated to and im willing to put in the work. Other questions I have:
1. Biology is my best subject but the experiments always let me down whats the best way to learn them
2. I know all the information in business but the marking scheme always trips me up e.g ive always thought that 5 marks was name explain example so in that case for a 20 mark question you make 4 points but in my mocks it was awkward e.g for 20 marks you make three well developed points for 7 7 and 6 marks. Ive never encountered that and im afraid if its like that in the LC I won’t get a good grade. How should I improve on this?
3. How many essays should I have learned off for HL history going into the exam
4. Im pretty good at engineering theory but my project wasn’t the best. Assuming I get half marks on my project and portfolio is a H3 possibe
5. For English what is the best way to improve reading comprehensions and remember quotes (im learning 5 poets and also my single text. That’s a lot of quotes)
6. How many points can you get off your course with the HEAR scheme
7. Last but least is 2 months of hard study enough to achieve the 500 (be completely honest!)
That’s it. I would greatly appreciate any help any current or past LC students can give regarding any of these topics. Also if anyone has any tips on study or mental health (im really panicky, sad and nervous the past few months) I would be forever grateful. Thanks.

Bazinga_N

Chocpizza23 wrote: »

Ive heard that OL is completely different to HL not only in difficulty but also in content. Im wondering whether to continue with HL and grind a pass (40-50) or risk it and drop to OL to try and get the O4 (60-70).

Well while I would say if you can pass HL maths to stick with it but if you do have to drop to OL it's really not that different. It's not a completely different course at all and the level of difficulty between Pass and Honours is crazy. Ordinary level is much more doable. Have a look through past papers and you'll see quickly. Anyone who's done 5/6 years of HL maths should be able to achieve a O4 in OL Maths imo.

1. Biology is my best subject but the experiments always let me down whats the best way to learn them

Buy a new copy and write a summary of each experiment in your own words. After each summary answer any past questions on the experiments. Some of them are very easy whereas others can be a bit trickier.

2. I know all the information in business but the marking scheme always trips me up e.g ive always thought that 5 marks was name explain example so in that case for a 20 mark question you make 4 points but in my mocks it was awkward e.g for 20 marks you make three well developed points for 7 7 and 6 marks. Ive never encountered that and im afraid if its like that in the LC I won’t get a good grade. How should I improve on this?

I honestly never understand this either. To me a 20 mark question would be 4 points @ 5 marks each, but I've noticed other question can be altered strangely like the one you mentioned. My advice do a 20 marker as 4 points at 7 marks each. That's a statement, explanation, example and an extra little statement. That way you've definitely covered yourself and it shouldn't take you too much longer.

5. For English what is the best way to improve reading comprehensions and remember quotes (im learning 5 poets and also my single text. That’s a lot of quotes)

For reading comprehensions you just need to practice practice and do more practice. Get your teachers to correct them. Make sure you answer the actual question asked. There's no cheat code really to learn quotes. You just have to learn them. Like last year I learned 40 different quotes for King Lear just by saying them over and over and over until they stick. Some people find drawing them to be useful. Other people record themselves saying it and listen back to it every day. Fyi, you should also have a few quotes for your comparative.

6. How many points can you get off your course with the HEAR scheme

There's not set limit really. If you and someone else with HEAR apply to your course and you're 20 points off and they're 15 then they'll be brought up before you if there's only one place available. Like there's no way of really predicting it.

7. Last but least is 2 months of hard study enough to achieve the 500 (be completely honest!)

Yea definitely. Keep your head down and work hard these next few months and there's no reason you won't get as many points as you want. Be sure to give yourself plenty of breaks though because you don't want to burn yourself out.

Chocpizza23

Those are excellent ideas for Biology, English and Business ill definitely take them into account from now on when im studying. As for the HEAR scheme your right my guidance counselor told me its unpredictable and there are a number of factors that are taken into account when deciding. I heard that around 20% of places are reserved for HEAR and DARE students per course but im not sure how many places are on my course this year. Regardless im just going to work hard and try and get the points but even if i dont hopefully ill get close enough to the points so HEAR is a good chance. As for maths ill stick with HL for now and after Easter ill decide what level to take but if i drop maths ill count LCVP instead. Thanks so much for the advice really means alot to me

Mr Rhode Island Red

Did you fail HL Maths by much? If you could get 40 percent at all you'd get more points than a O1 in pass.

Also, only about 1 in 10 get a distinction in LCVP according to department statistics, about 50% of people will get a merit.

At the end of the day there's no point in stressing yourself out, drop if you feel like it would be better for you

Chocpizza23

Yeah i failed by a good bit. I only got 22%. now heres the problem. i didnt study which is extremely stupid. if i had studied and gotten 22% well then i would know its time to drop but as of now im still unsure of my ability. my grades throughout 5th year were average. i was passing everything in the 50s and sometimes 60s but towards the end of 6th year we started calculus and i failed every single calculus test. since i havnt been able to get my grades up to where they were. with effort it could happen again but at the minute im in no mans land. And yeah ive been told that very few students get distinctions. im not underestimating LCVP and i have it in my study plan. my portfolio was very good so hopefully with a good exam i can get the distinction

thetalker

Honestly if you got H3's in everything cep math you basically got 462 I believe.
That's really close.
I would really go over what you don't get in math though, there's so many videos and tutorials online and once you get it, it's so much easier.
Even if it's just to pass those extra 25 points could make the difference.

Anyway if you are wondering whether you have time, just go for it. It's like a cold shower, you only start to doubt yourself and make it worse by waiting. Immerse yourself as soon as possible.

Chocpizza23

Yeah i did pretty well but i know i can do better so as you said the sooner i immerse myself the better. As for maths your right there's some really good content online so im just going to study hard and do my best. Thanks!

randylonghorn

Chocpizza23 wrote: »

Also if anyone has any tips on study or mental health (im really panicky, sad and nervous the past few months) I would be forever grateful. Thanks.

Eat, sleep, exercise, study, socialise!

"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens"

It may sound simplistic or even counter-intuitive, but it is important to keep a balance. More and more time in front of the books doesn't necessarily mean more going into your head, but it probably does mean you will get more and more exhausted.

Eat healthily; I'm not talking about any kind of fad seeds-and-nuts diet, just try to eat sensibly and regularly. Avoid too much fast food and sugary snacks.

Try to get a good night's sleep. Go to bed at a reasonable hour. Don't lie in bed making mental lists of the things you didn't get done, just force them out of your mind and think of something pleasant until you drift off.

Get regular exercise. If you swim or whatever, great, but even a 30 minute *brisk* walk each day will clear your head. (30 minutes spend dawdling home from school with one foot dragging after the other does not constitute a brisk walk! )

When it's time to study, study. Close facebook and other distractions, and do your best to concentrate on what you're supposed to be doing. Work in 40-50 minute stints, and take a 10 minute break in between. Get up and walk around, get some air if the evening is reasonable, say hello to the dog, whatever. The time for which people can study effectively varies from person to person, but 3-4 hours is usually the max, after that there is a mental equivalent of the Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns. When you're finished, you're finished: put it away and forget about study, the LC, etc. Relax, watch tv, chat to friends on facebook (NOT about study / the LC), whatever helps you relax before bed.

Socialise! Obviously, as LC approaches, your will have limited time to socialise, but fit in a little regardless, for the sake of your mental health. Take a few hours on Saturday or Sunday or whenever works to do something enjoyable with your friends. DO NOT fall into the trap of meeting friends who are also doing LC and spending the time making lists of the things you haven't studied or aren't clear about, you will only depress one another!

Chocpizza23

Your advice is spot on, thanks so much. Everything you have said is true and especially in relation to friends. all we talk about is the LC which is bound to cause stress. I will definitely socialise more and exercise more also. ill be trying to get around 8 hours of sleep a night so hopefully everything will balance out. Appreciate the help.

Hezip

A week late but just wanted to tell you that I averaged around a C throughout my Junior cert in maths (I'm in 6th year currently) and went on to continue doing HL maths, although my teacher said I should probably do ordinary.
I failed literally almost every class test, I think I passed 1 class test which happened to just be really easy. I went from enjoying going to maths and liking the subject to avoiding it, especially our double class. Right before the summer exams I studied a small bit and managed to just about land a pass with the new grading system, 30%.

Fast forward to 6th year, I told myself I want to start off on a good foot and try my best to enjoy the subject again. We had finally moved on from algebra, complex numbers and all that stuff which I was absolutely dreadful in. We started probability and statistics and for the first time in a long while I could finally get class test results worthy of saying I can do higher level, up until I saw my christmas result.
I was honestly ****ting it before the mocks, all the topics I was just simply said **** at were going to be there, and they were going to be the majority of the mock. It was obvious that I will see things I don't even know how to approach, because of me avoiding maths.

1 week before the mock I opened up my exam papers and did them everyday after school and during any free class I had right up to the mock.

Should have seen the face on me and my teacher when the papers came back and I got 48%. Although to many its horrible, I felt great for making a comeback and especially in such a hard subject that many people think you just simply need a talent for. Paper 2 brought me down a bit, nobody else to blame but myself for choosing to only study it for 1 day and chance my knowledge on it.

Wanted to share this little story to you because its definitely possible to pull yourself up to at least 40% and get the 71 points. I'd also consider myself to be one of the laziest students going in my year, from those who actually want to go to college. I have missed out on so many school days and did so little study that I'm still paying the price for but doing my best to improve and move on. Still 2 months left, with a fair amount of study you won't even need luck on the day to get yourself the grade you'd be happy with.

HZA

I know I'm quite late to this with the LC starting in just about a week or so, but just in case you're still wondering about some questions:

3. For HL History, doing it myself and its probably my best subject, doing about 3/4 essays for each topic, but it depends what topics youre doing. For the case study/document, focus on Jarrow and Stalin, 99% sure Nuremberg wont come up. For Northern ireland, if youre doing it, concentrate on sunningdale/attempts to end the troubles/NICRA and the welfare state. Pursuit of Sovereignty is a little tricky, but focus on Fianna Fail and Cumann na nGaedhal economic social and political policies along with the Eucharistic Congress. Nation states should be relatively easy; Bismarck and Wilhelm foreign/domestic affairs, Russian Revolution and Imperialism maybe Eastern Question too.
altogether that would be roughly 12-15 essays learned off.

5. English comprehensions, a lot easier than what people say. Essentially they are fact finding questions. Make sure you have a highlighter or use a pen to underling throughout the comprehension what you think are key lines. Go to the question, make a very quick plan like you would with an essay, and jot down three things you'll discuss in the question. For the marking, in 15 mark questions, try to answer 3 paragraphs, with 5-7 good SENTENCES not lines, and only use 1 or 2 quotes MAXIMUM. For the 20, its essentially the same, only you're writing an extra paragraph, and depending on the question, it will often be about the language used in the text. E.G if the question is "Do you agree that the author uses narrative and aesthetic language to engage the reader" well, you write 2 paragraphs on both the use of narrative and aesthetic language and how they engage the reader. And with the comprehensions, personal engagement is VITAL, so always at the end of each paragraph just add in a sentence of Personal Engagement. Hope this helps, as like the vast majority and probably yourself, i am bricking it, but best of luck!