Biology or Accountancy??

54and56

Hi all,

My son is starting 5th year in Sept. He will be doing higher level Maths, Physics, Economics and Applied Maths along with ordinary level French (to tick the modern language box but not to count towards points) and for his final elective subject be has to choose between higher level Accountancy or Biology and he's uncertain which to go for. Neither are particularly interesting to him so it's really about which one is the most efficient in terms of points for effort put in.

He is a numbers based guy mainly interested in business and IT so I'm inclined to advise him towards Accountancy rather than Biology as I think the fact Accountancy is numbers based and generally driven by logic and rules will overlap well with the other subjects he's doing but I'm also a little concerned that he might be overloading on numerically driven subjects.

I've also read that Biology is quite a large curriculum relative to Accountancy so from a time management perspective Accountancy might deliver more points for less time invested.

I'd really appreciate some feedback on this.

Thanks in advance.

Atlantic Dawn

I wouldn't bother with French or any modern language unless he can get the big points out of it or he sees himself in a specific role where it will be needed. Of my circle of friends I know nobody who uses any of the modern languages they have studied in their career.

I would 100% go accountancy rather than biology especially if he is interested in business and IT, again science subjects sold as necessary when in reality they are not, go purely for points if it's a college place he wants.

carefulnowted

Nine subjects is a lot of subjects. Even with OL French, eight HL subjects is no joke.

jeonahr

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

I wouldn't bother with French or any modern language unless he can get the big points out of it or he sees himself in a specific role where it will be needed. Of my circle of friends I know nobody who uses any of the modern languages they have studied in their career.

I would 100% go accountancy rather than biology especially if he is interested in business and IT, again science subjects sold as necessary when in reality they are not, go purely for points if it's a college place he wants.

The NUI universities as far as I know require a third language for matriculation as long as you haven't got an exemption, eg. a learning disability or such.

jeonahr

I would advise going with accountancy. Biology does indeed have a large curriculum and involves a lot of rote learning, whereas accountancy has less of rote learning and more understanding methods and such. Also considering that he is someone good with numeracy, it would seem that accountancy would suit him better than biology. While many consider biology as the "easy science subject", results would show otherwise with it being one of the subjects with the least amount of A rates, especially compared to accounting's A rates which are one of the highest out of the LC subjects.

54and56

Thanks guys, some great advice there which more or less concurs with my own opinion that Accountancy rather than Biology is the way he should go.

FYI the subjects he is doing (assuming he chooses Accountancy instead of Biology) are:-

English (H)
Irish (O)
Maths (H)
Applied Maths (H)
Physics (H)
Economics (H)
Accountancy (H)
French (L)

He is doing French for the very reason jeonahr stated i.e. it is a requirement for entry into some universities. It isn't a subject he will focus on for points, he just wants to pass O level so he ticks the "Modern Language" box for university entry. His plan actually is to do H level in 5th year and then step back to O level in 6th year so he doesn't have to put much effort into it in 6th year and it doesn't distract him from his core subjects.

Languages are absolutely not his thing so Irish and French will not be in the 6 subjects he will be using to accumulate points from.

Any comments on the above?

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

54and56

FizzleSticks wrote: »

You says he's got an interest in business but he's not studying it for the LC? Is that due to how the school has offered the subject choices?

I guess so. I just checked the list of choices again and the only business specific subjects offered are Economics and Accountancy. There is no subject called "Business" offered.

jeonahr

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I guess so. I just checked the list of choices again and the only business specific subjects offered are Economics and Accountancy. There is no subject called "Business" offered.

Most business courses don't require business for LC so it's fine if the subject "Business" isn't offered in his specific school.

Dylanw2u

Hello, I myself do both at Higher level.


I will start off by saying Accounting does not require much skill in maths, you simply need a calculator to do your work for you, so regardless if you're son is good at maths or not will not mean he will automatically do well in the subject.

In terms of accounting what you must learn is where everything must go, and learning off headings and accounts. I will say this; IF YOU DO NOT HAVE AN INTEREST IN ACCOUNTING, DO NOT DO IT. Coming into fifth year I thought I would love the subject, but I was absolutely wrong. It was nothing like I thought it would be, and because of my severe disinterest I now have to get grinds for the summer because I found it so difficult to study for the subject in which I had no liking to. At the beginning of the year, we have 29 students in our accounting class, after christmas, we had 9. Even now the 9 in my class are beginning to hate the subject also, my teacher having said to us a week before our exams that a lot of people in our class are dropping in grades and losing interest which she's seen many times.


Basically, accounting can be a very difficult subject if you do not love it. It can only be learned through repeating the same accounts again and again, and again. And I truly mean that, it is the ONLY way to learn accounting. One of the most annoying things about the subject is the majority of the course work you learn will never shown up on the paper. For some reason though we're still expected to learn every chapter "just in case" (even though these questions have genuinely never appeared on the leaving cert before). Sixth year will be absolutely horrible too. Come January you will be doing nothing but revision, you will grow to resent the subject (if you do not love it) and overall this will effect your grades. People often forget about theory, and to be honest, theory comes down to general knowledge in accounting, which is extremely annoying.



Biology on the other hand is something I absolutely love, and always have. But regardless of my love for it I only get B's. The subject is VERY heavy workload wise, and can be one of the most stressful subjects to study as there is so much to learn off.



I would say you should tell your son to look at past exam papers for the two subjects on examinations.ie and see if either interest him in the slightest.


If that was too long to understand, here's the jist of it;
Biology; Very fun, but immense workload.
Accounting; Can be easy IF you love the subject, If you don't like it you will NOT do well.

auorablaze

Yeah Biology is good for learning the material, and then they will ask you nothing weird or strange outside of that material. However the workload is immense, having a passion for the subject makes it easier for sure.

However accounting is also very good if he is good with numbers, it is basically learning a structure to doing the accounts and making sure each step is correct.

I would say if your son is more into linguistics [which it doesn't sound like to be honest], like if he enjoys his french or english, then Biology is a good choice. But if he is more logically minded [HL maths, physics] I think accounting is a better choice.

To me it sounds like accounting is the better option in his situation. Just my opinion! All the best.

54and56

Thanks Dylanw2u, some great insight and advice.

As it happens I'm a qualified accountant. I studied it for the LC back in the day, did a business degree and then professional (CIMA) exams to qualify so i understand what you are saying.

My son isn't particularly interested in either Accountancy or Biology. They are the least worst choice be has to make from a limited list of available subjects.

He has some basic experience of accounting from the JC so understands it is a subject he can grind through by learning the rules and doing lots of practice. Biology on the other hand is a subject he is agnostic about. He doesn't dislike it but isn't passionate about it either and given the large curriculum be is probably best going with Accountancy and just knuckling down and nailing it as efficiently as possible ie figure out what you need to know to maximise points and focus on that. He will likely do grinds with DSOG.

reason vs religion

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Thanks Dylanw2u, some great insight and advice.

As it happens I'm a qualified accountant. I studied it for the LC back in the day, did a business degree and then professional (CIMA) exams to qualify so i understand what you are saying.

My son isn't particularly interested in either Accountancy or Biology. They are the least worst choice be has to make from a limited list of available subjects.

He has some basic experience of accounting from the JC so understands it is a subject he can grind through by learning the rules and doing lots of practice. Biology on the other hand is a subject he is agnostic about. He doesn't dislike it but isn't passionate about it either and given the large curriculum be is probably best going with Accountancy and just knuckling down and nailing it as efficiently as possible ie figure out what you need to know to maximise points and focus on that. He will likely do grinds with DSOG.

The accounting in Junior Cert Business is a very good indicator of LC Accounting, so I'd let his experience of that guide him.

While it's true that nothing beyond arithmetic is required for accounting, I feel mathematical ability probably translates well. In my opinion, accounting is a more enjoyable subject to study as one is learning processes rather than definitions and terms, which gives variety to study.

54and56

reason vs religion wrote: »

The accounting in Junior Cert Business is a very good indicator of LC Accounting, so I'd let his experience of that guide him.

While it's true that nothing beyond arithmetic is required for accounting, I feel mathematical ability probably translates well. In my opinion, accounting is a more enjoyable subject to study as one is learning processes rather than definitions and terms, which gives variety to study.

Thanks R Vs R, I agree entirely with you.

BTW, myself and my son were at the Richard Dawkins lecture in the NCH last night, don't suppose you were there yourself?

covfefe98

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Hi all,

My son is starting 5th year in Sept. He will be doing higher level Maths, Physics, Economics and Applied Maths along with ordinary level French (to tick the modern language box but not to count towards points) and for his final elective subject be has to choose between higher level Accountancy or Biology and he's uncertain which to go for. Neither are particularly interesting to him so it's really about which one is the most efficient in terms of points for effort put in.

He is a numbers based guy mainly interested in business and IT so I'm inclined to advise him towards Accountancy rather than Biology as I think the fact Accountancy is numbers based and generally driven by logic and rules will overlap well with the other subjects he's doing but I'm also a little concerned that he might be overloading on numerically driven subjects.

I've also read that Biology is quite a large curriculum relative to Accountancy so from a time management perspective Accountancy might deliver more points for less time invested.

I'd really appreciate some feedback on this.

Thanks in advance.

Biology is a straightforward subject with quite a bit of material. Don't know much about accounting (it really depends if he's done business in the Junior Cert for example). I would recommend biology as a subject