Thinking of repeating

Murp7784

I know its the summer and all, but I have had a crappy two years in my old school. I hadnt had a teacher for two of my subjects and when 6th year came around, I felt it was too late. My dad made me do Higher level in those subjects, business and art.

I never did an art essay up until the mocks and Business was boring for me. I never studied for them and I know I did poorly in the exam from my approach.

If im going to repeat, is there any other subjects that I can take on. I would like to take on one or two of these: ag science,physics, chemistry, applied maths and probably dcg.

I know business is "easy" but its just boring for me to listen to or understand. Id rather do any other subjects than business or art.

I plan on taking maths (hl), Spanish, Accounting, Biology, and two of: ag science, physics, chemistry, applied maths or dcg.

I will be happy with a h7 in English since thats considered a pass in most universities.

Again, I know its the summer, but I am having one of those panic attack moments with the thought of my parents seeing my results. I only care about repeating, I refuse to do any plc, apprenticeships or anything else.

I just can't stop but think of what my parents are going to sau, they refused to listen to my situation and were like " your getting a's", however for the past two yrs, I have had open book tests in business that I gave up on studying it. Wheras for art, its complicated to explain. When mock results came around my dad was all over me, all up in my face saying, "why did my grades drop? You were so good at this? What happened?".

I just know that I didn't do well in those exams and I shrugged them under the carpet and said that I have 6 other subjects to worry about. I dont mind repeating, but I refuse to do business and art again, business is boring and art is way to stressfull to do or understand.

How do I deal with all this? I know its the summer but just the rand thought popping up into my head its driving me nuts.

kanadams123

Hi

First of all i think its clear from what you said that your parents are putting way too much pressure on you. They should support you no matter what grades you get and if they dont, its not your fault. Dont be worried about "dissapointing" your parents or doing what they want you to do. YOU do what YOU want. And if they cant be supportive, its their problem not yours.


Secondly, what did you mean by this....

Murp7784 wrote: »

I shrugged them under the carpet and said that I have 6 other subjects to worry about.

Does this mean you had 8 subjects for the LC you just did? Business , Art + 6 others??
If so how did you perform in those 6?
What kind of points are you hoping for to get into college?

With regards to repeating, if you feel comfortable doing so then i dont see the prolem, just be mindfull with what subjects you choose.

Also be aware, and i HIGHLY RECCOMEMD speaking to the schools guidance councellor. If you dont get the necessary points, these people know the different ways you can get into that course, ie by a level 7 course in a university or a plc. I know you arnt keen in the plc idea, but it wouls be easier than repeating imo.

Murp7784

kanadams123 wrote: »

Hi

First of all i think its clear from what you said that your parents are putting way too much pressure on you. They should support you no matter what grades you get and if they dont, its not your fault. Dont be worried about "dissapointing" your parents or doing what they want you to do. YOU do what YOU want. And if they cant be supportive, its their problem not yours.


Secondly, what did you mean by this....


Does this mean you had 8 subjects for the LC you just did? Business , Art + 6 others??
If so how did you perform in those 6?
What kind of points are you hoping for to get into college?

With regards to repeating, if you feel comfortable doing so then i dont see the prolem, just be mindfull with what subjects you choose.

Also be aware, and i HIGHLY RECCOMEMD speaking to the schools guidance councellor. If you dont get the necessary points, these people know the different ways you can get into that course, ie by a level 7 course in a university or a plc. I know you arnt keen in the plc idea, but it wouls be easier than repeating imo.

I did 8 subjects, but since I rarely had a teacher for two of them, I didn't bother with the subjects since then, and only focused on my other 6 ( I done LCVP as the 8th subject.)

Besides that, my parents werent putting that much on me, not only that but there were other factors that have affected my performance. I had a friend who had done absolutely nothing who kept hastling me to invite him over, who knew I was up to my eyes with everything. Another factor was the school since I switched biology teachers after one failed to even bother with the class, and we had crappy Internet that my business teacher only had us once or twice a week and art is a whole other story.

I also know what I'm doing in terms of long term plans and possible paths, realistically, I don't know what I really want to do, which is why I am avoiding plcs and apprenticeships.

I know id be underpressure with new subjects but still, I cant handle art or business for a repeat year.

kanadams123

Murp7784 wrote: »

I know id be underpressure with new subjects but still, I cant handle art or business for a repeat year.

Then dont. Just concentrate on the other 6 subjects, thats plenty for repeating imo (if you do decide to go down that path).
I wouldnt reccomend doing any more than 7 for repeating, but then again that is just my opinion. I only did 7 for my LC and if I were to repeat, i would probably only do 6.

spurious

You do know that with a PLC route into a course, you end up just one year behind those that did the Leaving this year, the same as you would by repeating?

Not sure why you are dismissing PLCs.

Anyway....wait and see what happens with the results. You may be giving yourself all this stress for nothing.

Bazinga_N

Firstly I would highly recommend not worrying about this until results. You've no idea how you've gotten on just yet. Don't worry about your parents either at the end of the day it's your life and there's nothing you can do to change your results now.

Secondly you said you don't know what you want to do for a career path so that's why your dismissing PLCs and that. Well this is probably your biggest problem. Figure out what you wanna do first. What did you apply to on the CAO? Maybe you should consider taking a year out instead of repeating to figure it out or maybe you should do a PLC in a general area that you're interested in as it might allow you to progress into a course you do want to do.

Murp7784 wrote: »

If im going to repeat, is there any other subjects that I can take on. I would like to take on one or two of these: ag science,physics, chemistry, applied maths and probably dcg.

Okay so these are probably not great ideas. I repeated and took up Geography and I have to say that it was a nice enough one to do in a year. Course is interesting but does involve a lot of learning. You also need a teacher to sign off on your project so you can't do it yourself - this is also true of Ag Science and DCG. Economics is another subject which could easily be done in a year.

Physics and chemistry are not going to be easily done in a year. Having done both they are two tough enough subjects and very often you need a good teacher to help you understand the more abstract and difficult concepts. Would not recommend to do in a year.

Applied maths is a very short course - there's 10 topics and you do 6 of them. But again without having done Physics I don't know how well suited you'd be to it. Have a look at some of the notes on this website: http://www.thephysicsteacher.ie/appliedmathshome.html and see how you feel about it. You'll know yourself if it'd suit you. HL Maths is definitely an advantage.


ALSO I would do 7 subjects if I were you. There's always a chance you'll mess up one exam on the day and it'd worry me if you had no other back-up. Having at least one back-up in my opinion is a bit of a lifejacket. Even just keep LCVP since (I think but I'm not entirely sure) you don't have to re-do the coursework aspect just the exam (like I said I'm unsure though so talk to an LCVP teacher about that!).

Murp7784

I got my results as follows:

English- H6
Maths- O3
Spanish-H6
Art-H6
Biology-H5
Accounting-H5
Business-H7
LCVP- Merit

excluding business and maths, I got 297 points, which is 69 points off my backup course. I never applied for any plcs because I just dont like the options offered. I prefer to repeat the leaving again. At least I don't have to worry about english again. I was thinking of dropping Business and Art and replacing it with ag science and physics. I was also thinking of picking up HL maths. If i were to pick up LCVP, would I need to do all my project work again?

spurious

What is the course you would like to do and is there a PLC route into it?

Bandana boy

Murp7784 wrote: »

I got my results as follows:

English- H6
Maths- O3
Spanish-H6
Art-H6
Biology-H5
Accounting-H5
Business-H7
LCVP- Merit

excluding business and maths, I got 297 points, which is 69 points off my backup course. I never applied for any plcs because I just dont like the options offered. I prefer to repeat the leaving again. At least I don't have to worry about english again. I was thinking of dropping Business and Art and replacing it with ag science and physics. I was also thinking of picking up HL maths. If i were to pick up LCVP, would I need to do all my project work again?

Granted I am a dinosaur but in my day anybody who could pass Higher Maths would walk an A in ordinary level .

SusieBlue

Murp7784 wrote: »

I got my results as follows:

English- H6
Maths- O3
Spanish-H6
Art-H6
Biology-H5
Accounting-H5
Business-H7
LCVP- Merit

excluding business and maths, I got 297 points, which is 69 points off my backup course. I never applied for any plcs because I just dont like the options offered. I prefer to repeat the leaving again. At least I don't have to worry about english again. I was thinking of dropping Business and Art and replacing it with ag science and physics. I was also thinking of picking up HL maths. If i were to pick up LCVP, would I need to do all my project work again?

I repeated my leaving cert and it was the biggest waste of time ever. Especially if you are taking up brand new subjects - you will be trying to complete a 2 year syllabus that is brand new to you in just one year.
I would highly recommend you look at the PLC route, its what I wish I had done.

I repeated, did slightly better, and got my course. It was Law. I hated it and dropped out after struggling for 2 years and wasting loads of money.
If I had done the PLC in Legal Studies, I would have realised that Law wasn't for me, but used the qualification to springboard myself into the area and course I actually was interested in.

As for LCVP, you don't need to redo the project part (at least you didn't when I repeated 9 years ago).

Bazinga_N

Murp7784 wrote: »

I got my results as follows:

English- H6
Maths- O3
Spanish-H6
Art-H6
Biology-H5
Accounting-H5
Business-H7
LCVP- Merit

excluding business and maths, I got 297 points, which is 69 points off my backup course. I never applied for any plcs because I just dont like the options offered. I prefer to repeat the leaving again. At least I don't have to worry about english again. I was thinking of dropping Business and Art and replacing it with ag science and physics. I was also thinking of picking up HL maths. If i were to pick up LCVP, would I need to do all my project work again?

Okay, so I would definitely not just scrap the idea of a PLC. Do some more research before you completely decide.

So taking up two subjects new is a lot of work. Do you definitely think you wouldn't be able to work on business or art to try and get a higher grade? Business in particular if very much just rote learning off things, with a bit of mundane learning you could definitely bring up a couple of grades. I don't know much about Art though.

Physics is a nice course but I'm unsure if you'd be able to do it in a year. It takes awhile to grasp the concepts (especially if you're weaker at maths and don't have Applied Maths behind you) but I'm not saying it couldn't be done. Depends on whether or not you have a teacher and whether you're interested in Physics or not. Watch some Khan Academy videos and see how you find it. I have heard many people taking up Ag Science in a year and doing well though, so that's definitely achievable. Picking up HL Maths will be a lot of work but is definitely possible. Focus on getting the basics down and try your best to work on problems as often as you can.

I'm not 100% certain but I think if you repeat LCVP your project rolls over to the next year so you don't have to do it again. Double check that with an LCVP teacher though because I'm not 100% certain.

Bandana boy wrote: »

Granted I am a dinosaur but in my day anybody who could pass Higher Maths would walk an A in ordinary level .

This is widely untrue. A lot of the time people don't understand the fundamental basics of maths. Too often students just kind of learn off the methods for Higher Level Maths which results in them being unable to do 'simpler' problems.

randylonghorn

Bandana boy wrote: »

Granted I am a dinosaur but in my day anybody who could pass Higher Maths would walk an A in ordinary level .

I might be reading it wrong but seems to me the OP is doing OL maths and "thinking of picking up HL maths", which is a different kettle of fish.

pleindespoir

Bazinga_N wrote: »

Okay, so I would definitely not just scrap the idea of a PLC. Do some more research before you completely decide.

So taking up two subjects new is a lot of work. Do you definitely think you wouldn't be able to work on business or art to try and get a higher grade? Business in particular if very much just rote learning off things, with a bit of mundane learning you could definitely bring up a couple of grades. I don't know much about Art though.

Physics is a nice course but I'm unsure if you'd be able to do it in a year. It takes awhile to grasp the concepts (especially if you're weaker at maths and don't have Applied Maths behind you) but I'm not saying it couldn't be done. Depends on whether or not you have a teacher and whether you're interested in Physics or not. Watch some Khan Academy videos and see how you find it. I have heard many people taking up Ag Science in a year and doing well though, so that's definitely achievable. Picking up HL Maths will be a lot of work but is definitely possible. Focus on getting the basics down and try your best to work on problems as often as you can.

I'm not 100% certain but I think if you repeat LCVP your project rolls over to the next year so you don't have to do it again. Double check that with an LCVP teacher though because I'm not 100% certain.



This is widely untrue. A lot of the time people don't understand the fundamental basics of maths. Too often students just kind of learn off the methods for Higher Level Maths which results in them being unable to do 'simpler' problems.

That sounds ridiculous to me. Maths is finding the best and simplest solution, suited to your strong basics. And it is not possible to do higher level with learning off, it is not geography. I don’t think that makes sense.

OL LC is basically HL JC.

Bandana boy

randylonghorn wrote: »

I might be reading it wrong but seems to me the OP is doing OL maths and "thinking of picking up HL maths", which is a different kettle of fish.

Maybe I am phrasing it badly but the level needed to Pass at higher level would walk an A at ordinary
As op got a C in Ordinary the step up to HL seems very unrealistic

pleindespoir

Bandana boy wrote: »

Maybe I am phrasing it badly but the level needed to Pass at higher level would walk an A at ordinary
As op got a C in Ordinary the step up to HL seems very unrealistic

I agree but if she works hard, she probably can do it.

My brother struggled in passing higher level so he dropped by the mocks, today he received 02.

Bandana boy

pleindespoir wrote: »

I agree but if she works hard, she probably can do it.

My brother struggled in passing higher level so he dropped by the mocks, today he received 02.

We will have to agree to disagree , I firmly believe if your capable at higher you walk the Ordinary level exam.

Congrats to your brother

r93kaey5p2izun

Bandana boy wrote: »

Maybe I am phrasing it badly but the level needed to Pass at higher level would walk an A at ordinary
As op got a C in Ordinary the step up to HL seems very unrealistic

Totally not my experience at all as a Maths teacher. Most students getting a H6 would struggle hugely to get above an O3. They tend to understand little to no Maths at all really, know a few procedures and formulae and have zero problem solving skills. The O3 students tend to understand what they're doing well.

Earleybird

Cade Round Starvation wrote: »

Totally not my experience at all as a Maths teacher. Most students getting a H6 would struggle hugely to get above an O3. They tend to understand little to no Maths at all really, know a few procedures and formulae and have zero problem solving skills. The O3 students tend to understand what they're doing well.

What's the upside though? Why take on a higher level subject with an Ordinary level C base? There are far easier subjects from a scoring versus workload basis than Maths. With a lot of hard work maybe a C at higher level is possible, but I would argue the same level of work would more likely yield a B or higher at another subject.

r93kaey5p2izun

Earleybird wrote: »

What's the upside though? Why take on a higher level subject with an Ordinary level C base? There are far easier subjects from a scoring versus workload basis than Maths. With a lot of hard work maybe a C at higher level is possible, but I would argue the same level of work would more likely yield a B or higher at another subject.

Well bonus points are a big incentive (you have to get 70% in other subjects to get more points than you get for 40% in HL Maths) but I'm not recommending taking up HL in pursuit of points.

Also the OP has an OL B equivalent - an O3 is 70-79%.

khaldrogo

Slightly off topic query but when did they change the grading system from letters to numbers???

r93kaey5p2izun

khaldrogo wrote: »

Slightly off topic query but when did they change the grading system from letters to numbers???

2017.

Earleybird

Cade Round Starvation wrote: »

2017.

What's your take as a teacher? I think the old points system was a more accurate barometer, students could conceivably end up very lucky or unlucky with a 10% swing between grades now.

khaldrogo

Cade Round Starvation wrote:

2017.

What was the thinking behind it???

Sinus pain

Hi can I just add my sons experience - so you can make an informed decision. My son wanted to do sports management when he left school a couple of years ago. He didn’t do well in his leaving and in fact failed a subject - he didn’t do well enough to get a place in college and even the PLC he had as back up looked in doubt. I was so disappointed for him. I rang a college for him to repeat and I also rang the plc and asked them could we come and speak to him. We went up to the plc and the career guidance teacher there told us to throw the leaving cert in the bin and she’d take him. I cancelled the repeat leaving (my thinking was he would only do the same as he did when he was in 6th year. So he went to the plc and did a few months and he hated it (it was aslo a sports management related course) it wasn’t what he thought it was going to be. He left - he then decided he wanted to do an apprenticeship. He got an electrical apprenticeship and is in his first year now and loves it. Please take your time deciding on what you want to do. If you really feel that you will work super hard on the leaving next year - do it. But don’t waste another year doing the leaving if you can move on to a PLC course doing a subject you really love - you’ll still reach college at the same time - but will have a better background because of the PLC. I know how scary it is- I was scared for my son - but the leaving is certainly not the be all and end all. Well done in the results that you did get - and by the way - before my son went through this I thought college was the only way- but it’s not! Best of luck with your decisions

harryc65

I'll give you some hard truth here. I don't think you should repeat.

I came from a horrible family situation which meant that I had to repeat the year as an external candidate and only had five months to do it. My family became homeless. I missed the period of September to December and only started in January. I literally had only 5 months to prepare for my leaving cert.

To make matters worse, I had to choose new subjects that I had never covered before (Business and Economics) and I knew I would not get grinds to do it.

I worked my ass off. I studied day and night. If you are aware of the volume of work you need to cover in these subjects you would know that the odds were stacked against me.

I managed to score 431 points.

My results were
02 maths
H3 spanish
H3 business
H4 economics
h3 physics
h2 biology

I will recheck some of these and hoping for an upgrade in a few.

You had the privilege of having 2 years to study and 6 honours subjects (something that I did not have).

Unless you are ready to radically change I would advise against repeating. Maybe a PLC is a good option for you.

Sorry if this is not what you want to hear.