Want 300 points in the LC

LegacyUser · 12-05-2010 09:23AM #1

Howdy, going unreg for this..

I'm an 18 year old girl from Navan, doing the leaving this year. I have crohn's disease, which has left me unable to come to school a few times throughout the year. From that, some of my subjects are now ordinary level..

I have enlisted in a PLC college, so i'm not waiting to get any points for any course. I just want about 300! The problem is that everytime I open a book, I can't remember 90% of what I studied. It gets me sick, too

Could someone help me by giving some advice?

Subjects:

French - H
Irish - O
Maths - O
English - O
Geography - H
Business - H
Economics - H
LCVP - hoping for a merit

thanks people

x

John Mason · 12-05-2010 12:38PM

sorry but what is your question

is it how to concentrate or how to remember things or something else

sexdwarf · 12-05-2010 12:45PM

I've always found that the very process of making notes out really helps to re-inforce facts in your head. Make a game of the learning, come up with mnemonics to remember bullet points, use lots of coloured highlighters in your notes and spend a lot of time practicing past papers, these can really help to drill information in your head.

Set yourself mock exams, with a time limit and see how you get on with past papers. See where you're falling down and improve on your weak areas. Split your study time between subjects and remember to take a 5-10 minute break every 60 - 90 minutes. Leave the room and take a short walk, eat healthily and drink lots of water. Don't cram at the last minute. Set yourself a detailed study schedule, highlighting what elements of the course you are going to study each day. Don't over-study, or you'll wear yourself out, and make sure you keep time for leisure, you need to have a proper work-life balance.

LegacyUser · 12-05-2010 01:49PM

you have crohns disease - please don't use it as an excuse or a crutch
if you're properly medicated and managed well there is no reasons why you shouldn't be able to perform well

from a personal perspective, i sat the LC almost a decade ago
during the LC year I was diagnosed with crohns, was in hospital for a while, missed a few weeks from school and was unwell for a good portion of it
i managed to do well in the LC, 500+ pts

you can teach yourself
you can study/work when you're not well enough to go to class
you can get friends/teachers to give you notes/homework

and you can always repeat the year if you have to

you need to get motivated
forget about your illness
work hard

Victor · 12-05-2010 02:01PM

Demand support from your parents and teachers.

ash23 · 12-05-2010 02:06PM

Not sure what advice you are looking for.

For my LC I needed 340 points. I was originally doing 8 subjects, all honours.

So I sussed out what was taking up most of my time. Maths was a big one. I realised I could put in a huge effort with honours maths and only end up with a C3 if I was very lucky. Or I could drop back to pass, sail through the class and end up with the same points. I ended up with an A1 in Pass maths (60 points I think). I dropped the 8th subject (honours geography) and I dropped back to pass in my worst subject (physics) and did nothing at all for that (got a D2) but I wasn't planning on using it towards my points.

So I'd advise you to pick your strong subjects and focus on them. If the honours subjects are taking up a lot of your time and you could do pass and get the same points for a lot less effort, then consider that (unless you need the honour for the course). But only if you are sure you can ace the pass level while you'd struggle to get a C grade in the honours.

Try and do it strategically. You can only count 6 subjects towards your points so concentrate on those 6.

On average you need 50 points per subject which is hard in Ordinary level as you'd need an A2 in each subject.
So the honours ones are important as you can really make up your points that way. 50 points in an honour subject is a D2.

gubbie · 13-05-2010 03:01PM

I did honours Maths but I always find that with most of the Maths questions there's a general path and steps you can take to do the question. Many have little rules to start you through the question. For example if you hear/see a quadratic (ax^2 + bx + c) you should automatically think this quadratic equation and i=sqrt(-1)

Write these equations down and it'll start you off with attempt marks.

The biggest thing you can do for maths though is practice the papers. Make a list of all the equations that you need and what questions they relate to and learn them. Since you're doing ordinary, if you're not planning on using the points then don't get bogged down in it but at the end of the day you need maths to get into any college course (if that is your plan) and it will be a hindrance in any business/science/health course to ignore it completely.

christina_x · 13-05-2010 06:01PM

i did the LC last year. What i found helped me was exam papers. Just keep working through papers, and when you get them done, do them again. By doing papers your practicing structuring answers, you have to look up answers - therefore learning them, and youl be more relaxed when the paper is put infront of you. Oh, for english, id put my money on Rich (poetry). This is her third year on the course, shes come up once and shes not on next years course so id put my money on her. For english prepare essays. Say for your novel, go back in papers, change the name of the novel and answer the questions. I did lots of essays throughout the year and before my exam i kept reading through them so i just had to rewrite, and there wasnt much thought needed - big time saver. I ended up using an essay that i wrote over easter for my exam, and then one i did one weekend. Just have them prepared and youl be happy out! ehh.. your opening and closing paragraphs in postcards/letters in ordinary irish is where you get most of the marks so prepare a few scentences you can use in any scene. Thats all i can really tell you!

LegacyUser · 13-05-2010 06:39PM

I don't know if this is helpful but when I did the Leaving Cert I was having anything up to 12 epileptic seizures per day. The first time I did it with everybody else and the stress gave me the worst days of my life. I kept going back to sit each paper because I wanted to finish it but I shouldn't have. My mother was crying every day I left home for that exam pleading with me that it didn't matter as much as my health. I knew it was much more important. I finished it - that was my success - but I failed it.

The next time I went back, swallowed my pride and discreetly asked the Department of Education if there was any assistance available to me given my circumstances. They said that once I had the relevant medical certification there was. I think I got an extra ten minutes per hour in a separate room away from everybody. It made the world of difference to my performance. I sat all honours papers (I sat all pass initially) and got enough points to gain entry to university via the Access system for people with disabilities. That allowed me to change my entire life.

I don't know if your illness affects you as bad as mine affected me, but I'd just like to point out an alternative if you're genuinely in need. God bless.

The_Conductor · 13-05-2010 06:44PM

OP- I can relate to you totally.
I was incredibly ill all through school- with misdiagnosed Crohn's Disease. I used go to bed at 4PM every afternoon- because I didn't have the energy to do anything else- and to say I had a lack of concentration- is simply insufficient to describe the complete and utter exhaustion, both mental and physical, that I was constantly under. Even on my good days- I had constant pain, and lived in terror of not knowing where the nearest bathroom was.

I, like you, saw the leaving cert as a massive challenge, and I got stressed over it, which didn't help matters, if anything it put me in a vicious cycle.

It really is a case of focusing on those subjects that you have an aptitude for- things that you are interested in and can mop up points even on a bad day. Geography is a good one for this- after this- its a case of where are you least likely to loose points- factual subjects with absolute answers were always handy for me- but you need to try to match up with things that you know you can tackle (this also means focusing on the high mark parts of papers- so if you need to leave early, you'll have tried for the higher mark parts etc)

You are crazy if you don't make the school aware of your condition- you would be allowed to take breaks, go to the toilet a lot more often, have hot drinks prepared for you- or whatever best suits you. You need to make them aware of this though.

I ended up in hospital in the middle of my exams- even having to come out to do some of the papers just to make sure I did sufficient just to get a pass.....

Since those days- I've had to have abdominal surgery 6 times with one marathon 9 hour session that resulted in over 20 resections. I've also managed to get 2 undergrad degrees, postgrad qualifications- and hold a fulltime job- things I never imagined would ever be possible when I was your age- to be perfectly honest, I never fully thought I'd live to see my 21st birthday- and here I am now at 36 with a 6 week old baby!

I'm not going to lie to you- it is tough- it is incredibly tough- but you need to sit down and logically accept that you have limitations that other people don't have- and how you are going to overcome or come to live with those limitations. Limitations do not mean you're not going to live a full and happy life- get your leaving cert, do a PLC- then a degree or whatever, hold a fulltime job on your own merits, and live a full and fruitful life.

Make a plan of action.
You are going to request special circumstances from the school.
You are going to do what you need to do to pass your leavingcert- focusing on those areas that you have an aptitude for.
You are going to break things down into small achievable steps- and not set huge unreal, unachievable targets.....

You can succeed- you really can- but you need to learn how to live with your Crohn's and how to control it (which isn't always possible) instead of letting it control you.

Your consultant may be able to give you temporary help specifically to get you over the leaving cert period if you're experiencing a flareup- don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it........

There are lots of people out there- not dissimilar to you- who have had to deal with the exact same obstacles as you have- there are very active groups of young sufferers of Crohn's on Facebook, and the ISCC has a youth wing who are brilliant.

You can succeed- really you can!

pipelaser · 13-05-2010 08:39PM

I got a dictaphone for my leaving cert.
I read and recorded all the formulas and definitions, poems etc. i needed to learn off onto the dictaphone.

Any time i was too lazy to study and was just sitting in my room i just listened to the recordings. You absorb an amazing amount just by listening to the same thing over and over. I can still remember most of my physics definitions after ten years!

Work hard. Keep away from the Internet!

Rebelheart · 14-05-2010 12:43AM

pipelaser wrote: »

Work hard. Keep away from the Internet!

This, multiplied by infinity squared.

christina_x wrote: »

i did the LC last year. What i found helped me was exam papers. Just keep working through papers, and when you get them done, do them again. By doing papers your practicing structuring answers, you have to look up answers - therefore learning them, and youl be more relaxed when the paper is put infront of you.

And this. Big-time. Know those exam papers inside out. You should be trawling through them anois. If you're having trouble with your time, start timing yourself when you do these. The LC is not primarily a test of your knowledge; it is a test of your ability to regurgitate specific information as required by the system. You need systemic knowledge and knowing what sort of questions come up and the types of response which are required from you is essential.

At least attempt every single question. The marking structure is geared to favour you then rather than doing 3 questions superbly and not attempting the other 2. Far too many people aim for perfection in the questions they do when they should be aiming for doing each question sufficiently. It is so infuriating to see bright people let themselves down at exam time because of this perfectionist affliction. Painful.

consultech · 14-05-2010 01:39PM

Positive Mental attitude

Proper nutrition - a must when you're trying to study. You're going to require additional nutrition because of your inability to absorb vits/mins properly.

Sample exam papers over and over

The specific carbohydrate diet. VERY tough, but has worked wonders for me.

rebel girl 15 · 14-05-2010 11:01PM

Simply opening a book and looking at it won't work - what you need to do is do active study.

First thing to do is do out a list of the stuff you have not revised/learned in school - do it by chapter or unit. The best way to revise each section is to do the questions that relate to the unit from the papers. Focus on main sections - I'd download a couple of marking schemes from www.examinations.ie, exam material archieve. So take it in 20/30 minute sections - try doing the exam question without notes and see how much you have done, then go on and correct it using the marking scheme, and add in bits that you need to get a good mark in the answer. Practise is the name of the game!

Taking the exam is a science, know exactly what sections have most marks and spend time on those sections. Give the most time to the sections with most marks. Ask your teachers exactly how the papers are marked, for example in business, the questions are marked by state, explain, example - for the answer, you must state the answer, explain it and then give an example for all questions. I'm using business because it is a subject I did myself - the ABQ is a huge section, so cover those units well and you also have other questions covered. In geography, for the long questions you need to have 14-16 SRP's per answer to get nearly full marks!

The honours courses are very important to keep up and study well because they are worth more points wise, but at the same time don't neglect the ordinary courses.

Ask your teachers to help you pinpoint sections for you to cover - explain to your year head and they should be able to put some systems in place in the school for you to deal with your illness.

Find what works study wise - I found that writing things out helped for me, draw a picture such as a mind map can help for some other people, another poster suggested the dictaphone and listening back to it. I found it useful to write out the answers and highlight specific key words in it - or writing out specific sections that are important. Colour helps as well, I found cue cards with some main sections of a subject such as maths formulas to be a great help to look over before the exam

Most importantly of all, when you have the work done and are going into the exam, realise that yes you have the work done, yes you know how the exam paper is laid out, yes you know exactly how much time you have for each section. The main thing is not to panic on the day of the exam, when you are under pressure, it is amazing the things that can come back into your head. If you panic in the exam, it won't come back to you. Go in and take a deep breath, relax - then look at the exam paper. Highlight the key terms in the question and make sure that you are answering what the question asked. Don't leave anything blank, you cannot get answers for a blank answer, but you can get answers for something! Make sure you get a good nights sleep beforehand as well and eat well to manage your illness

Best of luck with it OP!

lambchops · 14-05-2010 11:27PM

I've never had any kind of major diesease but i'm what some people would call "gifted but lazy", i've also never applied this so called gifted aspect! For an example my biology teacher was so sure I would ace the leaving that she never made me do exam questions with the rest of the class. Instead She let me read research papers!

I had just as many higher subjects going into 5th year and dropped many to ordinary. As long as you do well enogh to get at least a C1 or higher in about 8 subjects in ordinary you will easily get 300+ points. Crohn's disease can be painful and taxing but if you put your mind to it it can be easily done.

Want 300 points in the LC

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