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AllHonours Q&A » Leaving Cert Other

1. Ki
   

   senior member
   Joined: Feb '09
   Posts: 57

   Profile

   Ok so alot of people are out there doing there leaving cert for the first time and my advice to you is if you don't get the points first time round seriously SERIOUSLY consider repeating don't settle for second best honestly its not worth it in the long run...

   Thats my advice to people now i need Repeaters help please?

   I got 385 last year after not studying basically at all apart from morning of exams (4am starts lol) anyways I want to do Primary Teaching and always have and i really should have just repeated but now after starting a college course and passing both winter and summer exams I've decided I REALLY wanna do the teaching so now I'm back to square one and I am planning on repeating in Rathmines this coming september.

   I really need help on deciding on what subjects to do?

   I have been doing an engineering course , Got A's and B's in Maths and Physics in the semesters along with other physic based subjects and although I did not do Physics first time round I reckon I've covered nearly everything on L.C syllabus. Would Physics and Applied Maths be a good combination seen as I have successfully done these subjects in college and would I get the points out of them?

   I am not very strong at english, I try fairly hard for the subject but don't really have a major flair for it, should i drop this and take up business instead?

   I need to drop one of my subjects Construction Studies as its not provided by the repeat college so I presume Physics would be the one replacing it.

   I done Biology in 2009 although I was getting high grades in class I only got a D2 so I'm not sure whether I should continue with this subject but I don't really have much of an option?

   So my subjects I can take are:

   English - got C2 but don't really have a flair for it so don't know if i should drop?
   Irish - need C3 or more for primary teaching and points should be doable got D1 last time with not quite enough study
   Maths - can Ace ordinary don't know whether honours would be too much and not worth it could replace with Applied Maths , What ya think?
   Applied Maths - Would be capable after doing Engineering first year
   Physics - Same as above
   Biology - Got D2 in 2009 dunno whether should drop or just work hard?
   Geography - Got B2 would hope to get A1/A2 if i repeated
   Business - Done in J.C but thats all but I work in office and would have plenty of experience in business dealings dunno if this would help but could work my ass for it if i needed to replace subject if not too hard to pick up?
   German - D2 but with crap teacher didn't hate it but just wasn't very good at it dunno if it would be different in repeat school?

   Everyone I have spoken to thinks I would be capable of getting a much higher leaving cert but just dunno what combination of subjects would work best to maximize my points?

   Help greatly appreciated...
   Thank you

   By the way I missed practically all of 5th year and alot of 6th year because of being sick so this would have been an obvious reason why my L.C would be fairly low but I think if i was to repeat I could really bring up my points by a hell of a lot!!

   Posted 1 year ago #

2. cnmjb
   

   member
   Joined: Sep '08
   Posts: 36

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   hey well im repeating this year ..and i took up business and economics and i found them really good ! basically common sense . i think you should drop english because you have to cover the whole course in one year ..and i did it this year and trust me it was really hard. as for subject choices i would go for irish, applied maths, geography, physics, ag science ( its hard at first but it gets easier and there is a project worth like 20% ) maths and home ec ( project ) hope that helps

   Posted 1 year ago #

3. mishmash
   

   member
   Joined: Jan '70
   Posts: 30

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   I first did my leaving cert in 2007 and repeated in 2008. I did transition year for about six months and then left and went to fifth year so I always new I would probably repeat.
   I think repeating is always the way to go apart from studying the first time :lol:, but it's worth spending a year of your life for something that you get to do for the rest of it. I repeated for primary teaching but actually changed my mind in the middle of 2008 (another reason I'm glad I repeated).
   Anyway when I repeated I dropped french and kept the rest of my subjects.
   Although I actually counted it the second time I encourage dropping english, Unless you are going to a grind school that is used to repeats and provides extra classes for it. Unless you have an apptitude for it which you said you don't , it's not worth the effort that goes into it.
   Like the above poster said I think taking up Home E is god however it's important to check with the place you will be repeating. If it's a regular school the may have done the project last year, I had to pay a teacher myself to come and supervise me in the cooking and she had to travel to do it. If you are determined to put in work it is a subject that has a lot of learning, anything can come up but it is a subject that is pretty easy to learn off.
   The subject I could probably be most helpful with is maths, seen as that's what I'm studying now. I did honours for my leaving cert the first time and got a C2 with actually quite a bit of effort, when I repeated I got an A2. My friend who repeated with me went from a B in pass to a B in honours, she put in alot of work but if you are repeating I strongly advise you to do honours. Everything makes so much more sense than it does the first time.
   With Geography the project has to be done again but the subject is again drilled in to you the second time. Of all my classes it was definitely the most boring while repeating.
   I've never done business but my friend took up accounting when repeating having done business at her j.c. She found that it took up alot of time. I think if you are to take up new subjects it is better to take ones like physics or applied maths becuase you have experience with them, or Home Ec because parts are similar to biology. I agree with the AG science suggestion, If you put in some effort an A is nearly guaranteed.

   If you have Irish, Biology/Home Ec, Maths, Applied maths, Physics, Geography, Ag Science. You would have seven. Dropping french was really good for me. Annoyingly if your language basics aren't good it's hard to keep it up. If you find your verbs, grammer and generally junior cert german is still strong it might be worth a shot. Good luck with whatever you decide.
   All in all I'm so glad that I repeated. At times throughout the year you wonder what you let yourself in for but it is worth it in the end.

   Posted 1 year ago #

4. generalpatton
   

   member
   Joined: May '10
   Posts: 15

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   ya should do history ... the test this year was pure easy i also heard that the average HL grade achieved in it generaly is a B2 . and the exam is marked out of 500 points so hard to lose marks

   Posted 1 year ago #

5. longfordman
   

   preferred member
   Joined: Aug '09
   Posts: 216

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   Yes i would recommened you to take Physics and Applied Maths if you already studied them in college and did well your standard would be quite high!!.

   I would also drop english if i were you as far as i know it is a brand new course, you could be putting yourself under a lot of pressure to secure a high grade if you don't havve the flair for it..

   Do you play an instrument quite well? If so i'd recommened Music, Practical is 50% for LC for playing 6 songs with Music technology however the theory is hard..

   Are you going back to 5th year or reapeqating only 6th yerr.

   I would also recomened Business to you seeing as you worked in a Business, very simple stuff just requires you to study hard..

   Best of Luck

   Posted 1 year ago #

6. kiwi98xxx
   

   member
   Joined: Jun '10
   Posts: 11

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   hey, i done the exact same thing as you! Was sick in my original leavin '08. Done a year in college and deferred my second year place! Just in the middle of my LC exams now! I want to do teaching as well! You're dead right, I'm so happy i did it!! But i wouldnt recommend english as a repeat..you'll have to do a whole new course! Ag science and home ec are a good idea as they have a project! And ag science isnt that bad if you have done biology before! But the oralsa are stressful! I went to a school with a special repeat programme, it thought the full two year course in 1 year, my guidance consellor advised not to go to a normal school at all! Plus there was 100 repeats in my year! I would recommend irish grinds as i found it hard to get back into it after the year off!
   If you have any questions leme know!

   Posted 1 year ago #

7. Alejandro
   

   member
   Joined: Jun '10
   Posts: 42

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   The Irish couse is changing to though isnt it

   Posted 1 year ago #

8. abc567
   

   new member
   Joined: Jun '10
   Posts: 2

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   I'd say definitely try leave out biology..was getting A1s all year round but only got a D1 in the mocks...in the middle of the exmas now and the biology was a nice paper but still pretty hard! it was basically swallowing the book and spitting out on the day!

   Posted 1 year ago #

9. xoxkxox
   

   senior member
   Joined: Feb '09
   Posts: 71

   Profile

   Hi,
   I also repeated this year. To be totally honest if i knew what it was going to be as difficult as it was i don't think i would have repeated. personally found it very hard with my friends being in college living it up and me stuck in a grind school 9-9.

   Obviously you really want primary teaching and i think the only thing that kept me going this year was that i had a huge chance of getting the course i want. So if you have really thought about it i would say go for it!!

   Subjects wise, I did irish french bio business home ec and ag science. I dropped english in october as i found the new course too demanding to do in one year.

   I would definately say do 7 subjects because you'll be needing around 500 points. If you have a bad day in one subject at least you can make up for it.

   Your obviously mathsy! I got a d2 in ordinary level last year so im not one to talk about it but i hear higher level takes a lot of time and its risky. A lot of my friends had to repeat for failing honours maths. You know yourself tho if you'd be able for it. I dont think ordinary level maths would be much good points wise.

   ok so you have to do honours irish to get the honour for primary teaching.
   I would say go for applied maths and physics from your engineering experience.
   There is engineering as a subjet for leaving cert too....not sure if the school does it tho.

   I did business, Had a great teacher but personally hated it, I found it boring but all you have to do is learn it and there is a good bit of general knowledge too.

   I would def do biology!!! I got a d1 last year but i was a waster last year, I worked this year and it was actually my best exam so far. the same things come up year after year...so i would go for it.

   If your doing biology then i think ag science is a must. You do a project which is 25% and is out of the way in may. It over laps a lot with bio so i wouldn't recommend doing one without the other together.

   I would say leave out the german...at the time of your orals it'll be easier for you to just have irish and concentrate on it as you need the honour.

   So what subjects i have said so far are IRISH, APPLIED MATHS, PHYSICS, ENGINEERING(if they do it) BUSINESS BIOLOGY AG SCIENCE.

   Thats 7....if they don't do engineering then i'd consider home ec....I know your prob a boy but over half my class were boys. Again you have a project worth 20% which is out of the way by halloween. The only difficult side of it is the nutrition which over laps a little bit with bio.
   Then there is consumer studies which over laps in areas with business and then there is an elective of like housing design (not too sure what they call it) or social studies. I did social studies and it was simple....could be made up.

   sorry I went on for ages. Have a think about it anyway and good luck. I think anyone who has the will power to repeat deserves it!!

   Posted 1 year ago #

10. xoxkxox
    

    senior member
    Joined: Feb '09
    Posts: 71

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    oh sorry didnt see you were doing geography...you can take out a subject so!!

    Posted 1 year ago #

11. Ki
    

    senior member
    Joined: Feb '09
    Posts: 57

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    Hey thanks for your help... By the way xoxkxox I'm a girl lol but don't worry i'm not offended engineering is a real lads thing lol!!

    I'm planning on repeating in Rathmines which does it as a repeat course they don't do engineering or construction studies (which i got a B in last year) , they seem to just do the learning subjects which don't include practicals, they do home ec though so could take that up, they don't do ag science either.

    There was another subject which i seen but rathmines doesnt teach, its new in the last few years, technology, which i feel i'd ace without even studying (from looking at exam papers online lol) but i know theres a project to be done, does anyone know anywhere around dublin meath westmeath that teaches this subject ?

    Only prob is i dont want to be taking up aloada subjects i didnt do before but its looking like i'd have to if i'm repeating....

    Posted 1 year ago #

12. discombobulated
    

    senior member
    Joined: Dec '07
    Posts: 93

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    What about home ec??
    I did the leaving cert the same year as you, 2009.
    I missed alot of fifth year due to pregnancy and was probably asleep through most of the leaving cert year being a mummy to a very sick and restless newborn. Needless to say, my grades suffered and I didnt get the points I wanted to do midwifery so I went back. Not a hope was I willing to take the places I was offered because I reeealy wanted my first choice.

    I repeated 09/10.. Although I got a B1 in english in 2009, I still dropped it due to the massive amount in the course. I took up Home Ec and Business instead.. having never taken them before. Got a B in both in Higher Level. The other repeats took up ag science- which they claimed was a very easy honour to get.

    I am now in NUI doing midwifery

    I hope it works out for you, really I do. Going back to school is certainly not an easy option. All the best...

    Posted 1 year ago #

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