Although i hated my result and definitely want to re-check some subjects,im happy that i got science in UCD. It went up to 435,so i just made it. Although im going to Canada i still thought id see what i got this morning. The site crashed really early as Cillian mentioned. I don’t really know what to say here except that thank you for reading our blogs throughout the year,i hope they kind of gave a glimpse into our hectic and nerve wrecking lives whilst also giving a helpful hand and extra motivation to get you up and running this year…basically…just do your best!!!

Patrick – thank you once more,for being so generous as to make this site. So useful i cant even being to describe. My previous posts all commend Mr.Barry and allhonours.ie so i wont repeat myself.

It’s really been a mixture of emotions this year,but i guess its been worth it. We got what we hoped for and now we’re heading to college ! How does that feel? Now that is going to be a bigger experience than the leaving cert! So again,just attempt to do your best,grow from the experience.

Good luck to the class of 2010,whether you’re repeating,or heading to college.Good luck to the new 6th years! Keep your goals in mind when your studying,points have gone up so keep focused and devoted,but have the odd weekend out too. I can’t believe it’s over…almost surreal! I love it  Thank you allhonours.ie for just being there!!!

Goodbye web-based world. I thank you.

-Ally

After a night of sporadic waking, I finally got a glimps of the CAO tables just after 4 this morning. They picture may have been taken with a camera phone and incredibly blurry, but the fact I was able to make out 545 for Actuarial and Financial Studies in UCD came as a massive relief! No random selection, no 550+, I had just got in with nothing to spare! Nothing, however, quite beats confirmation from the CAO themselves. Despite crashing at 0600 on the dot (Typical Ireland!), I managed to finally accept my offer about ten minutes later!

All last night I had myself convinced it would go above 550 again. In the last 12 years, there have only been three years where it has been less than 545, and considering applications were up 16% this year, I was getting content with settling for DCU. At this stage, I cannot even say it was down to hardwork or intelligence; in my case it was just sheer luck getting the points I needed and for the CAO to work out like that! So it looks like I’ll be starting orientation this day three weeks as a fresher in UCD, as you can probably tell I’m over the moon!

This blog all year has been amazing. Just writing down everything that was going on, even if no one read it, helped to keep the year pretty much stress-free! This website has been a God-send to any LCer looking to do well. I think we all owe its founder, Patrick Barry, a serious thanks. I was lucky enough to meet him during the year, and I have to say, the man is an absolute gentleman. He makes the lives of countless Sixth Years infinitely easier. While the whole blogging experience was entirely new to me, it was certainly an enjoyable one, and definitely worth trying next year! Hearing other peoples’ experiences of what was going on was fantastic and allowed me have a different perspective to the year.

To the class of 2010, congratulations and I hope you achieved what you set out to achieve. Hopefully I’ll see a few of ye around UCD!

To the class of 2011, relax, enjoy your last year of school, work hard and play hard. Don’t become a study slave, get now and again, the Leaving Cert is nothing to be afraid of. What you put in is what you’ll get out of it. I’ll probably write a bit more here later about what’ll help you get the most out of the year, but we’ll see.

So for one last time… good luck people!

Cillian.

After two years of preparation, hours of studying, even more hours trying to avoid it, exams and the like, yesterday finally brought some closure to the Leaving Cert. While the exams themselves seem like a distant memory, the summer has just been eaten up! With time being consumed by work over the last few weeks, results were pushed to the back and left little time for contemplating, thankfully. As a crowd of us gathered outside the school at 10am yesterday morning, the feeling of excitement and nerves was contagious. Trying to figure out what to expect was next to impossible. After each exam, I made a note of what grade I thought I may have got. The best I figured I could hope for about 510. As we queued outside the principal’s office, going in one by one to get the white envelope, I grew more and more nervous until I finally got mine. And then it stopped. Oddly followed by complete calmness. I went to a nearby classroom and opened it up there, praying there wouldn’t be the same pang of disappointment I got on getting the HPAT results. Here’s how it went (All honours… :L)

Irish B1
Maths A2
English A2
French B2
Biology A1
Chemistry A2
Economics A2

I was genuinely shocked when I saw the results. And even more so adding the points up. So much so I was convinced my adding skills weren’t the best (well only an A2 in Maths like!) When I arrived at 545 for the fifth time, I accepted I had done better than could ever be imagined. I mean Irish and English? It turned out to be a day of PB’s! Never before had I got anything great than a C2 in Irish, not even one B before in six years of class tests! Even though French didn’t count, I made and absolute hames of the oral, had a very dogey written paper, and still managed a B2. And then English, what a place to get your first ever A! Despite my bog-standard English and ropey comparative, with the help of bombastic vocab here and there I pulled out an A2! I genuinely would not have got that result without this blog. Six years on and not one class of English grammar, this finally gave me the kick in the arse needed to learn a few of the rules! The only one I wasn’t ecstatic about was Maths. I know an A2 is deadly, but I really felt if there was one paper I got the A1 in, it was Maths. I was happy too with Chem and Economics as despite not having wonderful papers, I managed to pull out the A in both. I know many regarded Biology very easy this year, but after the record I had with a spate of teachers, it was a relief to get the A1.

The results in my school were unbelievable this year. In a year of 110, at least 18 got over the 500 point mark, with one guy getting the 600, and another getting 580. Considering just 6 broke the 500 mark last year, it was a serious improvement. I have to admit the competitive nature of us all helped and was probably the reason we got on so well!

So for college, I’ve to await until Monday to find out for certain, but it looks like Actuary in UCD. It was 530 last year, so I have 15 points to spare, but applications for it increased a lot this year. Failing that, DCU seems a cert considering it was 485 in ‘09. When I look back at it now, 5 A’s and 2 B’s was quite an achievement. Despite the whole medicine thing not working out, I think I’m glad it happened. It appears far more glamorous than it actually is in my opinion. If I was to repeat the HPAT, I’d need 170+ points to get in based on last year. But we’ll see. I have the grade requirements for it in most places in the UK so it’s good to have that option open.

For the rest of you, I hope you’re all happy. They’re not the end of the world, but rather a means to an end. At the end of the day, it’s about fulfilling one’s potential. The guy who gets 360 but has been told his limit is 350 has done better in my view than the girl who could get 600, but only gets 500. That’s why it’s unfair to compare people on LC points I feel.

You’ll hear from me once more after Monday, this is the day that really matters. I hope the points don’t go up too much, for all of our sake’s!

Cillian

Hey everyone!

I hope you all are delighted with your results and had a great night last night! It’s all finally over after nine months of having to feign interest in subjects that you honestly couldn’t give  toss about. Although it will be really weird never going back to secondary school ever again and for many of us, moving away from home for the first time…I’m delighted it’s all behind now.

After going through the longest night of my life, I finally got my results at 10 yesterday morning. Since it was my second time getting my LC results, it really did feel like it was the last chance saloon. I was shìtting it when I got that big, horrible brown envelope and was wondering how it would go down at home if I decided to just not open it. But of course, my mother wasn’t going for it and as soon as I got back to the car, she took the envelope and opened it…..and it was the best shock of my life.

A C3 in french (I seriously thought that I had failed it!), B1 in English and Business, B2 in History, B3 in Economics and a C2 in Biology…..which means 455 points…a number I was not expecting. I was so happy that repeating had paid off, despite being so reluctant in the beginning. I’m glad I did it and I advise anyone who’s not happy to repeat if they need to. It is a lot of hard work and it’s hard as your friends go to college but it is incredibly worthwhile and if you want your course badly enough, I think it’s the best way to go.

It’s been a great year and I actually quite enjoyed it (but I know it’s easy to say that in hindsight!) I wish everyone the best for the future and hope it all works out!

Hey guys! Well, long time no see! I’m kind of all over the place at this stage if I’m honest. As your all guessing I did indeed get my leaving cert results. I wouldn’t like to say I was disappointed but I guess I kind of was. I always had that little voice in my head saying that I wouldn’t do as well as I hoped,that voice seemed to be true this morning. I went into school, 9am, was met by a happy principal and nervously opened the A4 envelope…only to reveal no sign of ANY A’s. The first thing I saw was a C1 in pass Irish, my heart dropped, it was then followed by a bleak B3 in English, not looking good. If  I wasn’t moving to Canada where I was already accepted into the science and arts course I’d tear this results up and eat it, then repeat in the hope of getting at least ONE damn A.

Irish (ord) C1,English(h) B3,Maths(ord) B2,French(h) B1,Art(H) B1,Chemistry(H) B3,Biology(H) B2.

now,i was expecting an A in at least english and biology, my top subjects in school..but no. Im also raging i wont be in ireland to see my scripts. I was pleasantly surprised though, to see that i had gotten a B1 in Art and a B3 in chemistry. Other than that,,like i said,,id so repeat.

I got 440 points…I think. Not nearly enough for medicine at ALL, along with my mere 124 points from the HPAT, that’s not going to get me an offer. I think if I were to stay here I’d get science in Maynooth, not even in UCD. In conclusion: Man is it hard to actually pull an A1 in the Leaving!

Although being photographed for local papers was flattering, you still have that feeling of regret, I should have studied that extra hour and not watched the X factor!”. But its over now, I did my best, its not the end of the world! Its a great result but just not great enough. Some of my friends barely passed so I shouldn’t be too upset.

In the end, it was an experience like any other in life.  You move forward not back. I’m just happy it’s over and i can get on with my life, and wait for Monday to see what offers I get! I’m leaving for Canada on the 25th. Start college there on the 1st of September.

Anyway, I hope everyone else did well too. I already mentioned Patrick Barry in my last post but I just want to say that you guys should really try out for these blogging spots, such an amazing experience.

We should all enjoy our day and the last bit of summer!!! best of luck with all that you do!!!!

-Ally xx

Due to last years huge success with the team of AllHonours bloggers, we are delighted to announce an even more aggressive blogging plan.  We are looking for up to 20 bloggers, across all years so whether you are in 1st year or 6th, we want to hear from you.  Before I detail the requirements, I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the bloggers from last year and I wish them the best of luck in the forthcoming results.  I hope you will all agree, they provided much needed support and entertainment through the exams.  They hit many milestones ranging from an upward spiral of comments, followers, and site traffic to being featured in The Irish Times.  We hope to achieve the same and more this year so make sure you register your interest ASAP!  Places are limited.

Becoming a blogger has many benefits such as improving your communication and creative skills, making a difference to tens of thousands of students who read your posts, and having the chance of being featured in the national newspapers over the exam period.  It is also a perfect job experience to place on your CV as you will have full creative control over your content and it takes planning and impressive communication skills to connect with readers.

If you wish to become a blogger simply email info@allhonours.ie with your details – name, age, year, school, county.  Also include a sample introductory post to give me a sense of your writing style.

Looking forward to reading your posts!  Any further questions feel free to email me.

Best of luck,
Patrick.

Well as the title suggests, it wasn’t exactly favourable; a measly 141/300. I kept waking up sporadically during the night, but at 3:40, I got the email. Even in a state of grogginess, I knew immediately I’d no hope. I’ll admit I was seriously disappointed, more so in myself than anything. It was the first test I’d ever scored below average on, but in fairness, that’s below average in comparasion to the cream of the crop. I really did think the test went well on the day, especially Section 3. I mean I actually drew out what I imagined the next box to look like, and most times they were there! I thought it was the one section where you could be sure you had the right answer, but I guess not. I was convinced I got more than half correct, but not according to ACER, as I only got 49. I guess whatever marking scheme they used really messed me over!

Anyway, I’m lucky in a way that I wasn’t hell-bent on doing Medicine. Althought it has forced me to change the ole CAO. I’ve put down BESS and Maths/Economics, so I wouldn’t mind doing them either. Actuary is still the goal however, I’ll be laughing if I get offered a place there. I hope the results went well for everyone else anyway, enjoy the rest of the summer!!

I got up this morning and relectantly checked my e-mail for the dreaded (in my eyes) HPAT result. Okay so i thought the exam was alright in general,i did a prep course that didnt really do much but i guess helped with time and strategy. My overall score was 124/300,,0-20%. If im being honest i didnt expect a high mark,i know myself i was never too strong with the HPAT. Im dissapointed though,,i did get a very low mark in my eyes..*sigh* oh well. So now i need about 550+ LC points to even get an offer for medicine,odds are i wont. one cant help but feel pessimistic at this moment in time:( I guess since im moving to Canada ill have to do science for 4 years then do another HPAT type exam and hope that i get into medicine that way.. if i stay in Ireland ill prob end up doing science aswell,then try get into post grad medicine.

Well..what else can i say. Im sure at this stage were all relaxing catching up on whatever we shoved aside until after the exams. I have to agree with Cillian,the hype kind of died down, it was hectic during the first week but then we kind of eased into it! It wasnt as bad as we thought, none of us died or had panic attacks because Boland didnt come up,,,we pulled through and made it out the other end…stronger..and im sure we’ve all learned a thing or two about ourselves because of this whole process! i sure did…i may be a procrastinator but i can really commit to something once i put my head to it.

For all of us now, whether we performed as we wanted in the HPAT or not, whether we get the points we need, whether we get into the college we want or get the career of our wildest dreams or end up repeating i hope we can ALL say “atleast i gave it my all,,,i tried my best”. Because that’s all that matters,everything else will move into place if it is to be.

Fifth years who are soon to be 6th years, if your reading this…the Leaving cert isnt a big deal. well okay,in one sense it is..but i mean dont kill yourself about it! If your a student who always does their homework, is on top of weekly revision and wants to do well then dont worry. Early revision is key but dont morph into a studious zombie and become a recluse who doesnt want to see the light of day or hang out with their friends for  a while,,,thats important too. All ill say is just keep in mind what you want to acheive,, always remind yourself of what you want and try your best to achieve it.

I cant thank Patrick Barry enough for allowing us to vent our feelings online! Thanks Patrick, you run an amazing site that really helped me a year ago exactly when i was looking for answers on medicine,,the new HPAT, asking for subjects and college choices,all honours allowed me to get the answers i wanted from the huge community of students who were just like me! I also found out about my saturday grinds from allhonours. So without this site and Patrick’s ongoing work (searching for bloggers,updating the site and the likes!) it wouldnt be as succesful so I think from all the bloggers we just wanted to say thanks Patrick and we wish you ongoing success with this brilliant site! I highly recommend signing up for this blogging thing,,its a great excercise to have throughout the studying year!

All ill say is best of luck to everyone this august,i hope you all get what you want. Thanks for reading my blogs, i really appreciate it,you all make it worthwhile. Ill be back, like Cillian, when the results are out,,i may be in Canada at that stage or i may still be here. untill then, enjoy your break,,,you deserve it!!

au revoir mes amis!!!!!!!!! xx

-Ally

Well The Leaving Cert 2010 is finally over, so i just thought I’d make my last post short and sweet.

Good luck to everyone who read these blogs and to everyone who sat the leaving cert this year. I hope you all do great at every subject you took (and judging on the blogs I’ve read on this site, we’re all heading towards A1s in English :L)

And thank you to Patrick Barry, who gave us all the chance to blog our leaving cert fears, panics and hopes. Without which some of us may have had panic attacks. People need to vent!

Good luck everyone, all the best, John.

Firstly, apologise for leaving it until now to blog, but oh well! I’ll go through each of them since I was on last.

Irish: In fairness, I thought it was a relatively predictable and straight forward paper, especially after last year. The essay titles might have been a bit specific and bland in that they didn’t suit people with learned-off material, but that suited me down to the ground, considering I’d nothing prepared bar a few phrases. I managed to write an absolute shed load for paper 2, the same as English paper 2 in fact! Somehow I managed a full page on Bealoideas, even though the notes in our book cover less than half of one! Just God help whoever has to correct it, for I’ve no concept of Irish grammar whatsoever!

French: Going into this on the back of an incredibly dodgy oral, the expectations were quite low. I reckon I’m possibly the only one who used the full allotted time, serious lack of time management on the comprehensions left me with forty minutes to do the written part. I spent the first twenty or so minutes writing out three pages of French expressions at the beginning, only later to use four of them, a bit of a regret to say the least, my seventh subject, or so I hope.

Biology: Despite being messed about with teachers over the past two years, the exam proved to be very simple. I did every question on the paper bar the one on Plant Reproduction, and fairly confident I did well. Everyone else I spoke to had the same reaction so I reckon they’ll kill us with the marking scheme.

Chemistry: I always imagined to become an absolute genius over the five days between this and Biology, but no, the World Cup proved far more interesting! Whatever hopes I had for an A have disappeared. I spent the first twenty minutes reading over the paper, only to end up doing ten questions anyway. Every single question seemed to have six marks where you’d feel even with the book open, you wouldn’t get the answers. I mean the IUPAC name for glycerol? It’s actually not mentioned anywhere in our book. Trying to apply what I knew, I stuck down 1,2,3 trihyrdoxylpentane thinking that sounded fairly logical, but no. On wikipedia it says that it’s another name for it, but propan-1,2,3-triol was what they were looking for. I thought the question on Equilibrium was grand, except for the Kc bit. I originally got 0.0225 and thought that was way too low for something that had a 75% disassociation, so I didn’t divide by 100, only later to find out I was originally right. Sickening.

Economics: Ah Economics, always something I thought I was guaranteed and A1 in, until the night before the test. Like Chemistry, I stopped studying for it a week before the LC began, major regret now of course. Looking over the course, I realise I’d forgotten almost everything. The only saving grace was that it was fairly topical. The whole “Rent of Ability” thing kind of threw me, and no Oligopoly? Or NAMA? Odd to say the least. I did a fifth question, something our teacher always advised against, but me being an insecure rebel, I had to rush Q1 on demand, and made a pig’s ear of it. Oh well…

It feels weird to say it’s over. No big bang at the end, it just slowly faded out. The ending for me definitely was an anti-climax to the whole thing. While things started off nicely with the three core ones being simple for a change, they lulled me into a false confidence for the last two. The whole build up and suspense for the exams was simply destroyed by the time Irish was finished. I can’t honestly say how the results will go, I’d be delighted to break 500, but I’d swap any number of points just for a place in college. Speaking off that, the ole CAO could probably do with a shake up. I have managed to find one course that is basically “me”, Maths and Economics in Trinity! It was 475 last year, and only 15 points up from the mocks, so provided it doesn’t rise too much, I wouldn’t mind that!

The HPAT results are out Monday, and to be honest, they’ll count for little at the end of the day. Still, I’m dying to see the percentile score and break down of the result, better be worth getting up at five on Monday for! I know most are finished at this stage, and the sites gone quite, but I hope y’all have a good summer! I’ll be back for the results!

Cillian