How do I get them to stop celebrating?

dudara

OP. Firstly, even though you don't want to hear it, well done on getting 570. It was no mean feat.

However you feel that it doesn't live up to your own expectations. And you know what? You're right to feel that way. You're right to expect more of yourself. Push yourself and aim high.

But be realistic and pragmatic. It's going to take a few days and then you will start to think in a more rational frame of mind. You have options open to you. You can accept another course, with the aim of possibly transferring into your preferred course after first year, you can repeat the LC. You can take a year out and reassess your options.

Talk to professional people who know the CAO system and who will have some idea of how the points will fare this year. Talk to the universities / career guidance people and find out if there are alternative paths to your chosen course.

At this stage in your life, the only doors closed to you are the ones that you let be closed. Use the smarts that got you 570 to keep you on track.

Thanks Dudess. I understand that he had his heart set on his first choice, but so do a lot of people, you know? You can't just expect to get it, you have to prepare yourself for what would happen if you didnt, especially in competitive high points courses like medicine and law. I know loads of very intelligent people who got 4 As at A Level and didn't make it into Trinity law or medicine. With these courses no amount of points guarantees anything. They either went elsewhere (backup choices) or changed course. You don't always get what you want, and thats the point I'm making. You have to prepare to be a bit flexible. I'm sure OP could get into a course in the UK, doing the subject of his choice if he was desperate to do it. I ended up staying in Ireland which I really didnt want to do, after being rejected from my UK choices, and I got lots of points as well. Doing well doesnt entitle you to do the exact course you want at the college you want. Surely part of the college application system (I focused on UCAS with CAO as a backup) involves choosing backup courses/colleges in case you don't get into your first choices. My school discouraged us from pinning our hopes on one specific course in one place. I know its tough to miss out on your top choice, but it happens to LOADS of people, and not just people who got low points through lack of work. OP should have been prepared for this, IMO. As several people have stated, there are different ways in, whether it means going elsewhere, choosing a slightly different course, taking a year off. Life doesnt happen exactly the way you want it to, you have to do your best with what you get.

The Bollox

you're being very hard on yourself! I'm sure something will fall into place over the next few days / weeks. 570 is an amazing achievment, stop being so hard on yourself

Jumpy

I left school at 16. I now have now travelled the world, moved to a country on the other side of the planet and have a high level - well paid job in a significant company, im 28.
So much importance is placed on your results. Your life is not set in stone, anything is possible, your life is never to be based on the pressures of others.
As long as you stay motivated and never assume you are 'stuck'.
Aside from that though... 570 is ****ing good.

Golferx

To use a soccer parlance, last season, in England, Chelsea got 83 points. For most all teams this would have been an excellent result, for Chelsea it wasn't, they still missed their target by 7 points.



To the OP? Wait until CAO and see what pans out. Look at UK college possibilities.


Also, OP, it's not until you become a parent will you realise how much your parents love you. Even as a 17/18/19 year old, your parents still love you as much as the day they held a little baby in their arms, 17/17/19 years ago. They're happy because their child (yes, you're still their child) has achieved a fantastic Leaving Certificate score.

Appreciate you have got an excellent result. It might not be what you wanted, but it's still an excellent result.

Remember Baz Lerman's "Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen)"

Read it and tell us it's not true!

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering
experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you
imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with
people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body,
use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever
own..

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for
good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you
should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you
knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live
in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will
philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were
noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will
look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the
ugly parts and recycling it for more than
it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…

Mrs OBumble

Hmm, all the other posts on the first page are about Leaving Cert results.

But your question, if I read correctly, isn't about that: it's about what to do about the fact that your parents want to party about it, and you don't.

Superficially, the answer is simple: you let them party, while you head to a friends place to hang out for a while.

To be honest, if your parents aren't listening to or respecting what you're saying about this, then you've got far more serious problems to be worrying about than a a few leaving-cert points. You need to be sorting out a more mature relationship with them ASAP, because if they don't respect your opinion now (at the high-point of leaving-cert results), they never will.

LegacyUser

'Serious problems? They are happy for their son, for god's sake. I say OP should let them be happy and proud for a few days. Tell them you are disappointed etc but sometimes you have to consider other peoples' feelings as well as your own. This is pretty much a non-issue, IMO, compared to the problems other people have with their families. They'll be over it in a few days. Let them be happy that their son did so well. I'm sure if they had shouted at you and called you lazy and thick for not doing better (which is what my friend's parents did when he got AAAB at A Level) you would be here complaining as well. Be grateful they are supportive, it's more than a lot of people have.'

littlesurfer

give them a week and they'll get over it. Most people do.

tinkerbell

Dudess wrote:

OP, do let us know what course you had in mind, and where. If it's Actuary, well you still have to be a trainee actuarist for several years once you graduate. You may get some exemptions from exams but I think it's only a tiny few. My cousin did electrical engineering and then became a trainee actuarist.
Follow Tinkerbell's advice and get the exams re-checked. Avoid repeating if you can - you've done your bit. Or take a year out and reapply to the CAO to do your desired course elsewhere, where it might require lower points.
Don't be so hard and unfair on yourself by saying you could have worked so much harder. I doubt that very much.

Dudess, it's a trainee actuary not actuarist Sorry I had to correct you there but I hate the word actuarist!!!! (I am a trainee actuary y'see)

The OP hasn't replied since but I honestly doubt it's actuary he wants ... there is an actuarial course in DCU which is the same as the one in UCD except it is less points (around the 500 mark) - purely because I suppose there is more demand for UCD since it is an older college. In actual fact, the actuarial course in DCU was there before UCD. So if the OP wanted actuarial that badly, he/she wouldn't be this disappointed as surely he/she would have put down DCU as well.

So I'm guessing medicine or pharmacy or one of those. There's always a backdoor in to do these things - my cousin wanted Pharmacy, didn't get the points so did Science in Trinity for a year and now he's just after getting Pharmacy in England so he's delighted.

So OP - chin up, offers aren't out yet, try to enjoy the weekend before the points come out. I hope you get what you want - you never know, points may come down rather than going up. You really did do brilliant but I know it's no good unless you get the course. Best of luck

me2gud4u

hey dear poster-i'm guessing u might be in the same situation as i am(Feel free to PM me) here's my deal too.....
i'm really worried about my cao points at the moment. My first choice was medicine in ucd, second choice med RCSI and then med NUIG. I got 570 on wed but i'm in limbo from now until monday as im not sure if i get any one of my choices yet. Last yr med in ucd was 575*(*=random selection), RCSI was 570* and NUIG was also 570*. I was wondering are there any other ppl out there who are now in med somewhere who were in the same predicament as me when they did the leaving cert or who are unsure whether they got enough points this yr to secure them a place on a med course?
I'm getting english and chemistry rechecked because i was extremely disappointed with the b1s i got in them and i'm definitely hoping eng goes up (even the school seemed certain there was a mistake with it too) to an A1 which would deffo give me a place somewhere.

At the moment no one can understand why i am so upset when i tell them what i got.Some people don't seem to understand that while it's all great getting 570 when it doesn't give you your first choice it is soul destroying.
What gets me even more is the fact that there is a strong possibility that my English result will be upgraded yet in the meantime i will have started dentistry tcd or med galway.
There is a MAJOR flaw in the system- if i get upgraded but have started in galway or tcd i will prob have to wait until the following september before i get a place in med in UCD.In the meantime however registration fees and possibly even accomodation fees will have been paid for me in galway(bearing huge financial strain on my parents) not to mention the personal effect these last few days have had on me merely as a result of negligence on the state examination commision's part in the correcting process of the exams. The entire recheck process needs to sped up.

And so for the next few days I have no idea where i'm am going but the chances of me gaining a place on my dream course are looking extremely slim and it basically sucks.

cooperguy

As far as I know you can get into the coarse this year if your points go up on a recheck the University are obliged to accept you.

lezizi

My cousin failed evey subject bar home ec, now thats a disaster.
But what i said to her is the leaving cert is important but if you dont get what you want there are always other ways to go about getting it, ie different courses that lead to the course you want.
Its a great result you have the choice of courses you will find something you like

Dudess

tinkerbell wrote:

Dudess, it's a trainee actuary not actuarist Sorry I had to correct you there but I hate the word actuarist!!!! (I am a trainee actuary y'see)

Ah... I always thought people were using the incorrect term when they said "actuary" referring to the person. Unusual that the same word is used for the person and the discipline. My mistake.

So I'm guessing medicine or pharmacy or one of those. There's always a backdoor in to do these things - my cousin wanted Pharmacy, didn't get the points so did Science in Trinity for a year and now he's just after getting Pharmacy in England so he's delighted.

So OP - chin up, offers aren't out yet, try to enjoy the weekend before the points come out. I hope you get what you want - you never know, points may come down rather than going up. You really did do brilliant but I know it's no good unless you get the course. Best of luck

Yep, definitely bear all of the above in mind, OP. It WILL get better. Last year when I graduated from my masters in journalism, I couldn't get a full-time job for the life of me - only bits and pieces of freelance. I got really depressed about it. But now, a year later, I'm extremely happy - still freelancing, but it's increasing all the time.

PeakOutput

Dudess wrote:

Unusual that the same word is used for the person and the discipline.

acturial science is the discipline as far as i know

good luck tomorrow op we both need it

Dudess

Dudess wrote:

I've done third-level and masters-level exams - nothing among those is as hard as the leaving.

lol. You must be joking, the LC is a complete doddle compared to higher uni and postgrad exams.
OP: talk to your parents. Figure out another way. There's always one.

dumbyearbook

Get your rechecks done on everything (Below A1s obviosly!) You may get a few points extra, I took it for granted points would stay the same and they did nt moved up 5 anf i lost out,

- get your papers checked as your a A student you'll be likely to see an A2 into an A1 maybe this will help (apologies if i am repeating another here but had no time to read post!)

Dudess

bluewolf wrote:

lol. You must be joking, the LC is a complete doddle compared to higher uni and postgrad exams.

Depends on the third level/postgrad course I suppose. For me, arts was a lot easier than the leaving cert. I suppose because it was infinitely more interesting. The sheer dullness of the leaving cert curriculum is one of the main reasons why I found it difficult.

Victor

OP, how did today go?

D

Also remember that even if you don't get enough points for your degree choice you could still apply for a diploma course in the same area and work your way up.

LegacyUser

Thanks for all the advice.
I'm applying for medicine btw.
Got up at 5:48 and waited until the news came on the radio before I went on the computer. Didn't get offered any med courses. That was a fairly big disappointment but then I found out that I had missed it twice on random selection (I only applied to UCC, UCD, NUIG and Trinity).

There was the initial low, coupled with an irrepressible urge to curse as much as possible (parents didn't seem to mind that too much under the circumstances). Then I sank a little lower, somehow managing to make my mum cry in the process (we've all been a little tense lately).
Now we're all hoping that it will fall in the next round but to be honest, I'm not sure it will (who would give up a place in medschool?!).

Looks like I'll be repeating. Which sucks because it was bloody hard the first time...

DiscoHugh

must be getting old. In my day medicine was only 550! assumed you wanted actuarial!

I was in a vaguely similar situation when i got my results. got my 1st choice but was the only person in my year who did better in the mocks than the actual leaving, and if id even only equalled my mock result I would have gotten a 2g scholarship! I was well pissed off.

anyways you said you didnt work nearly as hard as you could have so chances are if you repeat you can most likely get it as you will be more focused.

Also repeating (e.g. in the institute) isnt as bad as it seems. I was always dead against repeating because of the feeling of being left behind as all your mates go off to college. It s only one year and a **** loads of ppl either defer a year of college,repeat a year or change course etc. so you pretty much catch up with everyone in the end!

fits

570toolow wrote:

T
Looks like I'll be repeating. Which sucks because it was bloody hard the first time...

Unlucky for you..:(
Do get your papers rechecked though, you've nothing to lose by it... and a lot to gain.
Also maybe consider taking a year out and applying to UCAS next year?
You could also do an anatomy and physiology course, get first-hand experience by working in hospitals and nursing homes, and then go the graduate route....

To quote the carlsberg ad, its never just a or b, theres always a 'c'

PeakOutput

570toolow wrote:

(who would give up a place in medschool?!).

i knw at least one girl who is turning down trinity med so good luck getting her place

Crumble Froo

there's always the second round offers...

Lemming

570toolow wrote:

Looks like I'll be repeating. Which sucks because it was bloody hard the first time...

I repeated my L.C. in Ashfield college. There were people there just like you, and tbh, at the results you got, you're gambling a year (not to mention €2000/€3000 in fees at a place like Ashfield) on the hope of getting an extra couple of points.

And if you slogged your ass off for this, what if a course paper next year is brutally difficult? or you find you can't handle the pressure? (in which case you're also boned if you actually GET into medicine).

I'm not trying to be defeatist, I'm just trying to give you another perspective to look at in deciding what you want to do. If you're prepared to face the above possible outcomes (and tbh I doubt you are judging by your reaction to the current situation), then sure, go for it and best of luck. But there's always an alternative even if you either can't see it or don't like the sound of it right now. And of course, as Narco pointed out - there's still a few rounds of offers to go yet.

As for your parents, let them have their moment of joy. You've achieved an oustanding result in the L.C. - 570 is a stupidly high level of points. Let me put those points in perspective for you; in 1996 the average result around the country was 250. Whilst I'm sure that's gone up a b it in the intervening years, I sincerely doubt the national average is anywhere near 400 points yet along 570.

babyhack

Medicine in TCD is 585
Medicine in the NUI Universities (UCD, UCC, NUIG (Maynooth dont do Medicine)) is 570
Also Medicine in the NUI's Recognised College (RCSI) is 570

There is also a number of back doors that can be taken

Hold out for the 2nd round of offers (early September)
There is no need to panic just yet

BH

louisecm

There are people who turn it down AND defer. A friend of mine was offered a place in Trinity drama (which is notoriously hard to get into) a few years ago after college had STARTED, miracles happen.