I'm tired...

Jiggidy

So it's coming towards the last few weeks of 5th year and I'm dissapointed in myself to say the least. I want to do medicine so bad but I know that I don't deserve it with the work I've been doing. So the other day I went out and bought hardback copies for all my subjects, and I've been writing out notes and studying. It's all fine, I'm feeling a lot better about my study, school isn't as stressful but I'm still not improving my grades.

The thing is I've started going back over stuff we did at the start of the year and it's hard to balance doing that and the current stuff, it's to much to do in 8 subjects and I can't physically do it and I don't have the time. Can anyone give me some tips and an effective way to cover both current topics and revision at the same time?

Thanks.

Fringe

Studying in 5th year...?

Anyway, fair play for studying in 5th year. I really wouldn't worry about it. A lot of people don't really start until 6th year. Is there any chance of dropping to pass in a subject like Irish if you're not good at it? There's no point in wasting time in something you can scrape a C in when you can devote that time to your other subjects. I went through the same thing last year too.

When studying, do manage your time efficiently. Try to spend a certain amount of time on a specific topic in a subject. You set a goal and it's much easier to accomplish it than to blindly study random topics. Do go as in depth as if you've done some good study, that information should stick with you so you won't have to look over it fully again next year.

Heggy

The meaning is a little ambiguous, because I know of several schools where everyone refers to their last year as 5th year.
Actually reading that again it does seem that your in the first year of the leaving cert. All I can say is you have plenty of time. If you keep up what you're doing now you will be set.
Just have a timetable , don't do one subject a night for an hour or two hours, whatever you happen to be doing, you'd be better to split it into two subjects a night, in smaller doses of each, and in each following session, have a look over what you did the previous session in that subject, you're not going to remember something very well, if you just do it once then leave it for a long time.
Another tip is to more than just a timetable, as Fringe says, set goals, maybe a chapter a week or a topic a month, whatever suits you best. As Fringe also says, you can drop a level in you're weakest subject. I did it for Irish, it helped a lot, the pressure of essays was really detracting from everything else.

Delta Kilo

First of all, well done for deciding to study in 5th year. Trust me it will stand to you come this time next year!

The first thing I will say, and it is something that I think is really important to me, is you need to find a balance between study and play. Your eagerness to do medicine is no excuse for locking yourself into a room and studying 24/7. Find something you like doing whether it be going to the cinema, sport, music etc and devote a part of your week to it. It will make the study you have to do a lot more bearable.

Have something planned for the weekend, every weekend, even if it is only a small thing. You will look forward to this during the school week and it will "drag" you through the hard times.

As regards your grades, don't worry about them yet. You are preparing for June 2010, not your next assessment/class test. You are looking at the bigger picture (which is very mature of you) and your grades will improve as you get closer to the actual leaving cert.

Finally, remember you are still only in 5th year, so enjoy it. Trust me, LC is a completely different kettle of fish altogether. Don't be too hard on yourself as you will only burn yourself out for next year and you will lose the desire and motivation to study in LC (this happened me, purely because I done too much in 5th year). Remember it's a marathon, not a sprint so conserve your energy for this time next year.

Best of luck and I hope you get to do what you want!

xOxSinéadxOx

don't worry about it I don't think anybody does much in 5th year if you just keep up to date with all your work in 5th year you should be tipping along nicely

-Els-

Look, you have 16 months till your leaving cert- believe it or not you still have time and havent thrown away your life or anything!!! Maybe during the week concentrate hard on just keeping really on top of what your doing right now and try to be getting A1's in class tests. If your not completely wrecked at the weekend do a bit of revision, but as someone said, dont lock yourself away!

Dont think that revising ahs to be sitting rota-learning everything. Maybe just try and do a few questions at the end of a chapter to jog your memory.

One thing I find helpful studying, particularly subjects like Chemistry, Biology and kind of "facts" subjects is after every chapter make a list of really short questions that can cover pretty much everything. They can just be a few words- eg. definition electronegativity, so it wont take long. Keep them with your notes and then if your revising at the end see if you can answer all the questions, either orally or if you write them down.