Subject choices for LC

storm2811

I was going to post this in the JC forum but I thought it'd be more useful here to ask students who took the subjects.:p

So anyway,for next year I picked art over chemistry or home ec.,should I have?I heard there's a lot in it and the practical can be stressful,is it hard to get points in compared to the other subjects?

Thanks!

zam

Coming from an "artist" (ie I did art for the LC), I really would advise against doing it unless you're brilliant at art. The classes and stuff can be good craic in 5th year but when it comes down to it, the practical work is pretty stressful and difficult to do well in! You have to do a craft exam, a still life exam, a life drawing exam, AND an art history exam. I personally hate art history and find it really boring but some people love it!
It's really difficult to do well in, even if you work really really hard only those with a specific talent can really get an A1 in it...
That being said, if you really enjoy art, aren't too fussed about points, and think you'd like to do it, go for it!

storm2811

zam wrote: »

Coming from an "artist" (ie I did art for the LC), I really would advise against doing it unless you're brilliant at art. The classes and stuff can be good craic in 5th year but when it comes down to it, the practical work is pretty stressful and difficult to do well in! You have to do a craft exam, a still life exam, a life drawing exam, AND an art history exam. I personally hate art history and find it really boring but some people love it!
It's really difficult to do well in, even if you work really really hard only those with a specific talent can really get an A1 in it...
That being said, if you really enjoy art, aren't too fussed about points, and think you'd like to do it, go for it!

I do enjoy it,but even for the JC project I was goin mad at the end,just wanted to throw the whole thing in the bin!

I'll see though,have the summer to mull it over anyway:p

PlayGirl

dont do home ec!

storm2811

PlayGirl wrote: »

dont do home ec!

Why not?
People say it's easy points but I don't really have any interest in it so..

lucybrown

unless u have an interest in it i wouldnt do it then......its far from easy OR easy points!!

PlayGirl

storm2811 wrote: »

Why not?
People say it's easy points but I don't really have any interest in it so..

ok well you do a journal which is max 20% already going into the exam, happy days!
but it takes ages to do and is quite alot of work if your going for the full 20%

the rest of the course is huge! none of it is particularly hard, but its very broad and unpredictable when it comes to the exam.

unless you have an intrest in it and/or will work continuously at it from day one id steer clear of it.

its not alot like the JC course

Emmpty

I've heard very bad things about chemistry but that might just be a personal kinda thing.

Pick the one you enjoy the most because theres not much worse than studying something you hate for two years and lack of interest makes things more difficult to learn.

I do art and love it. I really enjoy art history and find it pretty easy but I've got a great teacher so that helps too. The practical can be stressful if you're not naturally good at it, but if you are then its grand. I was actually having fun in my one the only stress was preparing for it.

Orlaladuck

Chemistry is the worst subject in the world - Don't do it!

But art can be difficult unless you're Good at it. I know in my school, my class consisted of i'd say 3-5 people who actually enjoyed art and had an interest in it and the rest did it for 'the doss'. Because of them it took ages to get through the basic history chapters that should take a week max.
I got into an art uni yet I'm still hoping for a B1 at Best.
The art history side is manageable - it's pretty much learning artists and you can skim irish history to 3 sections if you really want to. There's always a definite question on a gallery visit, the only problem is the European Art but you should be able to get a good 5-10 artists under your belt after 2 years.
Be able to draw a Good still life and draw people proportionately and add tone.
The craft is pretty much your only chance to be really creative so go through past papers and see what you can come up with and make sure the wording is Perfect and stands out - It Really helps to know what colours work and whatnot.
It is a tougher subject than people make it out to be and it certainly is NOT an 'easy A' by Any means and it's difficult to actually get a decent grade ontop of that so be careful.

Home Ec. as far as I know is a hell of a lot of learning and unpredictable so be careful with it. Chemistry is all about understanding and is also really unpredictable in terms of what can come up. I did it and I HATE it with a passion - you either get it or you don't and you're lucky to pass if you don't. There's a lot of maths in it, 20+ experiments and you have to be able to interlink pretty much every chapter. It's horrible.

storm2811

Orlaladuck wrote: »

Chemistry is the worst subject in the world - Don't do it!

But art can be difficult unless you're Good at it. I know in my school, my class consisted of i'd say 3-5 people who actually enjoyed art and had an interest in it and the rest did it for 'the doss'. Because of them it took ages to get through the basic history chapters that should take a week max.
I got into an art uni yet I'm still hoping for a B1 at Best.
The art history side is manageable - it's pretty much learning artists and you can skim irish history to 3 sections if you really want to. There's always a definite question on a gallery visit, the only problem is the European Art but you should be able to get a good 5-10 artists under your belt after 2 years.
Be able to draw a Good still life and draw people proportionately and add tone.
The craft is pretty much your only chance to be really creative so go through past papers and see what you can come up with and make sure the wording is Perfect and stands out - It Really helps to know what colours work and whatnot.
It is a tougher subject than people make it out to be and it certainly is NOT an 'easy A' by Any means and it's difficult to actually get a decent grade ontop of that so be careful.

Home Ec. as far as I know is a hell of a lot of learning and unpredictable so be careful with it. Chemistry is all about understanding and is also really unpredictable in terms of what can come up. I did it and I HATE it with a passion - you either get it or you don't and you're lucky to pass if you don't. There's a lot of maths in it, 20+ experiments and you have to be able to interlink pretty much every chapter. It's horrible.

I'd say I'm good enough at it,well I'm happy with my work like and usually get Bs and Cs on my life drawings,don't mind the history bit,I love history,all sorts of it.:p
One question though,for the JC we had the choice to only draw the head and shoulders instead of the whole person,can you do this in the LC aswell?It's just when I have to draw the whole person it takes me ages to get it right,especially the shoes!

Ciara_ily

Orlaladuck wrote: »

Chemistry is the worst subject in the world - Don't do it!

This isn't true if you understand it and ask plenty of questions in class. Chemistry is one of my favorite subjects

Orlaladuck

Then you should be fine . It's if you're getting C's and D's I'd be worried. Your artwork improves over the year anyway and try do a mock in 6th year if you can (I know some school's don't offer one) - you really see what works and what doesn't and you learn mistakes ( ALWAYS put in the background first!).
In the 30 minute life drawing, the choices are - the head and shoulders, head to waist, full body. But you have 2 life drawing exams - one is 15 minutes and you have to draw the full body in that anyway but the key thing is to just get the entire body in and try get it proportionate.

And I asked every question under the sun in chemistry, have gone through every revision book and studied it - still don't get it. It's down to the person if it clicks or not and for me it just didn't.

storm2811

Orlaladuck wrote: »

( ALWAYS put in the background first!).
In the 30 minute life drawing, the choices are - the head and shoulders, head to waist, full body. But you have 2 life drawing exams - one is 15 minutes and you have to draw the full body in that anyway but the key thing is to just get the entire body in and try get it proportionate.
.

The background?Like in the life drawing or just in still lifes?

Oh right,I'm alright at getting the proportions,not great but I'll probably get better over the 2 years..

Orlaladuck

I meant background in posters and still lives - you don't necessarily have to put it in in the background in the life drawing.
And trust me you will - I look back at the stuff I did in 5th year and compare them and there's a big difference but I also did a portfolio which consisted of Lots of life and still drawing but just practice when you get the chance!

storm2811

Orlaladuck wrote: »

I meant background in posters and still lives - you don't necessarily have to put it in in the background in the life drawing.
And trust me you will - I look back at the stuff I did in 5th year and compare them and there's a big difference but I also did a portfolio which consisted of Lots of life and still drawing but just practice when you get the chance!

Thanks,think I probably will do art so,interests me more than the other choices,and will prob get more points in it..hopefully:p

Orlaladuck

Do what takes your interest - think about horrible doubles in subjects you don't like. They're the worst! Just take everything seriously and work hard at it and you'll do fine

Pawz17

I do chemistry and although I hated JC science I absolutely LOVE LC chemistry! It's my favorite subject by far and every aspect of it is so interesting that learning it isn't too bad! There's a good bit of maths involved but it's nothing too bad, I'm in ordinary level maths and I can do the calculations easily enough! It's such an under rated subject!!

curlypops

well i personally love art ..

but i think it is the fact that it is so completely different to junior cert art, it throws some people..

for example ..
in junior cert you have the entire year to do your exam..
in leaving cert you have a week to gather all your ideas and then sit down one day and do your entire project in 2.5 or 5 hours depending on what you do ..

that week is VERY stressful ..
you really need to put everything else on hold and focus on art..

then you have to do an art history exam in June..

well i will make my point now ..
art requires a lot of work and time..
so my advice is to do art if you really and truely want to do it as a subject..
because there is people in my class that picked it because they thought it was a dossy subject - art is NOT a dossy subject ..

okay rant over ..

hope i helped :rolleyes:

!?!

I do both art and chemistry, and personally speaking if you're looking for points do chemistry. art is a brilliant subject, but it can be HELL in the leaving cert, only a very small minority get an A1 and the course is ridicuous, there is so much to do, just the art history by itself should be a separate subject independent of "art".

if you're very passionate about it and think you will have time to put into it, go ahead. but remember, it is NOT a walk in the park. i've spent more time on art than honours maths!

my friend does home ec and there is a LOT in that, just learning off by heart sort of stuff, so if you're looking for an alternative do chemistry. don't get me wrong, it's still a hard subject but personally that's what i would advise.

STBR

As already stated. Do NOT do Home Ec.

lucybrown

haha u ****ed for tomoro aswell?

storm2811

I think I'll still try art,for a while anyway and if it's not working for me by halloween I might ask to switch to chemistry
Really do not want to do home ec. though:p

Orlaladuck

That week is very stressful as mentioned - so I'm going to say this Loud and Clear for all future art students :

Your craftwork exam (poster,clay,puppet etc) is a FIVE HOUR EXAM.
Life drawing 1 is 15 Minutes, 2 is 30 Minutes.
Your Imaginative compostition is 2 and a half hours
and art history is 150 minutes.
Bear in mind four of those occur on one week.

JC you have an entire year and honestly, Nothing pisses you off more than JC students whinging about not having their work done when they've had 6 months to do it and you have a Week. You standard must be A lot higher and teachers get annoyed that you have to miss 2/3 days to do all these exams and it tends to fall around Oral /project deadlines. Just really consider these, I was the only person in my class who even knew about the 5 hour exam going into 5th year, most people didn't realise until the mocks!

storm2811

What are the options for the craftwork exam?Is it the same as the 3D part of the JC project?Because I did a wire sculpture in that and I really enjoyed it.:p

What's the imaginative compostition?

Orlaladuck

The choices are : Puppetry, A poster, model, batique, calligraphy, bookcraft, pottery, weaving, linoprinting, screen printing, hand printed textiles, embroidery, woodcarving, metalwork construction.

And imaginitive composition you're given 5 passages and from them you either do objects for a still life or you draw something from your head based on the passages.