26 year old going back to do the full leaving cert

petemg

Hi All
Im 26, completed my gcses in england, started my a levels towards medicine but half way through decided to take a year out and came over to ireland. I ended up getting a part time job in a toy superstore and stayed for 7 years working my way up to store manager. I then decided now was the time for me to go backand study what i wanted (medicine) and realize the only way its going to be in my hands is to do the whole leaving cert. so i have been accepted for Pearse college to do the 2 year leaving cert starting this September and was just looking for advice i guess. Also haven't received a book list yet
Thanks
Peter

PCPhoto

for a 26yr old the leaving cert should be easier to retain the stuff - as a lot of it will be similar to your GCSE's - and as a person with some degree of intelligence (which you appear to have !! - from the one and only post I have read from you ...lol) - getting decent results should be ok.

However - getting enough points for medicine is a different task - with plenty of study - plenty of sample papers and past papers - learn it...know it... understand it.... and hopefully you'll get there.

cynder

Good for you!

I left school at the age of 11 (1991) (wont go into reasons), i was in 5th class never stepped into a secondry school. I worked full time from the age of 14.

I did the leaving cert applied a two year course at the age of 22, i got a pass with distinction 198 points out of 200. Thats not bad for someone with little to no education. If i can do that im sure you will be fine.


Best of luck.

pathway33

petemg wrote: »

i have been accepted for Pearse college to do the 2 year leaving cert starting this September

So does that mean you can do the HPAT next year in January / February 2011 ? It would be to your advantage to have 2 cracks at the HPAT and take your highest result. Some people improved substantially when they did it for the second time this year

ilikesunshine

Best of luck man !! I did it this year (9 subjects) including Chemistry and biology !!

Once you listen in class the exams are quite doable !! i didn't study too much or do all my homework but slept lots ( really good idea imo keep as awake as possible ).
The points for med aren't unattainable either so don't worry ... and don't listen to the hype =] my sister did med so let me know if you've any questions !!

spurious

You'll enjoy Pearse. It's designed for adults and the supports are terrific.

Grindelwald - that's a fantastic score in the Leaving Cert Applied. I haven't had the pleasure of teaching anyone who came close to that.

Dilynnio

Surely being 26....you can apply to do a college course without having a leaving certificate........ As you are now classified as a mature applicant.

You just have to go and do an interview and possibly a short test??

Maybe you should ring a college and see as I am nearly positive that my friends husband who is 29 is starting college in September and he did not do his leaving but did go for an interview for the course in college and got the place.

pathway33

Dilynnio wrote: »

Surely being 26....you can apply to do a college course without having a leaving certificate........ As you are now classified as a mature applicant.

You just have to go and do an interview and possibly a short test??

Maybe you should ring a college and see as I am nearly positive that my friends husband who is 29 is starting college in September and he did not do his leaving but did go for an interview for the course in college and got the place.

I got the impression OP knew about that option. OP says 'the only way its going to be in my hands'. OP could always apply via the mature route for 2011 entry I guess and still be aiming towards the leaving cert entry route.

petemg

hey all

Thanks for the encouraging words, i really appreciate it.

@ grindlewald fair play to ya. thats great when you think of the education you would have missed so well done!!

@ pathway33 i am hoping i can sit it the beginning of 2011 but not sure yet, i would definitely prefer 2 chances of HPAT.

@ilikesunshine it makes a change to hear the points are attainable, everyone reminds of how hard its going to me. I will PM some messages about med to you but what was your sisters LC and HPAT and where she doing/do it?

@Dilynnio i have looked at mature entry but the % is so small that get it and as i have said i want it to be in my hands and not just luck, also feel doing the leaving will equip me better for a 5 year degree, rather then just walking in.

thanks again guys

Pete

Skinback

petemg wrote: »

Hi All
Im 26, completed my gcses in england, started my a levels towards medicine but half way through decided to take a year out and came over to ireland. I ended up getting a part time job in a toy superstore and stayed for 7 years working my way up to store manager. I then decided now was the time for me to go backand study what i wanted (medicine) and realize the only way its going to be in my hands is to do the whole leaving cert. so i have been accepted for Pearse college to do the 2 year leaving cert starting this September and was just looking for advice i guess. Also haven't received a book list yet
Thanks
Peter

Good for you Pete....best of luck for the future.

petemg

Skinback wrote: »

Good for you Pete....best of luck for the future.

thanks skinback

pathway33

petemg wrote: »

hey all


@ pathway33 i am hoping i can sit it the beginning of 2011 but not sure yet, i would definitely prefer 2 chances of HPAT.

I think to sit the HPAT in 2011 you either have to

a) have already done the leaving cert
b) be doing the leaving cert in 2011

GCSEs are like ordinary level leaving cert so not sure where you stand there. You may find it to your advantage to register as an external student for the leaving cert in 2011 just so you can sit the HPAT. Then have your real crack at the leaving in 2012 as is your plan

cynder

spurious wrote: »

Grindelwald - that's a fantastic score in the Leaving Cert Applied. I haven't had the pleasure of teaching anyone who came close to that.

Thanks

I was there to learn and that's what i did, always had my key assignments done - even before i was asked to do them, i never missed a day in the 2 years, I really wanted that piece of paper and i also wanted to prove to myself that I wasn't stupid.

There was one other guy that got the same score as me.


I wish i could have done the full leaving cert but where im living they only offered maths and english.

pathway33

grindelwald wrote: »

I wish i could have done the full leaving cert but where im living they only offered maths and english.

You could do the full leaving cert as an external student, studying yourself from home. Or did you mean do the full leaving cert applied?

panda100

I came back here when I was 16,having just done my GSCE's,did the leaving and medicine, so I hope that gives ya some encouragment :pac:

If you did well in your GCSE's than the leaving cert should be a breeze.

Our science GCSE is pretty much on par,slightly lower standard, than leaving cert.

One thing I would steer clear of is Honours maths as the maths over here seems to be the very different to the maths we did in England. I found it a lot more old-school and less problem solving than the maths I did for GCSE. Hon's maths is on par with A-level maths.

Fair play for going back to do the cert. I think once you have that a lot of doors will be opened to you.

Also, try and do a bit of volunteer work to try and get the gist of medicine is really like. A lot of people go into it with rose tinted glasses, and realise its not really for them,myself included.

pathway33

panda100 wrote: »

If you did well in your GCSE's than the leaving cert should be a breeze.

OP maybe you should think about signing up for a 1 year LC course?

cynder

pathway33 wrote: »

You could do the full leaving cert as an external student, studying yourself from home. Or did you mean do the full leaving cert applied?

Ah well to late now!

* I did the full leaving cert applied.

spurious

grindelwald wrote: »

Ah well to late now!

* I did the full leaving cert applied.

Nothing wrong with the Leaving Cert. Applied.
There are people getting high points in the Established Leaving who wouldn't pass the LCA. They measure very different things. It's a very different skill to be really on top of your game for one day in June than to be consistently on top of your game for two years.

petemg

hey

@ Spurious i have heard a lot of good things about Pearse and really looking forward to studying there.

@ Pathway, that sounds a good idea, as i really would feel better with 2 attempts. Also want to do the 2 years as i would be more confident after not studying for so long

@Panda, thanks the definitely gives me encouragement, although i got an A in higher GCSE Maths so im going to try honors Maths. also i volunteer for a children's charity and have done shadowing in GOSH and with my GP.

Pete

Roro4Brit

petemg wrote: »

Hi All
Im 26, completed my gcses in england, started my a levels towards medicine but half way through decided to take a year out and came over to ireland. I ended up getting a part time job in a toy superstore and stayed for 7 years working my way up to store manager. I then decided now was the time for me to go backand study what i wanted (medicine) and realize the only way its going to be in my hands is to do the whole leaving cert. so i have been accepted for Pearse college to do the 2 year leaving cert starting this September and was just looking for advice i guess. Also haven't received a book list yet
Thanks
Peter

Just want to wish you luck man! I think it's fantastic that you're going back to tackle the LC in order to get to where you want be. It's no easy task at any age. I hope that yellow piece of paper (it's still yellow right?) shows a big fat 600 for you

petemg

Roro4Brit wrote: »

Just want to wish you luck man! I think it's fantastic that you're going back to tackle the LC in order to get to where you want be. It's no easy task at any age. I hope that yellow piece of paper (it's still yellow right?) shows a big fat 600 for you

Thanks Roro, appreciate that, and have no idea what color it is and if i get the 600 i probably wont even notice

petemg

Hi all,

just thought i would update this for anyone interested. I'm now 2 weeks in and seem to be doing good in chemistry, biology, physics, maths and okish in English and French. Quite a few times after class some of the lads have asked me to explain what we did in class as they didnt get it and was able to explain and help them get it so thats a good sign so far.

My chemistry and biology teacher have me doing work separate from the rest of the class as they feel i can handle it. physics i have to explain to some of the lads in our class what we are doing. maths the teacher so far hasn't impressed me (he spent the whole of our first lesson explaining how the meter was discovered) also what we are doing so far is simple enough equations and he says none of the class will do higher (which i want to do) because its too hard. So think ill have a word with my tutor and if he wont teach higher i will get someone who will as its my choice surely

English and French well i think i have to put more effort in these subjects as they don't come as naturally to me as the 4 above, but i still feel confident i will get there.

thanks
Pete

Long Term Louth

petemg wrote: »

Hi all,

just thought i would update this for anyone interested. I'm now 2 weeks in and seem to be doing good in chemistry, biology, physics, maths and okish in English and French. Quite a few times after class some of the lads have asked me to explain what we did in class as they didnt get it and was able to explain and help them get it so thats a good sign so far.

My chemistry and biology teacher have me doing work separate from the rest of the class as they feel i can handle it. physics i have to explain to some of the lads in our class what we are doing. maths the teacher so far hasn't impressed me (he spent the whole of our first lesson explaining how the meter was discovered) also what we are doing so far is simple enough equations and he says none of the class will do higher (which i want to do) because its too hard. So think ill have a word with my tutor and if he wont teach higher i will get someone who will as its my choice surely

English and French well i think i have to put more effort in these subjects as they don't come as naturally to me as the 4 above, but i still feel confident i will get there.

thanks
Pete

Hi Pete,
Sounds as if all is going better than you anticipated and by the sound of things it may be worth contemplating sitting the LC after 1 year and access Uni next as a mature student.

Definitely if you can do higher level Maths "go for it" perhaps the current tutor cannot teach it?

Anyway best of luck for the future.

petemg

Hey guys

So just though i would give an update for those interested,

so far everything science is going great with my test results across chemistry, physics and biology averaging out at 86% (we have had like 2 tests per subject in science and another biology one tomorrow) and i cant say i have really pushed myself with study yet so those grades could go up more when i start getting my mind maps sorted also the teachers say my experiment write ups are a1.

English at last is coming together, i feel more confident then i was. We wrote 2 essays and a short story, for which i got good marks. Started Hamlet now and although the language is tough, the story line is easy to follow.

French, well for something i was worried about im doing good, the teacher seems to think im going to do ok at honor level (news to me) and i seem to be able to answer the questions in class.

Maths, we have started higher at last, i feel well able for it but i know this time next year its going to get a lot tougher across all subjects. I think (and this may be a mature decision or silly decision) i am going to drop down to ordinary level maths (i feel i can get A1 with out studying too hard) so then i can keep my other subjects at a high level, as opposed to doing higher maths, which will take up A LOT of time and maybe have a negative result on my other subjects.

Thanks again guys
Peter

petemg

Hi everyone

The first term is over so just though i would give those interested another update.

After feeling fairly nervous in September, i soon settled down and found my feet, there is a good group of students in my class and some healthy competition. All the teachers i have i get on well and fully respect them to help get the best out of me.

My Christmas tests went well, i got 100% in chemistry, 96% in physics and i let my self down in biology with a 52% but it was the last day of term and the weekend before i was Christmas shopping.

Overall i know i have still to reach my top speed and know where i can improve, i have already done a good bit of study of the holidays to keep me where around where i need to be.

I have also looked at other options including mature entry to a science degree and then grad entry medicine in UK, would take the same about of time as what i have left now and its always good to keep your options open.

Anyways thanks for all the kind words since my first post, hope you all had a lovely Christmas and all the best for the new year.

Pete

seriouslysweet

Serious Kudos, in pretty similar situation myself. Never attended school before and now in 5th year hoping for medicine myself. It's doable when you really want it which you seem to. All the best.