Is Geography a science subject?

delta-boy

Hi,

I have two questions, lads.

1). Is Geography considered a science subject by most Universitys?
2). Do I need a practical science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) for Universitys?

randylonghorn

delta-boy wrote: »

Hi,

I have two questions, lads.

1). Is Geography considered a science subject by most Universitys?

Generally not ... Geography is a normally classified as a Social Science rather than a Physical Science, the latter being what we usually mean by a "science" subject, though there are aspects to geography which fall into the physical science parameters e.g. geological aspects.

delta-boy wrote: »

Do I need a practical science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) for Universitys?

As a general rule, no ... but specific courses may require it.

Look up the minimum qualifications for the type of courses you are interested in on the University websites.

stealinhorses

Most science courses in universities require at least one laboratory science subject (meaning physics, chemistry or biology), but there are geography courses out there for which you don't need any lab sciences.

And no, I wouldn't consider geography to be a science subject, although some might argue geology comes close to being one.

readystudypass

Trinity College Dublin will accept geography as one of the 2 required 'science' subjects at grade HC3 for entry to science, earth sciences, medicinal chemistry or pharmacy.

http://www.tcd.ie/Admissions/undergraduate/assets/pdfs/admission_requirements_summary_2011.pdf

sinan1234

readystudypass wrote: »

Trinity College Dublin will accept geography as one of the 2 required 'science' subjects at grade HC3 for entry to science, earth sciences, medicinal chemistry or pharmacy.

http://www.tcd.ie/Admissions/undergraduate/assets/pdfs/admission_requirements_summary_2011.pdf

are you sure its accepted as a science subject

hfallada

sinan1234 wrote: »

are you sure its accepted as a science subject

Check on their site. But I'm 95% sure they count it as a science. However UCD don't count it as a science. Likewise ucd looks for two non-English languages, but tcd only looks for one.

STP50

Here are the entry requirements for Science common entry in TCD - the do accept Geography as a science subject
TCD SCIENCE course requirements (in addition to matriculation requirements);-
Leaving Certificate HD3 or OC3 Mathematics
HC3 In two of: physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, physics/chemistry, geology, geography, applied mathematics or
agricultural science.

Combinations of subjects not permitted:
Physics/chemistry with physics or chemistry
Agricultural science with biology
Applied mathematics with mathematics



FOR UCD SCIENCE Entry Requriements

DN200 Science BSc requirements
OD3 Irish
OD3 English

HD3/OB3 Maths
HD3/OB3 1 Lab Science subject
2 other subjects

STP50

UCD Science Lab requirement

The following subjects in the Irish Leaving Certificate are recognised laboratory science subjects: Agricultural Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Chemistry (Joint), Physics.
In addition to the Laboratory Science subjects listed overleaf, Applied Mathematics (or Geography from 2014) may be used to meet the Laboratory Science requirement for DN200 and DN210.

yoho139

STP50 wrote: »

Combinations of subjects not permitted:
Applied mathematics with mathematics

Source? Nearly gave me a heart attack. The general admissions doesn't seem to have that, is that course specific? Doesn't seem to be on mine, but you never know..

Bazinga_N

STP50 wrote: »

Here are the entry requirements for Science common entry in TCD - the do accept Geography as a science subject
TCD SCIENCE course requirements (in addition to matriculation requirements);-
Leaving Certificate HD3 or OC3 Mathematics
HC3 In two of: physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, physics/chemistry, geology, geography, applied mathematics or
agricultural science.

Since when is geology a Leaving Certificate course?

Combinations of subjects not permitted:
Physics/chemistry with physics or chemistry
Agricultural science with biology
Applied mathematics with mathematics

Considering Maths is a core subject that everyone takes there would be no point in any student doing Applied Maths, if this is true?

I'm starting to questions your sources :rolleyes:

STP50

Source is the TCD web site.
http://www.tcd.ie/courses/undergraduate/az/course.php?id=DUBSC-SCIE-1F09#requirements

The course entry requirement for Science is to present 2 lab subjects at honors level as well as the matriculation requirements ( A pass in Maths , English and another language etc.).
Lab subjects are defined clearly in the list.

The restricted combinations refer particularly to the 2 lab science subjects to meet the course requirements, i.e. you will not meet the entry requirements for science if you have ONLY maths & applied mats from the list of subjects recognized for lab subjects. ( or the other combinations listed) you would need at least one of the other subjects also.

As you say the vast majority of people do maths, but most will have at least one other science subject from the list besides applied maths.
Of course both these subjects may be combined for points purposes.

So, my son is doing Maths , Applied Maths & Physics for his leaving cert this year, he will count all 3 for points, but must have physics with either maths OR applied maths for entry requirements. If he failed physics he wound have an issue as the other two may not be combined to meet the course requirements.

As to Geology making the list - many years ago, Colleges used to set matriculation exams separately to the leaving cert, and you could present with either a matric or a leaving cert. Nowadays colleges accept all leaving cert subjects, but Trinity still set a matric exam in two subjects, Geology and Biblical studies. These can be taken independently to the leaving cert and are run by TCD themselves rather than the state exam.
http://www.tcd.ie/Admissions/undergraduate/assets/pdf/Matric-Syllabus-2012.pdf

The requirements for UCD science and other NUI colleges are slightly different , and the list of recognized subjects to meet course requirements can vary not just by college, but by course within the same college, So read carefully and consider

College entry requirements
Course entry requirement
Points requirement / rules

They can overlap but be slightly different.

yoho139

Are you certain about that note on points - that you can use them for points but not requirements? Seems a bit of a loophole if you could have a student using Physics/Chemistry, Physics and Chemistry for points purposes by using other lab subjects to fill out the requirements.

Canard

yoho139 wrote: »

Are you certain about that note on points - that you can use them for points but not requirements? Seems a bit of a loophole if you could have a student using Physics/Chemistry, Physics and Chemistry for points purposes by using other lab subjects to fill out the requirements.

The difference is you're not actually allowed to sit phys/chem at all with either of the two others - which is why the physics and phys/chem exams are at the same time. I imagine the idea with combinations like Biology and Ag Science isn't that there's huge overlap (like in phys/chem + physics), but that it's the same type of science - i.e. no physics or maths really involved in it.

STP50

I agree that this can be a mine field, and I have read the fine print carefully, as I said my son has 1 of these combinations and is interested in Science and I have a daughter already on this course , so I have invest quite a bit of time on this.

I have never come across restrictions on subject combinations for points scoring, only restrictions on levels (foundation,etc) and timing, points scores must be taken from one sitting - you six best are counted.

There are a great many restrictions on subject combinations for both college entry requirements and also course specific requirements, generally I think people assume once you have the points for a course you are in, however I have seen a couple of cases where a student achieved the points for a course but failed to secure a place because the entry requirement were not met.

For instance for TCD there are also restrictions on subject combinations for entry requirements - confusingly, these are similar to the science one , but not quite the same.

So for TCD ( note the other colleges are different)
to meet entry requirements of the college you need 6 subjects of which 3 must be at honors level and they should include English, Maths & a language.
Combinations of Leaving Certificate subjects not permitted:
Physics/Chemistry may not be presented with physics or chemistry
Biology and agricultural science may not be presented as two of the six subjects required for minimum entry purposes, and they may not be presented together to satisfy course specific requirements. However, both may be used for scoring purposes.
Art and music may not be offered as two of the three higher Leaving Certificate grades for minimum entry requirements but both may be used for scoring purposes.


The real emphasis should be on understanding what the entry and course requirements are first -they will ensure that the student has the required skills and prior knowledge to do the course, note they can be combined over a number of sittings.

The points are simply a ranking mechanism in competition for scarce places and are in addition to the entry rules.

So in the case of my Son taking Maths , Applied Mats & Physics,

For TCD SCIENCE
For Course requirements - he cannot combine maths & applied maths to meet the 2 honors science subject requirement - he needs 1 of them with Physics.
For the college entry requirements - he can use all 3 to meet the requirement for 6 subjects and also to meet the 3 honors requirement.
For Points - He can use all 3 for scoring.

I think the biology & Ag science is a popular choice and any student taking them will often be interested in science - so they really need to be careful they read all the information for any course the are doing.

greenpyjamas

Bazinga_N wrote: »

Since when is geology a Leaving Certificate course?



Considering Maths is a core subject that everyone takes there would be no point in any student doing Applied Maths, if this is true?

I'm starting to questions your sources :rolleyes:

There are elective modules for geography which students choose from, one of those is geology. Also I think a few schools offer geology as a supplementary subject.
Applied maths isn't needed but it sure helps any student going into a maths/ science course.
A friend of mine is doing all science subjects and applied maths; and is planning on doing science in college. You're at more of an advantage when your course does modules on all three sciences and maths.

Peregrine

Bazinga_N wrote: »

Considering Maths is a core subject that everyone takes there would be no point in any student doing Applied Maths, if this is true?

I'm starting to questions your sources :rolleyes:

I don't understand why you're saying that.

That was just for entry in to that specific course in that specific university, of course they would still count in your points.

As in they need you to have a C3 in 2 science subjects and you can't present Maths and Applied Maths together and go "Yeah here's my two sciences".

Bazinga_N

Nimrod 7 wrote: »

I don't understand why you're saying that.

That was just for entry in to that specific course in that specific university, of course they would still count in your points.

As in they need you to have a C3 in 2 science subjects and you can't present Maths and Applied Maths together and go "Yeah here's my two sciences".

I thought what the user was saying is that you can't use both Applied maths and Maths for points