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Advice from "Old" LC's to "New" LC Students.
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01-07-2011 9:14pm#1Hey guys, I noticed that a lot of the population of this forum are finished their Leaving Certificate and have left that "terrible" era of their life behind, but for those students who aren't quite so lucky and have another year to go do you have any advice in regards to study etc. to help us out over the following 11 months (eek that's scared me to say that :pac:).
Just set up this thread so that anyone who has finished their LC can leave tips/ hints etc. about how they studied and what methods worked best for them or what they didn't do that would have benefited them! Hindsight is 20/20 but here you can use hindsight to help others!
Thanks for any replies in advance guys! :cool:0
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Start straight away. If I hadn't started working from the start I would've been rightly screwed cos my brain died after easter, the time where lots of people 'plan' to study properly. I couldn't. Just watch out for that!
Enjoy the year though, it was both the best and the worst year of my life, if that makes sense! 0 -
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Start studying from September. You don't need to do more than an hour a day for the first few months but believe me it will all help when it comes to the last few weeks in the exam.
Cramming *can* work for subjects you have an aptitude for providing you worked consistently throughout fifth year. I studied for both my Chemistry and Biology exams the night before the exams (2PM - 4AM and 6AM - Exam start for both) and both exams went quite well. That said, I did some light study throughout the year prior to class tests and I always did my homework. The fact I didn't include Chemistry and Biology in my main study time freed up a whole lot of time for my weaker subjects like Maths and French and most importantly Business which I had to teach to myself in nine months. Cramming worked for me but that is no guarantee that it will work for you.
Do your homework to an extremely high standard. Never cut corners especially in subjects like English. File away your English essays and keep them safe.
For French/German/Spanish listen to French/German/Spanish radio to improve your Aural skills at least once a week from September onwards. It's very beneficial.
For subjects like Engineering or Technology (Or Construction to an extent...) be very careful with your timing when it comes to the project. You'd be surprised how short October - March seems when you have a mammoth of a project to complete alongside numerous other things like your Mocks and Orals.
Don't waste your time comparing study hours with everyone else. It's pointless.
Now for a few subject-centric tips:
English:Read, read, read and read some more. There's no real need to write any more than what you're given for homework so long as you are constantly reading varied written works. Read fiction, read articles, read speeches. Even better if you read about your chosen texts and poetry. I'd also recommend to steer clear of memorising short stories and "Sample essays" e.t.c. as it's wholly unnecessary.
Francais:I'll be difficult and write my advice en Francais Mon conseil est simple. Travaillez dur de septembre en mai. Lisez les articles sur des sites comme Le Monde. Ecoutez la radio Francaise de temps en temps afin de ameliorer vos compétences auditives. Pratiquez traduire les articles Francais vers Anglais de temps en temps pour s'habituer a la langue Francaise.
Maths:Practice previous exam papers (Skipping the parts that are no longer on the syllabus of course) but bear in mind that exam papers are not all that you should be doing. If you don't understand a topic i'd recommend use of a site like http://intmath.com to get a more comprehensive understanding of the topic. You don't need to repeat a method twenty times in order to memorise it if you know the theory behind it. The same goes for proofs. You won't need to memorise them if you understand how they act as proofs.
Biology:It's rather difficult to advise people on a subject as huge as Biology. If you want a good tip i'd say pay attention in class and biology will become extremely easy. If you don't pay attention in class the subject will become nightmarish. It's very easy to get bogged down by the sheer amount of knowledge you need to have assimilated for the exam. Don't rely on your exam papers either. The questions are changing in style. Just sit down and learn the material. For more difficult topics like Protein synthesis or Respiration you'd be surprised by how great of a study aid Youtube can be :pac:
Chemistry:The Chemistry course is very short and very manageable. Manageable that is providing you aren't "coasting" through the subject. The calculations aren't overly difficult but you will not survive the exam if you don't have a thorough understanding of the theory. You need to know the basics inside and out before you try and tackle the more difficult topics like Redox or Organic Chemistry. Pay attention during experiments and note the special considerations of each.
Business:The course may be huge but the vast majority of it boils down simply to common sense and good, sound logical thinking. Reading news articles (And even Boards threads) on the economy e.t.c. will be very useful for questions on the International and Domestic environment, especially when it comes to giving examples. As for the exam itself you need to keep a few things in mind. You will almost certainly be stuck for time. There literally isn't a second to stop and think in the exam, you need to write high quality answers in as little time as possible. Another point to mention is the marking, it's very erratic to say the least. A good rule of thumb is five marks per point. I.e. if a question is worth 30 marks they're looking for around six developed points. By developed I mean stated, explained and exemplified. This all boils down to exam technique and the only way to practice exam technique is to practice previous exam papers.
Engineering:The theory is lovely and i'd recommend this site for studying the theory. The project needs to be tackled as quickly as possible following its release. Don't leave anything until the last minute as the deadline usually is around the time of your Mocks and oral exams. Practical advice for the project would be to aim to have your entire brief complete by Mid-November. Use Solidworks to design your project and be mindful of practical concerns during the design process. If you need to make an alteration to your design include the alteration in your brief as that will impress the examiner. Aim to have your brief and project looking as neat as possible. Polish any metallic parts and flame-polish all plastic parts after assembly.0 -
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I know that everyone is different, but I would have killed for this bit of help last year.
I have a three step program which was my bible. It'll sound repetitive and stupid but it HAS TO BE YOUR BIBLE.
1. Do after school study. Study the whole time you're there except for a few short breaks.
2. When you get home, eat your dinner and study. The quicker you eat, the more you get done.
3. Go down and turn off for the night. Turn on the tv and relax. Five minutes into the show, tear yourself away from it and do another hour study. This gives you the determination.
That's it. Do that every day. Study as much as you can. Good luck
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...Whut? So you sit down to relax for 5 minutes (after wolfing down your dinner, of course), watch the start of a programme...and then go back to studying?3. Go down and turn off for the night. Turn on the tv and relax. Five minutes into the show, tear yourself away from it and do another hour study. This gives you the determination.
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I dunno. That'd just piss me off rather than make me more determined.I know that everyone is different, but I would have killed for this bit of help last year.
I have a three step program which was my bible. It'll sound repetitive and stupid but it HAS TO BE YOUR BIBLE.
1. Do after school study. Study the whole time you're there except for a few short breaks.
2. When you get home, eat your dinner and study. The quicker you eat, the more you get done.
3. Go down and turn off for the night. Turn on the tv and relax. Five minutes into the show, tear yourself away from it and do another hour study. This gives you the determination.
That's it. Do that every day. Study as much as you can. Good luck
As an aside, if you want a great tip there's no such thing as an "hour of study". Study isn't measured in hours. It's measured in objectives fulfilled. I can spend ten hours and end up achieving nothing or I can spend one hour and achieve a great deal. Keep that in mind.0 -
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Make out notes as you're going along, and file them away in a folder so that you always know where they are. A good filing system is essential. Organisation will prevent you from wasting time looking for stuff, when you could be studying it.
It also makes it easier to toss it all out at the end of the year if it's all together:pac: Agree completely! Took me days organise notes to give to suffering future LC friends and what to toss.
CHOOSING SUBJECTS
Don't pick them randomly! Don't pick them cos your friends picked them. Ask people who did the subject - if they are simular to you in interests and talent in that subject, even better. I so regret taking History. Interesting okay, but I just got sick of learning it all, and getting hand cramps.
In the end, you need them for matriculation and points, so pick subjects you know you'll succeed at. If you like something and you know you're just going to really struggle in the exam, just drop it and don't waste your time in 5th year, imo.
STUDYING
yesman2000 is right Exam papers! Just(!) do every past question in every subject! I realise now your opinion probably only matters in English. It's all regurgitation in almost every other subject.
It's very, very comforting to see a question and to laugh, because you're so sick of writing it out. You will know this will be the last time, ever, ever, ever!
Learn definitions off word-for-word! I use mind maps and associating it with stories and stuff like that works the best.
Don't believe the 'I study 16 hours a night' or whatever. It's better to do your hw and learn a few definitions/short questions off pat each night (even from fifth year) then they won't be creeping up to you later and you'll have learnt something meaningful w/o killing yourself (No, I didn't do that. Oh well).
Put a question/definition and answers on one side of a flashcard with some sort of mindmap or picture or whatever reminds you of the question on the back. Then carry them around in your schoolbag or handbag or whatever and read them as much as you can. If family are around, you're studying, not ignoring them! Wahey! Also, great for free classes or any other pointless class where you do nothing anyway (by that I mean Career Guidance.)
I wish I did this more, it really was helpful for the French Oral.
THE EXAM
Of course things that have never came up before could come up, but honestly, exam papers are the best grounding ever. Don't go into an exam having no idea about the exam's layout and timing! I had Home Ec. down the last second (I tweaked the times the teacher suggested, giving myself less time on my best question and more on my worst), and I was the only person who finished! *phew, it was close*
Attempt everything! GAAAAH don't leave an exam early even if its Ordinary Irish and you're the only pass person in there writing a terrible letter in broken Irish. Better to do that and perhaps lose the 4 marks that might just get you the grade you want (in my case, D3
). I couldn't understand why people left an exam early! Don't do that!? Murphy's Law if you'll do crap and in that subject and end up repeating and that's what I call a waste of time!
At the very least TRY every question you have to do.
And take the paper. All investigators hate me because I am the ultimate paper hog. Sometimes I do one question on each bit of paper. My handwriting is DIRE so it wouldn't be readable if I didn't spread it out and skip a line between paragraphs. Don't feel you have to cram every bit into the one booklet and ignore the dirty looks on your fifth handout, it's not doing them any harm!
Also I like to writing before each question in capitals and in blue, nice and big: 'Section X, Question 2, Attempt 1' or whatever. Particularly if you do the questions in some random order (as I do)0 -
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Some random whatever pops into my head advice below:
Choose subjects for points and points alone. Choose a foreign language because it is always best to keep your options open and choose a science subject.
Choose subjects that compliment each other e.g good pairs are ag. science and biology, business and economics. And if you are a guy, do engineering. My reason for this is that there is a low standard for that subject, seriously all the wasters do it and because of this it is easy to get on well in it.
Construction is also an easy subject to get on well in if you have any bit of common sense. About 45% of it done before the main exam. Do a good project ( INCLUDING A GOOD FOLDER!) and work your ass off in the practical exam and you will do well and for god sake learn how to do the damn u-value question, it's guaranteed and simple!
Concentrate on honours subjects because pass is a waste of time. It is nearly impossible to get an A1 in pass, dont think that you will get it.
Dropping to pass? I know that there is a new maths course in now so I am basing the following on the old course: Unless you will need a HC3 or something like that in maths for college then drop to pass maths unless you want to prove to yourself you can pass it or something. Trust me, I have done honours maths, the time required is not proportional to the reward. Doing good in 5 other subjects and just passing maths is better than doing great in maths and bad in the others.
Some notes on subjects:
Maths: Read above, best advice is to do pass. A is impossible in HL, A is handy in OL
Irish: Real waste of time, boring, irrelevant and you wont use it in the future. OL is ridiculously simple
English: Very hard to get an A. With some work you can easily get a C or D in HL. Worth doing HL.
Physics: A is very hard due to strict marking scheme, but I found it to be very interesting.
Ag Science: Very unpredictable exam. Useful subject though. Massive ag industry in ireland. Works well with biology.
Economics: Very interesting, current, useful. Very hard to get A because although the exam is predictable but there is a high standard with candidates.
French: OL is ridiculously simple. HL is quite easy aswell once you know the basics inside and out.
Business:Very very easy to get on good in HL, Works well with economics.
Accounting: Easy for an A.
And yeah yeah I know there are some sweeping generalisations above but I am basing the above on first hand experience. Some people might say "OMG you said xyz is easy but I did xyz and it is very hard!" yeah yeah, get over it.
If you want subjects for points which is why you are doing the leaving cert ( yes? :P )
Avoid: Physics, Ag science, Maths
Do: Business, accounting, geography, french, engineering.
And if you have the option and interest in the economy then i'd encourage you to do economics, brilliant subject that really makes you think in the exam!
Good luck and remember it's only another test, and for this test you can always try it again! 0 -
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Awesome advice everybody! Thanks to you all Im doing my leaving cert next year (2012) and, can I just ask whether anybody started studying the summer after 5th year? And if so what exactly did you do and was it beneficial? I know some people will say it's a bad idea to start then because you'll tire out but I'm aiming for high points and am trying to do it anyway so :P. 0
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No, enjoy your summer. It's your last proper break before the LC.Call Me Lia wrote: »Awesome advice everybody! Thanks to you all Im doing my leaving cert next year (2012) and, can I just ask whether anybody started studying the summer after 5th year? And if so what exactly did you do and was it beneficial? I know some people will say it's a bad idea to start then because you'll tire out but I'm aiming for high points and am trying to do it anyway so :P.0 -
My message is quite simple.
when studying, study as if the exam is tomorrow. do so topic by topic, not hour by hour.
your monday evening study plan should not entail:
bio
eco
maths
(1hr of each)
it should read:
excretory system
inflation
the factor theorem.
Do not just spend an hour making lovely neat notes on the excretory system, in an array of pretty colours. A blank A4 sheet. short, snappy, to the point.1 COLOUR. including any and all necessary diagrammes.
Go to the papers. DO ALL questions that have ever come up on the excretory system. They're indexed nicely at the beginning of the papers. Do them with the aid of your prepared notes. Biology papers can be tricky. Correct with the aid of exam papers.
Voila. You have compiled effective notes on the excretory system. Staple your notes and newly done questions together, into a folder. repeat for lymphatic system. genetics. the scientific method. Do the same for the experiments.
do not confine yourself by time.
Do not make a list of the hours you want to do in a week, make a list of the topics.
when actually studying, do not feel the need to have a dramatic pattern, I'd always love to set myself up for a triumph, starting on a monday, on the first of a month, etc. Id soon convinve myself to start on the tuesday, making my plan on the monday and starting on the tuesday.
If you come home, on a thursdsy evening, in the middle of october, with a desire to study, pick a topic, and study it, do not feel the need to make dramatic perfect plans. Theyre time consuming to make over and over again. & its so disheartening when you fail to meet your targets in them.
I'll give a subject by subject account of what I've found effective for my subjects:
English: COMPOSITION- Practice during the year. Your timing initially will be awful. It'll take you 12hours to write an essay. Do not be disheartened. It will improve. More important; READ, not just the Irish Times or whatever other high-brow alternative. READ NOVELS. Doesn't matter if you're not intending to write the short story. READ NOVELS.
Comprehension- Practice. very simple. Know 4features of each language style, and the purpose of each style. How it's effective.
HAMLET - Detailed knowledge of text. Good quotes, answer question asked. cover all your bases, prepare notes on the characters, themes, and style. Quotes should not be general, but selected with reference to a specific possible answer topic.
COMPARATIVE - not in a position to give advice. Fecking hate them. Short snappy yet astute and developed comparisions. Riddled with constant comparison. Mindfulness of question.
POETRY - sort points into thematic & stylistic, Cover 3 at least. 3likely ones. Have 4theme points, 4 style ones. Be mindful of the question on the day. Easy.
IRISH - I'm fluent, born and raised in west kerry. What's important, detailed knowledge of everything. The small facts are paramount. Not just the general idea. Ie, in LSIG, MOM walks through the college gtes, of bac, at 3pm, easter thursday.
MATHS - topic by topic. lovely to study. first evening of trig, work from the book, then do the papers. know any theorems that you ahould know. etc
FRENCH - for some reason I've never really had to study, comes naturally to me, and one of my best subjects. When tackling nasty comprehensions, dont give up, buy a good dictionary. Use it. You'll get there. Buy a cheap notebook. Record all new vocab there. Try to think in French. When you're at home, in the kitchen, spout a few sentences.
Bio- I covered above.
ECO - STUDY BY THE MARKING SCHEMES. SIMPLE. Your learning the assumptions of the LDMU from your book? STOP. Find a question asking them in the papers. Get the marking scheme, learn from there. COVER AS MUCH OF THE COURSE AS YOU CAN. Do not leave out wide sections.
BUSINESS. - Bleh. Know the stuff. Do exam questions, timing is paramount in this exam. Learn to make yourself move on. For long q's and ABQ, divide marks by 5 for number of points. Poin has to be stated and developed. Be mindful of the question word. Just know the stuff. From doing questions, you know whats important. THIS IS NB: studying for business in the month of May. Go through your book, the entire 400pages. Make a list of everything you dont know. In June a question could read: A)Discuss sale of goods act, B)Skills of entrepreneur, C)STEPS IN TIME MANAGEMENT. BAM. 20marks gone if you dont know that random quarter of a page, in an otherwise lovely question. Know the nitty gritty bits.
Finally, the LC is a marathon, not a sprint, even so, starting early is important. as i said, it doesnt have to be a onday the first of a month. Wednesday works just aswell.
Best of luck yall. . 0 -
Live for the weekends. Make a real effort with study during the week, but go out on the lush as many weekends as humanly possible 6th year was actually my favourite year, most people have copped on and matured a bit and they're actually serious about where they're heading 0
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