4th year wondering about medicine

X_ShinyDrums_X

Hi guys,

So I'll start off by saying that I'm in 4th year and I'm asking this because I know that being so indecisive about pretty much everything, it could well end up that a few weeks before the LC I'll be wondering what to do for the rest of my life.

So one of the things I was wondering about was medicine (this isn't me choosing a career, just getting info about one I might be interested in).

In the ol' JC I got 4 A's - science, English, history and geography.
4 B's - music, cspe, business and Spanish
1 C - maths (disappointed with but I knew I did badly on both days, still finding it fairly hard now.)
1 D - Irish ( barely scraped a pass in that I'd say, failed the mocks)

All of those at higher level. Now I'm taking 8 for the LC to make up for Irish, my other five being all 3 sciences, economics and Spanish.
I'm hoping to do pass Irish, depends on whether dad will budge on that. If I do higher I'm going to have to study it so much that it will take away from my other subjects.

I feel like I'm prepared to start studying when 5th year comes, but being honest, I can get distracted easily. That was a big problem for the JC. I know that the LC points are combined with hpat and I didn't get to finish my DATS so I never got results on that.

My question is. Realistically, what do you reckon it looks like about me getting medicine if I put it down? I know thats a very hard question to answer and probably no one will be able to answer it but all thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan

P.S. my dad is a scientist and professor of biochem so hopefully if he's in a good mood I'd get help off him. If I think of anything else I'll add it in.

djpbarry

First of all, relax - you're only in 4th year and despite what you might be told, the choices you make now will not lock you into a career path for the rest of your life.

X_ShinyDrums_X wrote: »

All of those at higher level. Now I'm taking 8 for the LC to make up for Irish, my other five being all 3 sciences, economics and Spanish.

That's a lot to take on. If I were you, I'd be inclined to drop biology and just go with physics and chemistry. Keep economics for a bit of variety!

X_ShinyDrums_X wrote: »

I'm hoping to do pass Irish...

Definitely go for pass Irish. If you have no interest in studying it, then don't waste your time with higher level.

X_ShinyDrums_X

Hi,

The only way my Dad would allow me to drop down is if I did an eighth subject and to be honest I sort of want to do 8 myself. That and the fact that the general way people do it in my school is by picking 8. Bit strange I know but that's how we do it.

On the whole ordinary Irish thing, basically it boils down to mum is on my side, dad's on the other (and stubborn about it) and we'll see. I could go on about it for pages but I won't.

I know decision's I make now won't affect my entire future, but I'm just wondering about it because a lot of people I know seem to know exactly what they want to do and it sounded a lot better than having no clue.

Not making any decisions now but just looking at different stuff that I may want to do. This time next week I'll probably be wanting to do something else

Thanks,
Dan

QueenOfLeon

X_ShinyDrums_X wrote: »

Hi guys,

So I'll start off by saying that I'm in 4th year and I'm asking this because I know that being so indecisive about pretty much everything, it could well end up that a few weeks before the LC I'll be wondering what to do for the rest of my life.

Well firstly you've got a lot of time for researching courses between now and then, so don't panic if you're not sure yet!

X_ShinyDrums_X wrote: »

In the ol' JC I got 4 A's - science, English, history and geography.
4 B's - music, cspe, business and Spanish
1 C - maths (disappointed with but I knew I did badly on both days, still finding it fairly hard now.)
1 D - Irish ( barely scraped a pass in that I'd say, failed the mocks)

My question is. Realistically, what do you reckon it looks like about me getting medicine if I put it down?

Its impossible to predict how someone will do based on Junior Cert results. I know people who've got average enough JC results and then well over 500 in the LC, and then others who excelled in the JC but didn't do the work for LC and didn't get the results they were capable of. If you're already getting A's and Bs, and you're prepared to put in the work, there's no reason why you shouldn't get the high points you need.

X_ShinyDrums_X wrote: »

The only way my Dad would allow me to drop down is if I did an eighth subject and to be honest I sort of want to do 8 myself. That and the fact that the general way people do it in my school is by picking 8. Bit strange I know but that's how we do it.

On the whole ordinary Irish thing, basically it boils down to mum is on my side, dad's on the other (and stubborn about it) and we'll see. I could go on about it for pages but I won't.

If you struggled with Irish at Junior Cert and you think you'd have to put in a lot of work to sit the HL paper, in my opinion you should take it at ordinary level. Its you that's sitting the exams, not your dad, and if you have to sacrifice time for other subjects (and therefore not do as well as you could in stronger subjects) just to get through the HL paper, its not worth it.

Are you hoping to do 8 subjects altogether, including pass Irish, or 8 honours and pass Irish? I'm sure you know that only 6 subjects count for points, and for high points you'd need those to be 6 honours. If you try to stretch yourself too thin with 8 honours subjects, will you be able to get the A's you need in all of those, or would you be more comfortable with doing 7 honours subjects that you can concentrate on, with pass Irish that you can relax a bit more with?

Honours Irish is a difficult subject to do very well in, especially if you have difficulty grasping the subject in the first place. Even for high points courses like medicine, a lot of people will sit pass Irish or Maths to allow themselves to concentrate on their best 6 or 7.

finality

djpbarry wrote: »

That's a lot to take on. If I were you, I'd be inclined to drop biology and just go with physics and chemistry. Keep economics for a bit of variety!

I don't know how good an idea that would be. People generally find biology much easier than physics and chemistry, and if the OP finds maths difficult maybe physics would be the best subject to drop, if they were to drop one at all.

I was in sort of a similar position in fourth year, with 8 honours and relatively weak Irish, and I wanted to drop to pass Irish. To be honest I think you might as well try honours Irish for a few months, maybe see how the fifth year Christmas test goes, and if you're finding it very difficult then, drop down. In the end I was made to keep honours Irish and I'm not doing too badly in it - I'll probably get a B. I don't think it's taken away from my other subjects much.

As for getting the points for medicine, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to if you put the work in

X_ShinyDrums_X

Hi,

The thing is, currently I'm in a private school. The teachers care and will do that bit extra for you. The problem is, if I drop down to ordinary my Dad is saying that I'll have to go to the local CBS (I wanted to do ordinary JC Irish but the same threat was applied).

Now I'm honestly not sure if he would do that, part of me says that that would be cruel. I wouldn't be able to play the sport I love and my results would plunge. On the other hand, I can nearly always tell when he's being deadly serious and he sounds like he is.

The CBS is a state. It's overcrowded, the teachers don't give a toss and I heard from my friend who goes there that the principal left for a month for no reason. One of the teachers left her LC classes go 20 mins early in front of an inspector, who completely snapped. Long story short its a dump and you basically have to teach yourself if you want to do well. Some of this may be exaggerated but still...

Anyway, it'd be 8 with Irish included in those 8 at higher or ordinary. I see what you mean, but I'm not fantastic at Maths or Spanish and so the 8th would just make me a bit more comfortable.

Oh and you're right about dropping the physics. As my dad is in Biochem, he'd be a lot more help in that then in physics. Although according to him he's just good at everything :P

Glee_GG

I could be completly wrong here so I'm totally open to correction but I was always told that you had to get a C or higher in your JC to do honours LC? If your struggling at a subject and you could be putting your time to better use with other subjects then I definatly suggest the drop to pass.

finality

Glee_GG wrote: »

I could be completly wrong here so I'm totally open to correction but I was always told that you had to get a C or higher in your JC to do honours LC? If your struggling at a subject and you could be putting your time to better use with other subjects then I definatly suggest the drop to pass.

No. You can do whatever level you want.

kayleigh01

X_ShinyDrums_X wrote: »

Hi,

The thing is, currently I'm in a private school. The teachers care and will do that bit extra for you. The problem is, if I drop down to ordinary my Dad is saying that I'll have to go to the local CBS (I wanted to do ordinary JC Irish but the same threat was applied).

Now I'm honestly not sure if he would do that, part of me says that that would be cruel. I wouldn't be able to play the sport I love and my results would plunge. On the other hand, I can nearly always tell when he's being deadly serious and he sounds like he is.

The CBS is a state. It's overcrowded, the teachers don't give a toss and I heard from my friend who goes there that the principal left for a month for no reason. One of the teachers left her LC classes go 20 mins early in front of an inspector, who completely snapped. Long story short its a dump and you basically have to teach yourself if you want to do well. Some of this may be exaggerated but still...

Your dad is threatening you with State school for making a decision about yor education?

I don't even know where to begin with the amount of things that are wrong with this.

Also, if it did come to that, if you're willing to put in the work then what school you're in shouldn't be a massive deal. I'm in a state school with about 0 funding, horrific teachers and no proper facilities and I'm doing fine, it just depends on the student.

Glee_GG

finality wrote: »

No. You can do whatever level you want.

oh ok, obviously just my school telling crap to scare us the weeks before our JC :L

djpbarry

finality wrote: »

I don't know how good an idea that would be. People generally find biology much easier than physics and chemistry, and if the OP finds maths difficult maybe physics would be the best subject to drop, if they were to drop one at all.

I’m looking at this in terms of long-term prospects rather than CAO points. The OP sounds like he/she has an interest in medicine and/or science – in that context, dropping biology makes a lot more sense than dropping physics or chemistry.

X_ShinyDrums_X wrote: »

The problem is, if I drop down to ordinary my Dad is saying that I'll have to go to the local CBS.

It’s none of my business, but that’s pretty despicable.

X_ShinyDrums_X wrote: »

The CBS is a state.
...
Some of this may be exaggerated but still...

I dare say most of it is. Bear in mind that most of the people reading this thread went to state schools (and that included a brief stint in a CBS for me) and we all turned out fine!

X_ShinyDrums_X wrote: »

Oh and you're right about dropping the physics. As my dad is in Biochem, he'd be a lot more help in that then in physics.

That really isn’t the best way to assess your options. Think about what’s going to be of greater long term benefit, no what your Dad’s good at!

X_ShinyDrums_X

Sorry if I came off like I think public schools are terrible. I didn't mean that at all. It's just that, even if all those things are untrue, it's well known that the local CBS is a mess.

On the subject of dropping physics or biology. I wouldn't be dropping biology just because my dads in it. I prefer it to physics and if I had to drop one it would be physics more likely than not.

I think, what it boils down to is if I work my ass off I can get it. Thanks very much to everyone who replied, you've all been great help

Daniel

djpbarry

X_ShinyDrums_X wrote: »

Sorry if I came off like I think public schools are terrible. I didn't mean that at all. It's just that, even if all those things are untrue, it's well known that the local CBS is a mess.

Fair enough.

X_ShinyDrums_X wrote: »

On the subject of dropping physics or biology. I wouldn't be dropping biology just because my dads in it. I prefer it to physics and if I had to drop one it would be physics more likely than not.

Ok, but I'm just pointing out that physics would be of more value to you post-leaving cert.

deathbythelc

djpbarry wrote: »

Ok, but I'm just pointing out that physics would be of more value to you post-leaving cert.

Not if he was doing Medicine? A basic grounding in Biology is much more important for Med than physics would be.

djpbarry

deathbythelc wrote: »

Not if he was doing Medicine? A basic grounding in Biology is much more important for Med than physics would be.

Then why isn't biology compulsory for prospective medical students the way maths is for engineering?

Apart from the fact that, right now, the field of biology is changing rapidly, the leaving cert biology exam is just a memory test of a general overview of some biological concepts - if you ever forget the different stages of the cell cycle, you can look them up in a book. Understanding the fundamentals of physics and/or chemistry is far more important, even if you want to study medicine (physics is of great value to radiologists, for example). To stress this point, I work in cell biology research, but I have absolutely no formal training in biology.

deathbythelc

djpbarry wrote: »

Then why isn't biology compulsory for prospective medical students the way maths is for engineering?

Apart from the fact that, right now, the field of biology is changing rapidly, the leaving cert biology exam is just a memory test of a general overview of some biological concepts - if you ever forget the different stages of the cell cycle, you can look them up in a book. Understanding the fundamentals of physics and/or chemistry is far more important, even if you want to study medicine (physics is of great value to radiologists, for example). To stress this point, I work in cell biology research, but I have absolutely no formal training in biology.

I understand what you're saying and, of course, for some disciplines Physics would be more important but I just feel like for the Medicine course, at least, that a basic understanding of the systems of the body would be more important that most of the Physics concepts on the course. I know he way Biology is taught isn't practical at all but in my opinion, it'd give you a better basis to enter a course like Medicine than Physics would.

But then again, I haven't done the course so maybe I'm completely wrong. :P

QueenOfLeon

djpbarry wrote: »

Fair enough.
Ok, but I'm just pointing out that physics would be of more value to you post-leaving cert.

deathbythelc wrote: »

Not if he was doing Medicine? A basic grounding in Biology is much more important for Med than physics would be.

Just to give my 2 cents, I've found biology to be pretty useful in the course, and the general opinion among those who did physics is that it hasn't come into play whatsoever as of yet. We haven't done anything like radiology yet, so maybe later on it'll be a disadvantage not to have done physics, but up to now it has been an advantage to have a good background in genetics, systems, etc.

Archimedes

I think the reason for the equality of the science subjects is that in your first year of college everyone is brought up to an even playing ground in terms of biology, chemistry and physics. I may be, and most likely am, wrong so someone correct me if so.

deathbythelc

QueenOfLeon wrote: »

Just to give my 2 cents, I've found biology to be pretty useful in the course, and the general opinion among those who did physics is that it hasn't come into play whatsoever as of yet. We haven't done anything like radiology yet, so maybe later on it'll be a disadvantage not to have done physics, but up to now it has been an advantage to have a good background in genetics, systems, etc.

That's pretty much what I was thinking! I'm not sure how relevant Physics would be for the majority of the course.

Thanks for clearing it up!

J_E

X_ShinyDrums_X wrote: »

The CBS is a state ...

I'd be careful making assumptions about a school you haven't attended before. People will tell you all sorts of stories but you can't make judgements from hearsay. A private school isn't a guarantee of a good education. Anyone who wants to do well will work for their results regardless of where they are. I detect a little bit of snobbery here, just be aware that there are good schools and bad schools, regardless of their status as private or public.

I would advise against doing 8 HL subjects. That's a waste of effort. 7 is enough to deal with. Unless you do well and enjoy it don't do HL Irish because it will be a huge drain of time out of other subjects. Whether you will do well in Biology or not is really down to your ability to memorise, because that is what the majority of the exam is. If you're more mathematically inclined you will probably get on with Physics/Chemistry. Your dad isn't doing his Leaving Cert, you are. Don't let his judgement overly influence your decisions. Also, you're only in 4th year, for goodness sake! Take it easy and enjoy what will be a relatively peaceful year for your class.

Archimedes wrote: »

I think the reason for the equality of the science subjects is that in your first year of college everyone is brought up to an even playing ground in terms of biology, chemistry and physics. I may be, and most likely am, wrong so someone correct me if so.

There are some courses which skip the initial 'base' year but I believe most of them do bring you up to scratch on the 3 subjects.

djpbarry

deathbythelc wrote: »

I know he way Biology is taught isn't practical at all but in my opinion, it'd give you a better basis to enter a course like Medicine than Physics would.

But I'm not talking solely about medicine. Suppose the OP decides at some point in the future that he/she isn't really all that keen on medicine after all? Not entirely unlikely considering we're talking about someone who's only in 4th year.

This thread encapsulates one of my biggest gripes with the leaving cert - rather than obtaining an education for the sake of obtaining an education, students are overly focused on what subjects are best for what university course and what selection of subjects will most likely result in a sufficiently high points yield.

_Godot_

How about you just stick it out in higher irish but just study for ordinary if you can and do ordinary in the exams?