Need Advice On Subject Choices!!

glitzandbits

I really need advice on what to pick for my 7th subject, I've already picked
Irish
English
Math
Geog
Biology
German

I Can pick between DCG, art, chemistry, physics, japanese and history for my seventh subject. What would be easiest To get points in??? All advice needed

DepoProvera

Well, I only have experience in Chemistry and History, but I'd definitely advise against History. I love the subject but it's a very dodgy subject for an A!. Chemistry is a tough slog but it's a relatively short course and if you stick with it you'll be rewarded.

mockshelp

Depends on you - what subjects do you like and what are your strengths? Don't pick a subject you hate.

Also I know its a long way away for you yet - but have you thought about what you might like to do in college?!

2 science subjects would be useful if you plan to do ANY science degree. (As all science degrees start off giving you a background in general science) If you want to pick one more I'd recommend chemistry - it's supposed to be the harder subject to pick up in college if you have no background in it.

Accounting, business, economics would give you a head start if you want to do something business related. As in most business courses in college you do accounting, economics, management, marketing modules. But your school doesn't offer any of these subjects?!

But the most important is to pick subjects you like. Don't pick a subject you don't like. If you really like history pick history - be warned its a very long course. I'm just offering suggestions.

Hagz

I do Art and History. I would advise against Art. It's a strange subject. Even if you are very good at art, it's still very very difficult to get an A in. You need to be good at drawing people, objects and you need to have an imaginative streak that makes your work original. Plus, there is a but load of history to be learnt.

History is doable. It's just a case of making a lot of essays, re-constructing them until you've got a bunch of A standard essays and then memorizing them.

Also who come you can't do business? Business is well easy.

Monsieur Folie

Hagz wrote: »

Also who come you can't do business? Business is well easy.

I'm not sure if he is in this situation, but in my school the way they assign subjects is you first give them a list of 5 you'd like to do so they can suss out demand, then they give you a form with 4 columns and you pick one subject from each. It's not a free for all.

So perhaps his school runs a similar system and he's listing the available subjects in his last column, or something.

CFC4lyfe

I love History and have gotten 4 B's and an A in all the tests I've done but if you dont have a strong interest in it and enjoy writing about it then stay away from it. I've seen people struggling in it because they don't quite like it that much.

HowAreWe

stay well clear of japanese.....****

glitzandbits

mockshelp wrote: »

Depends on you - what subjects do you like and what are your strengths? Don't pick a subject you hate.

Also I know its a long way away for you yet - but have you thought about what you might like to do in college?!

2 science subjects would be useful if you plan to do ANY science degree. (As all science degrees start off giving you a background in general science) If you want to pick one more I'd recommend chemistry - it's supposed to be the harder subject to pick up in college if you have no background in it.

Accounting, business, economics would give you a head start if you want to do something business related. As in most business courses in college you do accounting, economics, management, marketing modules. But your school doesn't offer any of these subjects?!

But the most important is to pick subjects you like. Don't pick a subject you don't like. If you really like history pick history - be warned its a very long course. I'm just offering suggestions.

Unfortunately I didn't do business for jr cert so I don't think I'd be able to pick it up for leaving? I really enjoy art but I need fairly high points for the course I want to do (international law) this of course doesn't require science, so really with my 7th subject I'm looking for something I'll be able to get high points in with putting in a bit of effort.

glitzandbits

HowAreWe wrote: »

stay well clear of japanese.....****

Did you do it for the leaving?

glitzandbits

DepoProvera wrote: »

Well, I only have experience in Chemistry and History, but I'd definitely advise against History. I love the subject but it's a very dodgy subject for an A!. Chemistry is a tough slog but it's a relatively short course and if you stick with it you'll be rewarded.

I've heard so much about how difficult chemistry is that before this, but with your comment I might consider it how does the course compare to junior cert?

iluvgreenday246

glitzandbits wrote: »

how does the course compare to junior cert?

Forget everything you learned it junior cert.... :P i do chemistry and history and chem is soooo much easier to get a high grade in.... have my history lc tomorrow and want to die it is the bane of my life do.... basically do chem its so easy as long as you stick with it and learn as you go along etc

QueenOfLeon

glitzandbits wrote: »

I've heard so much about how difficult chemistry is that before this, but with your comment I might consider it how does the course compare to junior cert?

Chemistry can be difficult at the start, but the course is short so after finishing it and going through the exam questions things start to make a bit more sense. The exam questions are fairly repetitive too. I can't really remember what was on JC chemistry but obviously the standard is a lot higher for LC, and I think most of the concepts are new.

HowAreWe

glitzandbitz wrote:

Did you do it for the leaving?

I did it outside of school for a while....I was in an accident and missed around 3-4 classes and was never able to catch up, especially when the majority of the people had been doing it for 4th year.

If you're up for it go ahead, its very difficult IMO.

glitzandbits

HowAreWe wrote: »

glitzandbitz wrote:

Did you do it for the leaving?

I did it outside of school for a while....I was in an accident and missed around 3-4 classes and was never able to catch up, especially when the majority of the people had been doing it for 4th year.

If you're up for it go ahead, its very difficult IMO.

For some reason I had the impression that it must be for the leaving cert since it is only two years worth of a language course, oh well

HowAreWe

glitzandbits wrote: »

For some reason I had the impression that it must be for the leaving cert since it is only two years worth of a language course, oh well

well technically it is? but its not illegal to do it outside of school. I'm just telling you I had a bad experience but it could be completely different for you, so if youre interested go for it

glitzandbits

HowAreWe wrote: »

glitzandbits wrote: »

For some reason I had the impression that it must be for the leaving cert since it is only two years worth of a language course, oh well

well technically it is? but its not illegal to do it outside of school. I'm just telling you I had a bad experience but it could be completely different for you, so if youre interested go for it

Ha sorry typo I meant easy for the leaving cert :L

glitzandbits

Did anyone do dcg for leaving?

whatsec

If you're aiming for an A, I recommend accounting. no business for junior cert necessary and it's one of the highest subjects in regards to how many people get A's.

I do it, didn't enjoy the classes as it can be a bit monotonous but it's not difficult, and I'd never regret picking it cause id say I'll get an a in it. literally all it takes toget an a is practicing questions, and I enjoyed studying it at the end of this year cause you can listen to music or whatever while doing it for the most part. it was a nice break from the other subjects.

ride-the-spiral

My girlfriend did japanese for the leaving, it seems to be a good choice if you're good at languages as she said once you learned the alphabets it wasn't too bad. There's a high A rate, but that's only really because the only people that do it are good at languages.

I've heard what Hagz said from quite a few people, Art is quite difficult to do very well in.

Anyway, onto subjects I actually did...

I'm not sure if I'd recommend DCG if you haven't done Tech Graph for the junior cert, but there were a few people in my class in this position that found it fine. I loved the actual drawing side (drawing exam is 60%), very logical and about spacial awareness really, and although there's a lot of topics to it, it's very repetitive and if you get yourself a drawing board and practice regularly out of class it's not that bad at all. The main problem with DCG is the project however (other 40%). It's not that related to the main course and is a more about product design and using 3D CAD software. I know I spend a good chunk of my time just trying to lay out my information so it looked appealing. Judging by my class anyway the project is a lot easier if you're anyway capable at art.

Chemistry isn't too hard, but I didn't really like it that much. The course is long enough, and there's a lot to learn. It's not really like physics which is about understanding, a lot of the things you're meant to understand are very arbitrary and you just learn them off to know them. The exam is fairly predictable, but there are many small bits of information that you might need to know for a certain topic, so there can be quite a lot to learn, but as with everything it's not too bad as long as you keep on top of it and do exam papers. There's a bit of maths involved, but it only requires a working knowledge of ratios and a tiny bit of algebra.

I quited liked Physics, but of course lots of people don't. It's not as maths focused as people sometimes make out, you only really need to have a working knowledge of algebra; the most difficult maths in it involves rearranging formula. Physics is mainly about understanding concepts, there's not that much that requires pure learning off. Again, keeping up with it and doing exam papers prepares you very well for the exam.

Also I wouldn't use JC science as a reference; I hated JC physics and loved JC chemistry, then hated LC chemistry and loved LC physics.

It's very hard to say which would be the easiest to get the most points in. I'd echo what other people have said and pick the one that you like most, as after a while study doesn't just become about how much time your spending on a subject, but you're a lot more likely to want to study something you like. For example I would've much rathered to do 3 hours of maths than do 1 of Irish.

glitzandbits

whatsec wrote: »

If you're aiming for an A, I recommend accounting. no business for junior cert necessary and it's one of the highest subjects in regards to how many people get A's.

I do it, didn't enjoy the classes as it can be a bit monotonous but it's not difficult, and I'd never regret picking it cause id say I'll get an a in it. literally all it takes toget an a is practicing questions, and I enjoyed studying it at the end of this year cause you can listen to music or whatever while doing it for the most part. it was a nice break from the other subjects.

I really regretted not doing business, are you sure I wouldn't be at a massive disadvantage not to have done it if I pick accounting? I've heard it's one of the more straightforward LC courses. Do you know anyone who did it having not done it for JC?

glitzandbits

ride-the-spiral wrote: »

I quited liked Physics, but of course lots of people don't. It's not as maths focused as people sometimes make out, you only really need to have a working knowledge of algebra; the most difficult maths in it involves rearranging formula. Physics is mainly about understanding concepts, there's not that much that requires pure learning off. Again, keeping up with it and doing exam papers prepares you very well for the exam.

Also I wouldn't use JC science as a reference; I hated JC physics and loved JC chemistry, then hated LC chemistry and loved LC physics.

It's very hard to say which would be the easiest to get the most points in. I'd echo what other people have said and pick the one that you like most, as after a while study doesn't just become about how much time your spending on a subject, but you're a lot more likely to want to study something you like. For example I would've much rathered to do 3 hours of maths than do 1 of Irish.

I really dislike JC physics, would you considered it easier than chemistry? As in more straightforward?

BrittneyC_xo

Your subject choice is identical to mine, except I do French instead of German ! (:

Our school has a pretty good standard of academics (well, so they say!), and basing this on our Mock results.. Physics, Chemistry & Maths had higher failing rates than the others. =/

I know you haven't put this in the list of what you want to do as your 7th subject, but I'd recommend Business. I did Chemistry for three weeks, and dropped because of how hard of a time I was having in it ! I was able to take up Business, and I love it. It's pretty much like J.C, and a lot of it is actually common sense ! There's no Ledgers, Trading P+L, or any of those book things.. that's Accountancy!

Other than that, I really couldn't recommend anything else. Art is very competitive.. there's some amazing people at Art around, compared to what I was able to do in J.C (and I thought I was decent!). And, I'm not even sure what DCG actually is? Aha, that's about it. (:

glitzandbits

BrittneyC_xo wrote: »

Your subject choice is identical to mine, except I do French instead of German ! (:

Our school has a pretty good standard of academics (well, so they say!), and basing this on our Mock results.. Physics, Chemistry & Maths had higher failing rates than the others. =/

I know you haven't put this in the list of what you want to do as your 7th subject, but I'd recommend Business. I did Chemistry for three weeks, and dropped because of how hard of a time I was having in it ! I was able to take up Business, and I love it. It's pretty much like J.C, and a lot of it is actually common sense ! There's no Ledgers, Trading P+L, or any of those book things.. that's Accountancy!

Other than that, I really couldn't recommend anything else. Art is very competitive.. there's some amazing people at Art around, compared to what I was able to do in J.C (and I thought I was decent!). And, I'm not even sure what DCG actually is? Aha, that's about it. (:

I didn't do business for my junior cert, so I guess I really couldn't do it for the leaving?

ACBBFG

Loads of people in my year didn't do business for the JC but do it now and I've never heard of anyone struggling. There's only one person in my accounting class that didn't do JC business and she's one of the best and hoping for an A1. All it takes is practice and you can do really well.

Sunny!!

i STRONGLY recommend accounting to anyone, its hard for a while but constant practice and its enjoyable!! i do business and absolutely detest it and aint great at it but iaccounting is far more enjoable than business. is there any better feeling than balancing account:p

glitzandbits

ACBBFG wrote: »

Loads of people in my year didn't do business for the JC but do it now and I've never heard of anyone struggling. There's only one person in my accounting class that didn't do JC business and she's one of the best and hoping for an A1. All it takes is practice and you can do really well.

Is there a lot of jr cert knowledge needed for business? I don't want to be at a disadvantage. I've heard about 20% of the jr cert course is in the leaving cert accounting course... I'm really leaning towwards picking either accounting or business now, but still not quite sure which would be best having not done it for jc.

ride-the-spiral

glitzandbits wrote: »

I really dislike JC physics, would you considered it easier than chemistry? As in more straightforward?

I know I considered it easier than chemistry and I preferred it but I'm currently doing physics in college so I liked it all the while I was doing the LC, whereas I found chemistry much more boring. Chemistry has more that you just need to learn off (to an extent) and I didn't really like having to do that but some people find it easier. It really all depends on what you like and what you want to do.

hotfuzz2

Whatever you do, don't do history! IMO there's far to much info to learn and it's so easy to go blank on the day. Unless you really enjoy it then do it, but don't be lured in by the easy JC course like I was!

mossy95

If you absolutely love history youll do well in it. If you dont have in an interest in it, dont even bother considering it.

OldNotWIse

glitzandbits wrote: »

I really need advice on what to pick for my 7th subject, I've already picked
Irish
English
Math
Geog
Biology
German

I Can pick between DCG, art, chemistry, physics, japanese and history for my seventh subject. What would be easiest To get points in??? All advice needed

Depends on you really. I got an A2 at HL chem and found it pretty easy. Like another poster said, its a short course but it can be difficult. Once you master it though, you'll be flying (I still remember the day I mastered the "mole concept" lol). It's one of those subjects that really is just what you put in is what you get out..very little comes down to "how it is on the day" - it's straightforward so you either know it or you dont. At least, that was my experience. Good luck! Wish I was back in your postition again!

Mista

As other have said, history is a very though subject.. and its all poilitical history, not like the JC course at all.

DCG is grand.. its nice to get the (theoretical) 40% before you even do the exam, and the questions are a lot easier than what they used to be. But if you struggled in JC TG, dont even bother.

Chemistry is my favourate subject, so I find it easy to study and do well in.. if you're not interested though, it might be pretty tough.