LC Subject Choices??? Help!!

yoyojc

I'm going into fifth year and in 2 weeks must decide my choices for what to keep on in fifth year? I'm panicing alot about this...

Basically I got 8 A's in my Junior Cert..
So I'm definitely keeping on

Maths
English
Irish
French

However, my parents are saying to keep on Chemistry to keep my options open for medicine (chemistry is an entry requirement to UCC) However I just got 56 percent in this test today, my lowest result ever... I cannot balance equations! I didn't study at all but what do you think? Is chemistry difficult? I don't think I have a flair for it. Also Applied Math? I got an A at Higher JC but I'm really unsure as to whether this would be too difficult? I'm intelligent, not einstein but intelligent what do you reckon?

Any help or thoughts of comments would be gladly appreciated! Thanks

jamo2oo9

If I were you, I'd stick with Applied Maths. The curriculum never changes and you know what topics will come up.

kingcobra

Well what do you want to do in college? If you want to do medicine I recommend you pick chemistry and biology, although they are not specifically a requirement to get in the course I think (but you do need at least one science subject)

You should then pick something unrelated to medicine like Construction or Geography etc. to keep your options open just in case you change your mind

YoursSincerely

Applied maths is a great subject and if you were to do it i would recommend taking physics as it really helps but is not necessary. You would want to like maths to do applied maths but as it was said above the curriculum never changes and you have loads of choice in the exam. Chemistry is not too bad, it is a lot of understanding but then again some people do find it hard. If your not too gone on the subject then don't do it, because chances are you will hate it by the time the exams comes around, and if you hate it you will be reluctant to do study for it! Have you thought about business or accounting? Accounting is a great subject albeit a bit boring but its just a case of learning off layouts and being able to add and subtract:)

yoyojc

Thanks for the replies!

Yeah, it's confusing because we never get a taste for applied math as it's not done in my school. I'd have to attend extra classes which doesn't bother me. As for Chemistry, it's confusing I'll have to think about it because I really am not sure what I want to do in College and if I leave out Chemistry it means I cannot study medicine or dentistry in UCC... But I really don't have a flair for it.

Cheers lads!

Geo10

I've no experience with applied maths but I have experience with doing 2 extra subjects outside of school and I can say if you're going to do it as an extra subject, you gotta love it! :P I did RE and Business outside school and I loved them so I had great motivation to study them. In fact they both ended up being my 2 highest %s (I checked my scripts). I'd recommend most people to definitely take an extra subject if you really like another subject that you can;t do in school (or two!)

As for chemistry, I'd say definitely do it if medicine is what you want. If you're going for medicine I'd also recommend biology. Chemistry is a much shorter course out of the two ( and perhaps the easier one too if you have a good teacher) I didn't need to do nearly as much study in chemistry as I did in biology, but that said biology is certainly the more interesting and relevant one! So they both have advantages!

If you pick Bio and Chem, I'd say do business or geography alongside them to keep your options open!

Leahxo

I would definitely recommend Applied Math! I'm doing it currently for my Leaving and I love it! I do Maths (Hon) and Physics, so if you have a good grasp of both then you'll find Applied Math very easy. I read somewhere that Applied Math has the highest 'A' grade percentage out of every subject in the Leaving besides niche languages like Lithuanian, Russian, Japanese etc.

I also do Chemistry, along with Biology and Physics. It is definitely the more difficult of the three.. in my opinion, anyway. As long as you revise, go over past exam papers and keep up to date with your homework you should be grand! Aha, balancing equations were a nightmare for me too!

If you're just going to stick with Bio & Chem, I'd recommend Geography or Economics. Economics is one of the shortest courses on the Leaving, hence why repeating students tend to take it up in and do the whole course in one year. I do Economics outside of the school and I'm finding it surprisingly easy so. Goodluck! ♥

Layzerman

Chemistry isn't as hard as some people say.. well so far anyway. I'm in 5th year now and it's the most interesting thing to study! Once you understand something you don't really have to learn it. If the chemistry teachers in your school are good then I'd definitely go with it.

Eurovisionmad

I would say if you're any bit interested in doing med or dent definitely keep it on! While balancing the equations is hard to start it gets easier with practice, and it's certainly not head and tail of Chemistry! While originally I scored in and around 60% and now I'm in 6th year and I'm hitting around 85%, I just began to like it and that's half the battle!

When I first started 5th year I had no intention of applying for med while now I really want to, so I'm glad I kept chemistry on, I do physics also, I don't do biology, but it's certainly not the end of the world if you do get into med without biology because you can learn it much easier than the other two!

I also do Applied Maths (I've a real love for maths!) I think if you want to do it, it's definitely worth a go, it's by no means easy but it's challenging and interesting and at least there's so much choice in the paper (you only have to answer 6 questions of 10, meaning you can avoid 4 topics altogether, most teachers do 8 topics and leave out 2!) the main thing about an extra subject is you have to like doing it. There's always less pressure on you to put in the work in a subject out side of school rather than your normal ones, so if you like it that becomes a hell of a lot easier! And definitely do Applied Maths over 2 years, I know people will tell you "it's a one year course", that's total rubbish! If I had done applied maths in one year it would've been a disaster, last year I didn't grasp the concepts fully and now this year when I come back to them they're much simpler!