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What Leaving Cert. Subjects Should I Choose?

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  • 17-03-2013 12:21pm
    #1
    Cuttlefish
    Registered Users Posts: 727 ✭✭✭


    Hi,

    I am looking for some advice for my daughter. She is doing her Junior Cert. this summer and needs to select her choices for the Leaving Cert cycle.

    She is doing Music for the Leaving Cert and also French so she has two options left and she is unsure whether to study accounting, business, economics or geography.

    She intends to be a teacher when she's older and her DAT's result indicated that numerical reasoning is her strongest point.

    Please help!! Thanks :)


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    #2
    spurious
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    Please, please, PLEASE look at the state of the non-existent jobs market for teachers before adding another one to it.

    That said, three out of the four options are business oriented - is that a school policy? To leave herself with most choices, she'd be better taking at least one science subject if possible.


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    #3
    Cuttlefish
    Registered Users Posts: 727 ✭✭✭Cuttlefish


    My Daughter does not like science and thus has no interest in taking it into the senior cycle, I understand your point about keeping your 3rd level options open.

    So of the 4 options above can anyone advise?


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    #4
    DublinArnie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,823 ✭✭✭DublinArnie


    Personally, I believe Geography is an easy 100 points at least. If I had the choice, i'll do Geography because it's the easyiest out of the other choices.


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    #5
    Troxck
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,386 ✭✭✭Troxck


    Business isn't really recommended because of how vague it is, it's more of a "points subject" if that makes sense. If she did Business Studies for Junior Cert Accounting or Economics should be fine, with Economics being the easier of the two.

    She really should do a Science imo, very helpful. She could do Biology as that's the easiest of the three although I heard it can get pretty boring at times.

    If she was to do Music, French,a Business and Geography she doesn't really have too much of an option at 3rd Level.

    If I was here I'd do Music, French, Biology and then a Business and she would have a better choice later on.

    I've heard some Universities will accept Geography as a science for some courses but I am not too sure on this


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    #6
    Layzerman
    Registered Users Posts: 932 ✭✭✭Layzerman


    DublinArnie wrote: »
    Personally, I believe Geography is an easy 100 points at least. If I had the choice, i'll do Geography because it's the easyiest out of the other choices.

    'Easy 100 points'

    Are you serious? No LC subject is an easy A1, no matter what it is. LC Geography is miles beyond JC Geography, as with every other subject.


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    #7
    Troxck
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,386 ✭✭✭Troxck


    Layzerman wrote: »
    'Easy 100 points'

    Are you serious? No LC subject is an easy A1, no matter what it is. LC Geography is miles beyond JC Geography, as with every other subject.

    Agreed, different people are good at different things. My friend finds Irish extremely easy and gets easy As and I struggle to pass then it's the same with German An easy A for you may be a struggling C for another.


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    #8
    Miss Lockhart
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,639 ✭✭✭Miss Lockhart


    Troxck wrote: »
    Business isn't really recommended because of how vague it is, it's more of a "points subject" if that makes sense. If she did Business Studies for Junior Cert Accounting or Economics should be fine, with Economics being the easier of the two.

    She really should do a Science imo, very helpful. She could do Biology as that's the easiest of the three although I heard it can get pretty boring at times.

    Biology currently has the lowest percentage of students getting As of the three main sciences. This notion that it is easiest is far from the truth.


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    #9
    stop animal cruelty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,012 ✭✭✭stop animal cruelty


    Business is 99% theory...l hated it! only bit of advice l can give is don't go with subjects just cause her friends are doing them...l fecked up there...


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    #10
    highly1111
    Registered Users Posts: 967 ✭✭✭highly1111


    I teach all 3 business subjects and by far and away the easiest is economics. Accounting second. Business is far too waffly.

    I also didn't do a science for my LC but I did do home ec which is a science in dcu which is where I wanted to study.

    Her LC subjects just need to a) get her points b) fulfil course entrance requirements and c) she needs to like them to a certain extent as we tend to avoid studying subjects we dislike. It can make for a long 2 years spending 5 periods a week doing a subject she hates

    Good luck


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    #11
    Layzerman
    Registered Users Posts: 932 ✭✭✭Layzerman


    Miss Lockhart wrote: »
    Biology currently has the lowest percentage of students getting As of the three main sciences. This notion that it is easiest is far from the truth.

    Because Biology is considered easy, a lot of people do it even if they haven't a bit of interest in it. This misconception is why there's a higher fail rate and lower A rate. That, and the type of student who does Chemistry or Physics generally know what they're signing themselves up for.


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    #12
    Miss Lockhart
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,639 ✭✭✭Miss Lockhart


    Layzerman wrote: »
    Because Biology is considered easy, a lot of people do it even if they haven't a bit of interest in it. This misconception is why there's a higher fail rate and lower A rate. That, and the type of student who does Chemistry or Physics generally know what they're signing themselves up for.

    Yes, so there's little point telling the OP their daughter should do biology. Because those who do it even though they dislike science rarely do well in it.


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    #13
    Layzerman
    Registered Users Posts: 932 ✭✭✭Layzerman


    Miss Lockhart wrote: »
    Yes, so there's little point telling the OP their daughter should do biology. Because those who do it even though they dislike science rarely do well in it.

    Exactly.


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    #14
    DK man
    Registered Users Posts: 456 ✭✭DK man


    Miss Lockhart wrote: »

    Biology currently has the lowest percentage of students getting As of the three main sciences. This notion that it is easiest is far from the truth.

    In my school only very bright students take chemistry and physics to a lesser extent. But biology is much more popular and is needed for beauty therapy so a much more academically diverse group take biology in our school - I wonder would this explain the lower levels of success in the lc?


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    #15
    DK man
    Registered Users Posts: 456 ✭✭DK man


    Interest is a key factor in success in a subject - so which subjects does she enjoy most? The subjects u have listed are not really needed for any college courses so it doesn't really matter for entry to college.

    Accountancy is a subject which requires a good level of abstract reasoning as well as numerical - how did she do in abstract reasoning?

    Business seems easier but there is a lot of stuff to Learn off by heart and accountancy requires a more analytical mind....

    Is she going to do lcvp? If so she will need to consider the qualifying subjects...

    Was she born in the 26 counties if not she won't need to do Irish for nui colleges but if she has Irish this can be used instead of French


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    #16
    positivealf
    Registered Users Posts: 300 ✭✭positivealf


    What is Biology and Physics like in LC?


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    #17
    Cuttlefish
    Registered Users Posts: 727 ✭✭✭Cuttlefish


    Hi All many thanks for the advice and opinions

    We have been discussing it at the kitchen table and it looks like

    Music, Accounting and Geography

    and maybe Economics as an 8th subject studied outside Secondary school, what do ye think?

    From what we can gather it is "do-able" and if high marks are achieved could be substituted to gain maximum points.


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    #18
    kingcobra
    Registered Users Posts: 835 ✭✭✭kingcobra


    positivealf wrote: »
    What is Biology and Physics like in LC?

    In my opinion Physics is most certainly the easiest of Biology and Physics. The course content in biology is long and fairly detailed and it is fairly easy to understand although it takes a lot of effort to memorise all the details in the course as come exam day there is no way of bluffing your way around a question. At least with Physics when it comes to sums, all the formulae are in the tables and the majority of sums are just a matter of choosing the right formula. That being said, I do honours maths and you probably need to be at least somewhat good at OL maths to get by in Physics.

    I don't do chemistry, but generally it's considered to be the hardest of the sciences, although I don't have any experience of it.


    And by the way, Geography is a lot harder than it was in the Junior Cert. The exam now involves writing a few essays on detailed topics whereas the Junior Cert was fairly straightforward.


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    #19
    bluejay14
    Registered Users Posts: 3,849 ✭✭✭bluejay14


    kingcobra wrote: »


    And by the way, Geography is a lot harder than it was in the Junior Cert. The exam now involves writing a few essays on detailed topics whereas the Junior Cert was fairly straightforward.
    Although there is a fair bit of learning to be done, the further into the course you get, you start to realise that certain bits do start to overlap in a sense. Don't forget that there's the investigation part of the course which is worth 20%.


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    #20
    positivealf
    Registered Users Posts: 300 ✭✭positivealf


    My school is offering PhysChem which i hear is a lot easier, what are your opinions?


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    #21
    Troxck
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,386 ✭✭✭Troxck


    positivealf wrote: »
    My school is offering PhysChem which i hear is a lot easier, what are your opinions?

    It's not offered in my school but I think it's just LC pass Physics and Chemistry put together. It's a pretty decent subject and I wish I could have done it but it cannot be done if you want to do Physics and/or Chemistry. Just check what courses you want to do and see if it is accepted.


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    #22
    positivealf
    Registered Users Posts: 300 ✭✭positivealf


    Troxck wrote: »
    It's not offered in my school but I think it's just LC pass Physics and Chemistry put together. It's a pretty decent subject and I wish I could have done it but it cannot be done if you want to do Physics and/or Chemistry. Just check what courses you want to do and see if it is accepted.
    Are you saying it wont be accepted? my teacher said it would since its Chemistry and Physics and i can also take up another science subject. I'm only 15 so I don't know what course I'm going to do yet but i'm definite it's going to involve chemistry.


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    #23
    bluejay14
    Registered Users Posts: 3,849 ✭✭✭bluejay14


    positivealf wrote: »
    Are you saying it wont be accepted? my teacher said it would since its Chemistry and Physics and i can also take up another science subject. I'm only 15 so I don't know what course I'm going to do yet but i'm definite it's going to involve chemistry.
    If you're looking to do a science course in the future it's probably not the best subject to do. A lot of universities won't accept the combination of phs/chem with straight physics or chemistry to meet their entry requirements (it's like the ag. and biology situation), but then it depends on what other subjects you have to meet the requirements. Just make sure whatever combination you do have covers you.


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    #24
    positivealf
    Registered Users Posts: 300 ✭✭positivealf


    bluejaymraz wrote: »
    If you're looking to do a science course in the future it's probably not the best subject to do. A lot of universities won't accept the combination of phs/chem with straight physics or chemistry to meet their entry requirements (it's like the ag. and biology situation), but then it depends on what other subjects you have to meet the requirements. Just make sure whatever combination you do have covers you.

    My school only offers Biology, Physics and Physchem. I really want something to do with Chemistry but they dont offer chem unless a majority of students want chem. So i guess I'll have to go with Biology and Physics.


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    #25
    spurious
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,188 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    It's not possible to do Physics/Chemistry in the LC together with either Physics or Chemistry.


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    #26
    Prodigious
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,827 ✭✭✭Prodigious


    Do not do physics. Avoid it like the plague. Exam questions are ridiculously ambiguous; terribly worded and not labelled (a) (b) and (c).

    Chemistry on the other hand is an excellent choice. Very manageable for a student who tries.


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    #27
    positivealf
    Registered Users Posts: 300 ✭✭positivealf


    Methememb wrote: »
    Do not do physics. Avoid it like the plague. Exam questions are ridiculously ambiguous; terribly worded and not labelled (a) (b) and (c).

    Chemistry on the other hand is an excellent choice. Very manageable for a student who tries.

    Too bad my classmates are stupid enough to think Physics is easier than Chemistry XD so we only have biology and physics and i want science subjects


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    #28
    Prodigious
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,827 ✭✭✭Prodigious


    I'd go with Biology. Two friends of mine does all three and both say its the easiest. I personally do Chem and Physics and despise Physics.


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    #29
    positivealf
    Registered Users Posts: 300 ✭✭positivealf


    spurious wrote: »
    It's not possible to do Physics/Chemistry in the LC together with either Physics or Chemistry.

    This doesn't make sense, i visted CareersPortal and it said that the combination of Physics and Chemistry(PhysChem) can get me into science and medicine courses and that I can do a test on it for LC. I asked my science teacher about it yesterday and she said it was a great option to choose.

    I'm really confused at the moment.


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    #30
    Prodigious
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,827 ✭✭✭Prodigious


    You cannot do BOTH the Physics/Chemistry subject and the Physics subject in the leaving cert. Same with Chemistry


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    #31
    Miss Lockhart
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,639 ✭✭✭Miss Lockhart


    positivealf wrote: »
    This doesn't make sense, i visted CareersPortal and it said that the combination of Physics and Chemistry(PhysChem) can get me into science and medicine courses and that I can do a test on it for LC. I asked my science teacher about it yesterday and she said it was a great option to choose.

    I'm really confused at the moment.

    Spurious means that it is not possible to sit both Phys/Chem and Physics, or both Phys/Chem and Chemistry in the LC.

    Phys/Chem is seen as a valid science subject to fulfil the entry criteria of having one or more science subjects for a course. It is not valid if physics or chemistry are specified as a specific entry requirement.

    Personally I think Phys/Chem and Biology is a great combination unless you must have physics or chemistry as an entry requirement.


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