Is Going from JC ordinary maths to Higher leaving cert maths a smart choice?

CPBH97

So its dawned on me that i will be returning to school in less then a month and will be asked to choice higher or ordinary maths for the LC i got an A in JC ordinary and i want to no if it would be a smart idea to do higher for the leaving cert. i talked to my teacher about it last year and she said if i work hard i will get through it. Also the extra points will help a lot. I am doing Biol,Chem and Physics at higher level so will higher maths help me... ????? and is it hard (given its now project maths)???? Your answer are much appreciated ty

aimzLc2

Hi , junior cert and leaving cert are completely different, a huge jump! I got an A in the junior cert but i really struggled to even get a c2 in ordinary lc ,now that could just be me! but i really wouldn't advise you to move up now unless you are willing to spend so much time on maths! If you think you will manage( i don't know how good you are ) then it would be great for the 25 extra points but you have to think if you could use the time you will be spending on higher maths to get 25 points easier somewhere else?

Jade.

If you choose higher level you will need to spend a lot of time at maths which will have an impact on how well you do in your other subjects.

I did Higher Level Maths for Junior Cert and Ordinary Level for Leaving Cert and still struggled. And you would be doing the opposite of this. In my opinion it wouldn't be the best idea because even though you could put a lot of time into maths and get the extra 25 points you could be loosing points in every other subject which could add up to more than the 25 points.

bren2001

JC and LC mathematics cannot be compared. Getting an A in higher or lower means little.

Doing higher maths is not really helpful in any of the subject you mentioned. Physics and chemistry contain simple enough maths.

My advice would be to give it a go. I have worked with a few students in grinds who have managed to get a B in HL after doing OL for the JC. At Christmas if you are finding it too difficult drop down. I am assuming you are going into 5th year. If you are going into 4th year, then definitely try it.

The fact that it is project maths doesn't mean it is any harder or easier. Some students find it much easier. I, personally, think it is more challenging and am glad I got to do the old course.

platypus

Why did you do OL for junior cert?

If you were in a higher level class for a while for junior cert when did you drop back?

As you have junior cert result I assume you did TY, what kind of maths did you do there and how did you find it?

In general it would be extremely difficult to go from OL junior to HL leaving maths, but the answers to the above would be important. Also if you are capable of doing 3 higher level sciences you may well be capable of giving honours maths a shot

HugsiePie

I know a girl who did ol JC and got maths grinds all throughout TY so she could move up to HL in 5th year, she dropped back down at the start of 6th year and still needed grinds for ol maths, just giving you my experience with someone who has attempted to do the same as you, I'm not going to lie, if you do attempt it it will be extremely difficult the gap between hl jc and hl lc is huge, I imagine its extranomical from ol jc to hl lc, it will be very demanding and time consuming but give it a go for a while, dont underestimate/doubt yourself, you may find yourself pleasantly surprised

hfallada

My brother got a C in ord in the JC( im pretty sure he did ord for the whole of 3rd year). He also did it for fourth year. He realised he wanted to do engineering in TCD and needed higher level maths. He worked really hard at it. Like 90 mins a night, but got highest in his class in the mocks. So it can be done.

But unless you need it for a entry requirement. I strongly advise against higher level maths. You are better off putting your time in other subjects that you border higher grades on. You spend hundreds of hours on higher maths and lose potential grades in other subjects to get a ****ty grade in maths, that you dont actually count

CPBH97

Thanks for the answer guys the reason i want to do higher level maths is because i want to do computer science for college and my guidance counselor said i will need it??? so that is really the only reason i am doing it...

yoho139

Yeah, you're gonna have to do some serious catching up. I did HL in the JC, got an A. Love Maths to bits (yeah, nerd, bite me) but I still have some trouble with some stuff at HL LC. Just finished 5th year with an A1 in the Summer tests, but most people in my class got below 70% - and there's some pretty smart people in my class.

Not to say you can't do it, but make sure you're ready to put in some heavy legwork. Make sure your other subjects don't suffer as a result and make sure you absolutely need HL Maths for the course you want. Dropping down from HL to OL is generally a bad idea (according to my teacher, there's enough divergence between what's taught at each level that most stuff at HL will be entirely useless to you at OL - you're comparing a pond to an ocean), so you want to get it right from the start.

Good luck to you, hope to compete against you in the job market for CS

ray giraffe

Hi,

I'm a maths tutor! Here is my profile.

You will have to do LOTS of practice to bring yourself up to speed!

It would be a good idea to get an honours Junior Cert book now and try studying it every day. Make a list of questions that you get stuck on, and bring the list regularly to a teacher to sort out.

U need to know the honours Junior Cert stuff so you can understand Honours Leaving Cert.

You can always drop back to Ord Level after Xmas if you feel it's too much.

Maths is super useful for computers! E.g. Binary Numbers

yoho139

I dunno about that, Ray. I've actually poked about quite a bit with programming and whatnot (kind of a good idea when you're going for a CS course) and it's rare that I actually run into things where a good knowledge of Maths was entirely necessary. Most complicated thing I've done with it (other than stats, but that's because the applet was an idea revolving around stats) only involved modulo arithmetic, and even that was probably overengineering a solution.

It's unlikely you'll need to handle binary, and even then it's a simple enough concept - nothing more difficult than changing the base. Even more so in the case of a software oriented course as opposed to hardware - for example an EE course.

thegreatescape

I got an A in Junior Cert ordinary level and moved up to Higher Level for the Leaving Cert. Granted, I did drop down to Ordinary after the mocks after getting 39% and freaked out, but I was terrible at maths to be fair. It is hard, you have to dedicate a lot of time to it and it does take away from other subjects, so if you're not willing to put in a lot of work it's not worth it, especially if it's not ESSENTIAL for your course. In saying that, it did really help when I dropped to ordinary because it was unbelievably easy for me considering I had done Higher for the past year and a half!

coolmamos

I did higher maths for the leaving... and trust me IT IS VERY DIFFICULT!!! but with hard work and the right teacher it is possible!! i came from 32% in the 5th year Christmas tests to 67% in the mocks of 6th year....i would advice you to do it during 5th year if you fail its not the end of the world .. practice makes perfect

ynwa14

I dropped to OL in third year and got a C in my JC. Did OL until 6th year and moved up to HL before my mocks and managed to get an A1 in those. It really depends. I found I was flying OL maths once I started enjoying the subject, as well as getting better at it through Physics, Chem and Applied Maths so I managed to grasp HL very quickly but everyones different. Test out and see what you want out of maths/what you're capable of really. Dont push yourself to do it unless it ends up being a requirement for a course you want.

weirdspider

I did OL maths for the Junior Cert and got an A. I just stuck to OL for 5th and 6th year but I decided to take up HL during my repeat year and got a C2 in the pres without much study. I found it relatively easy but I've always found maths ok, I regret not doing HL first time around. If you think you would be able definitely go for it. Ability at maths is a very personal thing so don't be completely swayed by posts saying its really difficult as it varies from person to person. You have nothing to lose by moving up. You may find it easy in the best situation and in the worst, say if you failed your pres, you can simply move back down and you will have a thorough understanding of the concepts/methods from sticking to HL for so long.

petronius

It depends on how you apply yourself and also how good your teacher is(sadly).
I often found people were sidelined into ordinary subjects for JC, and it can be hard to not to do so in LC.
If you got an A in JC it shows you do have a mathematical ability but it does require work.
I would go for it (in sixth year if it isnt working out you can go back to ordinary).

I know people and have heard stories of people who went back to repeat mainly to do Hons maths to get into engineering, one guy told me he had a maths teacher who wasnt very good, and she wanted to just do the ordinary level syllabus and slowly convinced those doing hons to switch to Ord.