The study log of 'Sylvia Plath reincarnation'

Ericaosull

Okay so I'm aiming for the elusive 625 points, or at least 560. I am determined to study Medicine, and I will get there eventually. But to scrape the minimum entry requirements, I need 560 points in the Leaving Cert and 181 in the HPAT. So I will also include any HPAT prep I can try and do... Like even reading about what sections there are will help a lot, I'm sure! But anyways, as far as this year is concerned...
THE HARD WORK STARTS TODAY!

My subjects:
English- Higher Level
Irish- Higher Level
Maths- Higher level
German- Higher Level
Biology- Higher Level
Chemistry- Higher Level
Home.Ec- Higher Level
And LCVP

I got side-tracked this morning, but after some encouraging words with a friend, began my daily dose of motivation... And well, also the fear of facing a maths, Irish and chemistry Test with no prep at all!

Irish (40mins)
-Sraith Pictiur #1 (learned off by heart)
- Read 'seachtain na gaeilge' newspaper

Biology(40min)
- 1 Flash Card on Human Breathing
- Watched a video on DNA & genetics
- Read a few notes on genetics

STUDY FOR TEST:
Started: 8pm

Chemistry (15mins)
- 2 Flash cards:
• precautions in the lab
• alkanes

Maths (30mins)
- attempted most of 'TEST yourself Q's
Got them right ( after a few sneak peaks at the back of the book!)

Irish (40mins)
- Started writing my own notes for Sraith pictiur #14 ... Got bored
(On #14 already and i only know #1)

My goals for tomorrow will be to focus on Irish oral and English poetry: And include a listening for german.

Looking back on todays work, I think it's the most study I have done in a while.
I would rate this 6/10 as i now know pictiur #1 off by heart this wont help me in tomorrows test, but still a great achievement!

Ericaosull

Day two of my new study log and already I have slightly diverged from my original plans.

Todays Challenges:
- I had to leave school early
- My Biology teacher wasn't in
- Have two tests tomorrow
- Forgot my Irish Sraith pictiur

As I had to leave school early, I decided to make the most of it. Instead of studying languages I went with Biology and Chemistry, My favourite subjects (I was in a lot of pain so I wasn't going to do maths or irish!) but i still plan to do another 40 mins of work so I'll add that as well.

1pm CHEMISTRY :
- Read advanced Chemistry notes on Electronegativity and chemical bonding..

It was very interesting yet I got bored.. Had lunch, came back:

- Wrote notes on Oxidation numbers
- Made 5 Flashcards on
•Electronegativity
• Chemical Bonding
• Trends in Electronegativity Values, Atomic radii and Ionisation energy
•Ionisation Energy
• Oxidation Rules

6pm BIOLOGY:
-Made 4 Flashcards on
• DNA & RNA
• Protein Synthesis
• a bit of genetics definitions
•DNA replication

Irish (5 mins): ... So far
- Saying Sraith pictuir #1 from yesterday
Forgot my other notes so i might
- Revise an Gnathrud (15mins)

Then...
German:
- Listening (40mins)

And after that i'll go to bed and get some well deserved rest!!!

Overall I would rate today 7/10

I already knew this info for biology and chemistry and wrote the cards from memory, but now I have handy flash cards to use before the Exams

Overall Im pretty happy since I did go home after injuring my back and I persisted with my studies... Even though I have improved my workload a lot since last year, there is a long way to go until I feel confident about achieving the points for medicine.

Well, Lets just wait and see... I'll be comparing results from the NOVEMBER EXAMS to see if this study has helped

Ericaosull

Okay Its the second day of my Study Log so I'm adding my past exam results so that I can see if Im improving with study.

My previous results were:

Biology 98% A1 - 100 points
Chemistry 89% A2 - 90 points
Home Economics 99% A1 - 100 points
German 86%. A2 - 90 points
LCVP 96%. Distinction -70points
English 70%. B3 - 80 points
Project Maths 69% C1 - 95 points
Irish 62% C2 - 65 points

This added up to approximately 550 points

However, I discovered that improving maths would be the key to doing well
As a B1 in maths with the bonus points is 110 points...Higher than an A1!!!

My Predicted Grades for my UCAS application were:

Biology - A2
Chemistry- A2
Home Economics - B1
Irish -B3
English - B2
Maths- C3
German- A2
LCVP - Distinction

I was told that these results are only estimates and that no teacher could predict an A1, which is understandable given how hard it is to get one.

My goals are:
Biology A1 (A2)
Chemistry A1 (A2)
Home Ec B1
German A2
Maths B1
English B1
Irish B2

This works out at roughly 560 points give or take a grade...

Like i am expecting that i may only get an A2 no matter how hard i study... And even though my average for home ecomomics the past few months was 96%, its almost impossible to get an A at all, so i think its safe to say a B1 will be a good result

Hopefully my new study schedule will benefit my results in next weeks November tests I know looking at my results changing how i study is not a good idea but Honestly I was a procsrastinator and hardly studied until the last possible second... I was unorganised and all over the place... And there is alot more info to absorb this year and hopefully it will all go well

Can't wait to compare my results and see how this is working out (after two days so far haha) but im sure a week of this plan will have some noticeabke effect

Anyway good luck to all of those out there with the approaching NOVEMBER EXAMS I better get back to my study!

Ericaosull

Okay just to update this with the outcome of my studies:

Shortly after sitting the LC I got my HPAT results. I was quite happy with my results (and surprised! seeing as the percentiles were supposed to be low that year-2014).

My LC results were released in August 2014. I was delighted with them. 4A's,2B's and a C.

Shortly after, came round one of the CAO offers. To my amazement my first offer was from the Royal College of Surgeons to study Medicine.

I am now starting second year here at RCSI. Things are going extremely well, I love it here and Medicine was definitely the right choice for me.

Looking back at my study logs it was tough but worth every second to get to where I am now.

I would encourage all you LC folk to keep your head down and try your best. You will need to make a few compromises in order to study as much as you can but it's worth it in the end!

Mobot

Hey Erica! hope you are well major congratulations on the massive achievement! you should be very proud .

I was wondering if you could advise me on the following things?

I am doing my HPAT and the Leaving cert this year. For the HPAT, I have all the material from Career Services, the Institute of education and Acer. My plan of attack is to just do all the paper material that I can get my hands upon. Do I need anything else. What preparation materials did you use? did you do anything aside from prep i.e reading books, critical thinking etc

And also, do you have any advice for the LC? I do the three businesses, chemistry, biology, maths, german and pass english and irish. How much did you study and when did you start to really knuckle down?

Thanks a million! I would really appreciate if an expert like you could help a noobie like me 😅