third times a charm

MissD93

so i sat the leaving in 2012 and 2013 both time i missed off the 510 points i needed for my course, so after i repeated i took a arts course hoping to do my chosen career as a post grad or MA how ever i left as i really have my heart set on occupational therapy in trinity. so i'm considering sitting the leaving cert in 2015. am i totally crazy? anyway i'm going to do home.ec, biology, business, economics (all higher) and history(ordinary) so i'm wondering what would be a relatively easy subject to take up would be and also if anyone has any advice??:pac::pac::cool::cool:

missguided

Why do pass history and not something else, or higher? It would immediately limit what you could get in that to 60 points, which isn't very high if you're aiming for 510.

MissD93

i'm good at history and recalling facts but i'm not a fast enough writer for the long essays history requires.

missguided

How about Geography? It would probably be pretty achievable in a year, but you do have to write fairly fast in the exam.

MikeSD

Sure why would you take on pass history? You're hardly counting it if you're aiming for 510?

Ka_yl_ei_gh

DCG is easy enough imo

MissD93

i've did pass history before it will be a pretty easy 60 points, i got an a2 both times with very little effort so i'll have more time to focus.

dee_mc

How far off the 510 points have you been in your previous leaving certs? How hard were you working, and how hard are you willing to work?
I know someone who sat the LC 3 times and eventually realised that she just couldn't achieve the points she needed for her number 1 course, and she worked flat out each time. As it happens, she's now working in an entirely unrelated field and she's happy.

Greenmachine

Economics is supposed to be an easy course that you could study yourself in about 3 months. Where have you repeated you LC in the past?

JohnMearsheimer

I repeated my Leaving to get what I wanted. When I first did my Leaving I did 3 pass subjects and 5 honours. When I repeated I took 6 honours subjects.

You said you got 2 As in ordinary level history both times you sat it. That's only 50 points. That's the equivalent in points terms of a D2 in a honours subject. If you do ordinary history your maximum points are 560. You need 510 out of 560. You can only afford to drop 50 of those points. Doing a pass subject isn't really an option for you I would have thought.

MissD93

has anyone did classic studies? i heard its easy to score high on it

Calvin

MissD93 wrote: »

has anyone did classic studies? i heard its easy to score high on it

Yes, but it's a b*tch to study. If it's course is anything like JC, you'll have a ton of material that you'll have to plough through during the year.

MissD93

ok so heres what i'm hoping to achieve and what i'm studying
Home.ec a1 100
business a1 100
biology a1 100
economics b1 85
history a1 60
undecided subject b2 80
which is 525 which allows some leeway if the points move from 510

MikeSD

Are you doing honours maths? The extra 25 points might still stand. Look it up

dee_mc

MissD93 wrote: »

ok so heres what i'm hoping to achieve and what i'm studying
Home.ec a1 100
business a1 100
biology a1 100
economics b1 85
history a1 60
undecided subject b2 80
which is 525 which allows some leeway if the points move from 510

How many of these subjects have you done before, and what grade did you achieve in each?

MissD93

leaving cert 2012 leaving cert 2013
french b1 45 home ec a2 90
math c2 25 biology b1 85
irish b1 45 buiness c1 70
history a2 50 history a2 50
home ec b2 80 economics c1 70
biology b3 75 english d1 55
english d1 55
330 430

thelad95

If I was you, I would do the following:
Economics
Business
Geography
Biology
Home Ec
For a 6th subject, there's a combined Physics/Chemistry course which is meant to be pretty short

Anyway, are you not nearly old enough to qualify as a mature student? If I was you, I would get a job for a few years, save up and then apply as a mature student.

robman60

I think you'd be mad to do it again if I'm honest. It's just too much and although it's achievable, you still missed out by a lot on your second attempt. I'd seek employment and apply as a mature student if you're 21.

oncex

Are you mad? :eek::eek::eek: Having repeated this year, I wouldn't go again. It wasn't awful but why put yourself through it that many times?
First of all, it isn't healthy putting your life on hold for that many years. Lets say you did LC1 at 18, LC2 at 19, College at 20... LC3 at 21.. 4 year degree finished at 25.. probably placement for a year 26 by the time you qualify.... when will you have a chance to live independently of your parents?

Also, I assume you applied for the UK? Grades are far lower there.

I do believe the whole thing is luck.. what happens if you are unlucky again?

I admire your determination.. but if its not meant to be its not meant to be.

JohnMearsheimer

I think you're being unrealistic only doing 5 honours. You're not giving yourself much leeway at all.

I did classics and I would not describe it as an easy subject and it's all essay based.

dee_mc

I don't mean to be negative, but I wouldn't be too confident about your chances were you to repeat again.
You're looking at needing 530 points plus to be in with a chance of being offered a place, because there are only 40 places on the course and many applicants who achieve the points requirement aren't offered a place (the course is very popular and attracts many applicants, I know this as a former student of mine exceeded the points requirement by 10 points a few years ago and wasn't offered a place).
If you're determined to repeat again, then more power to you, but you'll need to go in all guns blazing and play your A game from day 1.

dricko_lim

Don't do OT unless you plan on moving to the uk or further. No jobs here in it! My wife did OT and three years later she has not worked full time in it. Try going to queen Margaret uni in Edinburgh, that's where she went if you have your heart set on it....

d1234

I would advise physics & chemistry combined as they are not too bad in general if you're good at memorising things and a little bit of maths.

I would be weary of an A1 in business - a lot of students think they will get the A1 but only a handful actually do!

By the way, my sister is doing occupational therapy in trinity so if you have any qs, I'll try and ask her!

MissD93

does anyone know if ag science is relatively easy?

JohnMearsheimer

MissD93 wrote: »

does anyone know if ag science is relatively easy?

Compared to biology, yes.

MissD93

does anyone know how i could get an a1 in economics

thelad95

MissD93 wrote: »

does anyone know how i could get an a1 in economics

Very difficult as only ~2% of students get an A1. If you learn off everything in the book 'Positive Economics' and take an interest in current affairs you can easily get an A2 but A1's are nearly mythical in Economics. Gold dust.

One thing I would recommend is sit down on a Sunday and go through the business section of any of the broadsheet Sunday papers and pluck out stats and opinions which you can use as 'your own' in the exam. The favourite things they like to ask in macro topical Q's are developments regarding interest rates, wage rates, savings, property/land prices, increased taxes, progressive/regressive taxation, unemloyment, inflation, exchange rates etc so keep an eye out for developments in any of these categories.

In saying this, the easiest topics to pick up full marks on are the 4 micro's (if they are nice Q's) and Trade and National Income. These are the sections I would prepare first and look over regularly to keep them in your mind. If you are looking for an A1, you will need to then prepare the Govt chapters, Inflation/Unemployment, Money and Banking, Balance of Payments, Population, Economic Growth in that order. The history of Economic Thought did not come up this year (thank god) so it can come up but I think it's reasonable to suggest you can leave it out if you have the above prepared.

What I've suggested looks like a lot of work but Economics is a very manageable subject, most topics can be studied in one evening if you put your mind to it.

MissD93

i'm fairly good at economics and business how hard would it be to get an a1 in accounting

robman60

MissD93 wrote: »

i'm fairly good at economics and business how hard would it be to get an a1 in accounting

It's a good subject for an A1 but I think it'd be far more difficult than Business to do in one year. It's all about knowing the format and continuous practise of exam questions. I never used the book in Leaving Cert.

Seriously though, I still think this is a mad idea!

rainbowtrout

MissD93 wrote: »

i'm fairly good at economics and business how hard would it be to get an a1 in accounting

Look, put all of this in perspective. A1s are not easy to come by, if they were everyone would be getting one. You're asking how to get an A1 in accounting. Well you need to know the course inside out. Being fairly good at economics is no indicator, your grade in economics was a C1, which is good, but it's not brilliant. It's not what I would call a reliable indicator for the possibility in getting an A1 in another subject.

You should take the advice that many people on this thread are giving you. You'd be mad doing only 5 honours and looking for As in each one. Even with 6 honours subjects you need 6 A2s to get 510 points (assuming HL maths is not one of them).

Particularly as you have already repeated. I thought when I read your initial post and you said you missed out again that you were going to follow it up with a post saying you got 495 or 500 on your repeat year. You got 430, or perhaps you have the wrong grades there because I make it 420. You need to come up at least 100 points.

There is no easy A in the Leaving Cert.

To answer your other question, ag science isn't an easy subject either. I teach it and if I see one A in my class in a year it's about all I see. Sometimes 2.

bri007

Are you 100% sure OT is for you, have you spoken to any OT's or shadowed any of them. I mean its be awful going through all this is you end up not liking it!

I was long you many moons ago, I didnt get the points for OT in my leaving cert. I knew OT was for me, so I made sure it was a career i wanted to do, so i set about getting an insight into the field for a number of years. I also did a FETAC in healthcare and finally went and studied OT as a mature student.

I am not trying to put you off, but it sounds very hard and stressful putting yourself through all that again in the leaving cert. Would you not try and get some shadowing exp in an OT department, do some FETAC courses in Healthcare and go down the route of a mature entry. I know thats not what you want to hear, but at least then you will know for sure if the course is for you.