What Leaving Cert points did you get and what path did you take?

mariaalice

I didn't do the Leaving Cert

Kinda of funny and is a bit of a male thing on boards about high leaving cert points.

Joe who sat beside them in primary school became a plumber and is now doing well that's grand, but they are outraged when someone they know with a mediocre leaving cert or degree is in senior management or CEO because their 500 point was meant to mean the world was theirs.

Martina1991

400+

480 points in 2010.

Got my BSc in Medical Science, started working in a hospital nearly straight away. Did my MSc while working.

I fell on my feet really, finishing college coming out of the recession. Not too many rungs on the promotion ladder but I like my career.

rainbow kirby

450+

I got 570 in 2002. Started a maths degree, did great in first year, collapsed completely in second year, passed the repeats and dropped out in third year. Switched to CS, took a year out before final year, got a 2:1 and did a masters. Took a software QA job straight after I finished my masters, then got my first development job a couple of years later. Have been working in software development roles since, but am now committing the slow career death of a second baby in quick succession.

Gravelly

I didn't do the Leaving Cert

Haven't a clue what I got in modern points, as I did it before they were a thing. Did badly enough - passed everything but underperformed as just wasn't interested, as I thought I wanted to work in the family business. Left school, straight to work in aforementioned family business (which I'd worked in on weekends, holidays, evenings etc. for years). Discovered that I didn't actually like it at all. Grew to dislike it immensely. Stuck it for 3 years before deciding I wanted to go to college after all. Studied engineering, travelled a bit, worked in engineering, gradually, in a very non-linear way, worked my way up the ranks, with occasional falls backwards, did further study, graduated more towards the business than engineering side, and ended up in a very good job that I like a lot.

_Kaiser_

300+

Got 390 if I remember right just over 20 years ago now. I was never the academic type and pressure from my mam to do higher everything didn't help.

Didn't get my first choice (or I should say - my mother's first choice!) but spent 2 years doing a course in Carlow anyway. This also helped bring me out of my shell as until that point I was pretty shy. While waiting on the 3rd year I was contacted by one of the big-name multinationals who had been in the college that year about a job there which I accepted.

Very quickly moved up and was there 7 years in different roles. Moved to another multinational for a year and then spent just under 5 years in the public sector building and running the IT department until the recession forced them to make me redundant

Took a year of looking, but got back into the private sector and been here since.

These days I run a global IT department, with responsibility for procurement, service management, helpdesk, and managing a team of agents. Not bad overall I think.

_Kaiser_

300+

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Probably good for the brain to keep it challenged.

With that said if I had to significantly update my profession every few years I'd rather eat the books.

This is why I got out of the hands-on side of IT.

I found that to be able to keep current, I'd need to invest considerable time and money each year to be able to compete with the graduates who could do the job for a lot less.

This wasn't practical for several reasons (money, home life and long hours as it was), so instead I decided to focus more on the management aspects of my then role and work towards that side of things, figuring it would also be more transferable if needed.

So far so good. I've moved into different industries and moved up every time, but my hands-on background has definitely helped in terms of understanding the challenges and needs of the team I now manage.

Boom_Bap

I got 964 points and became master of the universe, wasn't into it, so became a computer nerd instead.

Gravelly

I didn't do the Leaving Cert

Boom_Bap wrote: »

I got 964 points and became master of the universe, wasn't into it, so became a computer nerd instead.

You know what they say, the geek shall inherit the earth.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

razorblunt

300+

Can't recall if it was 390/395/405.
The course I wanted was new, so was estimated to ~ 380 points so I knew I was safe, they made offers rather than being an official course at the time, it was strange.

Ended up getting my 3rd choice course (the new course was a fallback for those 3). Due to personal circumstances I didn't really throw myself into it, firmly believing I'd be repeating it anyway. I decided to take this 3rd choice (Comp Science) rather than the new one.

Left at Xmas of 2nd year, went back through the CAO to take that "new" course which I had the points for, loved it, worked hard as it was actually what I had a passion for and haven't looked back since ... yet.

Noveight

400+

I got 470 points.

I've since completed a BA and am now in the 2nd year of my PME, all in the hope of being a qualified secondary teacher this time next year.

The path I chose hasn't been ideal. My BA was 4 years and the PME is 2, so it'll have been 6 years in college to be a teacher which I believe is unnecessary. This is heightened by the fact that one year of my BA was spent on placement as a classroom assistant for €50/week and I will complete over 30 weeks of unpaid placement over the course of the PME as well.

Oh well, I am where I am and I'm looking forward to getting finished and finally getting stuck in to teaching.

bodice ripper

450+

I got 510. I did Classical Civilization and Philosophy in Trinity, and then dropped out to do Fine Art. I bitterly regret that, but I did finish the Fine Art degree. Then I did an apprenticeship and am now a tattoo artist.

Avatar MIA

bodice ripper wrote: »

and am now a tattoo artist.

And ripper of bodices ...

Andrewf20

350+

440 points for me and I did art as an 8th subject. Did a mechatronic engineering degree many moons ago. Tough course and I was glad it finished when it did.

bodice ripper

450+

Avatar MIA wrote:

And ripper of bodices ...

I didn't need any tuition for that, I am a natural.

qwerty ui op

95
Dunnes Stores - Hygiene Department

ToddyDoody

350+

290 on first sitting, 425 on second. Did science, then applied science and now work in quality.

irishman86

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

The fact they doubled could easily mean better education, in fact i'd be certain the education now is well at least double the standard it was back then

foxy farmer

300+

Back in 92 i got 380 pts. I had put civil engineering in Cork RTC (showing my age:) ) as my first choice. Think the points were 320. I really didn't kill myself in the leaving as about 2 weeks before, i was accepted into an electrical apprenticeship in the ESB. That was based on Inter Cert results.
In 94 my uncle died and I inherited a farm. Finished the apprenticeship in 96. Did wel in the trade exams. Did a 6 month contract as an electrician with ESB until april 97. Went farming full time after that. Never did any agricultural related course but read a few books and learned as I went along. Thats what pays the bills today.
I don't think I was cut out for full time third level. More at home doing manual work. Paperwork and sitting indoors don't appeal to me.

Spider Web

350+

arccosh wrote: »

or mainly just the braggy "I did crap with my 400 + " points people responding :-P boards.ie isn't exactly the best place to get an accurate demographic sample

What I don't get is people saying "I got 500 points and didn't do much work" - that's not possible! Why do people feel the need to say such a thing? Maybe they have set the bar unusually high as to what "Very little work" means. Maybe they picked the easiest subjects, but you'd still have to do more than just a little work.

MagicHumanDoll

450+

Spider Web wrote: »

What I don't get is people saying "I got 500 points and didn't do much work" - that's not possible! Why do people feel the need to say such a thing? Maybe they have set the bar unusually high as to what "Very little work" means. Maybe they picked the easiest subjects, but you'd still have to do more than just a little work.

I started studying a month before the LC. I was naturally bright, paid attention in class and just kinda understood things as we went. So when it came down to studying; I didn't have to teach myself anything, it was mostly just refreshing what I knew.

I got 500 on the button and know that I didn't study close to what I was capable of (was also let down by being in a rubbish school.. got A's for 5 years in TG/DCG, got a B1 in LC due to project)

Hope that clarifies things!

Spider Web

350+

MagicHumanDoll wrote: »

I started studying a month before the LC. I was naturally bright, paid attention in class and just kinda understood things as we went. So when it came down to studying; I didn't have to teach myself anything, it was mostly just refreshing what I knew.

But you did more than just a little. It wasn't just the revision you commenced a month prior.

Maybe it's that some think working hard means non stop revising - but it also includes being attentive in class throughout the year and completing assignments. Even though these should be just a given, a lot of people don't bother with them. They might be in class, but are completely zoned out. And then of course others are on the mitch.

I was good for attending lectures in college - only skipped the very occasional Monday or Friday morning 9am, and this made the workload feel so much lighter when exam time came around.

I think it's ridiculous anyway that teenagers are encouraged to do three or four hours a night. Unless they really have to/want to for their desired course, it's an awful lot of pressure to put on a kid. Just keeping on top of things consistently is a lot of the work done, and fair play to you (although you are probably more intelligent than average also).

somefeen

I feel like I've commented in pretty much every LC thread ever with the same thing at this stage. So shortened;
Didn't do it, glad I didn't.

Baron Kurtz

Spider Web wrote: »

What I don't get is people saying "I got 500 points and didn't do much work" - that's not possible! Why do people feel the need to say such a thing? Maybe they have set the bar unusually high as to what "Very little work" means. Maybe they picked the easiest subjects, but you'd still have to do more than just a little work.

See also, LinkedIn profiles. You did, yeah..

jcorr

375

My path was all over the place lol. I suppose like many... I got terrible career advice from both guidance counsellors and parents.

I am living abroad and work in software. It's such a blue collar job man. When I come home I am going to start a business.

dm09

I did mine under an older system

205 - Didn't care about getting high points as the course I wanted to do was aqa.
Eventually did an IT Level 8 as mature student , 10 years in Industry earning good money . Skills you learn in the real world are equally as important as your formal education

Testament1

400+

Got 455 in the Leaving back in 2006. Did higher level everything except maths. Could kinda follow what was happening when it was being done on the board but when it came time to doing the same math problems on my own I just couldn't get my head around them! So ended up dropping down to ordinary level for it.

Went on to study Construction Management and was woeful at it. Missed a lot of lectures had zero interest in the ones I did attend. Should have dropped out as I didn't like the course but ended up sticking it out and eventually scraping a degree.

Had been working for an agri contractor part time since Junior Cert but went off to Australia for 3 years after graduating university. Had no real desire to work in a field relating to my degree but having that piece of paper did come in useful for extending my stay in Australia. I worked as a dump truck driver in civil earthworks jobs out there. Home a couple years now and still working for an agri contractor but I'm not happy. Need to change but to be honest I'm at a loss as to what path to take.

Gravelly

I didn't do the Leaving Cert

Testament1 wrote: »

Got 455 in the Leaving back in 2006. Did higher level everything except maths. Could kinda follow what was happening when it was being done on the board but when it came time to doing the same math problems on my own I just couldn't get my head around them! So ended up dropping down to ordinary level for it.

Went on to study Construction Management and was woeful at it. Missed a lot of lectures had zero interest in the ones I did attend. Should have dropped out as I didn't like the course but ended up sticking it out and eventually scraping a degree.

Had been working for an agri contractor part time since Junior Cert but went off to Australia for 3 years after graduating university. Had no real desire to work in a field relating to my degree but having that piece of paper did come in useful for extending my stay in Australia. I worked as a dump truck driver in civil earthworks jobs out there. Home a couple years now and still working for an agri contractor but I'm not happy. Need to change but to be honest I'm at a loss as to what path to take.

Fair play to you for slogging through and getting the degree - that shows a lot of determination. The advice I got when I was unhappy in the family business and wanted a change was this:

Write down the things you enjoy doing.

Write down what you want from life (whether that's a new BMW, a great family life, to spend all your time outdoors, or just to be able to be home every evening at 5pm)

Now look at those two lists, and see what job, if any, can get you those things in a reasonable time frame. That's the job you need.

Might not work for everyone, but it kind of did work for me.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

bruschi

Always find boards funny. 25% of those responding say they got over 500 points, way above the average that actually gets above the points. So either everyone else isnt voting, people are exaggerating, or we only have the cream of the crop on boards.

as it goes, I got 410 points, did a 4 year college course, worked for a few years, set up my own business and all went fine. Pretty much nothing I learned from leaving cert was retained, and even stuff from college too. They to me were more like applying yourself and getting you mentally prepared for work rather than the knowledge you get from them. I was lucky that I wasnt put under pressure for the leaving, by either the points I needed nor from the school or parents. I got by doing just about enough without really going too hard.

Tom Mann Centuria

How many points can you actually get, is the maximum 600?

GLaDOS

400+

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

How many points can you actually get, is the maximum 600?

With bonus points for honours maths (not sure if that's still a thing) you could go over 600 I believe.

No idea with the new rejigging if that's changed things further.

WoollyRedHat

335 or something like, walked up by the river, the usual old route to get home.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

Wardling

325 which was a miracle. Put in no work and just about passed. Aced my honours Irish as I went to a gealscoil so that improved my overall points by a lot. Just scrapped a pass in the rest.

Got offered a pharma science course in itt, honestly didn't even know there was a college in tallaght. Guidence counsellor had filled in my ceo options. Went for the craic, had a great two years on the beer and partying and then dropped out when it got serious.

Spent the next few years smoking weed, playing in bands, going to festivals, gigs and cheap hitch hiked trips around europe.

Grew up/got bored at 25 and got a job mopping floors in a hospital. Worked my ass off and kept pushing on. Floor mopper to operating theater cleaner, to a&e porter, to pharmacy porter, to a pharma company sealing boxes, to running the machinery and then onto team leader. Now I'm in a management role at 31 that ironically would have been the same role I'd be in if I finished college all them years ago.

Wouldn't change a thing...needed the few years to be a waster and get it all out of my system...regret none of it. Had a ball and some great memories. I'm a better person for it.

Now I'm back studying part time, fully funded by work and with some excellent career prospects ahead and a happy wife to be and young family at home.

Leaving cert is over rated as long as your willing to work hard and show some confidence in yourself.

sashafierce

300+

This post has been deleted.

TheBiz

I came out with 425 last year..
I was happy with it, considering the only study I attempted was learning off English quotes, and only the parts I liked at that..

A lot of teachers were saying how 'it must be a lovely surprise, it was to us at least'.. which seems a bit backhanded.. but I was happy with it. I originally got 405 but went up 20 points in a recheck, didn't matter I got my course.

I'm doing fine, I debated dropping out but I passed my repeats and I'm enjoying everything a lot more this year, I feel like I'm actually learning and I want to progress..
So.. I have not done anything really, I just haven't ****ed up yet.

take everything

I am loving the new JCPA (junior cert profile of achievement) new descriptor system. From what I can make out, no more of that nasty, exact A, B, C system.
Now a fuzzy, feel-good-in-your-tummy, shur-we're-all-winners-really description of how you did.

"Partially achieved" if you got between 20‰ and 40%. So presumably if you can write your name, and write a few lines you're a partial achiever.

I love the less than 20% "not graded" description. Not that you did terrible- just that it wasn't graded: Could well have been the grader lost your paper. Or maybe he couldn't be bothered grading you. Who knows. Nothing to do with you. Someone else's fault most likely. Don't worry about it.

Funny stuff.
I dunno maybe there's something in it. I can't see it though.

dfx-

350+

I think I got 405 in my mocks and 430 in my Leaving Cert back in 2003, didn't work very hard (all subjects were honours so a B2-C1 average in every subject gets you around that mark) and hated the labour intensive, multi-booklet competition subjects, especially English. I wish I did Physics to complete all three Science subjects instead of waffling through Business Studies.

I knew I'd have enough for a new Chemistry course in college, completed it, went into Pharmaceutical industry and then back to do a Chemistry PhD, now lecturing/demonstrating to first years and mature students.

Galwayguy35

I scraped a pass in the LC back in 1992 which I was amazed about considering i never showed up half the time.

I went to a dog eat dog kind of school where if you were small you got the tar kicked out of you so it made the whole experience a misery.

Was happy as larry the day I got out of it and worked at everything and anything since then, have my own place and car and the odd holiday as well so I didn't need the LC at all.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

TerrorFirmer

300+

I got 385 which was a miracle considering how little work I did - I was a dreadful student. The kind that would spend 2 hours staring into space and scribbling on back pages rather than just pay attention or do any work. It's a mad mindset when you actually look back on it as an adult, such a colossal waste of time and potential.

Did a course in college I had zero interest in - public and social policy - because I was sort of nudged into it by my parents and I was just 16 when I finished the LC so I hadn't a clue what I wanted even. Ended up dropping out of that one and just working for a while, finally went back and did a degree and masters but now I somewhat regret not just sticking with the job I had after I dropped out.

Life could always be worse though.

Bigbagofcans

I got 400 points after doing the bare minimum. I was expected by everyone to get a lot more but was secretly battling mental health issues and had lost a lot of interest in school and life.

I started a teaching course because my family expected it of me and ended up dropping out after the first year.
I then began a business course and did alright but finished it in the height of the recession. I was unemployed for 6 months and I fell into a deeper depression full of regrets and disappointed in myself .

After constant perseverance I then managed to get a few part-time retail and hospitality jobs that gave me some work ethic I had never really had before.

A year later I landed a job in the financial sector.
6 years later I am permanent and happy and making decent enough money.

I have absolutely no regrets and all the obstacles I have overcome have made me the content person I am now. 10+ years battle with depression is over

_Whimsical_

450+

Funny, reading back through this it's clear there isn't a lot of correlation between points attained and quality of posts either, although there's a small few where I'm thinking "yes of course you didn't put a foot wrong in school" too.

I got 580 and managed to come first across the board in my subjects in college too but it didn't turn into a passport to an easy path. Life had other ideas! So much of what happens and the twists and turns that shape your destiny are not in anyway determined by academic performance.

I know someone who did no Leaving Cert or Junior Cert who got a job in a multinational delivering post around the building. He worked his way up and now has his financial situation sorted for life with a combination of a pension plan and some very clever investing. He started work at 16, he's retiring at 40 to pursue his interests and find something more meaningful, money isn't an object anymore.