THE closing date for receipt of CAO/CAS applications is Thursday, so realistically students should either have posted their application or do so today. The application fee is £18. Of course, all is not lost for someone who forgets to apply this week or decides they need more time. For a late application fee of £36 you can still apply up to May 1st; but why squander the additional £18?
But note that courses which are "restricted entry" (all identified in the CAO handbook) cannot take applications after February 1st. These are courses which involve an interview, portfolio, or other assessment which needs to be done early. Many of these are in the art/design area.
CHANGE OF MIND: In early May, CAO/CAS applicants will get a change of mind slip in the post from the CAO. If you have already made your final decision, ignore this. But if you are uncertain about the choices you make this month, you can change your course choices then and return the change of mind form. The CAO will register this change and will send you another change of mind slip - in case you want to change your mind again. Applicants can change their mind as often as they like up to July 1st.
The change of mind is a useful safety net in that at least you have the confidence now of knowing that if you do clarify your thinking in the meantime, you can always change. (Remember restricted entry courses cannot be newly introduced after February 1st, though the order in which they are listed can be changed.)
PENDING: There is also the possibility of filling in your CAO form but leaving the course choices blank; this is known as the "pending" facility. You simply write "pending" across the course choice lists. It is then possible to leave your actual choices (except restricted entry courses) as late as July 1st. The applicant waits until the change of mind form arrives in May and then lists her/his choices on it and returns it. Change of mind can follow in the normal way up "to July 1st.
On the whole, Countdown advises against using the "pending" facility or relying too much on the change of mind. It is better to make your decisions now, get that out of the way and free yourself for revision, study and concentration on the Leaving Cert exam. It's also true that there is nothing you can find out about a course in May that you cannot find out just as easily now - and come May you will be a lot more pressurised.
POST: If you are worried about possible delay to your application due to the effects of the postal dispute, just get the certificate of posting at the back of the CAO handbook stamped by the post office when you post it. This is proof that you posted before the closing date. If you've already sent it without this, don't worry. The CAO is aware that some delays may have occurred and will take this into account.
MATURE APPLICANTS: The closing date for mature applicants for most of the colleges in the CAO/CAS system is also February 1st. If such applicants have the points then they simply apply in the same manner as anyone else and are considered on their merits.
Most older people will not, however, have the points, so they apply for special consideration as mature applicants, filling in pages 3 and 4 of the CAO/CAS form. Most courses in the RTCs, the DIT, UL and DCU are open to mature applicants, but the number of places available can be very small. In the universities some restrictions may apply - in UCD, for example, there are no reserved places for mature applicants in medicine, veterinary, physiotherapy or radiography. Arts and social science tend to provide the most places.
Mature applicants to Trinity should fill out a CAO form and also contact the college directly; in the case of the colleges of education, DCU, UL and the NCAD application is not through the CAO, but directly to the colleges by May 1st (April 1st in the case of UL).
RESERVED PLACES: All the RTCs have a small quota of places in certain certificate courses reserved for applicants who have finished at least a one year PLC course. But callers to Countdown have indicated it is very difficult to find out which courses have such places. The best advice is to the ring the individual RTCs.
It would surely be of benefit to applicants if such places were to be listed in the course literature, so that applicants would know where the places were reserved.
POINTS: One of the persistent CAO myths this year is that the points will be lower because the numbers sitting the Leaving Cert will be down. (The reason for the fall is expansion of the Transition Year.) The Department of Education has now produced figures which show that there is a fall of approximately 7,000 in Leaving Cert applicants - from 68,492 last year to 61,657 this year. Of those, some 8,000 are repeat students, up only 300 on last year.
The drop in numbers sitting the Leaving is not significant and it is unlikely to affect points greatly. Realistically, the prospects for any significant fall in points are not good, particularly in the high points courses.
SOCIAL CARE: Students who apply for the applied social studies/social care diploma in Waterford RTC should note that they must contact the RTC at the same time. A year's work experience is needed before starting the course. The college will provide you with details of potential employers. The idea is that places are allocated on the basis of this year's points; the student then does a year's work and starts the course in September 1997.
The course has been broadened to deal with all aspects of social care it no longer deals exclusively with child care. The course operates on the basis of two terms in college, one term in work placement over the three years. It's a good option, leading as it does to the only degree in social care available at the moment. (Cork RTC has one planned, but is awaiting Department of Education sanction.) The degree is designed to qualify people to work in a management capacity in social care programmes and institutions - it does not train people as social workers.
AQUACULTURE: There is no, separate entry to aquaculture at RTC Galway in first year, so it does not appear on the CAO/ CAS form. But students who take the applied science certificate in first year can opt for a full specialisation in aquaculture in second year, with the option of going on to a diploma.
ART/DESIGN: RTC Limerick tells us there will be joint assessment of portfolios for applicants to its art/design courses and those of Cork RTC (Crawford College). Applicants can opt to have their portfolios assessed at either centre.
VETERINARY: Employment prospects are excellent for vets with virtually a 100 per cent job placement rate. The points, however, remain - and are likely to stay - extremely high. It was 575 last year.
TOURISM/HOSPITALITY:
The course in Waterford RTC referred to last week is a diploma course and therefore not on the CAO/CAS form; you would need to do a certificate in tourism or hospitality first.