Arts and humanities courses are often depicted as impractical and purposeless, with students studying dense and obscure subjects that have no application to the labour market.
Despite these preconceptions and hostility from those doing supposedly more hard-headed courses, the appeal of arts and humanities courses continues unabated. Maybe this is because an arts course does not cut off any future career options.
After completing a three- or four-year arts degree a student is still able to choose from a range of careers and courses. One year doing a postgraduate course and an arts student is ready to a take on a host of areas.
Added to these traditional advantages is a new reason to consider an arts course: the variety. Once you were choosing from a relatively narrow range of subjects such as English, music, philosophy and Latin.
Those subjects are still there, but now they jostle for space on the timetable with information technology, legal science and architecture.
The other big change is a move towards denominated entry. Whereas years ago universities such as UCD mainly offered a general arts course (you chose your subjects when you got to college), now they also offer individual arts subjects as courses in their own right.
If you choose one of these, be careful, because if you become unhappy and transfer into something else the next year you could face the financial penalty of having to pay half or full fees.
Subjects
The big providers of arts degrees are the universities. They offer similar but distinct systems. Trinity College offers its four-year arts degree on a denominated basis, so there is a BA in music (TR 002), history (TR 003), philosophy (TR 005) and psychology (TR 006).
It also offers a two-subject arts degree (TR 001) and this is where things get trickier. Look at page 39 of your CAO handbook and you see an intimidating grid. It shows you what subjects you are allowed to combine.
All kinds of combinations are now allowed. You cannot do English literature with economics, history with drama studies, German with psychology. Those keen to attend Trinity have to weigh this against the non-availability of some combinations. Each subject is given a points total. If you have the same or more points than the higher of the two subjects, you gain a place.
However, Trinity's system can produce some bizarre results. For example, last year history - when part of a two-subject option - required a hefty 500 points. But when offered on its own you only needed 420 points.
At UCD there have been major changes in the arts faculty in recent years, under the innovative management of its dean, Prof Fergus Darcy.
While its mainstay remains DN 012 (the general arts degree), there are now a range of individual arts options, such as history (DN 052), philosophy (DN 053) and international arts (DN 057, DN 058 and DN 059, depending on the language you take).
The university has sought to expand the options within the main arts course and now you can take information studies and maths physics. But once again there are some curious bars on certain subject combinations, including the block on doing English and politics.
NUI Galway has also expanded its horizons and now offers information technology and legal science.
Job Prospects
Job prospects for arts graduates have never been better according to careers officers in most colleges, but often a postgraduate qualification is needed. After that, figures from the Higher Education Authority show only 5 per cent are still "seeking employment".
Among the industries constantly recruiting are the civil service, advertising, public relations, marketing, banks, teaching, the media, IT and, increasingly, management consultants. The "problem solving" abilities of arts graduates and their emphasis on thinking on their feet is becoming increasingly valued in an economy with a rapidly changing skills base.
Business
Due to space constraints in Friday's column, it was not possible to discuss in detail the wide variety of business courses available. Below are some further options in the area you might consider.
Insurance
Insurance companies employ more than 11,000 people in the State. It is still a business where people with no third-level qualifications can start at the bottom and work their way up, but a range of different business qualifications can lead graduates into good positions in the industry.
"A lot of business degrees now offer an insurance option," said Martin Long, spokesman for the Irish Insurance Federation. However, he said, insurance companies are very keen to train graduates themselves.
"Graduates can choose different ladders of specialisation such as claims manager, investment manager or actuary." Apart from these traditional areas, Mr Long said IT specialisation is a new growth area. "It's a very important skill as much of the job involves dealing with databases, so IT qualifications are keenly sought after," he said.
Human Resources
Human resources is becoming increasingly popular. It is already a core subject area of most traditional BComm degrees.
Students in Waterford IT's Bachelor of Business Studies (WD048) can take as a specialist stream for their third and fourth years. Graduates from this course automatically become members of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the professional body for the sector.
Dr Tom O'Toole, head of the department of management and organisation at WIT, said not all human resources qualifications are recognised by the CIPD, so it's important to ensure the course you choose has accreditation.
The National College of Ireland in Dublin offers a three-year BA in accounting and human resources management (NC 001). It aims to prepare students for a career in accountancy or human resources. The first year is common but in years two and three, students have to choose between the accounting and human-resources options.
The `Ladder System'
While most applications to CAO come from school-leavers, there are about 2,000 places at third-level reserved for people with post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) qualifications each year.
These places are on certificate and diploma courses in the institutes of technology. They are open to students who have successfully completed National Council for Vocational Awards (NCVA) level two courses.
If you have this qualification you can compete for one of the 2,000 places with other PLC students. There are about 20,000 places available in PLC colleges each year and many - though not all - are linked to third-level courses. You should check beforehand that the PLC you want is linked with a third-level course.
Check in the NCVA guide to the Higher Education link scheme 2000 for a detailed list of NCVA certificates which are linked to higher education courses.
These details are available from the NCVA (01- 8531910) or by e-mailing information@ncva.ie
The links are especially important for Leaving Cert Applied students because they cannot apply directly to third level, but must go the PLC route if they want to go to college. About 8,000 students are doing the Leaving Cert Applied. Most courses are open to them, with the exception of a small number approved by professional bodies.
So students can proceed from Leaving Cert or Leaving Cert Applied on to a PLC course and then on to a third-level certificate/diploma course.
They can then continue from certificate level to diploma level or degree level. Generally, those who achieve a merit or distinction in the two-year certificate can progress to a diploma. Alternatively, you may just pass the certificate, but if you do one year of relevant work experience, you can proceed to a national diploma and from there to a degree.
So you should consider applying for a PLC course directly to the college (after applying through CAO, of course). There is no central applications body for PLC courses. However, many of them are very popular and fill up quickly, so early application is advised.