Q: Where can I do a degree in architecture? If I don't get enough points, are there any other courses I could do?
- Louth student
Two colleges provide five-year degree courses in architecture - UCD (DN001) and DIT Bolton Street (FT101) which has a restricted course entry with a suitability test and an interview. At DIT there is also has a degree in design - interior and furniture (FT544) which has restricted entry with a portofolio requirement.
UCD offers the option after three years of getting a BSc in architectural science for students who, by then, don't want to pursue the five-year professional architectural degree of B Arch. These students may opt to take further studies in related areas such as planning or landscape architecture at that point.
Normally, however, students who have completed the course and got the BSc in architectural science do proceed to the B Arch degree. It's quite common for a student to spend one year in an architect's office at home or abroad between the end of the BSc degree and entry to the B Arch course or maybe between the fourth and fifth years of the degree. This is also common practice for the DIT Bolton Street degree which then extends both courses to six years.
Entry to UCD is based on points only and application is made for DN001 the five-year programme only. No separate entry exists for the three-year programme.
Entry to the DIT architecture degree involves a suitability test / interview as well as points. You must apply by February 1st in the year of entry.
Entry levels for 1998 architecture degrees were UCD 495* and DIT Bolton Street 566 including the test/interview score.
Having considered these three degree courses, you should also think of courses in related areas such as the diplomas in architectural technology in colleges such as DIT Bolton Street (DT102), once again the only restricted course here, Cork IT (CR090) and Limerick IT (LC010). Waterford IT has a two-year cert (WD006)in the same area leading to diploma and degree level subsequently as indeed do most of the above courses.
Carlow IT has a two-year cert in architectural graphics (CW009) leading on again to diploma level. Two other colleges provide courses in interior architecture: Sligo IT has a three-year diploma course (SG336) in design in interior architecture, while Griffith College Dublin has a two-year cert (CP490) which can be extended to a diploma. Cork IT also has a new course also in interior archictecture technology (CR 053). Points for the cert/ diploma courses will most likely be lower, so you should consider these just as carefully as the degree options and include your choice on the cert/diploma list when applying to CAO.
All the courses mentioned here are in the CAO system. Finally, other options are to do one of the excellent PLC courses, get your NCVA Level 2 award and apply for transfer to the colleges listed above or apply to one of the British schools of architecture, some of which have built up direct links with PLC colleges here.
Q: I was a first-year student in TCD five years ago and left without completing my end-of-year exam. I'd now like to try again and get my degree. Will I have difficulty getting accepted? Should I apply to TCD or CAO?
- Sligo reader
You obviously had sufficient points for your course at that time and I hope you informed the college that you were not completing the year. Anyhow, you should now apply directly to TCD and not to CAO. TCD and UL are the only two colleges who handle re-admission directly and do not go through the CAO system.
TCD will look at your application in light of your Leaving Cert points and will not discriminate against you for failing to complete or gain a good standard in your end-of-year exam which is unlike the situation in many other colleges. If you have experience in other work or study areas since, you should include that as well as explaining your departure, if you have not already done so.
You haven't given your age - you should check if you could make an application as a mature student. TCD welcomes applicants who will be 23 on the January 1st of the proposed year of entry without having the normal matriculation requirements and you should apply by February 1st.
Q: My youngest son is dyslexic. He is only in third year in second-level school and will be doing his Junior Cert in June. He has been getting help all along and would very much like to go to UCC which is literally on our doorstep. However, he is having a lot of trouble with all his languages. Should he give up French or Irish - or both?
- Cork mother
The NUI has a new arrangement this year whereby students may apply after Junior Cert for an exemption from the third language requirement for its colleges - UCC is one. Students must be certified by qualified professionals as having a serious dyslexic condition. Each case is considered individually.
The application must also be accompanied by a school record form completed by the school principal as well as by the professional certification of the condition. The NUI has accepted the definition of dyslexia by Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD).
I think you should discuss the difficulty with the professional who has examined your son in light of this definition and, if he or she feels he would qualify, then you should submit the relevant material to the NUI after his Junior Cert. Further information is available from the NUI, 49 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.
I suggest that you do not make any final decision until he gets his results from his mock exams in the spring because if he has gone so far, it may be worth holding on a little longer.
Here, however, I think you should take the advice of the teacher who has been helping him and perhaps check again with the professional who assessed him in the first case.
If it's all too much for him, then there's nothing to be gained in continuing with French because he should be covered by the NUI exemption for UCC and, if he decides to apply also to Cork IT, the language requirement there for any cert, diploma or degree course is English or Irish.
Queries can be answered only through this column and not by phone or post. Write to Sile Sheehy, Education & Living, The Irish Times, D'Olier Street, Dublin 2 - or by email to education@irish-times.ie
