Questions Answers &

My eldest son is taking his Leaving Certificate next June, and has brought home literature regarding the college application process. Can you outline the main factors he should take into consideration in making his application, and explain a little about the process

By this stage, your son will have attended many college open days and had numerous presentations in schools from colleges and faculties, both local and national. He will probably have undertaken numerous interest and aptitude assessments, under the direction of his guidance counsellor, over recent years, which should have clarified for him the key areas of academic study appropriate for his on-going career progression. He will have researched, and will continue to research, all courses available nationally, on the national course database www.qualifax.ie.

The most important thing to remember is that he is not about to select a career for life - he will probably experience a wide range of different careers over his lifetime. What he needs to focus on now is which range of academic programmes, in the genuine order of his preferences, will help him grow and develop personally, socially and academically towards his chosen career as it stands at the moment.

Thursday, February 1st, 2007 at 5.15pm is the closing date for applications for entry to colleges in September 2007. Your son should take care not to leave it to the last minute to apply. This is particularly important for "restricted categories" of applicant and "restricted courses" as he may not be able to make a late application for his desired course. Restrictions are detailed in the CAO handbook and they commonly apply to courses that have an interview, an assessment, a portfolio assessment or a test such as a music test.

Mature applicants and those presenting certain qualifications may also have to apply by February 1st. All applicants should read the 2007 CAO handbook carefully.

Online application at www.cao.ie is now the more popular method, with 85 per cent of applicants applying online in 2006. The online application system will help your son to avoid some common errors associated with a paper application - and it is cheaper.

This year there is a new feature to the online application service. When he completes his application online, he will receive his CAO application number on screen. This number is very important, as it will appear on all CAO documentation sent to him in the coming year. He must quote it in correspondence with CAO and he will need it if he wishes to make changes to his application. Once he has submitted an online application he may make changes to this application as often as he likes and free of charge until July 1st.

If he submits a paper application form in January, he will probably have to wait until early February to receive his application number, which will be posted to him, on a form called a Statement of Course Choices. This form also shows his application details and he must check that all is in order.

If he needs to make a change to his course choices after the February 1st closing date, he may do so between February 5th and March 1st online or by returning the Statement of Course Choices to the CAO. There is an extra processing fee of €10, if he makes a change at this stage.

Before the end of May, he will receive a Statement of Application Record and a Change of Mind Form. The statement will list his details of his course choices and his examination number(s). It is his responsibility to check this document and inform the CAO of any errors or omissions. If he wishes to make changes in his application at this stage, which tens of thousands of students do, he has until July 1st, 2007 to do so, free of charge, on the CAO website.

Brian Mooney is the former president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors.

E-mail questions to bmooney@irish- times.ie