Going to College/Kathryn Holmquist: There should be a repeat Leaving Cert in August for students who were unable to achieve to their potential in June due to illness or family bereavement.
One student, who sat his Leaving Cert in hospital shortly after having his appendix removed, failed the second part of his maths exam. Since he would have to wait a year to repeat, Letterkenny Institute of Technology which could not normally accept the student, has decided to bring him in anyway.
Letterkenny IT will give the student special maths classes and an exam so that he can take the course he applied for through the CAO.
Some students have lost out on CAO offers out of sheer disorganisation. The CAO received two acceptance forms this year dated August 2002.
One unfortunate student lost a high points course in TCD because she didn't post her acceptance form in time.
Today, the colleges will be receiving statistics on second round offers. On Tuesday, students hoping that the second round will turn up the course they want will be awake early to log on to the CAO website from 6 a.m.
Many will be fervently hoping that points have dropped enough to allow them a place.
An additional 5 per cent of students will be offered places on second round, if the trend follows 2002 figures. At the first round last year, 92 per cent of students accepted their first offer.
At second round, the acceptance rate was about 97 per cent.
For students who do not get a course in the second round, there will still be vacant places. Shannon Institute of Management is looking for seven or eight more students for its bachelors degree in hotel management. Of the 33 students signed up so far, about half are from outside the Republic.
The course includes two years working internationally in hotels and can lead to jobs in management in hotels, resorts, restaurants and clubs.
Letterkenny Institute of Technology is offering a course in watersports and business management - ideal for surfers, sailors and divers who would like to pursue a career in the leisure industry. Places are vacant because the course got Department of Education approval too late to be included in the CAO list.
Dundalk Institute of Technology has a degree in marketing and French which, again, was approved too late for listing in the CAO handbook.
Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology has vacant places on courses at its Castlebar base.
These courses are nearly identical to the ones offered at the Galway base, but Galway is oversubscribed because that's where students prefer to be, stated a spokeswoman.
The Castlebar courses are just as good.
The list includes courses in forest management, business studies, construction, computing and heritage studies.
Nursing has been popular this year, but TCD still has places available in psychiatric nursing, while Dundalk IT has vacant places in mental handicap nursing.
UCD is continuing to offer places in its evening modular course which leads to a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Griffith College still has places on its business degree course, as well as several certificate/diploma courses, such as journalism, interior architecture and legal studies.
There is plenty there, even if the idea of going to college is only occurring to you now. If you passed five subjects in your Leaving Cert and earned your matriculation requirements - no matter how many years ago - you are still eligible for many courses.