COLLEGE CHOICE: Today: Do not leave your CAO application until the last minute or you could miss Friday's deadline
Only a few days to go before the February 1st deadline and thousands of you have already made your application on-line at www.cao.ie.
Since the CAO allowed students and their parents to take a test run, people's fears about transferring such important information via the web have receded.
But be warned, do not leave the application process until the last moment. Your computer could crash or the CAO's system could crash. Either way you should get it done now.
Fee payment form
One point that seems to be confusing some applicants is whether they should post the fee payment form to the CAO after they have applied on-line. A CAO spokesman says they should not.
"There is no need for an on-line applicant to post anything. They enter the sequence number from the fee payment form into their on-line application. We will check our bank account to see that this sequence number appears in our accounts with €20 paid."
If it does not appear in their account the CAO will write to you asking for evidence of payment and arrangements can be made to resolve the matter.
Obviously, it takes time for the payment to go through the banking system but students do not need to worry. So long as they have paid by 5.15 p.m. on February 1st it does not matter how much later it hits the CAO's account. That is for someone else to worry about.
Despite the proximity of the deadline, some students are still making final amendments to their list.
This column has already suggested a range of areas they might consider, such as engineering, arts, commerce, art and design, social work, law, accountancy, science, computing, medicine, pharmacy and nursing.
This is just a small selection of options in a system that seems to grow every year. Many of you going through these options, may be happy with what is on offer, but gloomy about the prospect of spending another three to four years studying.
You may want a break. You may want sunshine. Well taking a gap year is becoming increasingly popular and by using the CAO process it can be easily done.
To avail of a gap year, fill out your list (or lists) in the normal fashion and get them to the CAO by February 1st. You do not need to tell them you intend to defer at this stage.
But remember you cannot defer a place on every third level course. It is up to the individual college.
For example you cannot defer a place at NCAD or the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology.
You also cannot defer most courses at the Royal College of Surgeons unless there are exceptional reasons such as a family bereavement or illness. UCC will also not allow deferrals for its medicine and dentistry courses unless there are highly exceptional circumstances involved.
Spending a year inter-railing does not qualify I am afraid.
But the vast majority of colleges allow you to defer your place.
Wait until the offers are made later this year before taking any action. It is not something you need to get pre-occupied with now.
When you get an offer later this year, do not reply in the normal way. Instead write to the third level college making the offer.
Attach the offer notice and mark the envelope Deferred Entry. The letter must arrive in the admissions office two days before the deadline for accepting your offer. The college will then write back to you either confirming the deferral or rejecting your application. If they reject, you can still have the place for that year. If you are accepted, you can go off and enjoy yourself for the year, knowing your place is safe.
Also the points will remain the same for you. So even if the points go up for everyone else the next year, this will not impact on you.
For those of you who did this last year, there is now work to be done. You need to fill out another CAO form this year.
If you have not done it, you had better get moving. Neither the college - which is holding your deferred place - nor the CAO is obliged to contact you about this.
Deferred course
Y ou have to fill out the form, putting down the deferred course as your only preference. This has prompted several queries.
Many of you no longer want the deferred place and wonder can you apply for something else this year.
Yes, but only by going through the CAO system in the normal way and taking your chance with the points.
If you are taking the deferred place from last year the points are frozen, but with a new application you are subject to this year's points changes.Languages are another area students this year might consider. At university level there are a range of courses, mainly offered through arts faculties. Language graduates can now work in a range of areas, particularly telesales, customer care, translation, interpretation services and the civil service.
Often language graduates prefer to have a post-graduate qualification in an extra area to increase their marketability. Many language courses, not only give you fluency in your chosen language, but also an expertise in international relations and inter-culturalism.
For example, DCU offers a BA in Applied Languages which includes a major focus on intercultural studies, which help students not only in the area of contemporary international relations but also in their work as professional translators.
For each of the four language combinations there is a separate CAO code: French/German (DC151); French/Spanish (DC152); German/Spanish (DC153) and Japanese (DC154).
The points for media courses have been on an upward trajectory for the last few years as the industry becomes more professional and complex. It is now very difficult to get a job in journalism or other parts of the media without some kind of qualification. The current jobs climate in journalism is not encouraging. However the extra radio stations licensed in recent years and the continuing health of the local and provincial papers means there are still opportunities out there.
Within the CAO there are several options for those interested in journalism or television/radio: DIT"s journalism degree (FT353) is undergoing some interesting changes, with a new emphasis on language.
Those enrolling for next year will be able to take French, Irish or German, as part of the course. In essence the degree will be a journalism and language degree, with DIT attempting to broaden its content. The changes have to be approved by the DIT authorities, but informed sources expect this to happen shortly.
DCU's journalism degree (DC132) continues to prove popular and covers a wide area including media ethics, information technology, magazine production, plus radio and television modules. You can also take this and the DIT degrees at post-graduate level. NUI Galway also offers a journalism and public relations course at post-graduate level. To get a place on these courses, students normally must present decent grades at under-graduate level, plus signs they are interested in the area. Griffith College also offers a journalism diploma and journalism degree.
This column has had several queries from students hoping to study in the Republic from Britain and Northern Ireland. They want to know how will colleges here treat their grades when it comes to allocating points.
There is no common points system for applicants with A level results. For example, DIT, NUI Galway and TCD give 190 points for an A, 160 for a B, 130 for a C and 100 for a D. However, DCU gives only 175 for an A, but gives 45 bonus points if the applicant has achieved three A grades in one sitting.
The Institutes of Technology give 170 for an A, 140 for a B, 100 for a C, 70 for a D and 40 for an E grade. UCD now awards points for A levels, but has individual A level requirements for each course. For example, medicine requires three grade As, while law requires two As and one B grade.
The situation in arts is even more complex. It requires one B and two Cs or one A, one C and one D or two Bs and one D or one A, one B and one E.
All colleges require A level students (just as they do for Leaving Cert students) to meet the matriculation requirements and faculty and course requirements.