After business and arts related courses, engineering is the most popular choice of students each year. Its promise of good salaries, varied work and security of employment continues to prove appealing.
But a rather stereotyped image of the engineer continues to linger. A man in a hard hat standing on a building site or near a bridge drawing lines on a sheet, is what many people think of.
This image persists among students and despite the popularity of engineering among some of the high achievers in the CAO, the Institution of Engineers of Ireland (IEI) says more young people should consider the profession.
It is in the middle of a vigorous campaign to interest Leaving Cert students in engineering and its STEPS programme is especially trying to persuade girls to go into engineering.
The STEPS team regularly tours schools and tries to interest pupils in the sector. Once they break down the initial stereotypes about engineering they get a good response. However, the shrinking numbers doing higher-level maths, physics and chemistry means fewer people are available to go into the area. This is happening at a time when the demand for engineers is rising sharply, with the National Development Plan taking shape.
While engineers need to possess a range of skills, there is no getting away from the link between engineering and maths. To do an engineering degree you simply have to be good at higher-level maths.
The same goes for engineering certificates and diplomas. You do not necessarily need to be a supreme number cruncher, but you need to have an aptitude. In recent years a lot of people have dropped out of engineering certs and diplomas, sometimes because they have found the maths too taxing.
So be careful. Look at your grades in school and ask yourself would you be able for something even more complex at third level.
But the self-questioning does not end there. Even if you are convinced you want to be an engineer, picking the course to suit you is a minefield. Years ago, most of the universities offered omnibus engineering degrees where students entered a general course and specialised later.
Now students are offered an array of denominated engineering degrees. In other words, degrees which concentrate on a particular branch of engineering, for example process engineering or microelectronic engineering.
Virtually all the universities have gone down this road to some extent, with Trinity being the only college to stick almost exclusively with the omnibus option (TR032).
The move towards denominated options has not always been good for students in terms of points. UCD decided last year to introduce a range of new denominated engineering degrees which replaced its old common engineering degree.
While 375 points would have got you into the common degree in past year, the new denominated options all shot up to around 450 points, with civil or mechanical engineering (DN075) hitting 460 points.
There may be some let up this year depending on the level of applications, but the best thing to do if you want a place at UCD is fill your list up with several options. You may not get your favourite, but you should get one of them. For example, you could still get a place on the electronic or electrical engineering course (DN073) last year at UCD with 400 points.
Some of the other universities have denominated and omnibus courses. For example, NUI Maynooth has a new common-entry degree (MH304) which allows students to branch into its other engineering degrees after three years.
At that stage students can do computer, electronic or communications engineering. According to admissions officer Mr John McGinnity, the idea behind the new degree is that students who are not ready to commit to one area can put this decision off for two years and try the general option first.
A similar offer is available at NUI Galway, where its omnibus option (GY401) continues to be popular. However, unlike Maynooth, students must specialise after the second year. Galway also offers a range of denominated engineering degrees.
At Institute of Technology (IT) level there is a plethora of courses, often targeting a particular engineering niche. They tend to require far fewer points, although some of the courses - particularly at DIT - were not far behind the universities in terms of points last year. DIT's course (FT125) has a common first year and then splinters into the various other branches.
The important thing to remember about a certificate or diploma in engineering is that you can progress to a degree if your results are good enough. For example, at Cork IT you can do a certificate/diploma in virtually all the engineering disciplines, and degrees in many of them too.
At Blanchardstown IT you can start with a certificate in electronic and computer engineering, but you can progress right through to a degree. In other words, if you miss a university place, that is not the end of your chance of getting a degree.
It is very hard at 17 or 18 to assess which branch of engineering would most suit you. The best thing is to do as much research as possible and if still in doubt, maybe you should consider the general degree.
Traditionally, civil and structural was the branch of engineering most popular in Ireland. Even last year, UCD's course required very high points.
This is the area where engineers work on bridges, roads, canals and railways, including Luas. It is most closely linked with the construction industry and while the economy is slowing down, the Government is still committed to upgrading the country's infrastructure, so there should be plenty of work available in coming years.
Chemical engineering often has less applications from students, but it has been boosted in recent years by the arrival in Ireland of large pharmaceutical companies. It is the branch of engineering which should particularly attract those who excel at chemistry and physics in school.
Electronic or microelectronic engineering involves computers and microchips, as well as other electronic devices.
Since companies such as Intel came to Ireland it has been one of the most financially rewarding areas of engineering, although projects can often take a long time to complete and there is constant pressure to improve existing electronic products.
Electrical engineering, as the name suggests, is concerned with electricity and machines which use it. The ESB is a significant employer in this area, but so are companies such as IBM and Eircom.
Mechanical engineering involves machines of various sizes and complexity.
You can be asked to work on cars, jet engines or robots. Mechatronics is a new precision approach within this area which involves work on leading edge technologies. This is offered on its own at Blanchardstown IT (BN009) as a diploma or follow-on degree.
One of the areas growing in popularity is the field of biomedical engineering. This engineer designs products or devices which are used in the human body to treat patients. Companies such as Boston Scientific operate in this area.
The other branches to consider are building services; agriculture and food and computer and software. Salaries have been rising fast in recent years, although the company you work for has a large bearing on what you take home.According to the IEI, graduate engineers start on about €22,000, rising to €34,917 after three to five years experience. They continue to rise after that, with engineers with six to 10 years experience earning over €47,000.
However, this is basic salary and depending on the company, you can also pick up decent bonuses, pension contributions and possibly shares or a company car.
Some readers have contacted us about medicine and want to point out that the length of training can be even longer than was outlined in Friday's column.
One reader who has studied medicine says: "After seven years of training, in order to be further qualified at a speciality it takes aminimum of three years to become a GP and, depending on which area, it usually takes (there are exceptions, I admit) up to at least 10-11 years post intern-year to be eligible for a consultancy post.
I think it is really important for students to know what they are letting themselves in for time-wise. Despite these horrible truths, medicine is still a worthwhile and sometimes very rewarding career for those who can put up with the above."