COLLEGE 2002: Over 60,000 homes will get a letter from the CAO this morning. Due to industrial action by postal staff it may arrive late in some rural areas, but it will come through the letter box at some stage during the morning, writes Emmet Oliver.
Of the 60,000, over 47,000 will be getting an offer of a third-level place. Some mature students have already been offered their places.
Overall, almost 72 per cent of you who applied to the CAO this year will be offered something.
Those of you who are not getting an offer will get a note from the CAO telling you the not-so-good news.
Of course you do not have to submit yourself to the vagaries of the postal system and can instead log on to www.cao.ie from 6 a.m. to find out the details.
It has been a long two years for you and your parents. For almost everyone involved today this is the final chapter. If you are happy with today's offer, simply fill out the offer notice, return it to the CAO in Galway and your third- level career can begin.
The biggest talking point this year is bound to be the slippage in the points for computer courses, with some options falling by as much as 100 points.
But you need to keep the headlines in perspective. These courses are still very good options and with signs of a major recovery in the computer industry, taking one of them could be an inspired choice.
Preferences
According to the CAO, 73 per cent of degree applicants and an amazing 92 per cent of diploma/certificate applicants this morning are getting one of their top three choices.
This should mean a lot of satisfaction all around. It means this year's students have used the system intelligently and have got what they wanted out of it.
Of course it still means a lot of you will be disappointed. That is a natural reaction. Getting your second or third choice is all very well, but getting your first choice would be even better.
What you must do now is sit down and consider the offers. Many of you will have received two offers, one from the degree list and one from the diploma/certificate list.
Whatever you do, do not dismiss the offers out of hand.
Sit and talk about them with your parents and then talk about the alternatives. While every student is different, the alternatives are somewhat limited. You can repeat the exam, go into the workforce, try an apprenticeship, apply for a PLC course or get your papers re-checked and hope an upgrade gets you the place you want.
Second round
These are the main options. Of course there is a chance, however slim, of getting a better offer in the second round. For the larger courses, such as arts and commerce, there tends to be little change between rounds one and two.
However, last year arts at UCC (CK101) fell by five points in the second round.
Smaller courses tend not to move much either, although a cancellation by one or two people can push the points down on these courses. It really is a lucky dip.
But remember the vast majority of courses do not fall on the second round and if they do, it is just by a small amount. This year, sources suggest falls in the second round will be limited. Only about 5 per cent of places are re-offered each year in the second round so do not hold your breath.
Colleges
This year the large universities have had no problem attracting students, with colleges such as Trinity and UCD attracting about one in three students.
It has also been a great year for NUI Maynooth where points are up for many of their courses. This was caused by a sharp rise in the numbers applying to the college. It now serves a massively expanding commuter belt in Co Meath and Co Kildare and is proving very popular.
At the institutes of technology the demographics are kicking in with many colleges dropping their points to low levels. Consequently, there are some good courses available in engineering, computers and the sciences.
Private colleges - because they require students to pay fees - continue to have some recruiting problems, although there are plenty of opportunities in that sector.
PLC Colleges
If you are thinking of trying a post-Leaving Cert (PLC) course, you should apply to the local colleges directly. There is no centralised system for PLC courses. They have a great variety of courses this year and you can eventually make it to an institute of technology where you can take a certificate course.
In our supplement College 2002 last week we omitted some Wicklow-based PLC colleges. The ones we should have mentioned were: Abbey Community College, Wicklow town, tel: 0404- 67567; Arklow Community College, tel: 0402-32149; Bray Senior College, tel: 01-2829668; Scoil Chonglais Baltinglass, tel: 0508-81449; St Kevin's Community College, Dunlavin, tel: 045- 401223.
Vacant places
The courses listed below remain open to all applicants, including students who did not include them on their original CAO list. Even students who did not submit a CAO form earlier in the year can also apply.
If you submitted a CAO form earlier this year, you apply for these courses at www.cao.ie. If you did not submit any form, you can leave your name and address on the CAO website and they will send you out an application form.
These places are known as "vacant places" and the colleges are waiting to hear from you.
The courses with place are: American College Dublin - international business (AC120); psychology (AC141); sociology (AC142). UCD - evening modular arts (DN022). Pontifical University Maynooth - theology, which will take place in St Patrick's College, Thurles (MU701). Tipperary Institute - business studies, e-business (TI005).
There are still places available on the following certificate/ diploma courses:
Pontifical University Maynooth - philosophical studies (MU751); theology (MU752). Tipperary Institute - business studies (TI001); sustainable rural development (TI002); computing: software development (TI003) in Thurles; business studies (TI101); computing: software development in Clonmel (TI103); computing: multimedia and communication (TI104).
More courses will follow tomorrow. The CAO website also contains lists of vacant places.