When high points fail to secure any offers

ONE of the saddest aspects of the points business is that people who have what are by any reckoning extraordinarily good Leaving…

ONE of the saddest aspects of the points business is that people who have what are by any reckoning extraordinarily good Leaving Cert results can end up thinking of themselves as failures.

For example, this column talks regularly with students who have up to 520 points - a result attainable by probably only about 1 per cent of Leaving Cent candidates - yet because all their choices are in areas such as -medicine, physiotherapy, pharmacy or radiography, they end up with no college offer and they feel they have failed.

It's not uncommon for a parent to say with a sigh: "She only got 510 points", when the reality is that 510 points is genius territory. But if it doesn't get the daughter into physiotherapy, then it's perceived as almost a failure.

There is no easy solution to this problem. It is as difficult to get into medicine just about everywhere else in the world as it is here. The competition for medical places is as keen in the UK and the grades required just as high very few Irish students get accepted into UK medical is a desirable career worldwide. The numbers seeking to train for it vastly outnumber the opportunities available, and that is not something which is going to change. There is a cap of 300 on the number of medical places available in the Republic and even at that some believe it is too many, the jobs situation for medical graduates is appalling and there is an estimated emigration rate of 50 per cent.

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It seems daft that it requires 575 points to get into physiotherapy at UCD - five points more than medicine; but physiotherapy is a career with a rapidly rising profile and even in the UK, where it had been somewhat easier to get into until recently, the competition for physiotherapy places has increased dramatically.

In pharmacy, Trinity created an additional 20 places this year, bringing the total to 70; but this has still left the points at 550 (down from 560). Radiography continues to require very high points - 545 at UCD - as the number of places is limited. Yet the indications are that the number of places matches the jobs on offer and if you flood the colleges with radiography students, you are also likely to flood the market with unemployed radiography.

So what is the solution? Students interested in these types of medical careers simply have to be more realistic, faceup to the implications of the limited supply of such places and spread their course choices more widely. It is quite simply scandalous that anyone with 500 plus points in the Leaving Cent should remain without a college place offer; and the only way to avoid this is to spread one's options over a wider range of careers.

This column spoke with a young woman yesterday who had put all her eggs in the medicine/ physiotherapy/pharmacy basket and was left high and dry. Yet she had not listed one single science degree on her list.

Anyone genuinely interested in medicine/pharmacy has to have an interest in related science disciplines and many could make possibly a better career for themselves in research or the pharmaceutical or chemical industries through a good science degree. Yet very few applicants for medicine or pharmacy seem to look to science as a logical fall back.

Points Race spoke yesterday with a mother whose daughter "only wants to be a doctor, nothing to do with science or research, she wants to help people," and she had just missed the required points. Had she applied for social science, thought of social work as a career, we wondered? She hadn't, but if her real vocation was to help, surely she should?

It's sad when someone who is determined to do medicine does not manage to get a place, but it is not the end of the world. There are people who would love to come rock singers, actors, television producers, professional footballers or pilots and they have to accept an alternative career.

There are thousands of young women who would like to train or nursing - and would make excellent nurses - but cannot manage to get a place medicine is no different.

The important thing for the applicant in the case of these high points courses is to realise that some of the brainiest people around will fail to get a place and that 500 points is a brilliant Leaving Cent whether it gets you into medicine or not. The second thing is to make sure you spread options over other course areas. This is particularly important for who is repeating the Leaving Cert.

PHONE IN

This column will take readers' queries and comments on 01 6706937 from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. today.

. REPEATS

WHEN repeating the Leaving Cert it is not mandatory to sit any particular subjects or number of subjects. Most people take six subjects when repeating because the CAO/CAS colleges will only count results obtained in the one sitting of the exam, therefore they need six subjects to be counted for points.

There is, however, no obligation to sit the same subjects as the first time around neither is there any need to re sit subjects - which are mandatory requirements for particular courses or colleges. So someone who has already got Irish in this year's Leaving Cent has already met the NUI colleges' matriculation requirement and does not necessarily need to take Irish in the repeats - the same applies to English. In repeating for points, the idea is to take the six subjects in which you feel you can best and score the highest points.

Some students already have the points for a particular course, but are missing a particular subject grade, such a C in higher maths for engineering or a B in ordinary maths for UCDI commerce. In this case, the student may only need to repeat the particular subject as his or her points from this year would still be valid next year. (Though you'd need to have a comfortable margin in case the points go up next year.)

. Repeat places. All of the main repeat colleges are continuing to offer places. Monday next, September 2nd is expected to be the big registration date as it is the day the colleges officially reopen.

The big Dublin VEC colleges have been seeing people by appointment over the past two weeks and offering places. This seems to have gone very well and - is a big improvement on previous years.

The enrolment fee is £140 and there is another £100 exam fee to be paid later on.

. Re applying: Some of our callers are not aware that it is entirely possible to apply to the CAO again next year without repeating the Leaving Cent. They will simply calculate your points on this year's results. This may be useful for people who messed up their choices this time or who failed to apply for courses; they now realise are of interest to them.

A student could do a PLC course, for example, and re apply through the CAO next year; or it may in some cases make sense to go ahead and do the first year of what is on offer now with a view to re applying for something else next year.

. PE TEACHING

All those on 500 plus points were called to UL for a mobility test and first offers will be posted with CAO Round Two on Monday next. Points Race has received quite a number of complaints about the mobility test, most connected with a swimming test which our callers say took place in a 14 foot diving tank band not in a swimming pool.

Applicants with very high sporting achievements at national level in various sports claim to have failed the mobility test because of their inability to splash around in this diving Pool.

UL is adamant that applicants were told that a swimming test was part of the assessment and whether it's a diving pool or a swimming pool "water is water." They make the not point that any PE teacher would be expected to be able to swim.

. VACANCIES

DUN LAOGHAIRE College Art & Design will take applications for a new course there which was not on the original CAO/CAS list - a two year certificate in television and production. A portfolio assessment is necessary but the college is prepared to undertake this. Contact the college directly.

Dun Laoghaire also has year follow on degrees in film and video studies; film video design; production and interactive media.

. CAO ACCEPTANCES

THE CAO won't acknowledge acceptances; students who have accepted places should now expect to get a letter from college. This will take around days, so if you don't hear from a college until the end of next week, don't panic, it doesn't mean that your acceptance has not arrived.