Confused about the CAO process? In the run-up to the deadline for applications, Brian Mooney will be advising students on the available options.
Business courses were the second most popular choice for students last year, with almost one in five opting for this area.
Honours degree courses
Level eight (honours degree) students have more than 50 courses from which to choose. You will need between 370 and 470 points for most courses in business, although a few fall outside these limits at both ends.
Most business courses begin with a general foundation first year, usually involving five to seven subjects.
While there will be some variation from college to college, subjects such as management, accounting, economics, IT, statistics, marketing and communications tend to form the basis of first year.
In general, you do not need to have taken economics and accounting in your Leaving Certificate, but check the requirements for each course.
Students often select a business course specialising in marketing or human resource management on the assumption that they will not have to study accounting or economics, but this is not the case.
All good business qualifications have core courses in accounting and economics.
How important is maths?
Another core area for business students is statistics. The maths entry requirement varies a lot - from D3 on the ordinary paper for some courses to higher-level grade C3 for more maths-based courses such as actuarial studies.
The main rule of thumb is this: you do not have to be a mathematical genius for most courses, but if you find yourself struggling with maths on the ordinary-level paper, perhaps a business degree is not the best choice.
General business courses
These include: BESS (TR081) in TCD; business and management (DT365) in DIT; business studies in UL (LM050) and DCU (DC111); and general business degrees in UCD (DN015), UCC (CK201), NUI Galway (GY201), Sligo IT (SG141) and Waterford IT (WD048). These are broad-based courses which allow for some element of specialisation later.
More specialised courses
There are specialised accounting and finance degree courses in UCC, DIT, DCU, NUI Maynooth and in Carlow, Athlone and Dundalk Institutes of Technology.
Other specialist degrees are: human resource management in NCI; retail and services manage- ment and transport and logistics in DIT; actuarial studies in UCD and DCU; finance and finance/ venture management in Maynooth; and accounting and law, international insurance and European studies in UL.
Languages and business
A key consideration here is the nature of the language study.
For example, if you select the BComm (International) in UCD with a language, you will take almost the full literature, culture and language course as taught on a BA.
This means that you will study the poets and writers of the language in question as well as spending third year at a partner university in the country of your language choice.
If you select DCU, DIT or UL language and business degree programmes, the main language emphasis will be on the spoken and written language and on business vocabulary and business culture.
Again, check the precise details of each course. If selecting such a course, note the language entry requirement. In most cases, it is a minimum of a higher-level C3 and, in some a higher standard.
Work placements abroad
Other factors to consider are the availability of work placements and Erasmus exchange.
For those interested in developing business links with the fastest-growing and potentially biggest market in the world, UCD has just introduced a BComm international with Chinese studies, which includes a year in a partner university/ business school in China.
Work placement was pioneered by UL, but other institutions, including DCU and DIT, now have it either as an option or as an intrinsic part of their programmes.
In an Erasmus exchange you spend part of your course - usually in year three - in a college in Europe.
On language programmes, students must spend a year abroad in the country of their main foreign language choice. Other courses offer this as an option.
DIT has pioneered English- language Erasmus in its general business programme, in business and management and in its marketing degree. It places students in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, France and Germany in colleges in which English is the language of instruction.
Many colleges, including UCD, DIT and DCU, have also developed exchange links with the US and Canada.
Private colleges
Portobello College offers degrees in business studies, in accounting and finance and in marketing. Similar courses are available in the Dublin Business School and in Griffith College.
Level 6 & 7
Business students make up almost 40 per cent of those taking the level six and seven higher certificate and ordinary degree courses, studying mainly in the institutes of technology.
These are good practical programmes, providing employment opportunities, with transfers to an honours degree course if you get the required grade in your final exams.
UCD has recently introduced a diploma programme (foundations of business) for mature students. Successful completion of this two-year, full- time course will give entry to second year of the BComm. The CAO closing date for this diploma is May 1st.
Monday: arts/humanities courses
This column will appear every weekday until the February 1st deadline.
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