Choose courses carefully before making CAO application

College Choice:Having identified a range of potentially suitable courses, students should discuss them with their guidance counsellor and parents, before entering them on a CAO application form.

It is also very advisable to visit the website of the colleges in question. If you live close to the college, visit the faculty and talk to students and lecturers.

Watch out for college information events for students throughout the year. The details of all such events are also on the relevant website.

Online applications

In recent years, most students have been submitting their applications online. Last year 85 per cent of applications were electronic. This is the preferred option of the CAO as it eliminates most errors. The online version does not allow candidates to make simple errors, so it is ultimately more efficient.

You can apply online from any computer, whether from school, home or a public library, if necessary. Online applications can be made at www.cao.ie

If for some reason you do not yet have a CAO application pack, you can get one by sending an e-mail to help@cao.ie giving your name and address. The CAO will post out a pack immediately.

You could also phone the CAO at (091) 509800.

Why do students often select the wrong course?

Many students take a course that does not suit them and end up failing first year in college or dropping out. How can this happen and what can students or their parents do to avoid this pitfall?

(1) Do not select courses without discussing them fully with your guidance counsellor.

(2) Read the course literature carefully. Every year thousands of students drop out because they do not like the subjects taught on the course, yet these subjects are clearly set out in the college prospectus.

(3) Select your course based on what you genuinely want, and not based on where friends are going, or which college has the coolest image, the highest points, or the best social life. All these considerations pale into insignificance if you end up hating your lectures and eventually dropping out of the course.

(4) Don't be careless with your lower preferences.

Remember, depending on your Leaving Certificate result and the points required for each of your course choices, it is possible that you will be offered any of your choices, so fully research any that you intend to list.

When must I apply?

Ideally, it would be preferable to complete the CAO process earlier than the closing date for applications, February 1st at 5.15pm, to ensure that your application arrives on time.

Most students can exercise a change-of-mind facility up to the final date for this option, which is July 1st, a full two weeks after the end of the Leaving Certificate examinations. The only exceptions to this rule are known as restricted application courses, which I will deal with tomorrow.

Is it possible to predict the points for my course this year?

No, because points are determined firstly by three main factors:

the number of places offered;

the number of students who apply for the course in 2007;

and the overall Leaving Certificate results.

The good news is that the numbers taking the Leaving Certificate are decreasing each year and the number of places offered is increasing.

For the next number of years at least, points will either stay put or fall moderately.

Tomorrow: Restricted application courses