COLLEGE CHOICE: Picking the course and college which will dominate your life for the next few years is at the core of the CAO process.
It is a painful and stressful time for everyone. The constant stories and occasional bragging from the sidelines of those with high points totals do not help either.
Remember that only about 2 per cent of Leaving Cert candidates get over 550 points. The average points score is about 325. So anybody who gets anywhere near that total is doing very well. Forget about points for now and think about the courses and colleges.
According to admissions officers, there is a range of people who normally exert influence over a student's choice of course and college. The groups which play the biggest part are parents, peers, teachers and siblings.
Which of these is the most influential depends on the student.
One admissions officer told me last week never to underestimate the part played by parents in the choice of the student. "Despite the whole notion of teenage rebellion, most teenagers still pay a lot of attention to what their parents say." But friends and classmates also wield considerable influence.
In a typical classroom there are usually one or two prominent opinion-formers. Their views often trickle down through the class to the others.
Admissions officers say that often a whole group of students from one class will opt for a course or college based on the strong endorsement of one particularly popular pupil.
Visit any third-level college and witness groups of classmates doing the same course, apparently for the same reasons.
Teachers also play a part in the influencing. Obviously the career guidance teacher has a pivotal role, although they are often over-worked and under-resourced and not able to devote the time they would like to each student.
Others teachers are also important. A quiet chat with a science, maths or English teacher after class has often led students to pursue a certain course they had been thinking about.
Older siblings, especially if they have been to college, can provide valuable insights for a younger brother or sister. The younger ones can also learn from the mistakes of their older siblings.
What is important as the CAO process gathers momentum is to canvass as many views as possible and then make a decision. Those you consult have your interests at heart, and while the decision remains yours, it is wise to explore other views.
You should, if possible, pick the course first, then the college. But students often do it the other way round.
In schools, a certain college will gain a reputation, and it becomes fashionable with students. That college then becomes the place to go.
Why? It could be its courses, but it is more likely its sporting or social facilities or because it has a certain "old boys' network" image.
But getting a place at this utopian college is not much use if the course does not match your ability or interests.
If you dislike the course you will not be engaged, and your grades will slip.
So you may emerge from this college a few years from now with a degree or diploma, but because of your poor results all the good of going to this supposedly top institution will have been frittered away.
Employers will, despite best intentions, often have a prejudice in favour of the college they went to. But if the candidate has a poor degree or diploma this advantage will be wiped out.
Nowadays you often need a 2:1 or 2:2 in your degree, for example, to progress to a postgraduate course. So the result you get at the end of the course is important. Simply saying you attended a certain college is not enough if the results are not there.
Another important factor is location. Despite their well-travelled backgrounds, most young people remain conservative when it comes to choosing a college, they stay local.
While thousands of students will pack their bags for Galway, Dublin, Cork or Waterford later this year, the vast majority will go to their local IT, private college or university.
Even within Dublin this pattern is maintained. UCD still gets a large chunk of its intake from the south Dublin suburbs, whereas Trinity, DIT and DCU tend to pull in greater numbers from the north-side. In Trinity's case, north can mean well outside the pale, with a sizeable student cohort coming to TCD from Northern Ireland.
Either way, you should not get too distracted by the college and concentrate on whether the course is right for you.
Of course, this does not mean you should discount everything about the college's facilities and traditions. Some colleges do things better than others. DIT does have an incredible range of courses. Trinity does have the longest tradition of university education in the Republic. UCD does boast a highly impressive list of alumni. Carlow IT does have a strong reputation for computing and engineering courses. NUI Maynooth is ideally situated for many in the expanding Dublin commuter belt.
These are just examples of what each college can boast. But you must balance these attributes against the precise content of the course, its length, its relevance to the workplace, its teaching staff and its potential to hold the interest of students.
Having lots of points gives you the chance pick and choose. But you do not have your points yet, so pick the courses based on what you like at this stage. So many students select their courses based on hunches about their points totals in August.
Makes sense? Well, yes and no. Of course, you have to be realistic, and putting down 20 courses (on the degree and diploma/certificate lists) which you have absolutely no chance of getting based on your previous results is foolish.
But equally each year at The Irish Times we hear from students who have underestimated their own ability.
Despite the gloom from earlier in the year, these students end up with very high results, but because of that earlier pessimism they failed to put down courses they would now be entitled to.
So if you want to do medicine or law, put it towards the top of your list. You will be mortified if you get a hatful of A1s in August, but forgot to put these choices on your list.
Remember - the CAOs work down the list. Even if you do not have enough points for your first nine courses, you can still get an offer of the 10th one.
So there is nothing reckless about filling the upper part of your list with courses you think at this stage of the year may be just a little beyond you in points terms. There is a long way to go yet!
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