So what have individual colleges got to offer and what should you look out for when choosing one to suit your needs? Anne Byrne reports
College choice is often a matter of course choice. If you want to stay within the State and study optometry, then DIT is your only option. If you want to study clinical speech therapy or occupational therapy, it's got to be TCD.
Medicine is in a handful of colleges, medical laboratory science is only offered in three colleges, chemical engineering in two colleges, veterinary medicine in UCD alone. But, if you're heading for the broader pastures of arts, business, engineering or science, then your choice is considerably wider.
In theory, Ireland's your oyster and you could choose to study in scenic Sligo, student-friendly Galway or city-centre Dublin. In practice, finance is often an over-riding consideration. Going to college, eating decent meals, sleeping in a well-heated room, enjoying some kind of social life is only possible if you stay at home. This means sticking with your local, if you're lucky enough to live within commuting distance of a college campus.
Different colleges offer very different experiences and if you're in a position to choose (enough points, enough money, broad academic interests) then you should make an effort to visit the various campuses. Most have open days, and these provide a chance to talk to academic staff, to view the facilities, to meet students, and, most of all, to ask questions.
The course name on the CAO form may seem to offer everything you ever wanted by way of third-level education. The college prospectus will tell you all the practical details, including subjects studied, lab time, work placement and progression possibilities. It will extol the virtues of the campus, the quality of college life, and the caring ethos of the staff.
But, it won't tell you about any of the ongoing problems such as lack of space, lack of sports facilities, poor ratio of computers to students, large class size, uninspiring lecturers. It won't mention the loneliness experienced by many first-year undergraduates when they suddenly find themselves in a lecture hall full of unfamiliar faces. Or the difficulties in securing accommodation close by.
To be fair to most colleges, they are worried about their retention rates, and many have put a good deal of effort into helping students make the right choice. Some colleges have introduced mentoring systems, and have put serious thought into induction programmes. Recreational facilities such as bars, sports centres, student centres and theatres have all become staples of many campuses.
But the best way to find out about student life is to talk to students already in the college, preferably on the course of your choice. The open day may be your best bet here.
If you can't make it to an open day, at least take the time to walk around the campus, peering into the library, the sports hall, the computer labs, on-campus accommodation (if any). Drop into the students' union, which will have its finger on the pulse of college life.
Stroll through TCD's cobblestoned squares and cut-stone buildings, look at the new library (in all, TCD is home to four million books, including the Book of Kells), try out the food in the Buttery (not so hot!). Or wander down to the Corrib, which flows by the student centre at NUI Galway.
Travel out of Cork city centre to Bishopstown to visit bustling Cork IT where the architecture won't leave you gasping (and there's a dearth of women's toilets in the engineering school), but the sports facilities, including an international-standard running track, are excellent. In UCD, the largest university in Ireland, the sports facilities and the new student centre are also outstanding, but the scale of the campus is bewildering.
One of the State's smallest third-level colleges, the College of Amenity Horticulture in the Botanic Gardens, Dublin, enjoys a superb library and herbarium as well as the extensive plant colleges in the gardens.
Looking to the future, the many cranes on campuses attest to brisk building programmes. For instance, DCU is just putting the finishing touches to its new arts centre, while it has secured money, in the Budget, to build a 25-metre swimming pool. Dundalk IT will be expanding on to the site of the former Carroll's cigarette factory, while TCD is burrowing underground to put in a new sports centre. Blanchardtown IT, which currently lives in temporary accommodation, is building a whole new college.
If you have a particular interest in a sport, or activity such as drama or debating, then check the facilities and the college's reputation. If you're an outstanding performer, there may even be scholarships, which will help ease the financial burden.
Ask any graduate for their memories of colleges days and it's unlikely they will recall the text of a particularly informative lecture. Fun during freshers' week, a particularly rowdy rag ball, a shouting match in the L&H or a day spent loafing by the Lee are more likely contenders.
So look beyond the CAO form, the college prospectus and the college website (virtual tours are all very well but they're no substitute for the real thing) before you fill out your application form.
