COLLEGE CHOICE: Today: Before you even consider points, ensure you are familiar with the requirements of the course you want.
Before you draw up your list of courses for the CAO, you need to think about a range of variables.
Foremost among these should be whether you truly want to do a certain course or not. But equally prominent in your deliberations should be whether you have the correct subjects to do the course at all.
Many students get so obsessed with points they forget about other requirements.
While points are important, they only come into play if there are more applicants than places on a course.
Before points arise at all, basic entry requirements have to be met. So in a sense they are at least as important as, if not more important than, points.
There is no common approach between colleges in this area, and the best way to make yourself au fait with the requirements of the course you want is to consult the college prospectus.
Failing that, get your hands on a copy of our EL College Choice supplement of last Tuesday, which included a master chart of essential subjects.
While there are different requirements all over the system, a student with passes in English, maths, Irish, a foreign language and possibly a science subject can choose from a wide range of courses.
So maybe concentrate on that, but obviously clever students will have no problem getting honours at higher level in those subjects anyway.
Most colleges have two types of requirement. The first are general entry requirements to go to the institution (often called matriculation requirements) and the others are subject requirements for specific courses.
Entry or matriculation requirements are the basic grades the college requires you to have in order to gain entry.
For example, the NUI colleges (UCD, Maynooth, UCC and NUI Galway) and DCU require six subjects, with at least two C3s or better in higher-level papers and four D3s or better in ordinary or higher-level papers.
Trinity requires three higher-level Cs among your six subjects.
For certificates or diplomas at most of the institutes of technology (ITs) you need to get a D3 or better in five subjects at ordinary or higher level. The five subjects must include Irish or English, maths and three other subjects.
For a degree at an IT you must have five subjects again, to include Irish or English, maths and three other subjects, but two of them must be C3s or better at higher level.
Irish
NUI colleges regard a pass (that is at least a D3 or better at ordinary level) in Irish as an essential entry requirement.
Some students, such as those born outside the Republic or those who were educated abroad can get an exemption, but everyone else has to get that pass in Irish. A pass in foundation-level Irish is not sufficient.
However, like almost everything in the CAO process, there is an exception. The NUI colleges will allow you to include a higher-level E grade (technically a fail grade) among your results if you have at least three Cs in higher-level papers or at least one B and one C on higher-level papers.
While this seems confusing, what it means is an E in Irish at higher level (or indeed maths or any other subject) does not necessarily rule you out of UCD, NUI Maynooth, NUI Galway or UCC.
However, this little exception applies only to higher-level papers, and if you fail ordinary level Irish or English you are in trouble.
Continuing with Irish, Trinity and the University of Limerick do not require a pass in the subject, just a pass in some language, which can be Irish or French or German and so on. DCU requires a pass in Irish or English. Most courses in the ITs do not require a pass in Irish either.
In relation to English, most courses require at least a pass, although some colleges ask for a pass in English or Irish. Many of the private colleges do not require a pass in English, only in any language.
In relation to foreign languages, at the NUI colleges you need to have at least a D3 or better at ordinary level. At Trinity you need to have a pass in a language, but this can be Irish or something else. DCU does not have a general requirement for a foreign language.
In relation to language courses themselves, most at university level require at least a C1 at higher level. For example, to do French or German at Trinity (in the arts faculty, TR001) you need this grade or better.
To do law with French (TR018) or law with German (TR019) at Trinity you also need this grade or better in those particular subjects.
To do international commerce with either French or German at UCD you also need at least a C3 at higher level.
To do more specialised language courses, such as applied languages at the University of Limerick (LM044) you need a B3 or better in higher-level German, French, Spanish etc.
Many courses at the ITs also require a language, including tourism, catering and marketing courses which include a language component.
But unlike the universities, it tends to be only a B3 or better at ordinary level.
Maths
Most courses require maths. But it is important to point out that you can still get into some law, social science or arts courses in the NUI colleges without.
But a fail in maths does seriously limit your options with the vast amount of courses, with most requiring at least a D3 at ordinary level.
Last year almost 17 per cent of students failed maths at ordinary level. This was quite a shock to many, because it meant options for these students were seriously curtailed. It will be interesting to see if the class of 2002 are better or worse at their sums.
What is important to remember about subjects such as maths, English and Irish is they can be presented from any year. In other words if you fail maths or Irish this year you can repeat them next year and still use your points from this year.
Take an example. If Student A gets 340 points this year, but fails maths, that student stands little chance of getting an offer this year.
What student A can do is repeat maths next year on its own and apply to the CAO as normal. If that student passes maths next year, he can present that grade next year along with the 340 points he got this year.
In other words you have to use points from the same year, but matriculation or basic entry requirements can be selected from any year. Or as one teacher put it to me: "Once Irish or maths or English are passed, they stay passed." Of course, points change each year.
Maths is needed for many science and engineering courses. Most engineering degrees require it at higher level.
UCD's electronic or electrical engineering course (DN073) requires at least a B3, whereas on Maynooth's engineering degree (MH034) you can gain entry with a C3 and up. This degree branches into three engineering disciplines - computers, electronic and communications - after three years.
Science subjects
Most students attending school in the Republic will have a pass in Irish or maths, and these requirements will not pose a problem. But you are not out of the woods yet. Science subjects are also required for a range of courses.
The problem here is that not all science subjects are on offer in schools.
For example, there are a sizeable number of schools not offering chemistry, but without it you cannot get a place on the following courses: human nutrition at DIT (FT223); pharmacy at Trinity (TR072); veterinary at UCD (DN005); and medicine (CK701) or dentistry (CK702) at UCC.
This seems unfair to students who simply enrolled in schools where chemistry was not on the curriculum.
Science subjects are required for a range of other courses, but how many are required varies between institutions.
While UCD is happy enough with one honour in a higher-level science subject for its medical degree (DN002), Trinity wants a B and a C in two science subjects. UCC's medical degree (CK 701) also requires two science subjects.
General science degrees normally require at least one science subject, but often a pass even at lower level will be enough, for example UCD's science degree (DN008).
More specialised science courses, such as food science, biological sciences, genetics and toxicology, also require a science subject, mainly at higher level.
Emmet Oliver's guide to the CAO process : 1850 201245 (5-7pm) e-mail: education@irish-times.ie