The traditional professions, law, medicine, veterinary medicine and dentistry, remain the preserve of the high achievers.
Medicine
There are five medical schools in the Republic, and numbers are limited by the Higher Education Authority. In UCD there are 108 first-year places (1998 cut-off points 540*); UCC has 60 places (1998 cut-off points 545*); NUI Galway has 55 places (1998 cut-off points 540*); TCD has 60 places (1998 cut-off points 560) and the Royal College of Surgeons has 40 places open to EU applicants (1998 cut-off points 535*).
The RCSI is not in the "free fees" scheme, but eligible students may apply for maintenance grants. Scholarships are offered to the top 10 students who get a remission of fees and a bursary of £2,000 a year.
Fees are tax-deductible at the standard rate. If you are eligible for a maintenance grant your fees may be paid up to a maximum of £2,702.
Medicine is a six-year course at present, but this is changing in some colleges. UCC is already phasing out the pre-med year. This year the top 45 applicants will go directly into second year. At NUI Galway students with science degrees or other appropriate qualifications may be admitted to second year.
Veterinary medicine
UCD is the only college in the Republic to offer veterinary medicine. There are 65 first-year places available to Irish applicants, and last year's cut-off points were 545* (random selection applied).
Prof Michael Monaghan, Dean of Veterinary Medicine at UCD, says it is very important that secondary school students get extensive work experience in a veterinary practice before they apply for a place on the five-year veterinary course.
"Students should have a clear idea of the kind of work they are doing and what kind of hours are involved. After all, animals get sick after working hours. There's a lot of routine work involved. It's not all high excitement and one crisis after another, as you would think from some TV programmes," says Prof Monaghan.
Students make "a very significant commitment" to working voluntarily in private practice during the summer holidays in their last three years in college, and have to put in 22 weeks' practical experience over that period. They also spend a couple of weeks on a farm early in their first year.
Veterinary students study everything from animal anatomy and surgery on animals to husbandry and the agents that cause disease.
In Ireland there are about 2,000 registered vets. Some 300 to 400 of those work for the Department of Agriculture on the control of diseases such as TB, brucellosis and foot-and-mouth disease.
Dentistry
If you wish to qualify as a dentist, you have a choice of two colleges in the Republic: UCC (1998 cut-off points: 525*) and TCD (1998 cut-off points: 535).
Mr Denis O'Mullane, head of UCC's department of oral health and development, says the most important quality in a would-be dentist is "an interest in helping people and a sympathy for patients' needs . . . You need to treat the people who come seeking your help with care, attention and kindness, especially as many people are a little bit afraid of dentists."
Mr O'Mullane says new students are sometimes surprised by the level of work expected of them. "It can be a long and demanding day. Students have to do practical and clinical work during the day and then go home and study at night. A lot of people are surprised at how hectic the course is. However, there's a great camaraderie in the class and we have a very, very low dropout rate.
The first two years of the course are spent in the university studying basic medical science. The final three are spent in the Dental School and Hospital and the attached Cork University Hospital. Mr Brian Murray, the chief executive of the Dublin Dental Hospital, says dentistry students have heavier class "contact" hours than most disciplines, and the course is probably more work-intensive than medicine, partly because contact with real patients is an integral part of the degree course.
"Dentistry graduates are carrying out irreversible procedures with a high-speed drill. They can't repair their mistakes."
TCD's dentistry course is based on problem-solving, and learning is "independent and self-directed", according to Mr Murray. "Small groups of students are presented with questions and discuss their findings with that group. It's not students sitting in a group of 40 hearing what they need to know from a lecturer.
"Instead, they find out what they need to know themselves in a directed way. It's a method that's been tried out in a lot of medical schools in the United States and Europe, but not very much in Britain and Ireland."
This October's dentistry intake will be the second cohort of students to start their course in TCD's new dental hospital, which the college describes as "one of the most modern in the world".
Law
Many students equate a law degree with becoming a solicitor or barrister. In fact, a law degree is an academic rather than a professional qualification, and many law graduates will never work as a barrister or solicitor.
UCD's careers and appointments officer, Mr Colm Tobin, says law graduates are becoming involved in a greater variety of careers.
Postgraduate study is also becoming more common as graduates specialise in a particular field of law. A survey of UCD's 1997 law graduates showed 40 per cent went on to research or further academic study while almost a quarter progressed to vocational and professional training and 28 per cent went directly into a job.
"Postgraduate degrees and the good economic climate have allowed law graduates to spread their wings, and get involved in things that might be more interesting for them than the traditional roles. Not everyone intends to practise as a barrister or a solicitor because of the difficulty people can have in establishing themselves in those professions. Some people just don't want to take that risk.
"There's also a growing awareness among employers that law students make good candidates for management-type positions," says Mr Tobin. Along with specialised law degrees, law students have also gone on to secondary studies as diverse as arts administration and computer science. Accountancy, tax and banking are more traditional alternative areas of employment. It is possible to combine the study of law with other subjects, such as languages or business, in an undergraduate degree. For instance, UL offers courses in law and accounting and law with European studies. These courses are particularly suited to students who would like to make a career beyond the law courts or solicitors' rooms.
Remember legal science is available through NUI Galway's common-entry arts programme.
Becoming a barrister
Until now, admission to The Honourable Society of the King's Inns degree programme was determined by whether you had a sufficiently good honours law degree from an approved institution. However, the King's Inns has given notice to students intending to apply for their barrister-at-law degree that from 2002 entry to their degree programme will be determined by an entrance exam.
The 120 students who hold an approved degree and perform best in the entry exam, which will cover jurisprudence (the theory of law) and the law of evidence as well as criminal, company and constitutional law, will be admitted to the degree programme. That means anyone beginning a law degree in September of this year will also have to sit the King's Inns entrance exam the summer after they graduate if they wish to train as a barrister.
If you're not sure yet whether you want to study law and believe you might prefer to study in another faculty first, the King's Inns offers a diploma in legal studies course, which is open to graduates in degrees other than the approved law degrees. Lectures are in the afternoon, so many students combine their diploma studies with a day job.
Becoming a solicitor
The Law Society is responsible for the training of solicitors. Non-degree-holders must first pass the preliminary exam; however, very few people follow this route.
All graduates must sit the Law Society's entrance exams. Everyone who passes the entrance exam is entitled to train as a solicitor. There is a waiting list for the professional training course.
Institutes of technology and law
Law is not just offered at degree level. For instance Waterford IT offer a certificate in legal studies. Students at WIT can also pursue an add-on diploma in legal studies or legal studies in international trade. Graduates of either diploma may be eligible to continue their studies to the college's add-on BA in legal and business studies. Letterkenny IT also offers legal studies at certificate and diploma level.
The DIT runs a popular two-year part-time course in legal studies which prepares students for the King's Inns and Blackhall Place.
Law and private colleges
Two private Dublin colleges, Griffith College and Portobello, have law courses on offer through the CAO.
NCI clarification
NCI's four-year full-time BA in European business studies and languages includes a year abroad: this is an academic year, and four business subjects and a language are included. Students also complete a work placement.
Additional reporting by Roddy O'Sullivan
Help-line
Students, parents and teachers with queries about colleges, courses and application procedures are invited to call the college choice help-line between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. today. Tel: (01) 6792099