CAO choices

Been advising loads of lil 6th years atm so thought I'd share my wisdom with you guys too! Mods if you want to move or delete this go ahead and I apologise for whatever I did!

1. Do not not put down a course because teh points are too high. In fact don't even look at the points for your choices of 1 - 9. I'm sure you've all been told this 1,000 times but just put everything in your order of preference. Whatever course appeals to you most is number 1. i don't care if it's 20 points or 600! (I have just had to kill someone for doing the opposite of this so clearly some people still don't know this!)

2. Always have a back up of some sort. One course at number 10 that is attainable no matter what. If you're aiming for a certain profession something that can be a backdoor into this is the perfect number 10. Arts would be one of the best bets: can get you into psychology, law, teaching, etc. Science is also common for medicine and Vetinary. Things can go wrong and you may end up disappointed so try save yourself ending up with 0 options and keep yourself a back up.

3. Don't forget that the decision that you make now is not your final decision. You still have 5 months to change your mind as much as you want. In fact after the exams is nearly the best time as you will have a better idea of how your exams actually went.

4. When researching courses look at everything! Obviously the main thing is what the course entails but also look at the college, how you would get there (commuting, moving up), how you feel about the campus, anybody who you have met there. And most importantly when looking at courses go into deeper detail than just the main information. Find out what modules you will actually be studying, are they the kind of thing that you would be interested in in that subject? Are you given options within modules? Find people who have done the course too to get a genuine opinion of it. Someone who knows exactly what it's like. Sometimes the big difference for people between the same course in two different places is what modules you are offered and that can be the difference between which would suit you more.

5. Don't panic. There is no point in this at all! CAO is not the end of the world. it's just another one of those annoying bumps that 6th year likes to bring!

6. if you don't get what you hoped for don't give up. That's what your back up is for and remember that there is a back door into everything. this time next year no one will care what points you got. You will be in the course you chose and in a few years you will have the degree/diploma/certificate/whatever to prove that you did it! Trust me it's not worth the stress at the end of it!

7. If this time next year what you thought to be the perfect CAO choice turns out to be a disaster. Tell someone! Don't suffer because you made your choice. Drop out and find something better for you. So many people only realise when they start their course that it's not what they thought it would be. Don't be ashamed

This is all coming from personal experience from doing this all myself 2 years ago and the results I got from it. I don't want to see anyone disappointed because they didn't get their choice from silly mistakes or ending up with nothing.

Also I'm sure there's a couple of potential Law students here and I would hugely suggest putting down Arts in Maynooth as your number 10! It saved me after a disaster of a leaving cert! I was absolutely gutted on results day and if it wasn't for my number 10 I have no clue where I would be! Luckily for me that was the year that Maynooth decided to offer Law as an Arts subject! I'm now a 2nd year Law and History BCL student and I could not be happier!

If anyone has any CAO, LC, College, NUI Maynooth, Law, or Law through Arts in maynooth questions feel free to PM me! I'm happy to help!

fulhamfanincork wrote: »

Unfortunately it's my parents paying for it, so ultimately they have the choice what college I go to.

One bit of advice: Don't let your parents decide what course you do. They may be paying but it's your life and you're the one who will be studying. Don't be miserable just because your parents are paying. You're nearly an adult, possible already are therefore your decisions are your own

fulhamfanincork wrote: »

It would take me 6 grand a year (estimate: fees + accomodation + money for books and living money). I don't have that kind of money so I'd be relying on my parents and would feel it would be unfair of me to put pressure on them.

However BIS is the only course I want to do, so if I don't get BIS in cork I'll be stuck with a piss around arts degree unfortunately. :mad:

I'm not telling you to pay for yourself but you can't let your parents decide your future! You tell them what courses you want to do not the other way round! If they want you to do well they will pay no matter what and the costs will be similar enough wherever you go! I hate having to let my parents pay for my education and I try use my own money as much as possible but I know in the end of the day my parents don't mind paying when they know I'm getting the best degree that i can for myself!

I've seen people absolutely miserable because they did what their parents wanted them to do instead of what they did and if I can possibly help stop someone make the same mistake I'm gonna try!