Changing Course

hollowfloors

Hi, I have a question about changing course! I looked under the changing course thread in the sticky but there wasn't really too much information there!

I'm doing Business and German at the moment, just finished my first year and there is no way I passed!! Is it possible to switch to BESS at this stage? I wouldn't mind even doing first year BESS - I just need to get away from the German! I don't have the points for BESS but is there anyway around this!

Thanks a mill!

Attractive Nun

As far as I know, there is no way into the course if you don't have the points. Do you really dislike Business and German? If not, then having to sit supplementals is no big deal really - and don't just accept that you've failed until you see the results, I was shocked by how well I did in certain subjects, wasn't expecting it at all.

hollowfloors

I don't hate it exactly I just can't see myself enjoying another 3 (or 4!) years of it. In my class of aproximately 25 there are 8 repeats. From last year's JF class of 13, 9 failed and 2 of those who passed had already repeated first year. Figures like this don't bode well for the results. I'm much more interested in the business side of the course than the German. So there's no way around the points thing? I'm not off by a huge amount and I'd say I got ok results in my business subjects this year - would this have any effect on my ability to switch?

hollowfloors

hollowfloors wrote:

I don't hate it exactly I just can't see myself enjoying another 3 (or 4!) years of it. In my class of aproximately 25 there are 8 repeats. From last year's JF class of 13, 9 failed and 2 of those who passed had already repeated first year. Figures like this don't bode well for the results. I'm much more interested in the business side of the course than the German. So there's no way around the points thing? I'm not off by a huge amount and I'd say I got ok results in my business subjects this year - would this have any effect on my ability to switch?

Nope, there isn't really any way around the points thing. Make sure to look at the points for the final round, of course, since it may go down by a few here or there.

Are you looking to transfer into the first year of BESS or the second year of BESS? Because the points for BESS 2007/8 obviously haven't been set, so you could try to apply for a transfer into JF (though you'll have to pay a year's fees) on the basis of hoping that the points will drop by a small bit (if you're not too far off), and if you don't get in you could still do the repeats.

If you're looking to transfer into second year, then your business results will matter, but if you're looking to transfer into first year then your business results won't be taken into account. Both cases require the necessary points, as well as a space in the class etc.

The above is going on memory which is indeed a bit hazy and thus may be incorrect, so if you wish to find out what the scéal is, contact your tutor and/or Rob/Bartley in the SU at education@tcdsu.org.

Attractive Nun

Well don't take my word on anything, but I'm quite sure that - as an Irish student who sat the LC - you can't get into any course unless you have the points. Otherwise you'd just have loads of people choosing courses to get into the college and dropping them after a year. Your results in the exams will not, as far as I know, affect this. (EDIT: OK, apparently they will)

The good news is that it isn't too late to switch courses. A friend of mine is switching and from what I can remember from him the deadline for application is sometime in August. There is no point in going through the motions in a course you're not 100% happy with, so you should look to change if that is the case. If your points were close to 475, which is what BESS was last year, then it's worth applying because the points could well drop. You also get a few preferences so it might be worth looking at some other courses too (MSISS is fairly business-related, for example) - though you will have to start in first year in all of these and pay fees for the year.

Again I'd stress that you might end up enjoying Business & German in later years. I wouldn't worry too much about how everyone else did in previous years, but even if you did fail the summer exams, the repeats are another chance. Ultimately your best bet is to get in touch with the education officer, your tutor or someone of that ilk - and you'll probably get a few more educated replies in this thread as well. Good luck anyway!

claire h

Have you talked to anyone within your department about this? Do they have any system whereby you can drop a language and just stick with the business studies side of things? Because if you're going through the formal changing-course thing, via tutors and the admissions office, you will need the points in order to switch into first-year anything - they base it on this year's CAO points, as though you're a new entrant.

Awayindahils

As someone going through this atm, the only way they will consider you is if you have the points to begin with. Im looking for a 2nd year to 2nd year transfer as in repeating SF, but even with two years of fairly decent college grades, points were the first thing the senior tutor was worried about.