Mature application or only via CAO

u60gypx5jakoti

Hi there,
I am hoping to return to education this year to study human genetics at trinity as a mature student. I will therefore have to apply directly to trinity as well as through the CAO.
What I would like to know is this:
If I don`t get accepted the mature student route after my application and interview with trinity, can I still get onto the course via the CAO, ie is the CAO application a secondary "fallback" option for me. This is bearing in mind that I have enough points from my Leaving Cert 9 years ago for the course based on the last 10 years of entry requirements.
Or is it the case that, if I apply as a mature student and trinity turn me down, then my CAO application and Leaving Cert points are not considered at all then?

I have asked the admissions department at trinity and they didn`t seem to know the answer, and the mature student officer there was hazy at best on the details.

Can anyone shed some light on this before I fill out the forms this coming week?

Also, just to cover myself, I think I will apply to both the Human Genetics degree and to the general science degree where I might have the option of taking genetics later.
However, should I do this, and my mature application direct to Human Genetics is turned down, but my mature application to General Science is accepted, and then in August I have enough points from my LC for the CAO application to HGen, can I then drop the mature student offer of Science and take the CAO offer of HGen?

Its hard to get straight answers from anybody so far.

FluffyCat

Ok, I'm a mature student and this is how the application worked for me.
I had to fill in both CAO and the mature application form which is on the website. As a mature your LC points and maure application are looked at. For me, I didnt have anywhere near enough LC points but had several years work experience and a previous degree.

To be honest if you had the points in the past for the course I'm not sure if that automatically gets you a place. You need the subjects too.
So if they say no then its no. Its not like you have two application routes.
If you apply for two courses then you rank them on your CAO as normal and fill two mature application forms. Then you might get offered your first or second chioce.

As only about 10% of places are for mature you really need to make your application stand out.
Theres alot to it. You need to state why you want the course and what experience you have in it.
The mature student office should be able to tell you more.

I'm not saying all of this will apply for you but this is how the application worked of me

u60gypx5jakoti

Hmm,

This advice seems to contradict this advice...
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055791796

Im not sure what to believe now!

FluffyCat

Well like I said this was how it worked for me. There was only one application which including your LC points. I know UCC works the same way but if every college takes applicants differently you really need to contact the college as applications to every course in every college may be different. You should really only believe what the college tells you and not the people here anyway. Everybody will have different stories.
Also I may have been misunderstood as the information I originally gave is the same as what the other poster stated. Apart from the getting the course on CAO. I never heard of that.

u60gypx5jakoti

So is it possible for me to just apply as a standard applicant then? Where just my points are used as my entry guidelines?
Do I only have to apply as a mature applicant if I want my points ignored and my experience, essay, interview used as criteria instead? (ie. If I am over 23, I can choose to apply based on my points only, or choose to apply based on my experience etc???)


My details are:
I am 27 years old, and have previously attended Uni, though not finished. I left uni 5 years ago. I got 550 points from my leaving cert in 2000. The minimum points required for human genetics in the last 12 years have been:
535
540
520
535
540
515
555
545
535
475
455
500

Jeanious

Salvatore Nervous Trachea wrote: »

So is it possible for me to just apply as a standard applicant then? Where just my points are used as my entry guidelines?
Do I only have to apply as a mature applicant if I want my points ignored and my experience, essay, interview used as criteria instead? (ie. If I am over 23, I can choose to apply based on my points only, or choose to apply based on my experience etc???)


My details are:
I am 27 years old, and have previously attended Uni, though not finished. I left uni 5 years ago. I got 550 points from my leaving cert in 2000. The minimum points required for human genetics in the last 12 years have been:
535
540
520
535
540
515
555
545
535
475
455
500

Now ya have it.....once you're 23 the mature student route becomes an option, not a requirement, hence you can definitely apply through the CAO as normal.

The main thing worth checkin out is would there be a time limit on this, for example 10 years after your leaving cert or somethin...i used my LC points 6 years after the fact to get into college last september no problem, but im just sayin it might be worth checkin into it to make double sure youd be ok to go that route.

Aside from that, make sure to check out any possible benefit/money implications of going one way or the other; weigh up if you wanna "risk" the points going up dramatically, and indeed the risk of not being accepted via the mature student route as well.

Also cos youre out of college 5 years ya should be eligible for some sort of grant, and maybe the back to education allowance as well, depending on youre recent employment status...see studentfinance.ie for a load of info on both.

The last thing ill say is that going via the CAO is an order of magnitude less hassle than the mature way!

Hope that's some help anyway