GTI

surime

Hi, I would like to ask about Galway Technical Institute. Was anyone studying there? Is that school any good? Does it really give more opportunities to get better job? Thanks for any information.

JohnCleary

A few people here were asking the same questions in previous years so they might be able to help.

As far as I can make out, yes, it does help to progress education wise ie. Doing a course there can really help you get into an IT/Uni in the future - Almost a backdoor into college... so i've been told

yourmano

You can get up to 450 points in some of these PLC colleges which can then get you directly into college. I've loads of mates who did it that way years ago but they have improved significantly since then. There are some fantastic courses in both GTI and GCC, worth going to both open days & deciding as both have new courses regularly. Enjoy!

moonflower

If you get 8 distinctions you can get 400 points for the CAO. I'm there at the moment and while it's quite good it's really not very well organised. We've constantly got cancelled classes and tutors getting confused about deadlines.

There is a work experience module in every course so that will definitely help you with finding a job, I know a few people who were there last year who got jobs from having their work experience on their CV.

What course is it you're interested in?

TheCosmicFrog

One of the Galway City forum-lurkers is doing IT in there. Let me go get him...

surime

Thank you for all your responses they will help me a lot. I am thinking about "applied social studies" ,because I was studying psychology in Poland for two years and I am intrested in work with people on "human" level.( if I can put it that way I wasn't sure (I am still not) about this school mostly because in Poland all kind of PLC schools doesn have very good opinion. They are like last chance opportunity and they dont really help with getting anywhere. Maybe thats because lots of young people go to Universities and even they have difficulities with gettng jobs.
I hope things are different here. Tell me what you think.

lmtduffy

surime wrote: »

Thank you for all your responses they will help me a lot. I am thinking about "applied social studies" ,because I was studying psychology in Poland for two years and I am intrested in work with people on "human" level.( if I can put it that way I wasn't sure (I am still not) about this school mostly because in Poland all kind of PLC schools doesn have very good opinion. They are like last chance opportunity and they dont really help with getting anywhere. Maybe thats because lots of young people go to Universities and even they have difficulities with gettng jobs.
I hope things are different here. Tell me what you think.

I did the social study course, as I wanted to take a year out before going into college and this was relevant to my studies.

I really enjoyed it, the level is not as high as university but the workload is more.
I think at least 1/3 of the class went on to do social studies at university after the course.
The modules range from very interesting, psychology, sociology, care and practice to numbingly boring; health and safety at work, communications.

As far as getting jobs from this course alone...Im not sure.
The work placement part of the course was great but Im not sure if any one continued anything more than volunteering after the course.

If you have any other questions ask away?

surime

-thanks Imtduffy, thats good for me level is not that high and here is another question : will I be able to do this with my lets say very good but not excellent english? I am slightly worried about this. If I wont feel like retarded person there/ and what about interview -how many people will apply for this course do you reckon? and how many will get there?
-thanks again for your post
ps: I am still taking english lessons so its getting better and better.

surime

Oh and what kind of exams did you do? and how many?

lmtduffy

surime wrote: »

-thanks Imtduffy, thats good for me level is not that high and here is another question : will I be able to do this with my lets say very good but not excellent english? I am slightly worried about this. If I wont feel like retarded person there/ and what about interview -how many people will apply for this course do you reckon? and how many will get there?
-thanks again for your post
ps: I am still taking english lessons so its getting better and better.

The level isnt as high, but in my experience it required a lot more time to get the work done!

well the lecturers should talk clearly, and they often go out of their way to accommodate you if you show an interest. So I think you will be okay if they can see your trying.

If I remember right, I think somewhere around 150 people applied and about 60 were accepted my year.

my courses were :
Care Provision and Practice
Communications
French
German
Health and Safety
Human Growth and Development (Psychology)
Information Technology / Computer Applications
Maths for engineering
Nutrition
Occupational first aid
Politics
Sociology
Work Experience

they didnt all have exams some of them and were part assignments; essays, reports, practicals, others were all assignments.
The maths, german and french were voluntary, I think they normally offer Irish as well but not my year.

Dont hesitate to contact the GTI directly about the course, theyre very helpful.

surime

60 out of 150 do I have any chances? Oh I am feeling down now. Did you have any interview and what did they ask you if you remember?
Thanks again for all info

moonflower

surime wrote: »

60 out of 150 do I have any chances? Oh I am feeling down now. Did you have any interview and what did they ask you if you remember?
Thanks again for all info

You should be fine as long as you show a lot of interest. Loads of people go to the interviews just in case they don't get their university course and lots go just because their friends drag them along for moral support. We were pretty much told in our interviews that we'd gotten a place and there were 100 or so people interviewed for 25 places.

If you have an interest then go for it definitely. It only costs €250 so even if you hate it you haven't lost out on too much money. But bear in mind that it's going to be very hard to find a job while you're doing the course (I've been looking for months and everywhere wants staff available during the day) so if you haven't got a job and don't qualify for a grant that could be a problem.

surime

At least I have finances sortet. I would love to get there and I really am intrested in this particular subject. Is there many foreign people studying?
Thank you moonflower for lifting my spirit.

gaeilgegrinds1

Why don't you arrange a meeting with the career counsellors in the various P.L.C. centres? They'll put you on the right road. Just a thought!

Aisling19

Anyone know if the beauty course is hard to get into. iv applied for september:)

gaeilgegrinds1

No idea to be honest but I do know my neighbours' son applied for the new engineering one as a plan b to get him into college in GCC and numbers v.high. He said they all get interviewed though so you've as good a chance as anyone. Did you talk to their career guidance team? Might be an idea, they should all open from about August onwards. Best of luck! Also, could you not ask about numbers?

Stevolende

Not sure whether itis better to add this post to the end of this thread or start a new one.

I've been trying to ring the GTI to see about a course that was supposed to start last week.
I'm finding it impossible to get through on the phone.
Seems their phone system is seriously out of date or otherwise majorly flawed.

you either get a ringing tone that eventually gets through to an engaged tone or put on hold which I was cut off from this morning.

Did the pattern drafting course go ahead?

ben.schlomo

Pester them on FB, https://www.facebook.com/GTIGALWAY

Stevolende

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Pester them on FB, https://www.facebook.com/GTIGALWAY

THanks, hadn't thought they'd have a Facebook presence. I guess most things do these days.
But that phone system is dreadful

biko

Old thread lock.

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