Internal transfer in first year? Please help?

123Mike

I made a bit of a balls of my CAO course choices. All throughout 6th year I had wanted to do science and had law as my next option. I put Science in UCD as my number one choice, followed by a few other science based courses. Law in UCD came in at number 4 on my CAO. After the final date for the change of mind had passed, I started to doubt whether science was what I really wanted to study. I liked it in school and we were always encouraged to study it as there is an abundance of jobs for graduates. So I threw it down, thinking it was what I wanted. After getting my results yesterday, my mind was cleared. My strengths lie with languages, etc. rather than with maths and science. I got 540 which is enough for Law in UCD and for Science in UCD. I'll be offered Science as it's my first choice but it's no longer what I want to do.

My question is: If I was to accept the offer for Science in UCD would I be able to transfer internally to Law in UCD? And if so, is it possible to transfer from UCD Law to Trinity Law at the end of first year (financial reasons)? Or will I just have to take a year out and reapply?

I have already called the CAO, they can't help. I've called the college also but I couldn't get through. Any help is much appreciated

kkumk

I'm not 100% sure of the way internal transfers work, but when I was in 1st year I tried to do it so I have a bit of an idea so I'll just tell you what I know!

Basically it IS possible to transfer from one degree to another as long as you have the points for the other and that there's enough places (which there usually is because a few people always drop out in the 1st semester).
I wanted to transfer from Commerce to Arts, and basically the requirements were that I pass all of my 1st semester Commerce modules and then take some of the necessary core modules from Arts as electives in the 2nd semester.
I'd then go into second year(which would essentially be 1st year law) basically a year behind but with some modules complete, and spend that year catching up.

As you can seeeee I'm not completely certain of the details but either way it would take an extra year so you might be better off taking a year out and reapplying, b/c I'm not sure if you'd get free fee's if you had to do the extra year.
The best thing you could would be to ring the Science Programme Office on +353 1 716 2375 or send them an email to science@ucd.ie and explain the situation.
It might also be an idea to talk to the Law Programme Office to see what requirements they have. I'd say to act sooner rather then later, because if you're really, really, really lucky, you might be able to switch before the start of term, since its in the same University and you have enough points and everything. But once you've gotten registered and started classes etc it will get more complicated.

With regard to switching from UCD to Trinity, you'd have to have completed a year of UCD Law before you could transfer, and you'd also have to have enough points for the Trinity course (which I assume you have?). I also looked into that, but after a year I loved UCD too much to leave
Well done on the 540 points btw!!

Muir

It's not something you could bank on. I know people from my course, Electronic/Electrical Engineering have swapped to Computer Science, and vice versa. But there is cross over between the subjects with Maths & some programming etc. As the above poster said you could incur fees because you'd probably end up having to do an extra year of college, ie doing the first year of Science & then moving to Law. But Science and Law are pretty different & I'm not sure it'd be allowed even.

If you want to guarantee yourself a place you'd probably be better to reapply next year, you can't be sure that you'll be allowed transfer.

Raphael

First thing, it looks like you're asking if you can accept the offer for one, but do a different course - that;s a flat no. All admissions is through the CAO, and you can't reapply till next september.

From my experience of someone I know doing it after a year of the course, with courses that different the best you can do is do science year 1, do law stuff with your 2 electives, then reapply through the CAO next september and get "accreditation of prior learning" for the stuff you did.

If all goes well, you'll already have the courses you did as electives done and in the bag, and can then use the other courses you did as your electives throughout your degree and go on with a law degree as normal. You will, however, need to pay full fees for the first year of law, so if you're positive you want to do law, your best bet may be to refuse the offer and reapply next year. The benefits you'd get from the year of science aren't worth the cost, imo.

Also, there's very little chance you could transfer between colleges by my understanding, I know someone who tried to go from UCD to Maynooth and had to take a year out doing courses that weren't on the UCD curriculum before they could go into 2nd year there. But on that I could be wrong.

dubdub123

I'm looking into something similar for my daughter for DCU should points go a certain way as she overlooked a course there. My understanding is that each college has an internal transfer procedure and the sooner you ask about it the better, in that you may be able to transfer in the early days assuming you meet points requirements. The longer you leave it, it appears additional criteria comes into play regarding results from each semester.

We had this discussion regarding option of deferring and you if you defer can only put that course on the CAO application. If you decline and go back through CAO, then it's risky as its unclear what impact honours maths will continue to have (more people may sit this etc and points increase). I've advised my own daughter to accept whatever course she gets, and if she gets into DCU and has enough points herself for psychology then seek a transfer. HTH best of luck

Gae

Raphael wrote: »

First thing, it looks like you're asking if you can accept the offer for one, but do a different course - that;s a flat no. All admissions is through the CAO, and you can't reapply till next september.

From my experience of someone I know doing it after a year of the course, with courses that different the best you can do is do science year 1, do law stuff with your 2 electives, then reapply through the CAO next september and get "accreditation of prior learning" for the stuff you did.

I don't agree with this advice. For one thing, internal transfers are not unheard of (transferring to Trinity would be another matter). But even if no transfer is possible, if OP is set on doing Law and not Science, then doing a year of Science is not a good idea, even with a few Law electives thrown in. As you mentioned, the 'free fees' for the first year would be used up in the Science course, and OP would have to pay fees the following year (they're not going to let him skip a year of Law on the back of a couple of electives).

OP: contact the Law programme office in UCD, ask if there's any possibility of transferring. Explain that you (presumably) have the points etc. If they let you, then ask them how to proceed (i.e. accepting the Science place etc).

If they don't let you transfer, take the year to do something else. Either try and find a job and save some money, or maybe consider a cert or diploma course for the year. Next year, reapply through the CAO. If you prefer Trinity, then put that first.

Raphael

Er... Me neither. That's why I didn't give it.

Edit: And since people are suggesting that you may be able to do a UCD to UCD transfer organised by UCD, here's a link saying that you can't. If you're going into Stage 1, it has to be done through the CAO.

Muir

Raphael wrote: »

Er... Me neither. That's why I didn't give it.

Edit: And since people are suggesting that you may be able to do a UCD to UCD transfer organised by UCD, here's a link saying that you can't. If you're going into Stage 1, it has to be done through the CAO.

It seems to say there that you can transfer at the end of semester one (in any year) under certain conditions. So it is possible, but the courses have to be similar & I just don't see Law & Science being considered as similar courses.

Raphael

You're right, yes - I'm talking about the thought of accepting an offer to one course, and trying to start another one instead, which is nae possible