Applying as a mature student - Should points even come into it?

dazftw

I had a phone call with a lecturer today from a college/course I'm interested in. It's an IT course. He asked me how many points I got out of curiosity. I told him and he basically as good as said that's very low and below what we would normally decide on..

Now I did my leaving cert about 7 years ago and never had any IT related subjects in school. It was only after I finished I realised how interested I was in computers and wished our school had of had a class like it. It probably would have made me work much harder to get points and go to college.

I'm not put down or disheartened it just means I'll have to work extra hard to impress in the interview. I am though, very pissed off it was even brought up. I thought points had nothing to do with it?

Is this normal? Do they use it just to gauge the potential students general intelligence?

/rant

callaway92

Very strange thing for the lecturer to say. Wouldn't experience in the work place over 6 or 7 years count for way way more than cramming days before exams in the Leaving Cert?

dazftw

Yeah I thought that was the whole point as a mature student. I've been out in the world working and I've decided to come back and do something. Not just pick something aimlessly when I was 17 and hadn't a clue what I really wanted to do.

Seren_

I thought that if you apply as a mature student your points don't even come in to it though? Like you don't put them down on the CAO form or anything. Lots of people applying as mature students may not have sat their LC so I don't know what that lecturer was on about

él statutorio

Seren_ wrote: »

I thought that if you apply as a mature student your points don't even come in to it though? Like you don't put them down on the CAO form or anything. Lots of people applying as mature students may not have sat their LC so I don't know what that lecturer was on about

This.

Points are irrelevant. They (IT courses) may have some prerequisites such as having done honours maths and the like but they don't care about points. As best I remember I was just asked for my leaving cert marks which i listed as straight A/B/C rather then A1/A2 etc. There was never a mention of points, there was an informal interview where they asked about work experience alright.

*EDIT*
Just to clarify, I didn't go via the CAO, I applied to the college directly.

ElectroJazz

I've just started my first year in an IT course as a mature student. What I found out after I had applied through the CAO is that mature students are assessed twice; firstly on their leaving cert points, meaning that your application goes in along with all the other school leavers who are applying, and secondly, if your application was unsuccessful first time round you're then assessed based on your interview plus recent merits. I didn't have nearly enough LC points for the course I'm in so I wouldn't worry too much about it, Just try to impress at the interview. Good Luck.