Can I change course within colleges if I don't like mine?

smellyandy

I just completed the leaving cert in June and I filled out my CAO before the deadline on July 1st. However, I feel like I've really made a mistake with my choices on the CAO and I think I'm going to be offered one of my first 2 options. I opted for science first and French/English second at UCD. I am also eligible for HEAR so I think it will aid my entry into one of the two. There is another course at UCD, French and Law, that I had vague interest in but not enough to put down. I now think this is what I should be doing and I'm gutted.

The French and Law course has lower points than the science, so if I was granted entry to science on HEAR could I be allowed to switch over? Any experience or advice please? I really don't want to take a gap year:(

nerd95

smellyandy wrote: »

I just completed the leaving cert in June and I filled out my CAO before the deadline on July 1st. However, I feel like I've really made a mistake with my choices on the CAO and I think I'm going to be offered one of my first 2 options. I opted for science first and French/English second at UCD. I am also eligible for HEAR so I think it will aid my entry into one of the two. There is another course at UCD, French and Law, that I had vague interest in but not enough to put down. I now think this is what I should be doing and I'm gutted.

The French and Law course has lower points than the science, so if I was granted entry to science on HEAR could I be allowed to switch over? Any experience or advice please? I really don't want to take a gap year:(

Honestly, I am not sure if you can switch over to a new course straight away in September- I personally have never heard of anyone doing that however, a lot of people transfer to a different course within the same college after first year. For instance, I just finished first year in UCD science and several people from my course are transferring to a different course such as medicine. So, I guess if you can’t transfer now you may be able to do so after first year. That being said, you may end up loving the course you get on your CAO!

Also, in UCD you will have the option to take electives which are basically modules from different courses (or from your own course if you want). This will give you a taste of what it is like in other courses. For instance, when I was applying for the CAO last year I couldn’t decide whether to put English or Science as my first preference. I chose Science in the end because it has a broad range of degree options and the course really appealed to me- however, part of me always wondered what English would like so I chose an English module for my elective in semester 2 (called Literary Genre). I did enjoy this module and it was nice to get an insight into a very different course but that being said, I still prefer Science!

So, if you get offered a place for Science or French/English on your CAO and you cannot transfer, then you can see if there are any French and Law electives that you can take during first year (you can take a max of 2 electives)- This will give you a brief insight into what it is like to study French and Law and allow you to really figure out what you want to study. However, I don’t know if there are many (or even any) electives for French and Law because it is not something that I was ever interested in doing but you can email programme offices in UCD and ask or even check online.

With all this being said, I understand your dilemma here- if I were in your position I wouldn’t have wanted to take a gap year either nor would I have wanted to do a course for a year that I didn’t particularly want to do anymore but as I already mentioned, you may enjoy one of your top two choices once you actually start lectures etc. However, you could always email UCD and ask if it would be possible to transfer or hope that someone else who knows the answer will reply in boards.ie!! But, In my opinion, I don’t think it would be possible to transfer to another course that has lower points because only a certain number of people are accepted into each course in August! Good luck with it anyway

smellyandy

nerd95 wrote: »

Honestly, I am not sure if you can switch over to a new course straight away in September- I personally have never heard of anyone doing that however, a lot of people transfer to a different course within the same college after first year. For instance, I just finished first year in UCD science and several people from my course are transferring to a different course such as medicine. So, I guess if you can’t transfer now you may be able to do so after first year. That being said, you may end up loving the course you get on your CAO!

Also, in UCD you will have the option to take electives which are basically modules from different courses (or from your own course if you want). This will give you a taste of what it is like in other courses. For instance, when I was applying for the CAO last year I couldn’t decide whether to put English or Science as my first preference. I chose Science in the end because it has a broad range of degree options and the course really appealed to me- however, part of me always wondered what English would like so I chose an English module for my elective in semester 2 (called Literary Genre). I did enjoy this module and it was nice to get an insight into a very different course but that being said, I still prefer Science!

So, if you get offered a place for Science or French/English on your CAO and you cannot transfer, then you can see if there are any French and Law electives that you can take during first year (you can take a max of 2 electives)- This will give you a brief insight into what it is like to study French and Law and allow you to really figure out what you want to study. However, I don’t know if there are many (or even any) electives for French and Law because it is not something that I was ever interested in doing but you can email programme offices in UCD and ask or even check online.

With all this being said, I understand your dilemma here- if I were in your position I wouldn’t have wanted to take a gap year either nor would I have wanted to do a course for a year that I didn’t particularly want to do anymore but as I already mentioned, you may enjoy one of your top two choices once you actually start lectures etc. However, you could always email UCD and ask if it would be possible to transfer or hope that someone else who knows the answer will reply in boards.ie!! But, In my opinion, I don’t think it would be possible to transfer to another course that has lower points because only a certain number of people are accepted into each course in August! Good luck with it anyway

Ahhhhh I see.
See, herein lies my problem: if I was accepted into my first choice, which requires approx 515 points through the hear scheme, do you think they may allow me to switch to the one with lower points even though I was granted the other place on the basis of the extra points I was given in the hear?

Thanks anyway! I'm a strong believer that what's meant to be will be. Hopefully it will all turn out😊