The pressure can come thick, and fast. One minute, you’re in Transition Year, enjoying adventure centres and volunteering with a charity. The next, you’re headlong into the Leaving Cert curriculum and, at the same time, trying to make a decision on what you want to do after college. It can all feel a little overwhelming.
But Higher Options, an annual careers event held in association with The Irish Times, can help get you on the right track from the outset. Ultimately, this could reduce the stress when you make your final CAO decisions.
With this in mind, making the most of Higher Options can save you time down the line. So we caught up with some career experts and asked: how can you prepare for this event, use the time wisely and follow up when it’s all over.
Betty McLaughlin, a former president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors and a guidance counsellor in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, says that the event is a great opportunity to engage with and get information from universities, technological universities, institutes of technology, apprenticeship providers and third-levels in the UK and Europe.
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“It’s your chance to hear talks on careers and courses you’re interested in, as well as career areas you may not have considered before, broadening your knowledge and giving you new ideas,” McLaughlin says.
“There are talks on how to navigate the CAO admissions system, studying in Europe, alternative routes to third-level such as further education PLCs, how to choose a career and how to cope with college life. It’s a chance to find out what is really being offered by a third-level and to go beyond the prospectus by speaking with students and lecturers.”
Preparing for the day
- Do your research: “The best way to get the most from the day is to do your research in advance,” says Margaret Brierty from DCU’s student recruitment office. “Know the subjects you are interested in. If three or four places are offering the same course, be aware that the name might be the same or similar, but the modules and entry requirements may be different.”
College websites will have plenty of information to get students started on their search, while Qualifax.ie contains a list of searchable courses and CareersPortal.ie is full of tips and advice too.
- Make a list: Laura Moloney, undergraduate recruitment and admissions officer at the University of Limerick, advises students to make a list of the institutions or organisations you want to speak to on the day, as well as a list of the questions you want to ask.
- Prepare some questions: “These might be very specific or could be a checklist on topics such as course structure, maths level on course, entry requirements and career opportunities,” says McLaughlin. “But don’t make it too long — stick to the issues that are most important to you.”
- Check the schedule: If you arrive at the event unprepared, there’s a risk you’ll drift through the day. But McLaughlin says that making a plan for the day, writing down any times for talks that interest you, will help add structure to the day.
- Use the worksheet: Guidance counsellors will often provide their students with worksheets before the event, and these can be very useful, say Moloney and McLaughlin. Bring them.
- Bring a school bag or tote bag to carry the prospectuses and printed materials, Moloney advises.
On the day
- Plan your route: “It can be overwhelming in the RDS, so use the map to plan your route and get to the stalls you want to ask questions of first, before exploring other options,” says Moloney.
- Talk to the students on the stands: “The student ambassadors were you a few years ago,” says Brierty. “They know your fears and concerns, they know about the course and student life, they know about the best places to eat on campus.”
- Keep an open mind: “While it is useful to be prepared and have a clear focus, do also remain open to new study options and possibilities,” says McLaughlin. “You might find your ideal course exists in a form you didn’t previously know about.”
- Watch the time: The day can fly by, so make sure you don’t get too caught up in one conversation and miss a talk. Keep an eye and ear out for the onscreen announcements that will be on screen before a talk.
Moloney advises students not to get derailed and to forge your own path for the day rather than just follow your friends around.
- Beyond the course: While the event is focused on the courses, the course itself will be just one factor in your ultimate decision. Student accommodation is a headache every year, but this year’s students face perhaps the toughest house hunt in a generation and there’s no guarantee it will be better by the time you’ve finished your Leaving Cert.
McLaughlin advises students to find out if the college has accommodation options and if you could perhaps see them on an open day.
Students also need to consider the costs of going to college and how they will afford food, electricity, gas, heating and socialising with their friends (and don’t feel guilty about needing money for the latter: you need a decent social life and to enjoy your youth in order to get the full college experience that helps make you a rounded person and also makes your CV more appealing to potential employers).
Find out about commuting and consider what would be a reasonable amount of time for you to spend commuting every day: too much, and you might not have much time to enjoy student life.
It may not be worth travelling to Dublin for college if you’re so stressed about cash that it’s a constant struggle; it may be worth looking closer to home, bearing in mind that the new technological universities open up the chance of university education to students in Athlone, Carlow, Letterkenny, Mayo, Sligo, Tralee and Waterford.
“You will be [in this college] for at least three years and the friends you make will be with you for life, so, apart from bars and nightclubs (which are usually in great abundance anyway), what clubs/societies are available?” McLaughlin advises students to ask.
“What entertainment venues — theatres, cinema, etc — are close by? Is the college’s social life based in a town/city or within the college? What sports are available in the college and what are the facilities like?”
After the event
- Consider your options: Don’t leave the prospectuses at the bottom of a bag and ignore them — now is the time to consider the information you have gathered and assess whether these courses are right for you, suggests Moloney.
- Plan your next steps: Moloney advises students to make a list of open days or campus events they want to go to. “This is where you will get a true sense of the campus and what it would be like for you,” she says.
- Talk to students: Attend webinars and go on social media, Brierty advises.
“You can use the UniBuddy chat option to talk to students on the courses you’re interested in. ask what the workload is like, what modules on the courses and what they’re about and whether there is continuous assessment as well as exams. Is there a work or clinical placement and do you need to pass it to move on? What skills will you learn?”
- Talk to family, friends and professionals: “Talk to anyone in the professions that interest you,” Brierty advises. “Talk to your dentist or your hairdresser if these are areas that are of interest to you. There are a lot of people who will help you.”
- Prospectus: Prospectuses are only relevant for the year you get them, whereas the most up-to-date information (such as QQI accreditation, modules and the up-to-date CAO points for the most recent year) will be online.
“If you attend Higher Options in Transition Year or fifth year, make sure you get the up-to-date prospectus when you’re in sixth year,” says Brierty.
Key questions about the course
Guidance counsellor Betty McLaughlin advises students to use Higher Options to ask course providers:
- What type of assessment is used on this course?
- What Leaving Cert subjects and levels are required or desirable for this course?
- What tutoring is provided?
- Is the qualification recognised by a professional body?
She also suggests that students write down their own queries on a worksheet and include the answers alongside them.
