The first round of CAO offer notices will be arriving in homes around the State tomorrow, and the cut-off points will be published in The Irish Times College Places supplement.
Those with computers can access the points on The Irish Times on the Web from midnight tonight (address: www.ireland.com/special/cao). RTE's Aertel service will also broadcast the points from midnight.
Last year more than three-quarters of all applicants received an offer of a college place through the CAO.
Already this year, 2,985 offers have been made in "round zero" - 1,318 degrees and 1,667 certificate/diplomas. These offers are made to applicants who have not been waiting for results. They include mature students, Post Leaving Certificate students, and those who have deferred a place from last year.
Some colleges do not participate in round zero. For instance, TCD does not make offers in this round, but through the CAO. TCD interviewed mature students in late April. Candidates were told of their success at that stage and were informed that they would receive a formal offer through the CAO system.
Remember, if the CAO made you an offer, whether you accept or reject it, you may get higher preference offer in a later round.
This year there will only be two main rounds of offers and the remaining places will be offered on a rolling basis as they become available.
Done better than you'd expected?
The helpline has heard from lots of students who have done better in the Leaving Certificate than they had expected. There was the student who got 360 points but had only expected to achieve in the low 200s. Another had unexpectedly bagged 570 points. Great stuff, said our counsellors, congratulations.
Not so, replied these students. They had filled out their forms with low expectations so now they would definitely be offered their first preference. Well, that's good anyway, said our somewhat-stunned helpline people. Not so, replied the students. For now we want something else. After all, we have the points for other, "better" courses now.
At this stage, tears were welling up in the eyes of the long suffering counsellors. The stock advice to students filling out the CAO form is to put your dream choice down as your first preference. Ignore last year's points. Ignore your assessment of your potential performance in the Leaving Cert. Put down the course that, of all things, you would love to study. After that, begin to play probability games, figuring out choices, results, points . . .
These students will, most likely, get an offer of a place on their first preference course tomorrow. This leaves them with two options - take it or leave it.
They may even get two offers if they filled out the certificate/diploma and the degree list. But, of course, they can only accept one of these.
If you are offered your first preference choice, this is the only course you will be offered. If you want something else, you will have to wait until next year and reapply.
It's very difficult to summon up sympathy for these students. Advice has been piled on advice from school guidance counsellors, newspaper articles, the CAO. All the counsellors can do is to suggest they consider the offer they get (after all, high points does not necessarily mean high quality); presumably they researched the choice they put top of the list.
The idea is not to select a course based on its cut-off points but on your interest in the subject. A few weeks into college and many students realise this - a course you never really wanted and a career in that area stretching ahead of you (all because the course matched your points rather than your interests). Think about it.
Appeals and viewing Other students have been on the telephone worrying about the script viewing and appeals process. One student was wondering if she bypassed the viewing and applied now for a recheck would she be ahead of the posse?
It doesn't work like that, explains a spokesman for the Department of Education and Science. Everyone gets the results of their recheck on the same day. It doesn't matter when you apply as long as it is before the closing date.
The results of rechecks are communicated directly to the CAO and the spokesman for the department says "nobody misses out on a place to which they are entitled".
The department expects the recheck results to be available in early October. As to whether you will be able to take up the place in this college year, that is a matter for the individual college but all efforts are made to accommodate candidates who have been upgraded.
If you are a school-based candidate you will have received a personalised application form to view scripts. If you want to request a recheck you must return to your school to get an application form. The Department of Education informs us that these forms will be in the schools later this week.
Surely, it would make more sense to include these forms with the results form? One mother said her son did not need to view his scripts; he knew he wanted to appeal immediately. So, she hotfooted it to the school only to be told: no form.
If you are an external candidate, you will have received a recheck request form as well as a viewing appeal form with your results. Why not do this for all candidates? College Places asked. The Department spokesman said it came down to logistics - there are 64,000 Leaving Certificate candidates and the recheck form is technically more difficult than the viewing application form as it includes a bank giro.
Vacant places As the college offers season progresses colleges will begin to advertise vacant places on a variety of courses. Remember you must have the minimum educational requirements including any special subjects requirements to be eligible for these places.
These places will be open to everyone - whether you have applied to the CAO already or not. If you have applied already, there is no further fee and no need to complete a further application document. Simply inform the CAO of the desired course(s) quoting the application number. If you have not applied previously, you must contact the CAO for an application form and a fee of £18 applies.
Acceptance of an offer of a vacant place automatically cancels and supersedes any previous offer and acceptance.
Already American College, Dublin and Carlow IT (outreach centres), have indicated to College Places that they have vacancies.
Places on the following courses are available through the CAO vacant places procedure as outlined above (see also page 13 of the CAO handbook):
American College: CP142 BA in behavioural science (applied social studies); CP141 BA in behavioural science (psychology); CP130 BA in international tourism; CP120 BA in international business (management or marketing); CP110 BA in liberal arts (English or history or international relations); CP100 national certificate in humanities. For further information contact American College, Dublin, at 2 Merrion Square, Dublin 2. Tel: (01) 676-8939. American College is a fee-paying college.
Carlow IT (Kilkenny campus): CW048 national certificate in business studies; CW096 national certificate in business studies (office information systems) Carlow IT (Wexford campus): CW093 national certificate in business studies; CW095 national certificate in business studies (office information systems). These courses were not included in the CAO handbook as they were launched quite late. For further information contact the college at (0503) 70401 or (0503) 70403.
College Places supplement
Tomorrow The Irish Times will include a 32-page colour tabloid supplement which details the first round, cut-off points for certificate, diploma and degree courses in the CAO system. It also has advice on financing your way through college, as well as six pages of help finding accommodation. For those who don't get a CAO offer tomorrow, we explore the alternatives.