From today thousands of you are almost finished with the CAO for ever.
If you submitted your acceptance by 5.15 p.m. yesterday they should send you an acknowledgement shortly, and about 10 days later your new college should be in contact.
While many students will get an offer in next Tuesday's second round, the vast majority will not.
Last year's figures illustrate this. There were 76,641 offers in round one in 2000, but only about 8,000 in round two.
Only the colleges know how many there will be this year, but most students will have to get used to their first offer. Points drops in the second round will be scarce, but nursing, engineering and science related courses are the most likely to dip.
If you wanted to defer your first-round place you have missed the deadline. You needed to have your deferral letter with the college offering you the place last Monday.
If you did not write to the college or the CAO about your first-round offer, the CAO presumes you do not want it. You will remain in the system, but the chances of getting a further offer are relatively low, especially if the place declined was one of your top three.
If you do get a second-round offer and want to defer it, the CAO will give you a fresh deadline, probably September 8th, two days before the second-round reply date.
The procedure for deferring is the same. Write to the college admissions office requesting a deferral, not to the CAO. If the college does not accept your request, the place can still be taken up.
The other thing to remember about deferral is that when you go looking for the deferred place next year the points will be the same as this year. But only for the deferred course.
If you decide during the year the deferred place is no longer attractive and you want something else, you have to re-enter the CAO process as a new applicant and be subject to that year's points like everybody else.
Transferring
In answer to several queries this week - there is no mechanism for transferring during term from one college to another.
Several students have asked: "What if I do not like the course after a few months?"
As explained in Wednesday's column, you can re-apply to the CAO to enter a new course the following year, but you will be subject to points in the normal way.
Some colleges allow students to transfer from one of their courses to another. But this is normally done only if you have the points and entry requirements for the new course.
A department head will often have to give his or her consent as well.
In regard to fees, if you deregister before January 31st you will pay only half fees the next year, whereas if you leave later in the academic term you will pay full fees.
A levels
There is no common points system for applicants (normally from Britain or Northern Ireland) with A level results who are looking for CAO places.
For example, DIT, NUI Galway and TCD give 190 points for an A, 160 for a B, 130 for a C and 100 for a D.
However, DCU gives only 175 for an A, but gives 45 bonus points if the applicant has achieved three A grades in one sitting.
The Institutes of Technology give 170 for an A, 140 for a B, 100 for a C, 70 for a D and 40 for an E grade.
UCD now awards points for A levels, but has individual A level requirements for each course. For example, medicine requires three grade As, while law requires two As and one B grade.
The situation in arts is even more complex. It requires one B and two Cs or one A, one C and one D or two Bs and one D or one A, one B and one E.
All colleges require A level students (just as they do for Leaving Cert students) to meet the matriculation requirements and faculty and course requirements.
For example, for veterinary medicine in UCD, three As are required and not all applicants with these grades were selected.
In addition, the applicant must also have the course "Chemistry A" at grade C level or higher to qualify for entry.
Points for A levels are calculated on the results achieved at the same sitting, but results from any number of exams can be considered to meet minimum entry requirements.
The Points Commission report of late 1999 said anomalies can result from the different systems used by the college.
For example, if a student with two As and one B from the Northern Ireland A level examination were to apply for a place in different institutions here, he or she would be given 540 points by Trinity College, 510 points by DCU and 480 (and possibly up to 90 more for GCSEs) by the Institutes of Technology.