Now that the dust has settled on the first round of college offers, it may be encouraging for those without the offer of their choice to read today's column, as a number of colleges have contacted College Places about vacancies.
Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art Design and Technology
THE late approval in June and the consequent late advertisement of two courses in Dun Laoghaire means that there are still vacancies on these courses.
They could well repay investigation as the cut-off points are low at 115 for the national diploma in computing (multimedia programming) and 105 for the national diploma in business studies (entrepreneurship).
The college makes the valid point that places have been offered to students with very high points as well as students with low points. The cut-off levels will probably rise next year when the courses are in the CAO system from the start of the college applications season.
If you are interested in these courses, you can contact the college directly or apply through the CAO vacant places procedure.
Carlow Institute of Technology
As mentioned in Monday's College Places column, Car- low Institute of Technology is not making first-round offers in the national diploma in process control and instrumentation due to insufficient applications.
The college is writing to all applicants regretting any inconvenience and is keeping the matter under review. Its Kilkenny and Wexford campuses are advertising vacancies in the national certificate in business studies and the national certificate in office information systems. The college also has vacancies on its new BSc in computer networking.
Interested applicants should apply through the CAO vacant places procedure, detailed below. You may contact the college for details at (0503) 70401/70457.
Dundalk IT
The Dundalk IT has vacancies in the national diploma in engineering (electronics - product development), the national diploma in applied cultural studies (French) and the national diploma in applied cultural studies (German). Apply through the CAO vacancies procedure. For further information contact Dundalk IT at (042) 70200.
The CAO vacant places procedure
If any places remain unfilled in a course after all the offers have been made and the waiting list of applicants with the minimum entry terms has been exhausted, the vacancies will be advertised. These places are open to everyone whether you have already applied to the CAO or not. If you have not applied, you must pay an £18 fee. If you have already applied (whether placed or not), you may apply for a vacancy without payment of a further fee or without completing a further application form.
You simply need to inform the CAO of the desired course or courses quoting your application number. You must meet the normal minimum entry terms for the course in question. Acceptance of a vacancy automatically supersedes any previous offer or acceptance.
Write to the CAO at Tower House, Eglinton Street, Galway.
CERT
CERT, the State tourism training authority, has 2,358 places on full-time college courses this year. The tourism industry is booming and qualifications in the hotel, catering and hospitality industry mean a guaranteed job, according to CERT. Employment rates for CERT graduates are as high as 99 per cent.
Unfortunately, the industry has an image of poor wages and long anti-social hours so it is finding it difficult to attract staff.
The Irish Hotels Federation and CERT are working to redress this and CERT notes that trained staff are in a stronger position to demand better wages and conditions. This year, CERT has increased places on some of its courses and there are still some vacancies. If you are interested you can call CERT's 24 hour career hotline on 1850 256 256.
CERT is holding an open day today in the International Hotel, Killarney, Co Kerry, from 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tomorrow, there is an open day in Jurys Inn from 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Friday, CERT will also hold open days for potential students in the Glentworth Hotel, Limerick, and in the Great Southern Hotel, Eyre Square, Galway, from 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
PE and clinical speech applicants
Students who applied for physical education with concurrent teacher training in UL or for clinical speech and language studies in TCD will have noticed that no offers were made in round one.
UL called applicants for a movement ability test last Friday and Monday and offers will be made in round two. TCD is inviting applicants with 485 points or more for interview on August 31st or September 1st. Letters were posted on Monday to all eligible candidates.
The purpose of the interview is to ascertain that candidates do not have any speech or voice impediments which would render them unsuitable for the course, so there is no need to prepare. Offers will be made in round two on the basis of Leaving Certificate points only.
Deferral
Our helpline service has received a number of calls from students who are considering deferring their college place until next year. Not all of the third-level institutions grant deferred entry or they may exclude certain courses.
The procedure is outlined in the CAO handbook. If there is a deferred entry option for the course you have been offered, you should NOT accept the offer or make any payment.
Write immediately to the admissions office of the college (mark the envelope deferred en try), stating the reason why you wish to defer. Attach part C of the offer notice to your letter and make sure it is posted in time to reach the admissions office at least two days before the reply day on your office notice.
The college, not the CAO, will let you know whether your deferral request is granted.
Application for deferred entry will not be considered at all by the NCAD. There is no deferral for the following courses: TL101 humanities, folk theatre studies, in Tralee IT; DN022 arts (modular evening), DN023 arts (modular evening single subject) in UCD. The RCSI will only grant deferrals for medicine in exceptional circumstances. UCC takes a similar approach for its medicine and dentistry courses.
Open evening
LSB College, Dublin, is holding an open evening at the college today from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Repeating the Leaving Cert
Many students think that repeating the Leaving Certificate is an automatic panacea for all ills. It is just possible that the results you got this year represent the best you can do and they are a fair reward for a good effort. Think about it. There is no guarantee that repeating will translate into extra points.
One student who rang the helpline explained that she did slightly better in Irish and English, her grades remained static in German and economics, but she went down two grades in biology and geography. She didn't repeat maths the second time around. The net effect was, unfortunately, a slight decrease in her points.
On the other hand, another delighted student rang to say she had doubled her points from 155 last year to 310 this year. The difference appeared to be directly related to the amount of work they put in. If you did not study or put the effort in for this year's exams - perhaps for personal or health reasons - you may find repeating a worthwhile option.
NUI Galway update
NUIG launched a new degree in biomedical engineering this summer. This course was developed in response to skills shortages and was too late to be included in the CAO process.
Applicants were invited to apply directly to the university. The cut-off points for new courses are always wild cards in terms of points as it is difficult to predict how students will react. Biomedical engineering in NUIG has proved to be very popular with applicants and the cut-off points for round one offers were 475.
The chart in yesterday's supplement which detailed the spread of points required for the sciences in the various colleges should have included biotechnology at NUIG which registered a first-round cut-off of 505. NUIG's new biomedical sciences programme came in at 515*.
Ringsend Technical Institute
The college has informed us that it is open all week for interviews and advice for repeat Leaving Cert candidates. People should ring for appointments between 9 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. at (01) 668 4498.