POINTS tend to dominate people's thinking on CAO/CAS applications yet they are not as significant as you might think. They are, of course, important - if you don't get the points for a particular course, then you don't get a place - but it is dangerous to allow your thinking to be too dominated by points. It would be a big mistake, for example, to pick your course choices on the basis of the points which they are registering.

Points tell you nothing about the quality of a course; they are simply a means of regulating supply and demand. The more places there are on a course, the lower the points are likely to be and vice versa.

Thus, for example, the fact that the points for veterinary are so high tells us nothing about how good a veterinary degree is, how bright you need to be to study veterinary or what the career prospects are. It is simply a reflection of the fact that there are only 71 places available in veterinary in the whole of Ireland (in UCD). Consequently the ratio of demand per place available is very high.

By contrast UCD has over 1,000 places available in arts; inevitably, therefore, the points required to get into arts will be lower. There are plenty of students with very high points doing arts degrees but because of the thousands of places available the colleges can take people into arts faculties down to the 380/90-ish level, whereas in medicine they have to stop offering places in the 500-plus range.

There are some excellent courses which require quite low points and some appalling courses which require high points. So pick a course on its value and interest to you and not just on its points level.

On pages six and 11 of this supplement, we have published a table containing the cut-off points for entry into all CAO/CAS courses last year. This is a rough guide to what might be required in 1995. But do remember that it is only a rough guide.

Points do go up and down from year to year depending on the demand. So. just because it was possible to get into the business studies degree at Cork RTC on 355 points last year does not necessarily mean that if you get 355 points this year, it will get you in too. Last year some courses went up by more than 30 points, but then again, quite a few fell also, particularly in the RTCs, because of the creation of new places.

It does make sense, however, when making your CAO/CAS course choices, to try to work out what level of points you yourself might get in your Leaving Cert. The best way to do this is to sit down and compile a list of the grades which you have been getting in end-of-term and end-of-year tests.

On the basis of this, try to assess realistically what grades you may be likely to score in the Leaving and, using the points table on this page, convert those grades into points. This will help to give some idea of what points you might possibly achieve in the exam and will help to give an indication of what courses you can realistically aim for.

It could be useful to consult your guidance counsellor in terms of what she thinks your overall potential might be. Most CAO applicants will be sitting mock Leaving Cert exams over the next month or two and it is a useful exercise to take out your CAO form and look over your course choices once again when you get your mock results, checking how realistic your course choices are.

It does not make sense to fill up your CAO/CAS form with high points choices when your chances of achieving those points may be very slim. On the other hand, it is very. important not to allow points to dominate your thinking and to pick courses - within reason - on the basis of value and preference.

ANOTHER useful way to approach the matter of points is the following. You think you would like to do biotechnology at DCU. Check the points required for it last year - 435. Then, using the points table on this page work out what grades you would require in six subjects to achieve 435 points.

This can often be a sobering exercise. It is one thing to say "I need 435 points for biotechnology ", but quite another matter to work out subject by subject exactly what grades you would need to total 435 points - or 500-plus for medicine.

On pages six and 11 of this supplement there are two columns of points - the first represents the points level at which places were offered on round one offers last year and the second is the final cut-off level at which places were offered. It is important to remember that although some applicants did get places on the final round points in all courses, in many cases it could have been well into September or even early October before they got offers on these lower points.

Most applicants will be aiming for an offer on round one and for that. the higher points apply - though, of course, this is only a guideline as we have no guarantee that the points will be the same for 1996. The two columns also give applicants some idea of the extent by which points fell from the first to the final round of offers last year.

All colleges count six subjects and six subjects only for points. So it makes sense, if you are sitting seven or eight subjects, to decide now which six you are going to concentrate on for points. A student could be doing brilliantly over eight subjects, but it is only six which will be counted, so you might be wasting your time.

Your six best subjects are counted regardless of which subjects they are. Thus, for example, though Irish is a mandatory subject for all course in the NUI colleges, this does not mean that Irish must be counted for points; it is the six best subjects which matter.

The six subjects must be sat in the same year. Thus, someone who is repeating cannot have some subjects for the 1995 and some from the 1996 Leaving Cert counted. It must be either one or the other and they will always take your best exam. For practically all the CAO/CAS colleges. all Leaving Cert subjects carry the same points. Thus, whether it is home economics or Latin, construction studies or English. an Al carries exactly the same points.

In the case of UCD and UL only, a higher level of points (shown on the table) applies to grades in higher maths. Both colleges are considering dropping the bonus, but it will NOT happen this year. So for applicants doing higher maths in 1996, bonus points apply for all UL and UCD courses. The DIT gives some bonus points for maths, science or technical subjects for its Kevin St engineering degree only - check the college brochure.

A very important consideration is not to become so obsessed with points that you ignore mandatory or essential subject requirements. Our master chart on pages eight and nine show those.

Each college has its own basic matriculation or registration requirements; without these subjects, an applicant cannot be offered any place in the college, regardless of points. In addition, an increasing number of courses specify that an applicant must achieve certain grades in specified subjects; again without those no offer will be made, regardless of points.

It is easy to get so caught up in calculating points and working out what points are needed that the applicant forgets to check on the essential subjects. Do this from our master chart for all courses for which you are applying.

FINALLY, do realise that the colleges do not set the points; it is you, the applicant who does this. The more applicants there are for a course and the better they score in the Leaving Cert, then the higher the points. If as happened last year, students overall do better in the Leaving Cert exam, then that inevitably pushes up the points. On the other hand, if the Leaving results are bad overall, then the points are likely to fall.

There are also fashions in courses; demand for business/accountancy type courses has been falling in recent years, while the demand for engineering/science courses has gone up somewhat. This has been reflected in static or dropping points in the accountancy/business area and higher points for science/engineering degrees.

This year, because of the introduction of the Transition Year, there will be some 5,000 less students sitting the Leaving Cert than last year. This may - and I emphasise may - lead to an easing up of points for some courses. But don't bank on huge drops. The most likely outcome, it seems to me, is that the very high points courses will remain relatively high and that any fall off will be registered more in the certificate/diploma area or in lower points degrees.