The College Choice helpline has been busy answering calls from first-year students as well as queries from school-leavers and, of course, their mothers.
It seems the new year sets first-year students who are unhappy with their choice of course thinking about other options.
Some students have sat their first semester exams and are worried they will not survive the first year. Others now realise that they are not interested in the particular course after all, usually because they had very little idea of what the course actually involved.
There is, of course, a moral here for students applying for college places this year - research the course properly, read the prospectus, talk to your guidance counsellor, go to the college open day, try to find somebody who has done the course or who is working in the area. Do not rely on the list of course titles supplied in the CAO handbook - the CAO is an applications mechanism, not a purveyor of course or career information.
Guidance counsellor Mr Vivian Cassells says students who are interested in changing course should first talk to their course tutor. "It may be a question that you feel you haven't covered the course. The tutor may have some salient advice, encouragement or motivation to offer. Also, in some colleges there may be a transfer mechanism, particularly if you are doing a course which is in some way related to the new course you wish to pursue," he explains.
Students who drop out of a course before January 31st need pay only half fees for a subsequent first year. But if the January 31st deadline has passed, you will be liable for full fees in your next first year.
There is an exception to this rule, as students on ESF-funded undergraduate courses, which are largely the preserve of the institutes of technology, may drop out, pass or fail first year and reapply for a substantially different ESF-funded course without affecting their free fees or grant entitlement. Students may avail of this provision only once.
Mr Barry Kehoe, director of student affairs at DCU, is concerned that university students who "make an honest mistake" must then pay in excess of £2,000 in fees plus lose their grant for one year if they want to change course. He says it is an anomaly in the system and it would be more humane to extend the provision to all third-level students. He is concerned that at this time of year, with the CAO deadline of February 1st and the half-year free-fees deadline of January 31st looming, this is a deterrent to first-year university students considering their options.
In the Netherlands, students may receive grant funding for a longer period than would be strictly necessary to complete a degree, he adds; this would make more sense in Ireland where students are making important decisions at a younger age.
If you are in first year of a third-level course and you have decided that you are definitely not suited to the course, Mr Cassells advises students, if finances permit, to stick with the course until the summer and to sit the end-of-year exams if possible. If finance is an issue, you might be best advised to leave before the January 31st deadline and to get a job to make some money. With the present economic climate, many shops, restaurants and hotels are actively seeking employees so it shouldn't be too difficult to find work. Remember to inform the college that you are dropping out of the course.
First-year students who hope to change course in autumn must reapply to the CAO and, this time, you must fill in all four pages of the form. You must state that you are applying on the basis of last year's Leaving Certificate and you must also state what you have been doing in the meantime.
Colleges vary in their attitude to students who have already completed or partially completed first year in third level. While you must fulfil the Leaving Certificate points requirements, there are other considerations that may be taken into account.
For instance, if you are applying for a substantially similar course in UCD (whether you did first year in UCD or elsewhere) there might be a problem, according to a spokeswoman for the college. An example would be an agricultural science student who failed his or her first-year exams and then applies through the CAO for first-year science. The college admissions office would then look at each of the subjects and admission might depend on whether the student failed the agriculture or the science subjects. If you are applying for a very different course and are eligible on the basis of points, there should be no problem, adds the spokeswoman.
In UL, DIT and CIT students who are in third level already and who apply for a first-year course are admitted on the basis of Leaving Certificate points only. Your performance in first year is not taken into consideration. The situation is similar in TCD but the admissions office stresses that this applies if students have done one year only in third level.
It would be wise to contact the admissions office of the particular college directly to find out what its policy is.
Repeating the Leaving before you have sat it
The phone line has been hopping with the "Ah, sure I can always repeat, why bother to fill out the CAO form?" type of call, complete with distraught parent in the background breathing deeply to stem her panic.
Mr Cassells says second-level students often panic coming up to the mock exams and underestimate their knowledge and the amount of the course they have actually covered. You should not give up at this stage but should try to achieve the best possible results. You may pleasantly surprise yourself next June.
If you repeat the Leaving Certificate, you cannot add your points for the purposes of the CAO but you can accumulate specific subject requirements.
For instance, if you are aiming for a course in an NUI college, which has a requirement for Irish, you can pass Irish this year and you won't need to take it again next year. This means you are free to take up a new subject or you can concentrate on the other subjects you are taking for points purposes. Points are calculated on the basis of six subjects taken at the same sitting of the Leaving Cert.
Fee-paying colleges and the CAO
There are now five private third-level colleges in Dublin offering courses through the CAO - American College, Dublin Business School, Griffith College, LSB College and Portobello College. Griffith College and Dublin Business School are new to the CAO this year.
These colleges have all been designated by the National Council for Educational Awards. This is a guarantee that a college has met certain standards and requirements set by the State-established council.
The fact that a college is NCEA-designated does not mean that all of its courses have been approved by the NCEA. However, all of the courses on offer through the CAO in these colleges are NCEA approved. The colleges are also bonded so that students are afforded protection in the event of their collapse.
The courses on offer through the CAO range from certificates to diplomas to degrees and they are generally in the humanities and business areas, with computing and law also on offer.
Private colleges charge tuition fees and students in these colleges are not eligible to apply for maintenance grants; however, fees on approved courses are tax-deductible at the standard rate.
Fees are also charged by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland but of the 40 first-year places in medicine reserved for EU students, there are scholarships available for 10 students. These include total remission of fees and a bursary of £1,000. This year, the RCSI is offering physiotherapy, with places for five Irish students - there are no scholarships available for these students.
Full-time undergraduate students in the RCSI are eligible to apply for maintenance grants.
Two courses offered by the DIT - preliminary engineering and music foundation - are not covered by the free fees initiative while students taking the arts (modular evening course) in UCD must also pay fees.
In general, the free-fees initiative applies to first-time undergraduate students doing full-time courses in State-funded colleges. Tipperary Rural and Business Development Institute and Blanchardstown IT, which are new to the CAO this year, are both State-funded colleges so eligible students will qualify for free fees and maintenance grants.
More diary dates:
American College, Dublin, will hold an open evening on January 13th at 6.30 p.m.
NUI Galway is holding an open evening in the Marist national school, Athlone, on January 19th at 7.30 p.m. - this is an opportunity for teachers, students and parents to learn more about NUI Galway.