There are 44,858 of you out there. You all belong to a privileged group. You hold CAO offers for certificate and diploma places in third-level colleges.
You have offers from courses as diverse as commercial computing in Waterford IT, electronic engineering in Carlow IT, food science in Dundalk IT and TV and video production in Dun Laoghaire IT. If you decide to send in an acceptance notice to the CAO you have guaranteed yourself a start in third-level education. If the offer is not your first preference, you may be wondering whether you should accept or reject it. Remember, whether you accept or reject this offer, you are still in the running for offers from courses higher up your list of preferences. And the degree list operates independently of the certificate/diploma list.
Take some time to research your offer. You probably did this already last January but you may have forgotten the details of the course. If you are one of those students who believe that degrees are the only desirable courses, then it's time for a long hard rethink. Certificates and diplomas are valid qualifications in their own right. They can also lead to degrees.
Here's how it works. You accept a place on a two-year national certificate in business studies in Sligo IT. You achieve a merit in your exams and apply for a one-year diploma in business studies. In Sligo, this may have an accountancy or a management bias. Other colleges may offer diplomas with a different emphasis. You do well in the diploma and are accepted on to the college's one-year bachelor of business studies programme. After four years, you have a degree.
Using this ladder system, it can take four or five years to achieve a degree (some add-on degrees take two years) but eligible students in state-funded colleges will receive maintenance grants and the free fees scheme applies. You must also do reasonably well in your exams as you progress, although some colleges accept students on to diploma programmes if they have passed their exams and have a year's relevant work experience.
A complete list of add-on degrees was included in the College Places supplement, published on Tuesday. There are more than 80 of these courses available this year in the institutes of technology. Some of the private colleges also offer add-on degree options but fees must be paid for these.
Last year, 15,658 students accepted certificate and diploma courses through the CAO compared with 17,644 the previous year. This drop in acceptances is ironic in light of all the hype about the "points race". There is no points race for most certificates and diplomas. You have until 5.15 p.m. on September 2nd to make up your mind about your offer notice. If you do not accept your offer before this deadline it will be offered to another applicant and it cannot be retrieved.
Second-round offers
Some psychic powers would be of definite benefit when it comes to answering the million-dollar CAO question. It seems as if everyone, or everyone's mother, wants to know if he or she will get a better offer in the second round.
The simple answer is: nobody knows. Last year, 7,119 offers were made to CAO applicants in the second round. This compares with 3,077 round two offers the previous year.
In all, last year, 1,388 students, who did not get an offer in round one, received an offer in round two.
At degree level there was a fall of at least 10 points in 41 courses but there were few changes in the very high-point courses. In some cases, students who had been waiting on random selection were offered places. At certificate/diploma level, cut-off levels dropped by at least 20 points in more than 70 courses.
This year's second-round cut-off levels will be determined by the pattern of acceptance and rejection by the 48,999 CAO applicants who have received offers to date. The CAO will post out the second-round offers on Monday, September 7th, and the cut-off points will be published in The Irish Times on Tuesday, September 8th.
Letterfrack
Applicants for Letterfrack's very popular furniture design and manufacture course (course code GA015) were disappointed to see the first-round points jump from 760 last year to 862 this year. These points are a composite of interview and academic points.
One very upset father rang College Places to say that his son, whose heart is set on the course, would have qualified for a place last year. This year, he didn't get an offer.
A spokesman for the college says a number of factors have contributed to the rise in points. The course is unique and as it becomes better-known the number and calibre of the applicants have been steadily rising. There is now a two-year add-on degree available and this has added to the attractiveness of the course. The college is also undergoing a major expansion and the number of first-year places has been cut back to 17. The college can usually accommodate about 20 first-years. Although the decrease in numbers appears small, the number of first-round offers made was 30 per cent down on last year. This is to ensure that the numbers do not exceed 17.
The father who rang College Places wanted to know why skills shortages in this area were not being addressed by increasing the number of third-level courses in furniture design.
Nursing vacancies
South-Bank University, Lon don, which offers a three-year nursing diploma and a three-year nursing degree programme, is visiting Ireland in September and October to recruit student nurses. They have two intakes to fill: January 1999 and April 1999. Students who obtain places are eligible for bursaries of £5,374 sterling per annum and there are no fees. You can contact the student recruitment officer, Ms Vanessa Winters, at 0044 171 815 5960.
The British government is committed to the recruitment of 15,000 additional nurses over the next few years so British colleges are increasing the number of places available but the numbers entering the profession have fallen to their lowest level since records began and one quarter of nurses now come from overseas.
Here, nursing remains as popular as ever with 4,000 school leavers competing for about 1,000 general and psychiatric nurse training places this year.
Trainee actuaries
Meanwhile, there are opportunities outside the CAO for high achievers in the Leaving Certificate. Both Ark Life and Progressive Life Assurance are looking for trainee actuaries. For Ark Life you must have a minimum of three As on higher-level papers including maths while for Progressive Life you must have six honours in the Leaving Cert to include English and grade A in maths and two others (all at higher-level).
Closing dates: Ark Life - today. Progressive Life - Friday next.
Chevy Chase Bank scholarships
Today is also the closing date for applications from intending first-year students in arts and science at UCC for four Chevy Chase bank scholarships, valued at £2,000 each. You must be prepared to do 100 hours community work during the year.