The initial reaction of many students to yesterday's CAO offers appeared to be one of mild disappointment. Still jubilant after receiving their results last week, applicants hoped the shrinking number of Leaving Cert students this year would exert downward pressure on points.
It did, but only partially. About 200 degree courses required fewer points than last year, while 166 degree courses required more. Many students, particularly those looking for places in the bigger universities such as UCD, UCC and Trinity, will be bitterly disappointed.
These students were banking on an unprecedented reduction in points, but it didn't happen. This is because while the number of Leaving Cert students is declining, the number entering the CAO process is not.
It is worth remembering that Leaving Cert students are not the only groups participating in the CAO process.
There are mature students, foreign students and existing third-level students who already have a place but want to switch to something else.
When these other groups are factored in the number of people participating in the CAO the number is marginally up on last year.
This has prevented a widespread fall in points, but many students still benefited this year from the trend over the last three to four years of falling points. A lot depended on what course/college you selected.
After declining over recent years, the big areas such as arts, business and engineering have made a come back.
Disappointment
Arts in particular has proven to be popular this year and the small increase in the points requirement for UCD's course will have disappointed many students.
There is a slim chance of UCD's course and others falling in the second round, but it remains that, a slim chance.
What also caused points to rise in some areas this year was the drift from computing. Many of the students who were interested in this area finally decided against it and picked something else.
This tended to be science, engineering or even business. The extra applications in these areas pushed points up, and many students were squeezed out.
Other areas are just very popular at the moment. Psychology now attracts huge numbers of applications and most courses are seriously over- subscribed.
The third-level institutions can be slow in responding to a sudden rise in interest in an area and they have not managed to increase substantially the number of places in psychology in recent years.
Law is another area which has attracted enormous interest this year.
The number of places are relatively small and because the universities tend to dominate in this area, points are always going to be high.
There may be some slippage in the second round, but again it is likely to be small.
Nursing
Nursing managed to attract almost 10,000 applications this year. While many of these will have come from people expressing a casual interest in the area, it says a lot about the enduring popularity of the profession that it can attract such interest.
The points needed to gain a place are very high once again. But there is a special reason for this. With five lists operating in this year's CAO process, admissions officers, who ultimately set the points in the colleges, have to be conservative.
They do not know how many of those who have been offered a nursing place are going to take one, so they have to wait until the second round to get a better picture. If they have lots of unfilled places in the second round, they tend to drop the points considerably and you may have a chance.
Admissions officers have reviewed last year's experience and have put that experience to good use by being less cautious in their offer ratios. Nevertheless, they must not overfill their quota of nursing places, so they have to be hesitant in the first round. Next year the problem will not arise because nursing courses will be included with all other degree courses.
Deferring
For those who did get an offer yesterday morning, thoughts now turn to next year. But many students, while delighted they have been offered something via the CAO, are not anxious to return to the books immediately.
Many students believe they have spent the last six years studying and it is time to shout "stop". Parents increasingly feel the same way on behalf of their children.
The way to shout "stop" is to defer your place for a year. This gives you the chance to take that well earned break and experience life outside the school gates. At 17 or 18 you are not going to fall behind in the rat race just because you take a year out to expand your horizons and let the stresses of your school days just seep away.
The so-called "gap year" is becoming immensely popular in Ireland and more than 5 per cent of students defer each year. Many of them get a job, travel or sometimes lounge about for a year. Most of them combine all three.
The advantage of doing this is if you spend a year working - possibly in an area relevant to your chosen course - you can built up some hefty savings to support you during your first year in college. You would be surprised at the number of firms who have opportunities for school-leavers who are taking a year off before they embark on their college careers.
Also you will rarely have such a long period of free time to work with again and the chances to travel during a gap year are great.
If you are interested in this route, do not contact CAO about it. Contact the college that has offered you a place. Tell them you want to defer your place and they will inform the CAO. Then next year you simply put that course down on your CAO form again and it is yours regardless of whether points go up or not.
But be careful you can only defer that particular place. If you want to do something else you are subject to the fluctuation in points as normal.
The other thing to remember is that not all places can be deferred. A small number of colleges like NCAD and some of the medical colleges do not usually let students defer, unless there is a very pressing reason.
Backpacking around Australia does not generally qualify under that heading.
Vacant places
The CAO meanwhile would like to point out that an expanding list of "vacant places" is now being advertised on its website, www.cao.ie.
These courses, many of them very good, are open to all. If you are unhappy with what you have been offered, you might want to take a look. If you have been offered nothing at all, you may be more anxious to have a look.
This column will provide a full list of these courses tomorrow.