Warning - CAO

Randomness

hey everyone,

i mentioned this before but as it's coming near the CAO time i have to say it again.

please please please pick the course that you are most interested in / will enjoy the most / can get the most out of

don't go by points / what your friends are doing / what some randomer tells you that you should do because of a test or something.

so many people i know now are either dropping out or regretting choices because they went for the high points course and would have been happier with their second choice.

also what you enjoy in school will have a major effect. think about what subjects you love now and look in that direction because many people have also said they miss certain subjects from the leaving and wish they could do them now.

if you like lots of things go for a broad course cos god know's you will get bored in a specific course.

many of you probably know this already but it might help someone.

also don't worry bout the stupid "CAO Deadline" 20,000 change before the
1st of july anyway and i was one of them.

just put something down but serioulsy relax cos you can change at the click of a button.

if your worried bout gettin it out of the way, don't. if you change after the leaving you have nothing to be doing anyway so you will look on it with a much more relaxed, informed view because you will have realised about the leaving (even though i'll tell you now) that EVERYONE GETS THROUGH IT, IT'S NOT AS BAD WHEN YOU DO IT AND YOU WILL DO BETTER THAN YOU THINK.

eve

One other thing I would add is about the ordering of your choices in degree or diploma. Put them in the order of your preference not starting with the one with the most points.

claire h

Randomness wrote: »

EVERYONE GETS THROUGH IT, IT'S NOT AS BAD WHEN YOU DO IT AND YOU WILL DO BETTER THAN YOU THINK.

Very foolish and irresponsible to make a generalisation like that, isn't it? Not everyone does better than they think - some people do end up disappointed. Just because you feel people worry far too much about the Leaving Cert doesn't mean you need to promote complacency. (I get where you're coming from - most people I know did better than they thought they would, or at least admitted they thought they would, which is often quite different, but a lot of people don't.)




More generally - just because people like a subject in school doesn't mean that they'll like it in university, and vice-versa. Do look into all the courses you've put down, not just your top one or two, and see what kind of stuff you'd be doing, and whether you think you'd be able to handle it.

Do definitely put down what you're interested in, though, rather than what you think 'should' do - three/four years is an awfully long time to devote to a degree you're not genuinely interested in.

Randomness

claire h wrote: »

Just because you feel people worry far too much about the Leaving Cert doesn't mean you need to promote complacency.

well from the nervous wrecks i saw going through the leaving cert i think i'd much rather end up repeating or taking an indirect route tbh.

far from promoting complacency i was simply trying to assist the majority of students who will work hard by informing them of the reality.

everything happens for a reason has served me very well so far in my life and i'm not gonna forget it now.

maybe if you don't do as well, in the end you will find something better to do,

or maybe of you get the high points course but don't like it you will see something else along the way.

Chunky Monkey

I got my sixth choice, hated it and dropped out. Be wary about fees though. This ain't such an easy option. I dropped out before Christmas of my first year but I still have to pay half year fees next year, about €3-4000. Don't think 'oh I won't work so hard this year I can always repeat'. Repeating is hard and you have to have a lot of determination to do it and have a clear goal for it especially if you don't have money to go back to school.