Getting back to college again

macdave

Ok this might be a little long so i'll try to give this in bullet.

-was at uni studying gen science.
-finished second year but didnt pass exams.
-left almost 3 years ago, had to have surgery which took some time.

it wasnt the best time for me financially and i found it hard to exist at college. it was a compromise, that having to work part time was competing with doing well at college. my medical problem kicked in at that time too.

so how would i go about getting back now.
like to hear from anybody with a similar experience.

macdave

macdave wrote: »

Ok this might be a little long so i'll try to give this in bullet.

-was at uni studying gen science.
-finished second year but didnt pass exams.
-left almost 3 years ago, had to have surgery which took some time.

it wasnt the best time for me financially and i found it hard to exist at college. it was a compromise, that having to work part time was competing with doing well at college. my medical problem kicked in at that time too.

so how would i go about getting back now.
like to hear from anybody with a similar experience.

Hi macdave,

I've to ask you one question before I answer anything else - what do you want to do? Do you want to go back to college to do a course, or do you want to go back to continue General Science in second year? If it's the latter, it is worth getting back in contact with the college you dropped out of (specifically the Science Department) and querying about rejoining back next year. Since you dropped out for medical reasons, you shouldn't have to pay anything extra if you repeat second year, although this might require some convincing of the college. So if you are thinking about going back, consider getting in contact with a friendly lecturer you knew or a mentor/tutor you might have had when at college, or even drop in to the Students' Union since they might give you some information on who would be good to contact.

If you're looking to go back to college to start a new course, then I assume you are looking to apply as a mature student. To be a mature student, you must be over 23 on the 1st of January in the year you start the course. However, it gets a little more complicated. I've read before (and I can't check now but do a quick search on these boards - it was discussed a few weeks ago!) that there is a 5 year wait period for people if they dropped out of college before being able to avail of free fees again. This obviously isn't the case if you're progressing which is what I mentioned in the paragraph above.

To apply as a mature student you must normally apply through the CAO before the 1st of February. It is possible to apply as a mature student later than that but it does get a little more complicated (again, there's a thread from yesterday on this). Applying as a non-mature student is basically the same thing but you would be assessed on your original points.

Sorry that I can't be any more specific, I'm meant to be doing other stuff rather than answering queries right now!

Dónal

macdave

hi donal,

yes i will be contacting uni again about continuing my course to get more specifics. my intentions are to continue with my general science degree.

when i was there i read somewhere that progressing to the next year of course must be completed within 2 academic years. i wouldn't mind even paying as an external student. i assume that maintenance grant and fees would then continue for next academic year.

thanks for you help,

david

macdave

macdave wrote: »

hi donal,

yes i will be contacting uni again about continuing my course to get more specifics. my intentions are to continue with my general science degree.

when i was there i read somewhere that progressing to the next year of course must be completed within 2 academic years. i wouldn't mind even paying as an external student. i assume that maintenance grant and fees would then continue for next academic year.

thanks for you help,

david

Hey again David,

I might be wrong, but the rule about having to progress to the next course might have been put in place assuming that there were no extenuating circumstances, such as medical reasons for leaving college. I would be very surprised if leeway wasn't allowed in your case!

Hope it all works out ok

D.