Tips on applying as a Mature Student

HarshOstrich

Hi
just wondering if I go to college as a mature student are the fees not free under the free fees initiative, because in previous comments i see people applying for grants to pay there fees. i am asking this as I have missed the deadline to apply for the grant but I do qualify for the BTEA. so am i too late to get free fees

eigenboggle

HarshOstrich wrote: »

Hi
just wondering if I go to college as a mature student are the fees not free under the free fees initiative, because in previous comments i see people applying for grants to pay there fees. i am asking this as I have missed the deadline to apply for the grant but I do qualify for the BTEA. so am i too late to get free fees

If you qualify for free fee's then your fee's should be covered. The grants most people are referring to while in receipt of BTEA is the grant to cover the student contribution fees which are not covered as part of the Free Fees. You apply for these via SUSI. Maybe get on to SUSI and see if they will accept a late application?

gringichspewt

Hi,

I read the last few pages but didn't find the answer I'm not sure.

I thought I'd just have to pay 2,700 fee and had planned for that. It seems that I may not have reached the 3 years of the 5 years minimum. I foolishly thought being Irish I wouldn't have to worry about it but it's just dawned on me that that is not the case. I'm probably about half a year under the requirement.

My question is, how strictly do they check this? I'm not applying for SUSI. Is there no chance of me just saying I have been here 3 years and being able to just pay 2,700?

Thanks

gringichspewt

gringichspewt wrote: »

Hi,

I read the last few pages but didn't find the answer I'm not sure.

I thought I'd just have to pay 2,700 fee and had planned for that. It seems that I may not have reached the 3 years of the 5 years minimum. I foolishly thought being Irish I wouldn't have to worry about it but it's just dawned on me that that is not the case. I'm probably about half a year under the requirement.

My question is, how strictly do they check this? I'm not applying for SUSI. Is there no chance of me just saying I have been here 3 years and being able to just pay 2,700?

Thanks

Found my own answer, need to send in tax credits that I don't have.

If anyone else is in my situation it seems that I may eligible because I went to primary and secondary school in Ireland

raze_them_all_

Just applying here and looking at the qualifications and assessment section, where you click all that are relevant to you, I didn't make any effort at all on my leaving cert as I had myself in line to join the army but couldn't join to do colour deficiency, As a mature student I assume I can ignore clicking this box? Also I have fetac courses that are relevant to two courses I am applying for, do I click the fetac level 5/6 exams or do I leave that out and bring them up later?

Moomat

raze_them_all_ wrote: »

Just applying here and looking at the qualifications and assessment section, where you click all that are relevant to you, I didn't make any effort at all on my leaving cert as I had myself in line to join the army but couldn't join to do colour deficiency, As a mature student I assume I can ignore clicking this box? Also I have fetac courses that are relevant to two courses I am applying for, do I click the fetac level 5/6 exams or do I leave that out and bring them up later?

I'd fill in all the details, don't leave any reason to find fault with your application. I did the Junior Cert, no Leaving Cert, 16 years ago but still put my results down, put all courses down too, relevant or not.

raze_them_all_

Moomat wrote: »

I'd fill in all the details, don't leave any reason to find fault with your application. I did the Junior Cert, no Leaving Cert, 16 years ago but still put my results down, put all courses down too, relevant or not.

Thank you, also just to be clear this is under the qualification/assessment sections?

Moomat

raze_them_all_ wrote: »

Thank you, also just to be clear this is under the qualification/assessment sections?

No bother. As far as I remember yes, it was in that section. I applied last year. You've to hit a little + sign to add additional courses etc I think..

Cassie76

Moomat wrote: »

I'd fill in all the details, don't leave any reason to find fault with your application. I did the Junior Cert, no Leaving Cert, 16 years ago but still put my results down, put all courses down too, relevant or not.

Hi, I'm applying as a mature student also and I'm putting in my JC and LC results whether relevant or not - I did my LC 21yrs ago!! Don't want to leave anything to chance!
Good luck with your application

raze_them_all_

One more annoying question, I did the NCEHF which is fetac level 6, I did it through a company but it's accredited by UL, do I put down the company or Ul's adress for the institution, I'm assuming Ul??

elleelle19

hi, just wondering if anybody could help me with the following.

In the qualifications section on the CAO application it says "2001 or earlier FETAC Level 5/6 Exams" I have and NCVA level 2 from pre 2001 so filled this sections in. In the subsequent section, 'Highest Qualification to Date' do I fill in this same qualification again? and also the 'Post-Secondary Education'?
seems a bit weird to keep putting the same qualification in, but that seems like what it's asking me to do.

Any help would be appreciated, don't want to mess this up.

Larianne

Yep, I would fill it in with what they are asking you.

trixiebust

Hi all,

Just trying to do my personal statement at the moment, what do people think should be its length? I know there is space for 1500 words on the online application, but I'm struggling to get past about 800 as it stands. Would this be enough or is more needed??

elleelle19

the course I applied for in UCD required No More than 600 words for the personal statement.
I think the section on the CAO form is 1500 characters not words, I haven't check though so could be wrong.

UCD have programme specific information on the mature student website, so I would assume other colleges have something similar. Maybe check your colleges website, if it is UCD then it's http://www.ucd.ie/registry/admissions/MYcourse.html

Mr rebel

trixiebust wrote: »

Hi all,

Just trying to do my personal statement at the moment, what do people think should be its length? I know there is space for 1500 words on the online application, but I'm struggling to get past about 800 as it stands. Would this be enough or is more needed??

Blimey, I wrote out three pages full in my first draft but in the end I decided to stick by the CAO guidelines and so cut it down to fit the 1,500 words limit.
I'm also a little worried I might have gone down the "sob story" route a little too much but I didn't want to sound robotic and too CV like either so hopefully I got the balance right.

trixiebust

Thanks, you're right it is characters, not words.

Will post the cao the rest, marked other information you find appropriate to the application.
Have even more to add after running mine by a adult guidance counsellor.

Trying to get into L.I.T. Tipperary, ( Social Studies ) not as much detail on their site as you have for yours.

Best of luck to all involved, in their application!

Mandzhalas

It is 1500 characters not words. It is about 250 words in my application

trixiebust

Blimey, I wrote out three pages full in my first draft but in the end I decided to stick by the CAO guidelines and so cut it down to fit the 1,500 words limit. I'm also a little worried I might have gone down the "sob story" route a little too much but I didn't want to sound robotic and too CV like either so hopefully I got the balance right.


Don't think i went down the " sob story " route enough, ( only put one in !! ).

Healium

Hi guys,

Wondering if anyone can offer any advice re: references

As the CAO application only allows you to input contact details of your referees, I assumed that was all I submitted and that the university would contact them if they were thinking of offering me a place. Now, I've seen that people often submit a written reference via post to the CAO team. Have I accidentally screwed myself over here by not preparing references in advance?

Mr rebel

Healium wrote: »

Hi guys,

Wondering if anyone can offer any advice re: references

As the CAO application only allows you to input contact details of your referees, I assumed that was all I submitted and that the university would contact them if they were thinking of offering me a place. Now, I've seen that people often submit a written reference via post to the CAO team. Have I accidentally screwed myself over here by not preparing references in advance?

As far as I'm concerned, they didn't specifically ask for a written reference so I didn't bother giving one either.
The reference part of the mature student application pretty much baffles me anyway.
I just fail to see the importance of it when applying for a course. You are already submitting evidence of exam results anyway, I don't see how a job reference is relevant to wanting to study a course, unless obviously the job reference is somehow relevant to the course, but I would wager in most cases this is not the case.

paperclip2

Healium wrote: »

Hi guys,

Wondering if anyone can offer any advice re: references

As the CAO application only allows you to input contact details of your referees, I assumed that was all I submitted and that the university would contact them if they were thinking of offering me a place. Now, I've seen that people often submit a written reference via post to the CAO team. Have I accidentally screwed myself over here by not preparing references in advance?

No you're fine as long as you have the referees contact info included. Sometimes people send written references to be thorough but its not necessary unless expressly looked for by a college.

Mr rebel wrote: »

As far as I'm concerned, they didn't specifically ask for a written reference so I didn't bother giving one either.
The reference part of the mature student application pretty much baffles me anyway.
I just fail to see the importance of it when applying for a course. You are already submitting evidence of exam results anyway, I don't see how a job reference is relevant to wanting to study a course, unless obviously the job reference is somehow relevant to the course, but I would wager in most cases this is not the case.

Referees in this case are usually academic referees. These would be people who can give a positive insight into your ability to learn as an adult and your capacity to successfully complete the course you've applied for.
A lot of mature students take some form of prior education before going back to college. An academic referee is usually someone like a course tutor or coordinator so their references are very relevant to the college.

Some people also provide a work related referee. This would be relevant where a mature student is applying for a course in an area that they have some previous work experience in, or if they are applying for courses in a subject similar to previous employments. A work referee can give some insight into an applicants aptitude for a particular field.

AngryLips

Anyone applying as a mature student to anything as part of the CAO late applications process? I'll share my experience with this so far for anyone considering it. Most of the universities are not accepting late mature applicants, although NUIM and UL are two that I know of which are continuing to accept late applicants, I suspect it also varies between courses how receptive they are to it. Many of the ITs seem to continue taking late applications from mature students. You're best to engage directly with both the admissions office and the course director of your desired college/course if you're applying for anything. Often they'll advise you about anything further you'll need to do other than just the application itself. maynooth asked me to provide them with my details to include for the call for aptitude tests happening this month. DIT were less helpful and didn't really tell me anything beyond what's already on their website which was something along the lines of "apply anyway and hope for the best". Can't stress this enough but if you want to apply you need to make contact with the colleges ASAP

NYGRL

Great info in this thread, thanks to all!!

Is there an entrance exam or aptitude test you have to take when applying to TCD for Occupational Therapy?

Foggy.nelson

Hi guys have an interview later in the week and one of the sample questions is titled communication skills and I'm stuck for answers. Any tips?

Alt J

Had my interview for med science on Tuesday for GMIT. The waiting is killing me already haha. Anyone have any ideas when rejection, acceptance letters are sent out ?. Hoping for a miracle Only four places for mature students

Foggy.nelson

Alt J wrote: »

Had my interview for med science on Tuesday for GMIT. The waiting is killing me already haha. Anyone have any ideas when rejection, acceptance letters are sent out ?. Hoping for a miracle Only four places for mature students

Sligo told me first week in June. It was one of the questions I asked them. I'm sure every college is different but I think they tend to let mature students know earlier

Moomat

Foggy.nelson wrote: »

Hi guys have an interview later in the week and one of the sample questions is titled communication skills and I'm stuck for answers. Any tips?

I did 4 interviews last year and each one was slightly different, however, a common trait was that the discussion in each was much more about me than it was about the course. I had prepared by researching what modules I wanted to pick, built up some knowledge about them etc... I wasted my time, not one of them asked me specific questions about the course. Sure, they wanted to know in general why I had chosen that course but mostly they wanted to see commitment and enthusiasm.

Just relax, you'll be fine. If they're taking the time to interview you then you are in with a very good chance of getting a place.

Best of luck!

Foggy.nelson

Moomat wrote: »

I did 4 interviews last year and each one was slightly different, however, a common trait was that the discussion in each was much more about me than it was about the course. I had prepared by researching what modules I wanted to pick, built up some knowledge about them etc... I wasted my time, not one of them asked me specific questions about the course. Sure, they wanted to know in general why I had chosen that course but mostly they wanted to see commitment and enthusiasm.

Just relax, you'll be fine. If they're taking the time to interview you then you are in with a very good chance of getting a place.

Best of luck!

Yes interview went well i think, but yes your right they seemed more interested in why you went for the course, your enthusiasm for the course and going back to college, plans to finance the course rather than what exactly you know about the course. I would research the course but i think if the course is right for you and you can show them that and be enthusiastic the interview will go ok for you. Best of luck to anyone with interviews for next September

gillymuffins

I am so thankful for this thread!

I applied this year as a mature student to DCU for Multimedia as my first choice and today I received an acceptance letter.

There is so much valuable information here especially regarding the interview process. I'm not sure I would have gotten a place without the confidence and asurity I've received from all the posters on this thread.

I would like to wish everyone past, present and future the best of luck in their journey back to education.

CarolinS

Hello

next year I want to apply as a (eu) mature student for PPES at Trinity.

I know I am quite early but I am as a voluntary in Paraguay at the moment so I decided to start early on researching!

Thanks a lot for all the tips on applying!

I started writing my personal statement but I am quite unsure what to write:
the exact question I need to answer is ¨Personal statement: which aspects of the course interest you the most.¨ (700 words)

Should I only give specific answers about the course or also answer in a rather general way: things I already know about economy(e.g.), why I find the disciplines interesting and I decided to apply for the course?

The tips for the personal statement seem to be a little to general for this (is it for the CAO?)

Thanks a lot for your help!

Carolin

Larianne wrote: »

Personal Statement

This IS the biggy. You need to get this one right. This is where you get a chance to sell yourself properly. This is the hardest part of the application. Is it too long? Is it too short? Have I spent too much time talking about this? Do I need to speak about that? Is it too moany?

When I was writing mine out I stated:

• Why I wanted to do the course

• What influence me to do the course/go back to education

• What work experience/voluntary work has helped me build up the skills to be successful in the ‘new’ career – be it working in the same/similar sector or taking up work experience/volunteering some way related to the course.

• Any courses (full/part time) which relate to the course to show how you can cope with workloads.

• Interests and Hobbies which relate to the course.

• Your hopes for the future after you graduate.


I guess the average length would be a page and a half but mine ended up being just over two pages!

It was recommended by a member of a university admissions office to make your personal statement ‘quite’ soppy. But be careful not to be too over the top. No-one likes a whinge or a lick arse.