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Prospective Mature Arts Student

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  • 11-11-2010 11:35am
    #1
    LiamD23
    Registered Users Posts: 2 ✭


    Hey guys, I'm just looking for a little advice on becoming a mature arts student....

    I'm 25 and in late 2005 I quit college (Business Studies in CIT) to take a full time job offer. I've never regretted the decision as it was a poor choice course from me in the first place. What I'd really like to do is study arts with English at UCC. I've applied for the MSAP exam on February 19th and am in the process of completing my CAO application online. Sorry if this is tedious, I just have a couple of questions.....

    Is it foolish to put only one choice on my CAO form? I've been traveling for the past 3-4 years (currently in Melbourne) and would love to live in Cork again. This means I am reluctant to apply to other University's. Also I am certain that I want to study Arts so don't want to put any 'filler' choices on the form. I remember being advised in school to fill all the choices regardless.

    I was under the impression that admission was based solely on the results of the MASP exam but now I cant find a definitive answer. Without being over confident I kind of hope that this is the case as I have always had problems 'selling myself' in interviews. Also I feel that my CAO form is weak, and my previous unfinished course and my country hopping may count against me! If anyone is wondering, I got 375 points in my Leaving (2003)

    Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks for your time.


Comments

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    #2
    beagle001
    Closed Accounts Posts: 764 ✭✭✭beagle001


    Hey,
    I think you should call them up yourself to check out some of the criteria and possible restrictions on you going back to education next year.
    I would be afraid that you are liable for full fees as you have been lioing outside the EU for 3 years and started a previous course 5 years ago.
    A lot of people applied this year to return as a mature student,I expect it will be the same if not more next year.
    Best call them up and check if you are eligible,hope it works out


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    #3
    Byron85
    Registered Users Posts: 1,443 ✭✭✭Byron85


    LiamD23 wrote: »
    Hey guys, I'm just looking for a little advice on becoming a mature arts student....

    I'm 25 and in late 2005 I quit college (Business Studies in CIT) to take a full time job offer. I've never regretted the decision as it was a poor choice course from me in the first place. What I'd really like to do is study arts with English at UCC. I've applied for the MSAP exam on February 19th and am in the process of completing my CAO application online. Sorry if this is tedious, I just have a couple of questions.....

    Is it foolish to put only one choice on my CAO form? I've been traveling for the past 3-4 years (currently in Melbourne) and would love to live in Cork again. This means I am reluctant to apply to other University's. Also I am certain that I want to study Arts so don't want to put any 'filler' choices on the form. I remember being advised in school to fill all the choices regardless.

    I was under the impression that admission was based solely on the results of the MASP exam but now I cant find a definitive answer. Without being over confident I kind of hope that this is the case as I have always had problems 'selling myself' in interviews. Also I feel that my CAO form is weak, and my previous unfinished course and my country hopping may count against me! If anyone is wondering, I got 375 points in my Leaving (2003)

    Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks for your time.

    Entrance via the mature student route is done solely through the MSAP and your personal statement that you write for your CAO application. I got into UCC as a mature student and the year I applied was the first year that the MSAP was introduced. It's nothing too scary but it isn't walkover either. I'm in second year now and i'm studying Sociology and Psychology.

    As for the course hopping, I dropped out of two previous courses and was in the middle of a PLC course (which I finished!) at the time I applied as a mature student. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

    As for the options part of your CAO application, I put down 5 or 6 just to be sure I got something. I ended up getting into UCD too but went with UCC.

    If you have any other questions i'll try my best to answer you. :)


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    #4
    grinds
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 70 ✭✭grinds


    You can apply with your 370 points through the CAO.. not sure if that's high enough to get you in??


  • Options
    #5
    dr gonzo
    Registered Users Posts: 1,676 ✭✭✭dr gonzo


    LiamD23 wrote: »
    Hey guys, I'm just looking for a little advice on becoming a mature arts student....

    I'm 25 and in late 2005 I quit college (Business Studies in CIT) to take a full time job offer. I've never regretted the decision as it was a poor choice course from me in the first place. What I'd really like to do is study arts with English at UCC. I've applied for the MSAP exam on February 19th and am in the process of completing my CAO application online. Sorry if this is tedious, I just have a couple of questions.....

    Is it foolish to put only one choice on my CAO form? I've been traveling for the past 3-4 years (currently in Melbourne) and would love to live in Cork again. This means I am reluctant to apply to other University's. Also I am certain that I want to study Arts so don't want to put any 'filler' choices on the form. I remember being advised in school to fill all the choices regardless.

    I was under the impression that admission was based solely on the results of the MASP exam but now I cant find a definitive answer. Without being over confident I kind of hope that this is the case as I have always had problems 'selling myself' in interviews. Also I feel that my CAO form is weak, and my previous unfinished course and my country hopping may count against me! If anyone is wondering, I got 375 points in my Leaving (2003)

    Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks for your time.

    Hey, firstly congratulations, im sure this is a decision you'll say was one of the best in your life.

    On the important stuff. Im going to have to defer to Byron85 on the MSAP. While i did it and it was relatively straightforward im not 100% sure whether they take other things into consideration for the application process, however if they do you are in a far better position then i was when applying. I had only 330 points from my leaving and i had dropped out of a couple of courses already so dont worry about that. As for the amount of courses choices, thats a difficult one. As a mature student i think we all know exactly what we want before we go near the application process, its not like school where you're interested in lots of things so you throw it all down. I knew exactly the course i wanted so i effectively only had one choice on the application, i did put a second one in Trinity down but i might as well not have because i missed their entrance exams and i didnt want to do it anyway.

    So in summary. As far as i know the MSAP is the entire process so you dont have to worry about other factors, however if said factors were taken into consideration it seems like they would only help you. Choose as many courses as you like but choosing one didnt work against me.

    Good luck!


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