Transferring course

bateve

Ok so I'm in arts in ucd right now and I just finished first year and I hated it so much. It wasn't what I wanted and I ended up in it because I messed the cao up. I know that I want to change courses through the cao late application and do either journalism or film and broadcasting in dit. I have it all planned and set out logically and I know exactly what I have to do but I have no idea how to tell my parents and I'm so afraid of disappointing them. I know they want me to be happy and they're always very supportive but I just feel so horrible and guilty about wasting fees for a year. Also they don't know how miserable I've been all year because I pretended that I was enjoying my course and doing well because I wanted to please them. I'm afraid they'll think I'm just being silly and changing my mind again like I did during sixth year but I know for definite that this is what I want and I can't stay in my course for another two years. Does anyone have any advice on how I can tell them? Sorry for the long post

dingding

Hi,

I work in a HE institute in a role that has a lot of contact with students and your situation is more common than you think.

Many students end up on the wrong course, either to do the course their parents want them to do, or indeed they make some error in the CAO selection or worse a fear not to waste the points.

The ammount of misinformation that students and indeed parents have on the CAO system and how places are offered is shocking.

Firstly, I would recommend that you are honest with your parents, perhaps an opportunity might come up when you get your results to discuss this with them. Without knowing your parents, from my experience they will want you to be happy with the choices that you have made in life.

I would take the opportunity to engage with the DIT and the staff on the programme. It may be possible to get exemptions from some of the modules in first year if they are similar to your existing modules. Also the additional knowledge that you learned this year will be to your advantage in life, learning is never wasted.

I would take some time to fully explore the course that you wish to transfer into and the career options and if you could talk to people in the industry regarding what is actually involved in the job. These are sectors that I am not familar with but there may be a boards forum where you could get further information and advice.

Parents are often more clued in than you think and may also have concerns about your choices. The odds are that they may also be having similar conversations about how to raise the subject.

It is amazing from my position (much older) that you reflect on concerns which seemed insurmountable at the time and they actually were not.

Best of luck with the discussion and remember no matter what might happen, ultimately for a parent their children and their happiness is the most important thing in their life.

I would also look at options to transfer courses in your current college, you should engage with the admin staff and academic staff for advice.
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bateve

dingding wrote: »

Hi,

I work in a HE institute in a role that has a lot of contact with students and your situation is more common than you think.

Many students end up on the wrong course, either to do the course their parents want them to do, or indeed they make some error in the CAO selection or worse a fear not to waste the points.

The ammount of misinformation that students and indeed parents have on the CAO system and how places are offered is shocking.

Firstly, I would recommend that you are honest with your parents, perhaps an opportunity might come up when you get your results to discuss this with them. Without knowing your parents, from my experience they will want you to be happy with the choices that you have made in life.

I would take the opportunity to engage with the DIT and the staff on the programme. It may be possible to get exemptions from some of the modules in first year if they are similar to your existing modules. Also the additional knowledge that you learned this year will be to your advantage in life, learning is never wasted.

I would take some time to fully explore the course that you wish to transfer into and the career options and if you could talk to people in the industry regarding what is actually involved in the job. These are sectors that I am not familar with but there may be a boards forum where you could get further information and advice.

Parents are often more clued in than you think and may also have concerns about your choices. The odds are that they may also be having similar conversations about how to raise the subject.

It is amazing from my position (much older) that you reflect on concerns which seemed insurmountable at the time and they actually were not.

Best of luck with the discussion and remember no matter what might happen, ultimately for a parent their children and their happiness is the most important thing in their life.

Thank you for this reply! I've done a lot of research about the subjects and I'm confident in my decision, I just feel a bit selfish. What you've said has made me feel better about it though

dingding

bateve wrote: »

Thank you for this reply! I've done a lot of research about the subjects and I'm confident in my decision, I just feel a bit selfish. What you've said has made me feel better about it though

We all make mistakes, it is not even a mistake. Best of luck with your new career change. The only thing to watch for is that the points may go up for the DIT course and it will be based on this years points and your last years LC results.