By Niamh Dwyer, Chairperson of the Kerry Branch of Guidance Counsellors

The remaining Leaving Cert exams are the priority at the moment but with the CAO Change of Mind deadline approaching on July 1, it is really important that you take some time to look at the details of your CAO application, particularly your course choices.

July 1 at 5pm is the final deadline by which you will need to have made changes to CAO course choices. To use the Change of Mind facility you simply log on to www.cao.ie, click on ‘My Application’ and log in with your CAO number, date of birth and account password. You can add, take out and amend your course choices with the exception of ‘Restricted’ courses which can’t be added in at this stage. There are exceptions to this in that you may be permitted to introduce a restricted course which shares the exact same assessment procedures with a course you had applied for by February 1 at 5pm - you should consult with the relevant Higher Education Institution (HEI) before introducing such a course.

As you review your CAO choices in the coming weeks, make sure of the following:

Check that all your details are correct including personal details, qualifications and assessment (including educational and exemption) details and course choices.

Include courses on both categories, Level 8 and Level 7/6. This gives you the best chance of getting two offers when the Round 1 Offers come out (the top choice that you qualify for on each list). You will then have to choose which one you prefer.

Fill in as many of the 20 choices as you can. You have the option to fill up to 10 on both sides, giving you 20 possible options for college in the new academic year which gives you 20 chances of getting a college place.

Check the Alert Lists on www.cao.ie. Some very interesting new courses have been added in several colleges since the CAO Handbook was published last September. Take out courses that you are no longer interested in.

RESEARCH

Research the detail of every course that you are including on your CAO application – take particular note of entry requirements and modules. By doing so you are giving yourself the best chance of choosing courses that you are able for, that suit you and that you are interested in, minimising the chance of making the wrong choice.

ORDER OF PREFERENCE

List your courses in Order of Preference. This is the golden rule of CAO. No one knows what the points will be for 2022 until the day the Round 1 offers come out and equally you won’t know your results of exams until they are issued. My advice is don’t try to second guess either of them and before 5pm on July 1 make sure that your course choices are list in Order of Preference! This means listing your favourite course in your favourite college first, your second favourite next and so on down to number 10.

Make sure to include courses that you have a good chance of getting – ‘banker courses’ but make sure you are interested in the course content. While you must apply the order of preference rule when filling the courses and place the courses you really want at the top of your list, you also need to keep in mind how you think you might do and the past points for the courses you are interested in so that you include courses that you are confident of getting. There is no point in filling all your choices with courses that tend to come in over 500 points if your target is 400 so be sensible about your choices.

In the two weeks leading up to the deadline the HEIs will be running CAO Information and Q&A sessions so check the college websites and their social media as well as the events guide on www.careersportal.ie and www.qualifax.ie for further details. You can also get lots of helpful information resources and video guides on the ‘Applicants’ section of www.cao.ie.

An Exceptional Late Application facility opens on July 5 at 12pm. This facility applies only to applicants who are registered as an undergraduate student on May 1, 2022 in any year in any one of the participating HEI. The closing date for such applications is July 22 at 5pm.

Niamh Dwyer is a Guidance Counsellor in Scoil Phobail Sliabh Luachra, Rathmore, and Chairperson of the Kerry Branch of Guidance Counsellors. She is also a Career Consultant. See www.mycareerplan.ie or follow @mycareerplan on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.