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

The College Open Day season for the Class of 2022 kicks off tomorrow (Saturday) with NUI Galway.

From now up to mid-December, almost every week will see one of the Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) or the Agricultural Colleges showcase what they have to offer to potential students. For this year, the majority will be virtual, just like last year, but University of Limerick will host their open days on October 29 and 30 and have yet to confirm whether theirs will be virtual or on campus. Either way, College Open Days give students and parents a great chance to find out lots of interesting and detailed information about courses of interest and the many supports available.

To get the best of the experience register in plenty of time on the college website where you will find a full timetable of events for the day. It is useful to have a good look at the course detail on the college website before the virtual open day and make note of any specific questions you have, as you will get the opportunity to put those to the speakers during the talk through the ‘chat’ function. Make sure you download whichever App or platform is being used by the college to host the virtual open day to your device ahead of time. In most cases the virtual event will include a campus tour as well as talks on specific courses, grants and finance, student services and supports, as well as access programmes such as HEAR (Higher Education Access Route to Education) and DARE (Disability Access Route to Education). Specific talks for parents are also a feature. In most cases the talks will be available on college websites after the events so you will get to look back at them if you miss them. But if at all possible allocate the time to watch them live, as it is hard to find the time to do so after the event. Many are hosted on Saturdays. You will find a complete list of the open days on the event calendars on www.qualifax.ie and on www.careersportal.ie.

October Open Days are as follows:

Agricultural Colleges (Teagasc): Ballyhaise and Kildalton (1st), Mountbellow (6th), Salesian and Palaskenry (7th), Clonakilty (8th) and College of Amenity Horticulture, Botanic Gardens (13th).

Higher Education Institutions: NUI Galway (2nd), University College Cork (9th), Shannon College of Hotel Management (19th), St Angela’s College, Sligo (22nd), Mary Immaculate College (27th), and University of Limerick (29th and 30th).

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 Careers Advisor - For details see www.mycareerplan.ie or follow @mycareerplan on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.