WHAT HAPPENS IN AUGUST

The Irish Times – Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Cool heads required amid scramble for college places

BRIAN MOONEY

COLLEGE CHOICE: It was a day of celebration yesterday for thousands of students who secured their first choice on their level 8 higher degree list.

Campus Times has been inundated with emails from readers. Two outstanding guidance counsellors, Esther Doyle and Brian Howard, are on hand again today to deal with your queries. ( irishtimes.com/campustimes)

What to do now?

All students who received an offer yesterday have until next Monday, August 27th, at 5.15pm, to accept their places.

If you do not accept the place or places offered to you yesterday by that date, the offer/offers will lapse and you cannot reinstate them this year.

If you do accept a place and you have higher preferences which are still in play, there is still hope. If the points come down for those places in round two or in later offers, you will be offered these courses and you can transfer your acceptance to any place offered to you. You may of course decide to stay with the course you first accept – the choice is yours.

Exam appeals

If you wish to appeal your Leaving Certificate results, today is your last opportunity to return the form you received alongside your results to your school. This will enable you to view any of your scripts on August 31st and September 1st.

You must be present to view the scripts – you cannot send someone to do this on your behalf. You may bring someone with you on the day and it can be a different person for each paper. If you want to ask a teacher or teachers in your school, you should give them plenty of notice this week of your request. If you cannot be present for any reason, you are still entitled to request a recheck of your papers.

Following the viewing of the exam papers, you must decide whether you want to have the paper rechecked. If your current mark is within 1 or 2 per cent of the next highest grade I would strongly advise you to do so, as 20 per cent of scripts which are rechecked each year result in an upgrade. This recheck process will cost you €40 a paper.

What happens if I am upgraded?

If any student finds themselves being offered a new course in mid-October following an upgrade of their Leaving Cert paper, they may still be out of luck. Some colleges insist it is too late to start a 2012-13 course in October as you could miss up to 50 per cent of the first set of exam subjects, assessed in January next.

Your own instinct may be to challenge the college’s advice and try to catch up, but it is a risky strategy. You might be better to accept the course as a deferral and reapply again to the CAO next year, listing only the deferred course.

Vacant places

Remarkably, we received a number of emails on Campus Times asking what to do if you have received your first choice but now want a course which is a lower preference on your list of courses.

The CAO operates on the simple principle that when you get an offer, all of your course choices below that offer disappear from your record and cannot be reinstated. If you do not want an existing first choice offer, you have no option other than to defer your entry to college for another year and reapply to the CAO again next year, placing the course you actually want as your first choice.

The only alternative here is that your chosen course could be on the list of vacant places which will be launched on the CAO website at noon today. In this case, you can amend your existing CAO record online, placing the vacant course wherever you want on your list of 10 choices.

This advice is also relevant for all students who have not received a satisfactory offer from the CAO in round one.

Check all of the courses on the vacant places list today and if you find one which fully meets your needs, amend your CAO record accordingly.

If you are still seeking an alternative course – and hoping it falls in points or that you get upgraded in an exam recheck – place the new vacant place course below this course or courses.

You will then be offered the vacant place in round two, unless one of your higher courses has now come down to match or goes below your current points total.

If in October you are upgraded sufficiently to qualify for one of your higher preferences, you will automatically be offered the option of transferring to this course or remaining on your current course.

WHAT HAPPENS IN AUGUST AFTER LC RESULTS?

(Note: Timeline of events below is an approximation only and not definite)

(Dates are a guideline only and maybe different)

• 2nd Wednesday in August: Leaving Cert. RESULTS!!! Best of luck…keep your head on!!!
• Following Monday: Round One offers –every student will be contacted by post (offer notice); most students will be made two offers- one from each level 8 and 6/7 column; promptly accept online
• Next Day Tuesday August : Students apply to school to view scripts; form to do so comes with results
• Monday after Round 1 offers : Deadline to accept Round One offer; accept only one offer from level 8 or level 6/7 columns
• Wednesday 2 days later: Closing Date for Higher Education Grant
• Last Thursday in September: Round Two offers – if prefer R2 offer accept it online, this cancels previously accepted R1 offer
• Last Friday & Saturday in August: Viewing of scripts (form included in your results)
• First Monday in Sept.: Return application to school for script rechecks
• First Wednesday in Sept. : Deadline for applications to recheck scripts (€40/script, rechecks can go down as well as up)
• Early/Mid October: Results of rechecks, some HEI’s allow students in 6 weeks into term; others ask you reapply next year; Dentistry/Medicine usually DO NOT accommodate “upgraded” October applicants

 

VIEWING YOUR EXAM SCRIPTS

• The first decision you will have to make      after getting your results is whether you want to view your scripts (exam      papers).
• A student who wants to view his exam      scripts should fill in a special form which will be included with his      results.
• This form should be given into the      office.
• Exam scripts are normally viewed the      last week-end in August.
• A student is allowed to view all of      his/her scripts.  An adult can      accompany the student to help him view his exam paper.
• When the student is viewing his exam      scripts the marking scheme for that exam will be provided.
• It is important to view every exam      script that a student may want to have rechecked for higher grades.

EXAM PAPER RECHECK

• Having viewed his script a student is      allowed to have his paper rechecked.
• The cost for every exam script rechecked      is about €40.
• The chances of acquiring an upgrade are      about 20%.
• Very few students are downgraded.
• If a student becomes entitled to a place      in a higher institution because of an upgrade then he will be given that      place.

 

ACCEPTING YOUR OFFER

 

• You will receive one offer from      each column in Round One if you have the necessary points and subjects There are two lists so most students get      one offer from each list.
• If the student is offered a better      preference (i.e. 2^nd or 1^stchoice) in Round Two the      student can either
  • keep the choice he has already made (i.e.       his 3^rd choice) and ignore the round two offer or
  • accept the better offer from round two

• Promptly accept only one. You      may record your acceptance online using your CAO number
• Formal receipt of acceptance of an offer      is sent out by CAO to the student, within three days after the “Reply      date”. If you do not receive this receipt of acceptance within three days      after the reply date, contact CAO in writing immediately.
• Printout & retain proof of      acceptance
• Usually 7 days to accept      (last Monday in August)
• If you fail to accept an offer      properly or on time you may loose the place. CAO will assume you don’t      want to take the course
• If you accept a Round One offer      you will not be offered any other preference below that
• You will still be offered any      higher preference offer to which you maybe entitled in a later round –      offers can only go up the list. If in      Round Two you receive a “higher” or “better” offer you can
  • Ignore Round Two offer &       keep Round One offer. You are not obliged to accept any new offer
  • Accept Round Two’s better       offer, email CAO, this automatically cancels any previously accepted       offers
  • Any registration fees paid to       first college will be transferred
  • Any online contact with CAO       requires student’s CAO number
  • Enquiries should be made by email using       the “Contact Us” facility on the CAO website
  • There may not be a Round 2 or       3

 

DEFERRAL

• When a student defers he is asking the Institution      which is offering him a place to keep that placefor him for one      year.
• It is advisable for all students who      think they might defer to phone the institution, ask for admissions, and      ask the person in charge what reasons they would accept for deferral.  Do this as soon as possible

• Write a.s.a.p. to HEI      Admissions Office (HEI = higher education institution = college)
• Mark “Deferred Entry”      clearly on the envelope
• Attach to letter the CAO “Offer      Notice”  that shows offer you wish      to defer
• Letter must arrive two days      before “Reply Date” shown on offer notice
• HEI will inform you
• See CAO handbook 2013 pg. 6
  • If NO accept current offer
  • If YES reapply to CAO in       succeeding year, pay fee, place deferred course as your ONLY preference       on the application form