Don’t choose courses by CAO points

A serious mistake is choosing 3rd level courses on the sole basis of the Leaving Certificate points required for entry in previous years. Some students (and their parents) assume high points means a good course with low points indicating a poor course.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

The number of points required to enter a course are simply the result of supply and demand.
So a very simplified example. 100 students apply for a course with 10 places. So not all students will get in. The students with the highest number of points and required entry qualifications will be accepted. Let’s assume the top ten students have 475 points and all the entry requirements. So the points required to enter this course will be 475 points.

But now let’s assume the course has expanded to 100 places, all students with the entry requirements (say a pass in Maths) will be accepted. So points will not be quoted and you’ll usually see “AQA” – All Qualified Applicants accepted.
The course quality is exactly the same but points are lower.

The expansion of college places and reduction in the numbers sitting the Leaving Certificate means 3rd level colleges are now competing for students. Additionally the education sector is under funded and dependent on individual (capitation) grants which are based on the number of students.
Research funding however is increasing, but good research requires a ready supply of academic high flyers , who commonly come from the college’s own student population. Colleges are thus likely to have a vested interest in manipulating the CAO points to ensure their students are high academic achievers and also maintain “perceived prestige” for their colleges.

As Brian Mooney,( past President of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors) stated over 170 courses have 10 places or less. The Irish Times reports only 30 courses have more than 120 places out of a total of 1,200 different courses. Brian argues it is possible to offer all students eight or nine basic choices, and then allow specialisation in later years of study. A much more sensible approach as it allows students to take a more informed decisions on college choices. This would mean however that points would drop!
(See Irish Times for the full article. You have to pay the IT for this).

If we take Trinity’s very popular psychology course(TR006) which has no major capacity problems such as clinical work placements, there could be substantial increases from the existing 31 student places. However this would mean points would probably drop from the 545 points currently required.

UCD makes no bones about wanting only the best students but like other colleges also need to maximise their capitation grants. Whilst UCD has an excellent track record, less academically/socially able students will suffer in the more impersonal atmosphere of UCD. (They even use porters for crowd control in lecture theatres sometimes) In fact in order to retain students who are considering dropping out of science, UCD and Institute of Technology Tallaght have had tentative discussions about some UCD students transferring to the Tallaght science course, during the academic year.

So course quality involves selecting what’s right for you and points are not a reliable indicator. University degrees do have a certain snob value but this is decreasing. For example, contrary to past practise, Pricewaterhousecoopers now interview all candidates with a good accountancy degree irrespective of college. DIT’s architecture degree is generally more highly regarded than UCD’s equivalent.

So do your research on the course to see whether it will suit you. Enter your college choices on the CAO form in order of your preferences not in order of points required.
To find out more about how the points system works, please click here for a presentation by the CAO.

Others posts that may be of interest

Pick right CAO course for you
Look beneath surface - CAO trends
CAO change your mind time starts
CAO under attack

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