Filling in the CAO Form - Before you start

As the CAO closing date looms we have decided to publish an article each day relating to applying for the CAO as a mature student.
Today we are looking at what you should do BEFORE you start to fill in the form.

The most important thing is RESEARCH.

Find out what courses are available in the area you are interested in.
http://www.qualifax.ie/ is a great tool in this search, click on the Higher Education CAO link on the left hand side of the page when in course search. You can narrow fields by County and/or province, by qualification level (eg Level 7 or Level 8 degree) and so on if you wish. Think abou the location of the college, look at the actual subjects taught within the course, take a look at the progression options after you complete the course, the supports that are available for mature students, these are all elements that will help you decide which course is for you.

As a 'mature applicant' you will need to fill in a section of the CAO form which is on page 4 of the paper form, and is called the Mature Section on the online form. We will be publishing another article specifically related to filling in this section but it is enough to know here that you must research your selected courses to give the details that colleges want to hear in this section. Contact the mature student officer in the institution(s) you are applying to, contact the course directors or co-ordinators of your chosen courses. Suggestions of questions to ask include, what proportion of places are available to mature students, do they get many mature applicants, what areas do students struggle most with, what kind of things do they look for from a mature applicant, what would they advise you to do to prepare for their course? These kind of questions will also help you to prepare for the interview stage of applying for college.

This research process should also help you in choosing which of the courses you are looking at would be your preferred option and what areas you feel you may have to work on to prepare for college.

Next blog will be on Filling in the CAO Form - The form itself

The CAO - Personal Statement

The Further Details(on the paper version)/Mature Section (on the online version) of the CAO form is often referred to as the Personal Statement. This is your opportunity to show the person behind the application and to 'sell yourself' to the colleges you are applying to. Remember that the CAO form can be seen by all the institutions whose courses you have chosen so be careful not to make the information you include specific to one institution/course.

Colleges will often shortlist on the basis of this personal statement and/or their own application forms so you really need to provide further information about yourself in this section. You need to get it right so practise and rewrite until you feel it is strong enough to get you that place at interview!

In your personal statement you should demonstrate that you have put thought and consideration into your choices. You should also allow the college to gain an understanding of yourself as a 'whole person' - your personality, skills, hobbies, interests and experience. Page 14 of the CAO handbook provides guidelines as to what should be included in this section, some other suggestions are listed below as to what else you might include. It is only a guide giving some ideas of what you might include, remember the personal statement is personal so really has to come from YOU!

Course Choice
You need to show reasoning for the course(s) you have chosen. Examples would include having a personal interest in the area, work experience included, the course having a mixture of theory and practise). If you have a number of courses that are in unrelated areas you need do explain this diversity so that it does not look like you are 'hedging your bets' or are unclear about what you want to do.

Career Goals
If you do have a particular career goal which will be helped by getting the course you are applying for outline this in your application. You may not have a clear career goal as yet and may be applying for courses which open up a number of options to you but it would be beneficial to indicate that you know what career options are open to you after studying the areas you are applying for.

Your own experience
Give a little bit of your 'back-story', indicate why you are returning to education, how you have prepared for attending Third Level, and why you are the person they should interview for their course. Colleges want to see that you are ready, committed and capable of the academic rigours of Third Level. They want to see that you are aware of what is involved in going to Third Level and, in particular, what is involved in the course(s) you are applying for. This is why research BEFORE you apply is so important. We discuss preliminary research in a previous post.

When you have completed your form and are satisfied that you have 'sold' yourself to the best of your ability make sure you take a copy or print out a copy of the form for your own records. This will help to remind you of key points made and areas which may be covered in the interview stage.

Good Luck with your application and if you have any questions you can ask them here (click on the comment button), make an appointment with the form on the right or drop into the office.

College Open Days



 Hi Everyone

We hope you've all settled back since your mid-term break and are right back into the swing of things now. Some of you may be aware that a number of Third Level colleges and universities will have open days coming up in the near future. These are really worthwhile attending and help to clarify what next steps you may wish to take.

Qualifax have a great events calendar on their website which helps you to stay up to date on upcoming events such as open days. You can search by date and event type, or just take a look through the calendar. Click here for more info. Many colleges will have events specifically for mature students as well so keep an eye out for those.

We will also be posting notification of particular open days that we feel will be relevant to our learners and clients so don't forget to keep checking our blog!

Welcome!

Welcome to all adults returning to education for the 2010-2011 year. For those of you who are new to our service we are a guidance and information service who try to help you to take your next steps in education and/or employment.

The new school year may appear to be very daunting and you may think it is far too early to be considering your next options. However, when you are ready we are here for you. You can make an appointment through the form to the right of this page, by calling us on the phone at 041 9842030, dropping in to our Information Centre in our King Street, Drogheda office or by emailing us at laegis@louthvec.ie.

Wishing you the best of luck with your studies!

CAO Round A

Mature Students - if you have been offered a place via the CAO over the past week and wish to take your place remember today is the closing date for accepting your offer.

If you had been offered a place by a college prior to this and did not receive an offer from that college in this round don't panic, it may be that the college is waiting to have sight of results of any courses or exams you may have taken since your interview. If you received any results in the interim send through to the college as this will speed up the process for the college themselves and will help to ensure you get your place in the next round of offers (early August).

CAO Acceptance

Congratulations to all our clients who are moving on to Third Level. By now you should have made sure that you have placed the course you have been offered or wish to choose at the top of your list of course choices on the CAO.

Mature applicants should receive their acceptance slip (or an email from the CAO if they applied online) within the next week. Please keep an eye on your post and/or emails for this as although you may have received offers from the relevant college you MUST accept officially through the CAO, otherwise you will not get your place.

Feel free to get in touch with us if you are having any difficulties with this or do not hear from the CAO over the next week or two.

Grant Forms Available Now!

The Department of Education and Skills have reworked their education grant forms and have published them earlier than usual this year. They are available to download at studentfinance.ie. Information on how to fill in these forms and what documentation is required is also available there but if you are having any difficulties feel free to call or drop in to us.

Mock Interviews

For those of you attending college interviews over the next few weeks don't forget to book your mock interview with us. Mock interviews help you to thoroughly prepare for interviews with colleges or universities.
Fill in the form on the right hand side of this page, give us a call at 041 9842030 or drop into us to schedule your mock interview.

Free Support Weekend for Leaving Cert Maths

Griffith college are offering a single weekend course (20th and 21st March) targetted at improving results in the Leaving Cert maths exam free of charge. They will be covering nine questions, five from paper 1 and four from paper 2. Advance booking is essential as places are limited. You can book at www.gcd.ie/supportcourse. When the course is full applicants will be put on a waiting list to cover any cancellations.

Further details in relation to the course are available here.

College Interviews

For those of you who have applied to Further or Higher Education interviews are held from March - May depending on the college and course you are applying for.

A college interview can be very stressful but, just like a job interview, preparation can take away most of that stress.

Here are some tips on preparing for the college interview, we plan to upload lots more between now and May to help you with getting that college place and we are available by phone, post or on a one-to-one basis to help you as well!

Aontas Adult Learner's Festival

Aontas is the national adult learning organisation and are a voluntary body promoting adult learning nationwide.

As part of their work they organise an annual Adult Learner's Festival which both celebrates the work of adult education providers and their learners and also promotes the activities of these providers.

So come on, support Adult Learners in your local area! Log on to www.adultlearnersfestival.com and check out what events are on near you!

PLC Open Days

Post Leaving Cert (PLC) colleges all around the country are opening their doors to prospective students over the next few weeks. PLCs can offer a 'bridge' between school and third level and are often a good option for adults who are considering returning to education but not sure if they are ready for third level yet.

Qualifax publish all the open day times and dates on their events list which can be viewed here.

DIFE Open Day

Phew!! Now all the pressure is off in relation to CAO applications it's a good time to take a look at other further education options available in County Louth.

As we mentioned before Louth is well serviced educationally with centres for adult education and Post Leaving Cert (PLC) colleges in both Drogheda and Dundalk.

One of those PLCs, Drogheda Institute of Further Education (DIFE) will be holding an open evening tomorrow(Thurs 4th Feb) from 7-9pm and an Open Day on Friday 5th Feb from 9am to 2pm. It is well worthwhile going along if you are considering attending a PLC or even if you feel the Third Level option may not work out for you. PLCs offer a 'bridge' between second and third level and have a wide variety of course choices. More information on DIFE's courses is available at http://www.dife.info/. If you are interested in taking a look at what O'Fiaich Institute (OFI) in Dundalk have to offer you can check out their site at http://www.ofi.ie/.

The CAO - Filling in the Form

The CAO Handbook

You should refer to the CAO handbook whether you are filling in the form on paper or online, it is a guide to assist you in the application process and reading it will help prevent any mistakes in your application.
We discussed in a previous post that you should do your research before applying and this will help you with filling in details on the CAO form.

Section 1
On both the online and paper versions the first page is mainly concerned with your personal details (name, address, etc).
You will also be asked whether you have a disability or specific learning disability. If you do it is important to tick the appropriate box. This will not put a college off your application AT ALL, in fact it is beneficial to include it as it allows the college to get supports in place for you prior to starting your college course. If you do indicate that you have a disability/specific learning disability you will need to complete the supplementary form and provide documentary evidence of this.

Special Categories
On the front page of the online form but on the third page of the paper form you select which categories you wish to be assessed on. As a Mature Applicant (over 23 on 01/01/10) you should tick Box F (paper version) or Box 8 (online version). This is VERY IMPORTANT as it will allow you to be assessed on the basis of your personal statement and interview rather than leaving cert/previous academic achievements.
If you previously did, or are currently doing, an NCVA/FETAC qualification you may be assessed on this basis AS WELL as being a mature applicant. If this is the case you need to tick Box D (paper version) or Box 2 / 3 (online version). Basically you get points for each grade you got in your FETAC qualification just as you would for leaving cert subjects and you compete against other FETAC applicants for places in the course(s) you are applying for.

Similarly if you did GCEs/GCSEs you can be assessed on the basis of those.

You may have to supply evidence of qualifications to the CAO.

If you apply on the basis of Special Category you may have to supply further information. Special Category applicants should refer to pages 13 and 14 of the CAO handbook for more information.

Further Details/Mature Section

This section is often referred to as the Personal Statement and is the most important part of the CAO form for a mature applicant. Details are given on Page 14 of the CAO handbook of what should be included in this section. On the paper form it is the Further Details box on page 4, whereas it is called the Mature Section in the online version. The difference between paper and online here is that on the paper version you are given a single box in which to include all your details whereas online you are given seperate boxes for each area the CAO recommend you include (for example Current Studies, Employment, Voluntary work). Further information in relation to the personal statement is available on our blog post on that topic.

Course Choices

Another REALLY important part of the CAO application is entering your course choices. You can enter up to ten Level 8 choices and up to ten Level 7/6 choices. You enter your choices in order of preference. You can change this order around at a later stage, this will be particularly important if you are offered a college place that was not originally your first choice but you do wish to take it. Some courses do not accept application on mature grounds, others have restricted entry, you need to check that the courses you are applying for accept mature applicants and whether they have any special requirements.

Later on in the year we will be posting about the college interview and the next step in the college application process.

Good Luck!

The CAO Form - Online v Paper

Whether you apply online or by paper is a matter of personal preference. There are some features of the online application which are particularly useful, not least the fact that you can log in and edit the form as many times as you like right up until the 1st February. However, you may feel more comfortable filling in the paper version.

It should be noted that you should not leave filling in the online form until the last minute as the system can get overloaded coming up to the closing date and you may not be able to access your account or your PC could crash. We keep saying it but BE PREPARED, do your research, check out your course choices and apply in good time for the 1st Feb.

NUI Maynooth CAO video

Hi All

NUI Maynooth have published a video on their website which discusses the CAO application process, and also the whole experience of entering third level. While the main focus is on students entering directly from 2nd Level there is also a discussion which relates to the other entrance options such as Mature Applicants, FETAC and coming from a Higher Certificate in an IT so it may be of some interest to adults considering NUIM. They also discuss other practical points like the cost of entering Third level so in that sense would be of interest to everyone!

Click here and hit the play button and you will be able to view it.

Happy New Year!

Welcome back everyone! I have no doubt it is hard getting back into the swing of things particularly with the snow and ice about the place!

Just a couple of quick reminders - Trinity College are holding their Mature Student Open Evening on Thursday 14th January from 4.30 - 7.30pm. As the CAO application date looms this would be a very good opportunity to chat to the mature student officer and course co-ordinators about your application.

Speaking of the CAO, keep an eye on this site as over the next couple of weeks we will post some hints, tips and advice in relation to applying as a mature student!