LEAVING CERT DIARY: NOVEMBER
I feel like I’ve aged a year in the last month, so much growing up has been done. The prospect of going to college is becoming increasingly real with this month being the most confronting yet. I went to some college open days with Trinity and UCD sticking out to me in particular, I feel more confused than ever, I’m worried about making the wrong decision and I know the only person who can decide is me.
You’re On Your Own Kid
I started the month with the Trinity College Open Day. I went on my own which was daunting at first but it did mean I got to check out the things that interested me and I was able to make great use of my time. I tried keeping an open mind and going to different subject talks and stalls but I kept gravitating towards the science department. The staff I met in that sector really impressed me and the broadness of their biology degree really appealed to me. I thought my mind was headed for my number 1 spot on my CAO but the following weekend I visited the UCD campus and I was blown away.
It was my first time ever on the campus and I couldn’t have been more impressed by the facilities, there was this electric atmosphere on campus and to be honest it was overwhelming. For me the campus outranked Trinity. I was really interested in the Irish courses and the geography courses, they have a great undergraduate arts degree where you can choose a degree in 2 subjects from a really wide range and the best part is its 3 years instead of 4. The biology degree was again, really broad but something about it didn’t quite match the idea of biology in trinity for me and I still can’t put my finger on it. There is also a lot to be said for the accessibility of Trinity so again, I’m not too sure but I know these two will both feature on my CAO, the positions are still to be decided.
Spoilt For Choice
My school facilitated a talk from DCU and that took me by surprise, their employability rates were really attractive and they had the unique selling point of brilliant work experience and internship programme opportunities. It seems like the place to be if you want to do something like business and I think it will probably feature a little further down on my CAO.
Another college worth speaking about for me would be Maynooth University , I missed out on the open day because I was away for the weekend, but a few of my friends went and gave amazing reports back, in fact I’ve actually only heard good things about Maynooth, everyone who goes seems to like it. While trinity and UCD have the grandeur and reputation, there is so much to be said about the brilliant course range in Maynooth, for example I could study geography AND biology in maynooth but not in TCD or UCD, they also have a great primary school teaching course which I’ve been thinking a lot about as of late.
Getting To Grips With CAO
I found myself wishing I was in 5th year and that I had one more year to go to these open days and make these decisions. Applications opened on the 5th of November for the CAO and my account remains unregistered, I don’t really know why, it’s not like I have to make any decisions yet, all I have to do is register my name and exam number but even that has felt like too much but as I’m writing this I’m realising I probably need to cop on and get it done. It’s also worth noting, I’ve been made aware of a lot I thought I already knew, this month, such as how the CAO works and what alternative routes there are into college so if you’re a student worried about not getting in to your course I would definitely do your research and speak to your guidance counsellor because there are so many ways you can overcome that challenge. In my opinion, the biggest disservice you can to do yourself is to not do your research and know things before going into making decisions and there are so many great resources out there like careersportal.ie
While it is terribly daunting and easy to find overwhelming, at the end of the day I feel incredibly lucky that I have so many options, I think I have to choose to look at it in an exciting light as opposed to a scary one. There are so many roads in front of me and I am so lucky to have the opportunity to venture down any one of them.