As the Leaving Certificate of 2016 draws to a close and the stress levels begin to return to normal, attention turns to the date of 1 July – a student’s last chance to change their CAO course preference.

According to Mark Cumiskey, a careers and skills consultant from UCD: “Next week is a chance to reflect on decisions that you have made and why you made them.”

Mark works with students in UCD as they adapt to college life and try and build towards their personal goals both during and after college.

Changing your mind

“The Leaving Certificate can be a very stressful year and it can lead students to making decisions that they might now regret, which is why the change of mind offers students a brilliant opportunity. It is important that if students are changing their minds, it is for the right reasons and that they are making an informed decision.

“The worst thing that somebody can do is make a snap decision – there is no benefit to second-guessing how you got on in your exams and it should not form the basis for you to change your mind,” says Mark.

While it is a big decision, it isn’t the end of the world

Mark urges students to not get swallowed into the trend of choosing a course because it is fashionable or because the points are high for it: “Points aren’t like currency; you don’t have to use them all. Pick a course that you will be happy with, in an area that you enjoy. Otherwise, when you get to college and you don’t have a passion for your course, it will be hard to get motivated and this is why some students don’t get on well.

“While it is a big decision, it isn’t the end of the world and you never know where you could end up after you have finished your course.”

College

College can be the best years of your life but you have to get out and make it happen – there is nobody to tell you what to do.

“To get the most out of college, you have to engage and talk to people. It can be intimidating when you first start but everybody is in the same situation,” Mark says.

“Some people do find it difficult to get involved and it’s understandable, but you will adapt so much quicker to college if you do.

“There can be good reasons and bad reasons for people changing course when they do get to college. If somebody really believes that they made the wrong decision and they want to change, there is nothing wrong with that – we can all make mistakes. However, changing course because you are not engaging or not going to lectures is not a good reason.

“Some people can make a snap decision to leave before they have given themselves the chance to adapt to college life,” said Mark.

Advice

There is no way to know if you will like your course until you walk in the door of the lecture theatre in September, and even then you might not be sure. Research your course as much as you can now, so you know what to expect.

“When you are choosing your course, you should look at what your interests are and what you find engaging. Try and choose a course that will let you build on your strengths and allow you to get into a sector that you have an interest in,” Mark encourages.

Talking to people who are in the course that you want to do is a great way to get guidance so that you can get a feel what for what the course is like.

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