This is a subscriber-only article
The CAO change of mind deadline is at 5.15pm on Friday 1 July. The CAO says that every year it experiences a surge in last-minute amendments to CAO applications. This is due to a number of factors - for example, more time spent researching courses and the introduction of new areas of interest. In 2015, 56% of applicants availed of the change of mind facility at least once.
It is likely some students may panic about their perceived exam performance and want to change their course choice as a result, but even the CAO itself strongly advises against this.
Follow the golden rule
CAO communications officer Eileen Keleghan asks applicants not to make changes to an application based on assumptions about their examination performance.
“What we would like to advise applicants to avoid doing is making changes to their order of preference or course choices based on how they feel they have performed in their examinations,” she said.
Rather, Eileen advises students to follow the golden rule of placing all of their courses in their genuine order of preference.
The CAO also advises that applicants make sure to carefully check their application well in advance of the change of mind closing date to ensure that all of the course codes are correct and listed in order of preference.
Furthermore, when entering new courses or editing existing course choices, applicants must list all courses on the new choices list.
After making changes online, applicants will receive an email and are advised to check this email carefully to ensure that all of their information has been recorded completely and correctly.
The CAO further advises applicants to carefully read any correspondence from them, including the Statement of course choices, which is sent by post to all applicants who make changes to courses using the change of mind facility. Applicants will also receive an email showing these changes.
If you want a run-through on how the CAO change of mind process works, be sure to check out the video guide at this link – https://vimeo.com/86519317
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