Filled out your CAO months back, think you’re sorted? Here’s a few things to check quickly to make sure you have all your ducks in a row before 1 July
The deadline for confirming you have your courses in genuine order of preference on the CAO is 1 July, 5.15pm, ages away, right? No, not really.
Before the date creeps up on you here are five things you can do now that the CAO Change of Mind facility is open.
1. Nitty gritty
Details, passwords, emails, contact, phone number etc. Log into the CAO and check all the nitty gritty is in order. You don’t want what-ifs keeping you awake at night or dawning on you in the middle of your post Leaving Cert holiday, or in August. Make sure it’s ship shape now.
2. Twenty is the magic number
There are two lists on your CAO. 10 spaces on each for course choices. Check you have both filled in, that the correct courses are in the right order, and you’re putting as much effort into your Level 7/6 list as the Level 8 courses.
3. To be sure, to be sure
Want to know what to expect in college? You can find this out with research. Look at www.wit.ie/cao or just follow us on Instagram or Snapchat. Ok, research is not a good way to procrastinate on studying. You could bookmark or screengrab a few things to come back to later, to be sure to be sure. Ideas include: read the course page in detail and explore the place you hope to be living/studying. You can also look at social media accounts related to the course, read graduate stories, book a one-hour campus tour, or go back over the worksheets in the How to research your CAO options booklet to see where your interests lie.
4. Pop the question
Have a teeny, tiny question, or a huge ‘what will I do with my life dilemma’? How about you just ask the question. If you’re up for a voice call, the AskWIT team is on the other end of a phone (051 834176 / 834177), 9am-5pm right up to 1 July at 5pm. Prefer to message us? Message us right here on our website and we will respond during office hours. We will do our best to point you in the right direction.
5. Learn to trust your gut
So your friends are all applying for one college or course, and your folks think you should be doing something more serious (or indeed more frivolous) than what you really want. Someone else says you should go away, and then there’s the people to tell you to stay home. Somewhere amongst all that noise, your gut s trying to tell you what you really want and what’s the right choice for you. That’s who’s best to listen to. Really. (Just do your research first so it’s actually an informed gut feeling).