This afternoon at 2pm, college admissions were revealed to numerous applicants. From the CAO applicant pool, a satisfactory 56% have been granted their first preference, and an impressive 83% have secured one of their top three choices. In 23 different courses, including highly sought after programmes like medicine, dentistry, veterinary science, management, and engineering, admissions were decided through random selection. Also, students who attained the perfect score of 625 points were selected via a lottery method for two courses: UCD’s finance and economics and Trinity College Dublin’s dental science courses. For further information on the admission requirements for all CAO programmes, refer to our table below. Additionally, for queries regarding the 2023 college admissions, our guidance counsellors will be available from 1pm at the CAO helpdesk.
Today’s CAO round one allocations saw 56% of applicants being awarded their preferred college option, with a whopping 83% obtaining one of their top three choices. Nevertheless, over 20 courses will be using a lottery system for admissions. This random selection applied to two courses for applicants who garnered the maximum score of 625 points, namely the economics and finance course at UCD, and the dental science course at Trinity College Dublin.
The round of general applications has included random selection for various courses including:
UCD: graduate entry medicine, finance and economics (requiring 625 points), financial & actuarial studies (612 points required) and veterinary medicine( requiring 589 points)
Trinity: Mathematics (requiring 589 points), integrated engineering (556 points required), management science and information systems (requiring 613 points), integrated engineering with management (613 points needed), along with dental science (625 points necessary) and global business (601 points needed).
UCC: pharmacy (needing 613 points), occupational therapy (requiring 566 points), graduate-entry medicine,
MTU: Kerry campus’s physical education studies combined with business (requiring 451 points)
Atlantic Technological University: concurrent teacher education combined with education, home economics and Irish (429 points necessary), education, home economics and biology (requiring 510 points), and education, home economics (476 points necessary).
RCSI: undergraduate medicine (732 points needed inclusive of Hpat scores), graduate entry medicine
University of Galway: undergraduate medicine (requirements – 718 points including Hpat scores).
Reflecting on the information provided: Physiotherapy at University of Limerick requires 590 points, while electronic and computer engineering needs 443. For IADT, applied psychology calls for 389 points, whereas design for film requires 680, along with portfolio points.
Students seeking guidance after receiving a college offer might find insights from Brian Mooney helpful. Mooney underscores that if students receive an offer for their top choice, no other offers from that list will be forthcoming. However, if they get an offer for a lower choice, they may yet receive an offer for a superior course up to mid-October, depending on how many acceptances colleges receive. Yet, it’s noteworthy that only a handful of courses follow this trend.
When considering the financial aspect, the first concern post a college offer is usually accommodation. Katie Mellett’s comprehensive guide to accommodation costs at Irish universities could prove invaluable. Rising rental costs are a growing trend, provided one can secure accommodation. The most cost-intensive option is UCD’s Roebuck Castle, totalling €12,063.55 for en suite, catered apartments for the 2024/25 academic term.
Turning to CAO points for 2024, there’s a mixture of positive and negative outlooks. The suspense of securing college places can make students and their parents nervous. On the upside, nearly 60% of CAO applicants are projected to attain their first-choice college place this year, with as many as 85% anticipated to secure one of their top three options. The less encouraging news is random selection is expected to decide places on select high-calibre courses such as medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, business, management, engineering among other, according to sources within higher education.