In his pursuit to secure a place in his preferred university course, Konstantin Punic, an inhabitant of Baldoyle in North Co Dublin, sacrificed his football and boxing schedules in his Leaving Cert days. Despite the hardship and numerous early morning sessions, he successfully scored a total of 625 points including 7H1s and one H2, which was a moment of jubilation for his family.
The St Fintan’s High School student was taken aback by the scores himself, confirming them twice to make sure they were accurate. Even more surprising was the revelation that despite his high marks, he didn’t get a place in his first pick of a course in economics and finance at UCD due to the lottery-based selection criteria. This left Konstantin feeling disheartened and misled by the system, asserting that leaving one’s academic future to luck seemed unreasonable.
With more than 20 CAO (Central Applications Office) courses resorting to such a lottery system for admissions this year, many universities are blaming inflated Leaving Cert grades for the lack of distinguishable top-graded candidates for popular courses. Among the casualties is Sarah Kenny (19) from Co Wexford who, despite securing 625 points, was denied a place on the same UCD economics and finance course.
Konstantin, driven by his love for maths and economics, was particularly drawn to the UCD course. Though he was offered a place in his second preference course of human health and disease at Trinity College Dublin, his heart remains set on the desired course at UCD. “It’s the course I really want to do,” he insists.
Born in Ireland, Punic has an impressive track record, much to the pride of his family. His father hails from Serbia and works as a physical therapist, and his Bosnian-born mother is employed as a carer.
Punic is confronted with a tough choice before the deadline to accept the first round of offers at 3pm on Tuesday: either go with his second preference, or try his chances again next year with the hope of reserving his spot on the UCD course.
Despite the situation, he remains hopeful for an imminent solution.
Punic suggests that UCD could possibly increase the number of admissions. He argues that unlike science or medicine courses, which have a limited number of laboratory or hospital placements, UCD should be keen to retain top-grade students.
Until now, UCD hasn’t made any comments on the matter. However, a statement from the office of Higher Education Minister, Patrick O’Donovan, maintains that “random selection” is a fair means of differentiating applicants who otherwise have similar qualifications for a course. The use of this system is determined by CAO and higher education institutions, added a spokesperson for Mr O’Donovan’s department.
Punic finds this method highly unjust and hopes that the Minister would intervene to encourage UCD to increase its admissions. He feels this current system is even worse than the Leaving Cert – stating at least that remains under an individual’s control. Punic expresses disappointment that the factor of merit seems to be discarded with this process.