Top 10 tips to consider before the CAO Change of Mind facility closes on July 1st

Well done to everyone who has completed their Leaving Certificate! Regardless of results in August, you should be so proud of yourselves. You have worked hard for two years and completed your course and that is a huge achievement.

Now, it is time to take the next few days and give full attention to your CAO application. The CAO Change of Mind facility will close on Sat. July 1st at 5pm. This is the final CAO deadline. You will not be able to make changes after this date.

To use the Change of Mind facility you log on to www.cao.ie, click on ‘My Application’ and log in with your CAO number, date of birth and account password. You can then add, delete, and change the order of course choices except for Restricted courses which cannot be added at this stage in the application process.

Review the top ten tips to ensure you complete your application fully and accurately:

1.       Submit course choices in order of preference and not points!

It is so important that you select courses based on what you are interested in rather than the points score required.

2.       Make sure to include your dream courses regardless of points.

Points go and down every year. Make sure to include your top 3 or 4 dream courses in your highest preferences. You do not want to find yourself in the position in August where you have the points for a particular course, but you didn’t add it to your list and therefore cannot be offered it.

3.       Include realistic courses that you feel are within your points range.

As well as having your dream courses submitted, it is also important to include a list of realistic courses that you are confident of getting. This ensures that you will have an offer in August.

4.       Add level 8 (if eligible) and level 7 / 6 course choices.

There are 1178 level 8 courses and 417 level 7/ 6 courses in the CAO system so there is plenty of choice. You can add 20 courses to your application. One list does not impact on the other list. It is like two applications in one. In August, you may receive an offer from each list, and you can simply accept the one you prefer and delete the other.

5.       Check that the CAO course codes are correct and in the correct order.

It is too late to contact CAO at offer stage to correct this. You must do it now.

6.       Check that all your other details are correct including personal details and qualifications & assessments.

7.       Try to use up as many of your ten choices on each list as you can.

8.       Only add courses that you are genuinely interested in and could see yourself studying in September. Remember many students are offered their 4th or 5th highest preference course so give as much consideration to these as you do to your 1st and 2nd preference.

9.       Do not add a course choice without researching it fully first. Course content, entry requirements, etc.

10.   Delete courses that you are no longer interested in.

Best of luck with your application!