'It came as a shock. I was delighted with the results': Students celebrate CAO offers
David Kelleher: 'I was delighted to get my first choice but relieved too.' Picture: Denis Minihane
They’re both off to UCC in a few weeks after they accepted their first choice college course.
Daniel Cremin, 18, and David Kelleher, 19, both from Waterfall near Cork city, were among the more than 57,000 young people who were offered college places in the first round of CAO offers on Thursday — up some 2,200 from last year.
Daniel, who studied for his leaving cert at Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh in Bishopstown, achieved 613 points in the Leaving Cert.
“It came as a shock to me. I didn’t think I’d get that. I was delighted with the results,” he said.
“Once I got the results last week, I put the CAO out of mind. I just took it day by day, I didn’t want to bother about it that much because what would happen next was completely out of my control at that stage.”
Both said they were delighted and relieved to secure their first choice college course, and both said the general consensus from their friends was that everyone got their first choice.
But Daniel said there was some confusion amongst some of his friends over accessing the first round offers.
Applicants were expecting either an email or a text around lunchtime with details about how to log in to the CAO website for their offers, with the details due to go live around 2pm but Daniel said some of his friends were able to access their offers up to an hour earlier.
But once he logged in around 2pm, he said he was delighted to see he had been offered his first choice of law and business at UCC.
“I’ve always been interested in law and business but I was never 100% sure what I wanted to do, even when I was filling out the CAO form,” he said.
“At one stage, I was either going towards commerce on its own, and then I was thinking about studying law on its own.
“But then I saw this course had a mix of both so I picked it, and you can specialise in either one in the final year.
He said he is looking forward to experiencing college life.
“I always wanted to go to UCC. It’s got good courses, that suit me more, it’s nearby, and I won’t have to find accommodation.”
David, who moved from Christians after fourth year, to study at Hewitt College, is set to study engineering at UCC.
“I was delighted to get my first choice but relieved too but I wasn’t certain on the points but they stayed the same as last year,” he said.
“I chose UCC because it’s a good college and close to me and I picked this course because I enjoy physics and maths, and engineering seemed interesting.”
Both said they are looking forward to embracing college life, and exploring all that the college has to offer, including the social side.
“I suppose I’m looking forward to that college experience of having a bit more freedom,” David said.
“Secondary school is very Monday to Friday. I think in college, you’ll have a bit more time to enjoy yourself.”
Here you can find the latest points information for both Level 8 and Level 7/6 offers.
Users can search via institute name, course classification or specialist group by clicking on the corresponding drop-down.
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