Students hedging their bets with college courses offering multiple career pathways
The CAO application process can be incredibly overwhelming, and often students may be asking themselves "How do I know what choice to make?” David Drury is the head of the guidance and counselling department at Blackrock College, Dublin.This year, with the world in flux, students tend to be a little more cautious about courses, he believes.“I don't know if AI is a concern or an opportunity, and I think students see it both ways.” This year, students are more inclined to consider broader courses, for example, opting for courses that cover both law and another subject, such as political science, as opposed to a course focused solely on law.Students should have a rough sense of the kind of work and life they're drawn to and choose courses that keep several future options open rather than locking into one fixed job, Mr Drury advises.David Drury is sixth year guidance counsellor and head of guidance and counselling with Blackrock College. “For students who don't yet know what they want to do, I usually encourage them to take a free interest test, reflect on what they liked and disliked in their TV work experience, attend college open days, look closely at course modules and think about how all of that connects with their values and favourite subjects.” It's important to read beyond the title of courses, he added. “It might seem very attractive, but what is the content of the course? What are the modules like? What about the location of the college, or does the course offer work placement? Do you want to study abroad?“It's important that you go through the course and look for those key areas so that you’re happy with all aspects.” Remember, there is a change of mind facility that will open later in the year.“It's important to get your application in, but remind yourself that there is a Change of Mind option so you still have some time to research the courses,” Mr Drury said.“The Change of Mind facility will open later in the year, so use that time wisely to try and have your preparation done. In May and June, you will be really distracted with exam preparation, and a lot of time is taken up with the State exams.” Students can get caught up in predicting what way points will go, he added. “Whether they will go up or down and second-guessing them. CAO points can change every year. It's impossible to predict,” he added.“It's about following your genuine order of preference and not second-guessing points or where they're going to be.” A lot of students may also be concerned about grade inflation this year.“They know that it's being phased out and they're wondering what impact it will have on the points. We cannot predict what they will be exactly, it's out of our control.” He also strongly advises students against placing courses higher on their list than their genuine first preference. “You could be offered it and then you're left with it.If the course that you want to do is lower down the list, it will be wiped off.” When it comes to determining preferences and deciding on their order on the CAO application, Mr Drury advises students to break each course down, and rank each year of study out of ten based on aspects like course content or modules.For example, if you are looking at four-year courses, you should have a maximum overall score out of 40.“When you are scoring out of ten you are looking at things like teaching staff, assessments, assignments, the modules and the course content, and scoring it out of 10 for each year. That way you will come off with a genuine border of preference.” When it comes to back-up courses the advice is simple: Don't include them if you haven't researched them “Just in case you end up having to accept them.” He also recommends students complete an ‘interest inventory’.“Look at the outcomes of those to see where you are aligning career wise,” he said.“Take some time to review your Junior Cert results, look at the subjects that you're particularly strong in, look at your strengths in school, look at the subjects you enjoy the most. “I think that's very important. I also think it's a very important time to reflect on your TY work experience, to really go back to that and think about the work that you enjoyed, and maybe the work that you didn't enjoy so much. “That's very valuable information when you bring it all together that should create a clearer career path.” It's also very important to be practical when it comes to your course research, he added. “Today more than ever people need to think about their course location.“I've noticed that very few of my students are actually wanting to go away from home because they are aware of the cost of living and they are aware of getting a place to live, and the travel and commuting that may involve.“Parents are very aware of that too,” he added. “That is a discussion that needs to be had, and if you haven't had it you need to have that discussion and you need to think carefully about it.” For 2026, there are lots of exciting new courses available, he added. This includes veterinary in ATU and SETU, pharmacy at University of Galway, a new undergraduate medicine course at the University of Limerick, and dentistry at the RCSI.“There's also a really great Arts course coming out in TUD which is very broad and has a major and minor component to it with some very interesting options.”
