BellTime Magazine Spring/ Summer 2016 May 2016 | Page 4

BELLTIME

Changing your CAO courses

By Eileen Keleghan, CAO Communications Officer

The Change of Mind facility
opens on the 5th May at noon
and can be used to add,
remove, or change the order of
your courses up to 5:15 pm on
the 1st July. There is no charge
for this service and you can use
it as many times as you like.

CAO Change of Mind
Opens: 5th May at noon
Closes: 1st July at 5:15 pm
There is no fee for this facility,
however, some restrictions apply
(see page 3 of the CAO
handbook).
To make changes to your CAO
application, log in via ‘My
Application’ at www.cao.ie.
For more information go to page
14 of the CAO handbook and
watch the CAO Change of Mind
video guide.

Last year over 45,000 applicants
availed of the facility, with some
using the Change of Mind more
than once. There are some
restrictions though, especially in
the case of mature applicants or
restricted courses.
If you are a mature applicant
and you wish to add a course
using the Change of Mind
facility you should contact the
Admissions Office of the
institution to check if you can
still be considered for that
particular course.
If the course you are adding is
listed as restricted in the CAO
handbook, you will not be
considered for it unless you
have applied before the 1st
March for a course with an
identical assessment procedure
e.g. Medicine or mature entry to
nursing. If in doubt about
restrictions it is always
important to speak to the
Admissions Office of the
institution to get the definitive
answer.
Using the Change of Mind is a
straightforward process,
however there are some
pointers which might help you
at this stage in the process:

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1. If you are happy with your
existing course choices then you
do not need to take any further
action. Your original courses will
remain unchanged.
2. Do not make hasty decisions
about courses based on
assumptions about what you
think the points will be or your
own examination performance. If
your courses are listed in your
genuine order of preference
then you will receive an offer of
the course highest up on your
list that you are deemed eligible
for, if any.
3. If you only wish to make
changes to your Level 8 courses
then you do not need to do
anything with your Level 7/6 list
(and vice versa). Both lists are
independent of each other and
you only have to choose
between them at the offers
stage.
4. When making changes to your
course choices you must enter
all of your chosen courses in the
new list in your new order of
preference. If you submit a
Change of Mind it cancels and
supercedes all the previous
course choices on that particular
list.
5. Make sure to check that the
course codes you have entered
are correct.
6. Do not leave your changes to
the last minute. The Change of
Mind deadline is final.