Ardscoil Phadraig Careers Newsletter 20th September 2013

Applying to UCAS
If you wish to apply to UCAS you must log onto www.ucas.com and follow the following steps.
1. Register: You must remember to take note of your personal ID and password. They are case sensitive so take note whether you use upper or lower case letters.
3. Personal details: When giving your telephone you must include country code for Ireland 00353 1 then landline or if using mobile 00353 then drop 0 at beginning of mobile no.
4. Education: You must input your Junior Certificate results. Then you must indicate what subjects you are taking for Leaving Certificate and at what level. You must also email me on with details of your Leaving Certificate subjects indicating what level you are taking and the name of your teacher. I need this information so your teachers can submit a grade for you on the basis of what grade they think you will achieve in your Leaving Cert.
5. Course Choices: List up to 5 colleges of your choice. Conduct a Course Search and identify colleges you want to apply for. When you have selected your courses take note of a) Course code b) Campus code and c) Grade requirements.
6. Personal Statement: You must write a personal statement indicating why you have chosen to pursue a degree in a particular course. A handout has been distributed giving guidelines on how to go about writing a personal statement. A draft of your personal statement must be emailed to me by October 26th 2013
Personal Statement
A Personal Statement requires several drafts
Read section on Personal Statements in your Reach book and watch UCAStv ‘How to write a personal statement’
When you have a draft written and are happy with it ask your English teacher to review it for you. Remember there should be no spelling or grammatical errors.

How to write a UCAS Personal Statement Source www.ucas.com

There's no right answer for how to write it, or any definite formula you should follow – just take your time and don't worry if it doesn't sound right on your first attempt. Even the best writers in the world redraft their work!

1. Structure

  • In the course listings see which skills and qualities the universities or colleges value most.
  • Then structure your info into an order that's most relevant to them.

2. Style

  • Write in English (or Welsh if you're only applying to Welsh providers), and avoid italics, bold or underlining.
  • Use an enthusiastic and concise tone of voice – nothing too complex – just what comes naturally.
  • Be careful with humour, quotes or anything unusual – you do want to be individual, but if the admissions tutor doesn't have the same sense of humour as you, it might not work.
  • Get the grammar, spelling and punctuation right, and redraft your statement until you're happy with it.
  • Proofread and read it aloud to hear what it sounds like. Ask advisers/family members to check it too.

3. Format

  • You can use up to 4,000 characters or 47 lines of text (including spaces and blank lines).
  • We recommend you write your statement first and then copy and paste into your online application (but watch out for the character and line count – the processor might get different values because it doesn't count tabs or paragraphs).
  • When you add to your online application click 'save' regularly because it will time out after 35 minutes of inactivity.

If you want to send any more information you can ask unis and colleges if they'll accept further details – if they say yes you should send it direct to them (not us) once we've sent you your Welcome letter (so you can include your Personal ID).

4. Don't copy!

  • Don’t copy anyone else's personal statement or from personal statements posted on the internet. Make sure your personal statement is all your own work.
  • We screen all personal statements across our Copycatch similarity detection system. If you are found to have similarity in your personal statement, your application will be flagged, you, together with your choices will receive an email alert and this could have serious consequences for your application

Interested in or studying Art? Links to famous Art Galleries around the world
http://www.louvre.fr/en
http://www.metmuseum.org/learn/for-teens
http://www.nationalgallery.ie/
http://www.sfmoma.org/projects/artscope/#r=64
http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern /
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/ Careers in Geography /
http://www.aag.org/cs/careers?gclid=CISospTCvrYCFcEZ4QodW3YA7g
Chartered Accountants /
http://careersnews.ie/chartered-accountants-ireland/
Very Important Information
Guide to applying to NUI for an Irish and/or Foreign Language exemption
Application for Matriculation Registration Exemption Guide for applying to NUI for an exemption from Irish and/or a Foreign language
http://www.nui.ie/college/docs/exemption.pdf
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FETAC Progression Routes - Backdoor to CollegeSource Careers Portal

Monday, August 19, 2013
There is a comprehensive FETAC Progression route to college. See what university courses accept FETAC Links.Go to this years CAO Points Simple Search and check the FETAC Link Column here