I have compiled a list of the main University and College open days. Note that not all collges/universities are listed here as some have not yet stated a time and date for their open days. If you become aware of more open days or would like to see another college or university listed here, contact us.

National College of Art and Design

4 December 2008 9:30am-3:00pm

Athlone Institute of Technology

4 and 15 November 2008 10.00 a.m. – 2.00 pm

Cork Institute of Technology

22nd November 2008

Dublin City University

Fri 21st Nov 10am-3pm. – Sat 22nd Nov 11am-3pm.

Dundalk Institute of Technology

Fri. 17th October 2008 9am – 2pm

Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology

Friday, 21st November 2008 (10am – 4pm)
Saturday, 22nd November 2008 (11am – 4pm)
Wednesday, 14th January 2009 (5pm – 7pm)
Thursday, 15th January 2009 (5pm – 7pm)

Dublin Institute of Technology

Saturday, 6th December, 2008: 9.30am to 2.30pm

National University of Ireland, Galway

Thursday, 9th October 2008

University of Limerick

14 & 15 October 2008 Tours every hour from 10am-2pm.

Graduate Entry to Medicine (LM101) will be having
an Open Evening on Wednesday 26 November 2008.
(At Aungier Street Campus, Dublin 2)

National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Co. Kildare

Friday 28th November 2008 9:30am to 3pm
Saturday 29th November 2008 10:30am to 3pm

University Days:

Saturday 25th April 2009 10:30am to 3pm
Saturday 20th June 2009 10:30am to 3pm

Carlow College

November 20th 3pm-8pm

Institute of Technology, Sligo

Thursday 13th November 2008, 10am – 2pm

Institute of Technology, Tralee

Monday 17th

Marino College of Further Education

28th January 2009 11 am to 4 pm

So again, the final step of the leaving cert is here. It will bring back memories and the fun (or lack thereof) we had during the exams. So prepare your caffeine fueled adrenalin rush and get ready as you unfold that page or load the results on the website.

I wish you all the best of luck. But remember, drink sensibly

The 2008 Leaving Certificate will be available on the 13th August 2008

Construction Studies is probably a more favorable subject of mine. Although I really didn’t enjoy todays paper. To begin with, it was pouring rain all day which didn’t help the mood. The exam began about 10 minutes late. Having sat there for 5 minutes waiting to be handed my exam paper and then be informed that I had to walk half way down the school to find a drawing board and T-square. Excellent preparation on behalf of the examiners and school. As soon as i was seated again I was frantically waving both arms in an effort to get the examiners attention, until I got my exam paper.

Finally I began the exam, and had a flick through the paper. Question 1, an open fireplace. We were to draw a vertical section of the wall, foundation and fireplace. The foundations and walls were literally imprinted in my memory, except for the fireplace. Having briefly skimmed over a drawing of this very question, I was annoyed I hadn’t given it more time.

The only question that stood out as a big no no for me was the U-Values question. I have had enough of maths to last me a life time, so under no circumstances was I going to attempt that question. Some questions offered students an opening to use their creativity where as others required factual information as well as common sense. However, some questions in the paper can be a little ridiculous at times. I finished by trying to sketch a picture of a heating system in a house. Which went totally wrong. Although it did look graphically appealing..

With only one exam remaining, and a flight to Germany on Friday, I look forward to a break.

Discuss the Construction Studies Exams on The Forums

I am at a great advantage to a lot of students doing German on Friday. That I can’t deny. To me it will be my backup plan since Irish and Maths wont be providing me with any point-worthy results.

So put on your Lederhosen, eat up your bratwursts and get ready to sit yet another boring exam!

The first question that really frustrated me was question 1, part C, (ii). “a cent less than a multiple of €10″. In fairness, thats more like they’re trying to trick us rather than focus on what we were actually preparing for. I never seem to grasp how or why they phrase questions in such akward ways and hinder people from showing their actual ability to solve the given task.

I ended up doing about 7 questions out of the 8 just to be safe. I wasn’t very happy with the exam I have to say and I really hope that Paper 2 will put me in a better mood.

Now If you’ll excuse me, I am going to head out for a well deserved pint!

As soon as I was seated, I flicked through the paper to see what poet had come up. And lucky I was, there he was, Derek Mahon. The gamble had paid off, having only revised one single poet. I read through all the questions on the paper and then began doing what I like to call, a ‘memory dump’. I began writing out all the names of poems, authors and texts. Then quotes from each poem I had learned that morning.

The Othello question wasn’t as bad as I had expected. I never got around to learning any quotes, so I had to resort to the only one I knew. “Oh honest Iago”. I was tempted at times to make up my own quotes, but I figured that might not go down well. I ended up writing about 5 pages in total, probably having spent a little too much time on the question.

With Othello out of the way I began the Comparative question. Theme & Issue, something I had not prepared for at all. Most people seemed to learn off A standard essays and write them out again. I got caught for time in this question as I got bored during part B and moved on to the Poetry section.

The final section went down quite well, though I found it hard to answer the question properly. I had the knowledge and the quotes so I may have gone off topic a small bit. Oh well.

Discuss English Paper 2 in the Forums!

I arrived at the school with plenty time to spare. It was only at this moment my nerves got the better of me. But by no means was I overcome by them. I enetered the exam hall and the general frenzy that you would expect to happen was going on, running around for exam numbers, borrowing pens, etc.

The paper hit the table like a ton of bricks and I felt the pressure of it! “You may begin!”. IDENTITY, teenage society, the one I didn’t read, writers study rooms, this was by no means difficult. But we all have our weaknesses and mine was time management. I was running out of time when it came to doing only my second question of three. It was rushed. My composition was a race against time, but I finished what I began, definitely not the length or quality I imagined but we all make mistakes. Let’s hope to rectify these in the coming days!

I left the exam hall neither happy nor unhappy, I just don’t know how I did. Tomorrow I will be doing my second English paper, I am nervous. It is predictable but what if it’s not as predictable as expected, just how many poets, what poets! It’s scary, I haven’t started studying for this paper yet and it’s only hours away!

I must go study!

oh the stress of it all,

Colin.

Join the Forums Discussion – English Paper 1

So I ate some food, hopped into car and tuned into Spin South West to listen to those fools ‘waffle’ even though they claim not to. I arrived at the school in time and ready for exams. We were sent to the canteen for a motivational speech, which was rather humorous. Of course we were expecting breakfast rolls or something.

I headed for the hall, found my seat and sat down. First things first, I had to prepare my red, blue and black pen, obviously! Then make sure I had remembered the right exam number. I had my eye on the clock. I was in my zone, my table, my workspace. The smell of fresh exam paper. The excitement in the hall. You could feel it.

Then we began, the hall went quiet. I read over the questions in text 1 and text 2, decided what questions i was doing and crossed out the others. Then it hit me that there was 3 texts. So i rushed to have a glance at the third text. I went for question A – Text 1, Question B Text 3. By the time I had read over the paper, had a good look around me, and sufficiently chewed a pen it was already 10am. And then in walks another guy from our year who had ‘overslept’. It was bound to happen to someone.

I then made my way through the paper trying to stay as motivated and interested as I could. And in fairness to the department, I think the texts they gave us this year were rather fair. So I finished up the A & B questions and turned over the page to the Composition question. Having prepared for the short story question I decided to change to personal essay in the last minute. Which I’m hoping was my strong point of the paper. I actually enjoyed writing the personal essay unlike previous years.

I finished about five or ten minutes before the exam ended. I have to say I was pleased with the overall exam so far, but then again I’ve stopped using my own judgement after the pre’s.

Join the Forums Discussion – English Paper 1

With little or no study done at all, I now sit here and contemplate while enjoying a hot mug of tea. Had I been more motivated or caring, would I have done more study?. And for some reason I doubt it. I have never really agreed with the schools system, which resulted in a a rather negative approach to school. School for me, at this stage, has turned into some form of G.A.A sport for me. I want nothing to do with it. Right now I just want it all behind me, so that I can move on with my life, regardless of the outcome. And if I don’t get my course, than so be it. Its never the end of the road. Never.

Its hard to know what to say at this point. But all this worrying and stress aside, not that I seem to be haunted by either, I have to say that I had the best fun of school in this year. Sitting by the lake, enjoying the sun, taking photographs and enjoying the company of school friends.

Time to finish up this mug of tea and head into the real world. Leaving cert in three days.

Shall we?

• LCVP – Written
• Construction – practical
• Engineering – practical
• Art – practical

Although many of these seem very daunting at times, they’re actually not that bad. If you’re doing LCVP then it might be wise to check out the 2007 paper along with the older ones.

Engineering and Construction are basically applying skills you have aquirred over the years. So theres little that can be revised for that. And as for Art, just keep drawing!

I’d like to wish everyone the best of luck in these ongoing/upcoming exams.