The Mary Immaculate College (MIC) Virtual CAO Talks Series took place from the 11-25 January. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the CAO Talks Series provided an invaluable opportunity for prospective students to get a real sense of MIC and to get the information they need to make their final college choices.
According to Dr Patrick Cosgrove, MIC’s Student Recruitment Officer, “As the CAO deadline approaches MIC has made a special effort to ensure that prospective students have all the information that they require to make informed decisions about their programme choices. The Talks Series, as with an on-campus event, showcased the wide range of programmes available at both campuses, whilst also providing an opportunity to engage online with faculty and student services teams."
The schedule, which ran over three weeks, focused on MIC’s leading Bachelor of Arts, Theatre Studies, Early Childhood and Primary and Post-Primary Teacher Degrees. One week of the event was dedicated to MIC’s leading Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree which has been producing graduates with a range of knowledge and transferable skills for over 25 years. This gave prospective students the chance to learn about each of the 13 subjects offered on the BA, and the career tailored off-campus programme offered to all third-year BA students. Student Services such as fees, access and disability, accommodation and scholarships also featured.
Anne-Marie Hannon, MIC’s Admissions Office Manager, commented, "It is hugely important that intending CAO applicants should carefully research any programmes they are interested in applying for, and look at such things as minimum entry requirements and fees. The MIC CAO Talks Series is the ideal opportunity to do so with plenty more information to be found on the MIC website. Guidance Counsellors are also a very helpful source of information. CAO applicants should read the CAO Handbook (available at www.cao.ie) and take note of important deadlines, and any restrictions that may apply for the programmes of study that they are particularly interested in."
She adds that mature applicants (those 23 years of age or older on 1st January of the year of entry) and HEAR/DARE applicants should make particular note of deadlines that apply for these categories of student. There is comprehensive information available for HEAR/DARE applicants at www.accesscollege.ie.
Information on MIC’s elite sports scholarships, which were introduced last year in honour of former MIC staff members and sporting stalwarts Noreen Lynch and Leonard Enright, will also be available. The scholarships, valued at €4,000 each, are reserved for outstanding performance athletes who are committed to further developing their sporting and academic careers. These elite scholarships are open to incoming applicants and current undergraduate and postgraduate students across both the Limerick and Thurles campuses.
In addition, under MIC’s CAO Points Concession Scheme up to 10 places across all undergraduate programmes will be reserved for those who have demonstrated a high level of sporting performance. Successful applicants who meet all the necessary requirements may be eligible for a points reduction of up to 40 points below the First Round CAO points cut-off for the programme they have applied for.
Each year, MIC also awards 50 Undergraduate Entrance Scholarships, valued at €2,000 each, on the basis of results obtained in the Irish Leaving Certificate Examination. Further information on the scholarships and entrance schemes will be available during the CAO Talks Series.
Questions can be submitted during the Live Q & A Virtual Events on the day or in advance to StudentRecruitment@mic.ul.ie.
Live links to all programme presentations and Q & A sessions will be available at www.mic.ie/CAO closer to the event date.
For more details and to register for the CAO Talks Series go to www.mic.ie/CAO.
