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What Points Really Mean 600 points - everyone wants 600 points. But what does that mean? You're very very intelligent? You've a great memory? Or you picked the easiest subjects and rode the system? Points are nothing without context. There are many flaws with the CAO system - and that's putting it mildly. However it is the system in use today. Here we examine some of the main misconceptions about points. Points as a number An A1 in Art is equal to 100 points, but so is an A1 in French. Yet in 2006, you would have been SEVEN times more likely to get an A1 in French than Art! Is that a fair situation? Or how about Maths vs. Business? Both are hard subjects, but few students will deny spending far more time studying the former for the same result. Points are a raw number that tries to distil 6yrs of education into a simple result. Is it fair that it takes nearly 600 points to become a doctor - yet it doesn't matter whether those points come from related subjects like Biology and Chemistry or from Classical Studies and Accounting! Points as a measure of Course Difficulty It is 580 points for Medicine in Trinity and 300 points for Computer Applications in DCU. These are examples of points not reflecting the course difficulty, but rather supply and demand. It has been said in the media that anyone with over 450 points could probably do quite well in Medicine. 580 is an extraordinarily high figure that represents the lack of places, not the difficulty of the course. Similarly 300 for Computer Applications in DCU underscores what is known in the Industry as a tough course. Here the points are too low to reflect difficulty because of the lack of demand for places. Students need to be careful to avoid ranking CAO choices by points. They should instead focus on the actual subjects taught in the course, the career prospects and if possible talk to graduates/students in the courses they are interested in. "Points snobbery" has been the regret of many students over the years as they end up in courses or colleges they don't really want just because it appeared more prestigious. Points as a measure of Intelligence Is the person with 550 points more intelligent than the person with 350. Absolutely not. The points system is an on-the-day rough guide. It is a glorified memory test. It is much less accurate than I.Q. tests (which themselves leave lots to be desired). The 350 points student may be a skilled vocalist and lyricist and have a long, rich career. The 550 points may be just good at rote learning with no initiative and get stuck in a dead end job. Remember the CAO Points System is the most important thing for 1yr of your life. But as soon as you're finished with it - that's it, it means nothing! By all means work hard to get the course you want, but what you do with that course, is what will ultimately determine your career success.
A Reminder...
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