‘I got to talk to people who had done the course or were teaching the course’

When and why did you attend Higher Options?

I attended Higher Options in 2022. It was something that was organised by our school, thankfully. It was mainly because it really gave a good insight into all the different courses that were on offer. Dublin colleges have lots of open days, as does Galway, but I’m from Waterford and travelling up and missing days of school to go to all of these open days wasn’t really feasible for me.

Higher Options gave me an option to actually see these courses and talk to the people without having to make the big long trek to all the colleges further up the country.

Did it influence your decision on what and where to study?

I had a general idea. I’m a law student currently … law and politics. I had the idea that it’d be something law and/or politics related. I looked at arts courses, politics courses. I think I considered criminology at one point. I had the idea that there was a specific area I wanted to look at. It helped me narrow down that I didn’t want to go to a Dublin college because I don’t think it would work for me accommodation wise.

What did you like about Higher Options?

I think definitely the most beneficial thing that I got from it was being able to talk to people who had either done the course or were teaching the course. Because obviously, in abstract, it was really easy to say, “Oh well I like the sound of this course; I’ll think about putting that on my CAO.”

When you get there and talk to people you hear that maybe the reality of what a course is like is different to what it says on paper. Such as how many hours there are on campus or what the campus accommodation is like or whether there is lots of accommodation nearby – the bits and pieces that you wouldn’t see on a page, that you can get from talking to the people there.

What would you like to have seen?

Obviously it’s Higher Options, and it’s all about the colleges and the courses. But when I got to college, we have all these clubs and societies and they do amazing work. They’re great fun, but they’re actually really good in helping with your career, helping with extracurricular stuff. And I feel like they weren’t necessarily given a platform.

It wouldn’t have to be something big, just something to let people know “hey, these things happen on our campuses”. So you can weigh it up when you’re making your decision on colleges.

Any advice for any students who might be going this year?

Definitely take advantage of the opportunity to go. Step out of your comfort zone. Talk to people – that’s what they’re there for. That’s the reason that everyone is there: to talk to you and help you make your decision. Don’t just stick to what you think that you want to do. Have a variety of choices to look around at.