On a Monday morning in August each year, the pressure cooker which has been boiling the brains of thousands of Irish young people for the whole long, rainy Summer comes to an end. At six am, offers are made via the Central Applications Office to different courses in various colleges and universities to the thousands of students who have applied many months in advance. Some will get the course of their dreams. Others will be more disappointed. Some will have a basic idea if they are home safe or not by now, going on the results which they received last Wednesday. Others will be more unsure, the points of some courses are known to be unpredictable, and even some of the more predictable have in the last few years gone their own way on the morning. Today has been that day, the day of the CAO results offers.
