Applicant Info

Irish School Leavers

Students need to have an Irish Level 5 Leaving Certificate and obtain a minimum grade of H5 in two subjects and a grade of O6/H6 in four subjects. This is equivalent to the previous requirements, which was a minimum grade of C3 in two Higher-level subjects and a grade of D3 in four Ordinary-level subjects. Students must pass mathematics and a language (English, Irish or a European language).

EU Nationals

Students should check the CAO website for the entry requirement criteria for EU/EFTA/UK applicants.

The system is simple to use. Applicants must choose programs in their genuine order of preference. Students will then be accepted to the highest preference program that they have met the requirements for. It is important to note that once the student has accepted a place, all lower preferences are deleted from the system. If a place becomes available in a higher preference than the student has accepted, the student will be offered that place.

Students are advised to apply online well in advance of the deadlines at www.cao.ie.

If applying through the CAO, please keep the following dates in mind:

Recognition of Prior Certified Learning (RPCL)

RPCL is granted to transfer students who come from another accredited institution of higher education and seek exemptions for previously completed subjects at that institution. Subject transfers for such students are decided in consultation between the Admissions Office and the Academic Office (these offices may also seek further advice as appropriate from subject-area experts regarding course content and intended learning outcomes). A final decision on the granting or denial of transfer credit rests with the academic dean or registrar. Students seeking transfers for previously completed higher education study should send original copies of their transcripts and copies of the relevant course descriptions from the institution’s catalog to the Admissions Office when making an application.

American College Dublin may grant transfers from subjects completed at other higher education institutions under the following conditions:

• Transfers may be granted only for those subjects in which a ‘C’ grade or higher was awarded.
• The intended learning outcomes achieved in the completed subject must be substantially the same as those achieved in the subject for which the transfer is sought. If this cannot be satisfactorily determined from the catalog course description, it may be necessary for the applicant to provide a full course syllabus before the transfer can be accepted.
• Transfers are accepted on the basis of completion of a notional minimum of approximately 40 classroom-contact hours and 80 hours of self-directed study per 3-credit subject.
• IAU only delivers 3-credit or (multiples of 3-credit) courses; thus, it awards transfer credit only for 3-credit (or multiples of 3-credit) courses. Fractions of credits from other institutions may not be accumulated or rounded up for transfer purposes; however, fractions of suitable courses may be rounded down (for example a 4-credit Microeconomics course from another institution that matches ACD’s 3-credit Microeconomics course in all other respects may be accepted for transfer credit, but only 3 credits, not 4, will be granted for transfer).
• Credit may not be granted retrospectively for courses at ACD that the student has registered for and commenced beyond drop / add week (week one of the semester), or for courses that have been attempted or completed at ACD.
• Students must complete the last 25% of their degree at ACD in order to earn a degree from the institution; credit transfer cannot be awarded for the final 25% of studies at ACD.
• As ACD does not presently provide distance or correspondence education, transfer credit for subjects delivered by these modes is not presently awarded.
• Capstone courses, theses and research projects are not available for transfer credit.
• Pre-requisite subjects at lower levels of a chosen program must be completed before higher-level transfers can be approved.
• Transfers are awarded on a subject-by-subject basis, not on a year-by-year basis. For example, if the student is entitled to 10 subject exemptions, this may not necessarily mean that the student is exempt from a full academic year, as the subjects may not all be first-year subjects, but could include some second-year subjects. Should this be the case, then the student is required to complete the outstanding subjects in the first year in order to progress fully to the second year.

Exemptions from subjects taken at institutions not accredited by agencies recognized by ACD will be evaluated only after a student has submitted a complete institutional catalog and a course syllabus for each subject under consideration.

Only credits transfer, not grades. Transfers are indicated on the institution’s transcript by an ‘X’, which has a neutral grade point value; grades for subjects for which transfer credit is accepted have no influence on the student’s grade point average or on the calculation of the final degree award level at American College Dublin.

Transfer students are required to submit the same documentation as other applicants: an application form, secondary school results, higher education transcripts and, if applicable, proof of English language proficiency.