From Leaving CertiFiCate to Leaving SChooL a Longitudinal Study ...

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From Leaving Certificate to Leaving School
it was outside you’d have your living expenses and you’d have to get
a job on top of your work, that was the main factor then as well.
I was able to choose [name of university] because my aunt lives up
there so I could stay with her. (Argyle Street, coed school, mixed intake)
A small number of students spoke about wanting to move away from
home and looking forward to a ‘change of scenery’:
Dublin is the only place you can really go, you can go [name of regional
city] but it’s a new course and it’s a different course and you
can go to [name of regional city] but it’s a private college as well so
Dublin just seemed like the most logical because it’s the kind of centre
of Ireland like.
Interviewer: What about the rest of you, how did you decide?
Just wanted to leave [where they lived].
… That was the specific reason and as well change of scenery as
well would be nice. (Argyle Street, coed school, mixed intake)
One student spoke about looking forward to a new experience and although
he had relatives there, he wanted to experience ‘different things’:
Interviewer: Okay and how did you decide what college to pick?
Like it’s just [name of regional city] because it’s local but like then
again I want to go to [name of UK city] or Dublin just to kind of new
experiences or whatever like. Go abroad and see different things like.
(Lang Street, boys’ school, working-class intake)
Some students were influenced by the atmosphere in some colleges
which they felt were ‘more homely’. One student from Fig Lane knew a
number of members of staff at one college and this also influenced her
decision:
I know some of the lecturers up there and it’s just more homely and
I’ve been around the place. (Fig Lane, coed school, middle-class intake)