A Monaghan guidance counsellor says the CAO does not define students.
CAO Round One offers are due to be issued to thousands of students across the country at 2pm today.
Applicants will find out whether the points obtained in their Leaving Cert will be enough to pursue their course of choice.
But guidance counsellor at St. Macartans' College, Gerry Reilly, says there are other routes beyond the CAO, including apprenticeships and PLCs.
Speaking on the Joe Finnegan Show this morning, he encouraged students not to be disheartened, and said the CAO does not define them: