Confusion Confusion...help help

[torontonerd]

hey guys, i kno quite a few ppl hate this type of thread lol, but i am really confused and a little advice will go a long way

firstly, i didn't apply to AP on time...well deadlines approaching now..and im trying to pull everything together in 10 days or so.


Q#1 are my chances seriously affected if i apply this close to the deadline?
(i really dont want to waste 400-600 $ if most of the spots are taken anyway)shud i wait for next cycle of admission?


Q#2 i know Irish schools used to look mostly at stats...now they apparently look at the overall picture...
please tell me if mines looks like something on a wall of an apt. or sumthing in a dumpster(in other words...what are my chances lmao)

uni of toronto...gpa 3.28..mcats 30R...(mid-high average extra currics)



ANY ADVICE IS WELCOME...and i mean ANY !! =) =)

p.s do i have better/least chances at any particular Irish schools(that way i can save the money that will go to waste applying to schools which definitely wont take me in...)

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[med2UCC]

Hi. No one can answer your questions really-none of us are on the admissions committees and most of us are guessing when we give advice, based on what we know of people who got in already. Sorry to be so brutally honest, but really, this is how it is. Getting into med school anywhere is a complete crap shoot and predicting what way admissions are going to jump in any given year is kind of like, well, playing (insert game of chance of choice here).
That being said, you have a reasonable chance of getting into an Irish school with those stats and those extracurricular activities, in my opinion. UCC used to look for interesting life experiences, and it still seems to like people who will get involved with the school outside of lectures and clinics, and people who have done something besides go to school and get excellent marks (although there are a fair few of those here too). Applying later in the admissions cycle does not seem to hurt your chances of getting in, although none of us knows how many places are left after the first round of offers, or how they decide how many Canadians will be in a year (since at UCC, anyway, it will vary greatly between years - my year was 16, the next was 8 or 9, the year following about 16 again), or how many people get rejected every year. Anecdotally the acceptance rate is about 1:15 applicants. That being said, I had a 1:3 chance of getting accepted to Dal the year I applied to UCC, and I am in Cork, not Halifax, so again, it really depends on what the admissions committee are looking for, and think they see in you.
As for schools, unless you are made of money I would skip the RCSI option; in my opinion it is a complete rip-off since you get the same education and degree as everyone else but pay much more for it. UCC is a good school, so is Galway, and both Cork and Galway are nice small cities that are cheap to live in (as compared to Dublin).
Good luck,
M

 

[torontonerd]

Hi. No one can answer your questions really-none of us are on the admissions committees and most of us are guessing when we give advice, based on what we know of people who got in already. Sorry to be so brutally honest, but really, this is how it is. Getting into med school anywhere is a complete crap shoot and predicting what way admissions are going to jump in any given year is kind of like, well, playing (insert game of chance of choice here).
That being said, you have a reasonable chance of getting into an Irish school with those stats and those extracurricular activities, in my opinion. UCC used to look for interesting life experiences, and it still seems to like people who will get involved with the school outside of lectures and clinics, and people who have done something besides go to school and get excellent marks (although there are a fair few of those here too). Applying later in the admissions cycle does not seem to hurt your chances of getting in, although none of us knows how many places are left after the first round of offers, or how they decide how many Canadians will be in a year (since at UCC, anyway, it will vary greatly between years - my year was 16, the next was 8 or 9, the year following about 16 again), or how many people get rejected every year. Anecdotally the acceptance rate is about 1:15 applicants. That being said, I had a 1:3 chance of getting accepted to Dal the year I applied to UCC, and I am in Cork, not Halifax, so again, it really depends on what the admissions committee are looking for, and think they see in you.
As for schools, unless you are made of money I would skip the RCSI option; in my opinion it is a complete rip-off since you get the same education and degree as everyone else but pay much more for it. UCC is a good school, so is Galway, and both Cork and Galway are nice small cities that are cheap to live in (as compared to Dublin).
Good luck,
M

yea i kinda guessed it is a crapshoot, cuz ppl with 3.8s didnt make it..and ppl with 3.3s did. , i just called mr.keenan 10 minutes ago...and he said they dont care abt the gpa as much as one wud think..he also said late applications wont maek a diffeence..(but it doesnt make sense ..it will make SOME difference)
i suppose i will apply to rcsi as a backup...and if i get in to any other colleges...rcsi wont be my choice...ur rite its like 400 000 cdn total + plane tickets lol
thanks so much for ur advice=) which year are you in? what abt trinityand UCD..seem famous(means more difficult to get in?)
anyone else..please add ur 2 cents...lol

 

[med2UCC]

yea i kinda guessed it is a crapshoot, cuz ppl with 3.8s didnt make it..and ppl with 3.3s did. , i just called mr.keenan 10 minutes ago...and he said they dont care abt the gpa as much as one wud think..he also said late applications wont maek a diffeence..(but it doesnt make sense ..it will make SOME difference)
i suppose i will apply to rcsi as a backup...and if i get in to any other colleges...rcsi wont be my choice...ur rite its like 400 000 cdn total + plane tickets lol
thanks so much for ur advice=) which year are you in? what abt trinityand UCD..seem famous(means more difficult to get in?)
anyone else..please add ur 2 cents...lol

I am in 5th year at UCC. I don't know about Trinity and UCD really, since I am in Cork and don't really know any of the students there except through this forum. I do know that although t
Trinity is better known internationally than any of the other medical schools in Ireland, Cork is thought (by the Irish) to have a better program. Many people offered a place on the first round turn it down as they have been accepted somewhere closer to home or cheaper or that they consider better in some way. I know people who have been accepted as late as August for a late-September start, so it is really not too late to apply. Last year they were incredibly slow getting the acceptance letters out, so don't assume that just because you haven't heard from them that you didn't get in anywhere. Some years they are efficient, some years they are not.
Good luck,
M
Oh, and for what it's worth, 3.56 and a 28R got me in (and an odd 1st degree and some interesting hobbies)

 

[torontonerd]

3.56 is incredible and i guess 28 back in 2003 wasn't so bad...i have my fingers crossed for this to work out..if not...then work a lil harder and apply on-time next year i guess...can't stop trying with the med schools until I get in =D and then..lastly i have ross / st.george
btw ..plannin to come back to canada after graduating? or staying back in UK?

 

[Sage880]

I think if you apply to all 4 schools you have a better than 50% chance of getting into one of them with those stats. That's just my opinion though. Good luck!

 

[med2UCC]

3.56 is incredible and i guess 28 back in 2003 wasn't so bad...i have my fingers crossed for this to work out..if not...then work a lil harder and apply on-time next year i guess...can't stop trying with the med schools until I get in =D and then..lastly i have ross / st.george
btw ..plannin to come back to canada after graduating? or staying back in UK?

Um, Ireland isn't the UK any more than Canada is the US. You don't want to make that mistake in Ireland.
I'm planning on coming back to Canada. I wrote the EE in September and got a good mark without putting in much effort studying for it. I have been interviewed for Family Medicine in Nova Scotia (which is my first choice) and am now just waiting for CaRMS to set up the ranking stuff so I can rank my programs and then wait for Match Day. If I don't match in the 1st round I am going to apply to other provinces where there is no return of service agreement for positions on the second round. Worst case scenario is that I spend one more year in Ireland doing my intern year.
Cheers,\M

 

[torontonerd]

oooo...well im glad i made the mistake here rather than there lol...apologies =)
i hope u make it in the first match... and i'll drop by in NS sometime lol
i had a question...do all of the irish med schools conduct interviews? i get REALLY nervous at interviews
secondly, im kinda stuck trying to think of strategies for personal essay...any tips? what do they look for?

 

[torontonerd]

I think if you apply to all 4 schools you have a better than 50% chance of getting into one of them with those stats. That's just my opinion though. Good luck!

i applied to all 6....now i wish i cud change the bank draft from 600 to 400/500 ...but cant..oh welll...i hope ur right...=D thanks

 

[med2UCC]

oooo...well im glad i made the mistake here rather than there lol...apologies =)
i hope u make it in the first match... and i'll drop by in NS sometime lol
i had a question...do all of the irish med schools conduct interviews? i get REALLY nervous at interviews
secondly, im kinda stuck trying to think of strategies for personal essay...any tips? what do they look for?

Only RCSI interviews, the rest go on your paperwork. You want to sort the nerves on interviews though, since your final clinics are oral exams, and you have to pass them to pass the year (and we've been told that looking nervous looks bad and loses you points). You'll also have to do good interviews to get back into Canada eventually.
No idea what they look for on the personal essays except for the tips they give you. Blather about how you like the idea of studying medicine abroad to give you a different perspective on it from home, and seeing how other countries handle medical care, and maybe mention that you have always wanted to live in another country, and may stay on to work for a few years after you graduate. Most of us run home at the first opportunity, but a few stay for a while for one reason and another. Good luck,
M

 

[torontonerd]

oh thats good news....=D
btw i had another question...in the application form..they have provided a small box for extracurrics and accomplishments....i listed whatever i did....but the fonts became quite small..to accomodate the text, that now strenous to read. u think i should make a resume with all the extras listed with a 2 line description???will they take it negatively and think im bragging if i submit the same info with lil more detail twice??
also, i have helped in research like i helped in procedures and observations...but i am not any of the authors ...neither have i published any research...
i took a purely lab oriented course which involved one research project(involving brain lesions+behav testing) that i did on my own (cant get published cuz 15 other students did it too+ abt 100 other journals prolly have something very similar)
U think i should write a supplement page on my research experiences? worth it? or they wont care if i dont...?

thanks

 

[Unch]

You can work a bit outside the box when applying to Irish schools, I think. I submitted a separate (uninvited) CV because I had too much to describe that didn't fit in the app boxes. Don't know if they read it or if it helped but i got accepted so maybe it wasn't the worst thing. Certainly won't hurt.

 

[leorl]

When I applied years ago, I attached my cv. And for extracurriculars / research, I said "please refer to CV" and Mr. Keenan actually said they might prefer it that way since it's a lot clearer than having to read another paragraph of something. Maybe call him and reconfirm.

 

[torontonerd]

hey guys....finishing up the personal essay...this is the first(hopefully last) med school application im making...so i need some guidance on the essay section
i wonder if any of you can be nice enough to read it over and give me some feedback (its only 2 pages double spaced)
please pm me if you dont mind proofreading. Thank you very very much

 

[TristanB]

Hey good luck! Let us know how it works out for you!
Im going to be where you are very soon!