RCSI Student here

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What about a meal plan? anything like that while staying there? (for those who dont necessarily want to cook?)

No meal plan, learn to cook or just buy take-out/eat at restaurants

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Hi,
I applied to RCSI in January and would like to know whether an interview is required for admission to the university and if yes, is it only done in person or can it be done through Skype? I haven't received a decision obviously so I'd like to know when decisions are released (when was yours given?).
Thanks!
 
This I can't believe. Just 30 minutes ago I started searching about the decision release and only a minute ago I got an email about the RCSI interview. Yes, it is a video interview and it is clearly part of their requirements for admission to the university. Looking forward to conducting the interview!
 
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hi,

I was just wondering if you could let me in about what life is like in rcsi coming from a student who just came out of high school. I just got accepted for the 6 year program (today, as a matter of fact haha) and i just wanted to do some research before I pay my 50k and see if it's really worth every penny. Thanks!
 
A canadian lad wrote this on a thread, "
RCSI takes more Canadian students than other schools, which is why you know people who've matched. The truth is, if you look at the match stats on CISMAhttp://www.cimsa.ie/Home.html you'll see that RCSI is in the middle of the pack. You'd actually get better name recognition out of a school like UCD or TCD which are both full universities, so more subjects, more students, more recognition and ranked in world rankings.

I would apply to all 3, but if you do get multiple offers, do not choose RCSI. That 150k is a huge amount of debt, that will snowball into 250k by the time you are in any position to pay it off. At the point you are starting a family/buying a new home and you will regret that 250k you will spend an extra 5 years paying off."

What do you all think bout this..?
 
This is my first time posting in the UK and Ireland forums and this is what I think. People who are serious about studying in Ireland and spending large amounts of money to do so, should at least visit the schools beforehand. I know a flight from North America will run you 1000$ (plus hotels, buses ect), but consider that you will likely be making a 300k investment. The Canadian dollar at least right now is doing very poorly with respect to the Euro (I recently bought something in Euro and my visa card conversion was 1Euro = 1.59 Canadian). So the tuition of 40-50k Euro per year will add up. Plus from my experiences in Ireland, it is not a cheap country to live in. So spending some money to actually visit Ireland is probably one of the smaller expenses you will incur on this journey in medicine. I'm always shocked to hear someone starting school in Ireland without actually having visited the country before.

Saying all of this, I have to say that I applied to several schools in Ireland this year. I'm still waiting for any response (good or bad). Since I applied I decided to visit all of the schools last year. The one thing I realized was that all the schools are very different. Not necessarily in a bad way, but they all have different approaches to teaching medicine and different facilities. One thing I was impressed with for sure, was the quality of the facilites. Most schools had really modern labs, lecture halls and buildings. I guess the international fees they are collecting are going somewhere. I would definitely take most things said on this forum with a grain of salt, as there is frequently inaccurate information out there about studying in Ireland/ specific Irish schools.

After my trip, some schools stand out where I believe I personally would be a better fit based on my background. To come to this conclusion, I needed to be there and to speak to current students, profs and administration. One unfortunate thing though, which I came to realize while speaking with them, is that where you will be accepted or 'match' is a bit random. At this point, I would like to be accepted anywhere, so I applied broadly. If I were to have a stronger file, I would have only applied to my schools of choice. Hopefully it all works out.
 
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RCSI first year here.
Housing is very tight for next year. If you plan to attend, I highly recommend that you register for RCSI on-campus student housing. New students are given priority.
 
Please can you help me with the first year program and detailed curriculum for 5 year program in Rcsi-mub
Thanks
 
I would truly appreciate it if anyone could tell me about financial aid (loans, scholarships, grants)? How do you plan on paying the tuition and living expenses? Did you have savings up to $200,000?? I searched and do NOT think that RCSI- Bahrain is eligible for FAFSA loans, correct me if I am wrong!! Thanks in advance!
 
A canadian lad wrote this on a thread, "
RCSI takes more Canadian students than other schools, which is why you know people who've matched. The truth is, if you look at the match stats on CISMAhttp://www.cimsa.ie/Home.html you'll see that RCSI is in the middle of the pack. You'd actually get better name recognition out of a school like UCD or TCD which are both full universities, so more subjects, more students, more recognition and ranked in world rankings.

I would apply to all 3, but if you do get multiple offers, do not choose RCSI. That 150k is a huge amount of debt, that will snowball into 250k by the time you are in any position to pay it off. At the point you are starting a family/buying a new home and you will regret that 250k you will spend an extra 5 years paying off."

What do you all think bout this..?



Well I don't have to look at the ranking because it's obvious that most of the universities here in Ireland have a better overall ranking compared to RCSI, because UCD and UCG have business art linguistics, art ..etc, every department counted up in the overall ranking. I am sure if you compare the medicine school here to RCSI, RCSI will be one of the two top.
 
Make the deposit. and lose the few thousand Euros if you get in, in Canada. Don't pick the caribbean under any circumstances. I would say RCSI vs Cork, probably RCSI although your degree from Cork will be a NUI degree which means its definitely very good still.

Just wondering...Why would you choose RCSI over Cork?
 
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Hi,
I got accepted to RCSI 6 year program and am accepting the offer.I have applied on line to book a room in Mercer accommodation.I am not sure about the boarding.I mean is there a mess for people who do not want to cook food for themselves.

Besides this,can you throw some light how the life will be for the freshers of 6 year program and tips to adapt to this place.

Thanks in advance

Hi,

I got accepted into RCSI (6 year program) and I'm trying to figure out whether or not to accept the offer. Could you please tell me a little bit about the school/program? Is the high cost actually worth it? When do you start to get clinical exposure? I've hears there's a lot of running around and travelling during the last few years of the program? Is that true?

I also read this one post dated in 2005 where the guy complained about how RCSI sounds good and looks good in pictures but in reality is disorganized, unclean and does not teach well. Is that true as well?

I have to make a decision this week. If you can get back to me as soon as possible that's be great! Thank you!!
 
Hi,

I got accepted into RCSI (6 year program) and I'm trying to figure out whether or not to accept the offer. Could you please tell me a little bit about the school/program? Is the high cost actually worth it? When do you start to get clinical exposure? I've hears there's a lot of running around and travelling during the last few years of the program? Is that true?

I also read this one post dated in 2005 where the guy complained about how RCSI sounds good and looks good in pictures but in reality is disorganized, unclean and does not teach well. Is that true as well?

I have to make a decision this week. If you can get back to me as soon as possible that's be great! Thank you!!

I can't say for sure- but I saw that post to and still accepted the offer for GEM. One post from 10 years ago should weigh little if at all on your decision.
 
Hi,

I got accepted into RCSI (6 year program) and I'm trying to figure out whether or not to accept the offer. Could you please tell me a little bit about the school/program? Is the high cost actually worth it? When do you start to get clinical exposure? I've hears there's a lot of running around and travelling during the last few years of the program? Is that true?

I also read this one post dated in 2005 where the guy complained about how RCSI sounds good and looks good in pictures but in reality is disorganized, unclean and does not teach well. Is that true as well?

I have to make a decision this week. If you can get back to me as soon as possible that's be great! Thank you!!
Regarding RCSI, I wouldn't put any weight on a post from 10 years ago, the programs are completely different today. One thing you have to remember is that if they were referring to the GEM program, they are all relatively new, with RCSI being one of the oldest. It has had the longest amount of time to become established and organized as compared to the other schools.

Regarding school rankings in Ireland, they mean nothing when it comes to matching back to Canada or the US. The fact that the post from ten years ago mentions school rankings as a reason to not choose RCSI severely hurts their credibility. As RCSI is not affiliated with a university, it will obviously be ranked lower as was mentioned by Jousef above. The only reason to choose one school over another is based on the system they have set in place to help students match back to their country of origin.
 
Just wondering...Why would you choose RCSI over Cork?

RCSI has more Canadian students and so likely will have better systems in place/be more willing to hear out the Canadian student's needs. That is the only thing, but then again I don't know if this is true, you should ask around to find out more.
 
RCSI Class 2013 grad here. Feel free to ask any RCSI-related questions, or any questions about the match back to North America/that whole process. Happy to help!
 
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RCSI Class 2013 grad here. Feel free to ask any RCSI-related questions, or any questions about the match back to North America/that whole process. Happy to help!
Did you match back to Canada or the US?
 
Nah, I did the 5 year program, after doing 1 year of university in north america. I know about the GEP program in broad strokes, but not overly well.

Recently got accepted, so many question naturally:

1) Where did you stay for housing
2) How did the classes feel compared to those you expressed in the US
3) Did you like the class layout
4) How do they handle electives with NA students (do you choose where you can go, or are you limited to certain pathways)
5) Did you feel prepared for the USMLEs
6) Any regrets?
7) Any keys to success worth mentioning?
8) How did matching go for you?
 
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Congrats! It's going to be pretty amazing.

1) Where did you stay for housing - Mercer Court initially, would recommend it in your first year, easier to meet folks/well located. Then for 4 years with friends I made in my first year (none of whom I lived with, but all of whom I met there).

2) How did the classes feel compared to those you expressed in the US - Can't really comment on general classes - haven't experienced med school in the US. From a rotation stand point, med school in ireland is more focussed on history/physical examination, clinical skills, and diagnostic acumen, and less so on management (though obviously you learn this). Med school in the US is sort of the opposite. That stems from the different expectation for what you're supposed to do post-graduation form med school in each place. Ireland, you're expected to be independent and diagnose/make initial management decisions following admission, then the senior attending manages the patient conclusively. US you do have a role in that, but you also have a very big role in ongoing management of the patient, so the emphasis is more there.. Neither is better or worse, just different.

3) Did you like the class layout - not sure what you mean? Like how the subjects are laid out?

4) How do they handle electives with NA students (do you choose where you can go, or are you limited to certain pathways) - you have summers off. There are a lot of 'collaborative agreements' which are basically pre-existing electives you can do in north america, either US or Canada. If you have specific interests, you have a good number of months to build your own rotations - these are not core rotations or for credit, and RCSI doesn't really care what you do during them - so for instance, I did a bunch of paediatrics rotations in the US since that's where I wanted to be. It's flexible, really.

5) Did you feel prepared for the USMLEs - Yes and no. American medical schools 100% teach toward the USMLE. Irish med schools don't. So you definitely have to be prepared for that. I'd recommend picking up USMLE Step 1 First Aid before 1st med starts, and starting to work on it/make your own notes and supplement your class notes from there. You're never going to be 'too' knowledgeable, and there is overlap, but again, different emphasis. The better you know that book, the better. Feel free to message me re this if you like.

6) Any regrets? - None related to actually going to Ireland. Loved it. Definitely typical medical student-type regrets, e.g. wish I'd worked harder on such-and-such, wish I'd paid more attention during subject-xyz...but you'll have that anywhere ;)

7) Any keys to success worth mentioning? - Work your ass off. Should go without saying, but you'll be surprised by how many people kind of sit back and go 'yay, I'm in med school! Going to be smooth sailing now!' It's not. Med school is hard. The more you put in, the more you'll get out. You will 100% know people who have a rude awakening and fail exams in the first semester. Don't be one of those people. Keep on top of the material, review it the day you learn it, and review some more on weekends. Average week in 1st/2nd med (the pre clinical years), you'll have maybe 30-40 lectures a week. You do no work for 3 weeks... boom. You're 100 lectures behind. Don't be that guy.

8) How did matching go for you? - Awesome! Couldn't be happier with my program and where I am.

Overall, RCSI was an amazing place, and I would do it again. You'll face challenges, and it WILL be hard. But it's going to be amazing as well, and you'll meet friends you'll be close with for the rest of your life, explore an amazing country, and have a unique world-view.

Congrats again on getting in!
 
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Thank you for this reply, Easily_Sunburned! I found it helpful and encouraging as someone who just accepted their RCSI offer. Was happy to see that your experiences aligned with mine, re: the differences between US and Irish teaching practices. I did a year of my undergrad @UCC and had a very positive experience in the Irish system -- glad to see that that vibe carries to RCSI as well.

Congratulations on your match, and thank you again for taking the time to chime in on the forums!
 
Thank you for this reply, Easily_Sunburned! I found it helpful and encouraging as someone who just accepted their RCSI offer. Was happy to see that your experiences aligned with mine, re: the differences between US and Irish teaching practices. I did a year of my undergrad @UCC and had a very positive experience in the Irish system -- glad to see that that vibe carries to RCSI as well.

Congratulations on your match, and thank you again for taking the time to chime in on the forums!

No worries, glad to help out. Let me know if you have any other questions. RCSI is an awesome place!
 
Hi there! I'm concerned about my future application. I am graduating from high school this June and I didn't know about RCSI until a few weeks ago. I know that the application date is past due, so I'm going to apply next year.

I'm thinking of taking a gap year and then to RCSI. Would this be a good idea?
Do I need to take the MCAT if I graduated from high school and going directly to RCSI?

thank you so much!
 
Hi there! I'm concerned about my future application. I am graduating from high school this June and I didn't know about RCSI until a few weeks ago. I know that the application date is past due, so I'm going to apply next year.

I'm thinking of taking a gap year and then to RCSI. Would this be a good idea?
Do I need to take the MCAT if I graduated from high school and going directly to RCSI?

thank you so much!

Don't take a gap year go to university. It doesn't hurt your application if you go to university, second of all no international medical school is worth taking a gap year for. You should still go to uni just in case you decide you want to apply to Canadian medical schools or American medical schools in the future.
 
Hey, I am currently attending the Royal College of surgeons in ireland and I am from Canada. I am in my first year and I can answer any questions you have (including admission questions)

Feel free to ask! :)
Hey,
Why did you go to Ireland? Aren't there a lot of colleges for surgeons in Canada? Was it hard to enter?
I've heard Canada has a lack of professional doctors.. is it true?
 
Hi there, is it possible to extend the offer period more than a month? Is 1 month to decide the max allowed?
 
Hey,
Why did you go to Ireland? Aren't there a lot of colleges for surgeons in Canada? Was it hard to enter?
I've heard Canada has a lack of professional doctors.. is it true?

Canada has too many doctors actually, RCSI isn't actually just a college only for surgeons, the college also runs a medical school. He's going to medical school in Ireland. Many people who go to Ireland do so because they can't get into medical school in Canada or they are afraid of not being able to get into medical school/want to get out faster (in the case of high school students who enter 6 year programs). Canadian medical school is one of the most competitive around the world, along the lines of competition in HK, Singapore etc which is why a lot of Canadians go abroad hoping to either emigrate there or come back eventually to Canada although the process is much more difficult than if you were to do medical school in Canada and usually more expensive.

Canadians studying medicine abroad are classified as IMGs and can only compete for a limited number of spots reserved for them, and this competition ratio is very high, making it very difficult to return. There are ways around this via residency in the US, but even residency in the US not an easy task.
 
Hi there! I'm concerned about my future application. I am graduating from high school this June and I didn't know about RCSI until a few weeks ago. I know that the application date is past due, so I'm going to apply next year.

I'm thinking of taking a gap year and then to RCSI. Would this be a good idea?
Do I need to take the MCAT if I graduated from high school and going directly to RCSI?

thank you so much!
I agree w Medstart. Don't take a gap year. Go to university in some capacity - if you study general science, you'll be able to apply that knowledge to RCSI courses. And in general, gap years aren't looked at as a good thing, particularly without doing something education-related during them.

Also, no need for MCAT if you go into RCSI directly form high school. If you graduate form a degree program e.g. have a bachelors degree, then you do need the MCAT to apply.
 
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Hi

So does anyone know more or less how the schools give offers? Is it based on first come basis (ie, those who applied in dec. are looked at before those who applied in jan/feb)?
some ppl have posted that the irish Schools offer acceptances to the most competitive applicants at first and wait on rejections until they have a full class.
Is that how it's done?
Does anyone really know or are these just speculations?

Anyone apply in Feb and receive acceptance/ rejection yet?

Thanks,
 
Hey, I am currently attending the Royal College of surgeons in ireland and I am from Canada. I am in my first year and I can answer any questions you have (including admission questions)

Feel free to ask! :)
Thanks you so much! I'm a little (very) late on this post, but I'd appreciate it if you could tell me what my chances are like
Citizenship: Canadian
GPA: 3.6/4.0 (entering 4th year of undergrad Biochem)
MCAT: 28 but I'm also waiting on 2015 scores
Few extracurriculars but I have two years of research experience
I'd like to get into UCD but I'm also interested in the other Irish schools with graduate entry.

I was also wondering about the chances for US residency after finishing med school in Ireland. I'd like to go into general surgery
 
Thank you for this reply, Easily_Sunburned! I found it helpful and encouraging as someone who just accepted their RCSI offer. Was happy to see that your experiences aligned with mine, re: the differences between US and Irish teaching practices. I did a year of my undergrad @UCC and had a very positive experience in the Irish system -- glad to see that that vibe carries to RCSI as well.

Congratulations on your match, and thank you again for taking the time to chime in on the forums!

Hi :)

Am interested in joining RCSI for Undergrad Medicine. Would like to know how your interview went. If you could, please brief me on the application process, personal statement and everything in between till the interview. I know, of course, that the personal statement must be... personal! But, an outline on what they're looking for would be great! Thanks once again :)
 
Hey, I am currently attending the Royal College of surgeons in ireland and I am from Canada. I am in my first year and I can answer any questions you have (including admission questions)

Feel free to ask! :)

Hey :)

What would you consider the main challenges of studying at RCSI (not the uni in particular, the environment, city, etc.) FYI, I'm an EU national residing in the UAE. Thanks :)
 
So, regarding elective rotations in the US at RCSI and UCD - I have heard different things and I would like someone who has actually studied in Ireland to elucidate the process for future students/applicants.
 
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Hey guys,

Got a question about the Irish (ABP) schools in regards to the application timeline and acceptances.

Several years ago I applied to the 3 Title-IV-funded 4-year schools (UCD, RCSI, and Cork); got my apps in around March, I think, which I was told was late-but-still-OK. My GPA was near their average and my MCAT was much higher than average, plus I have plenty on my rez... I kinda thought I was a shoe-in and was totally horrified when I received my three flat-out rejections in, like, June.

I've now decided to apply again; through a casual conversation with one of the admissions counselors (who're all especially nice, BTW, aren't they?), it came up that I'd applied super late last time and that, even though they, ummm, happily took my application fees, I suppose, my apps were basically throw-aways... I'm majorly misquoting, of course, but that was the gist of what I was able to infer. They agreed to use my now-expired MCAT as a "stand-in" (for the RSCI interviews, in particular), especially considering it was a high score and I subsequently taught/tutored MCAT till the 528-change-over.

Because the new 528 version is now only given a few times a year, however, I was only able to get an April test-date, which they assured me would be fine; I'm worried, however, that I'm looking at a repeat of my previous experience, as my scores won't even be released till late-April/early-May.

So my question's two-fold...
1) Has anyone had a POSITIVE experience with late admissions to the ABP schools (particularly in regards to late MCATs)?
2) Is there a reason - i.e., a reason that negatively impacts American applicants - that nearly all ABP students are Canadian? Do these Irish schools have affiliations, for instance, with pre-med programs at various Canadian schools, and thus one's chances of acceptance as an American grad are much lower (i.e., like how it's way easier to get into an Ivy coming from a fancy prep-school than your plain-old zone high school)?

Thanks so much in advance. I'm still applying (already have!) and am still gonna sit for the April exam, but I just wanted some feedback on the process... In order, I suppose, to guage whether my hopes are moot.


Troll Disclaimer: Please don't reply if you plan to mention any of the following...
- I shouldn't be a doctor if I can't get into a US school.
- I should apply to DO instead... I have, was accepted to several, and chose to apply to foreign-MD instead, mostly 'cause I'm about to finalize my EU-nation citizenship and I'm planning to move to Europe indefinitely (where the DO degree does not confer physician status).
- I should apply to the Caribbean. I hate the heat and am turned off to for-profit schools with disturbingly high attrition rates. And, as I said, I'm planning a future in Europe.
- Ummmm I dunno, anything else meant to intimidate or discourage me and other thread-followers that's not based in reality? Anything troll-like?

~ THANKS AGAIN!!! ~
 
Not to discourage you. Just wanted to make sure you speak with atlantic bridge if you do obtain EU citizenship and how this affects application. Since AB is really for non-EU applicants, and they might redirect you to apply via the EU applicant portal (which in theory gives you higher odds since it is more seats, but you would need to write the GAMSAT).
 
Hey, I am currently attending the Royal College of surgeons in ireland and I am from Canada. I am in my first year and I can answer any questions you have (including admission questions)

Feel free to ask! :)

Hi,

Firstly, thank you so much for offering to answer questions! I really appreciate it!
I am a Canadian.
I will be completing my bachelors in medical sciences with an honors double major in physiology & pharmacology.
I have a cGPA of 3.4/4.0.
My first year marks were quite low but there is a very strong upward trend.
My Best MCAT score is 30.
I am applying to the graduate entry programs.
I did not know about the options of studying in Ireland until recently hence I will be applying by the end of February 2016.
I have been told that RSCI will have sent out their first round of offers by now but if I send in my application within the next two weeks, I will most probably be considered for the first round of offers from the remaining 3 medical schools and the second round of offers from RSCI.
What do you think would be my chances of getting into 1 of the 4 graduate entry programs?

Thanks a tonne in advance!
 
I am wondering about my chances with the RCSI. I was thinking of applying for Sept 2016 but the second round deadline is March 15th, 2016 and thats extremely soon, so I think I'm going to apply for September 2017 instead. Plus its more difficult to get in with a late application anyways. Okay so,
2nd year of Bachelor of Science, Major in Bio and Minor in International Development
GPA: 3.2 in Uni and 3.75 in High School
Taking the MCAT in August 2016
EC's: volunteer at a hospital in the Child Life department, volunteer at an Alzheimer's research lab(possible publications with an honours student), working in a cancer research lab full time this summer (2016), shadowed a podiatrist for a semester, on multiple societies/clubs at my university, student body president of my high school

What are my chances with the ABP for 2017 for the 1) 4 year programs and 2) 5/6 year programs? Should I apply to the 5 year programs instead of the 4 year programs to ensure acceptance?
My top choice right now would be TCD, but idk...what schools do you think I would get in to?
Thanks!
 
Anyone here want to offer advice on how they funded studying in Ireland :)
 
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