Hey guys, heard back and got into both last week. Now having a really tough time deciding between the two! Any advice when choosing a school? Should I look at matching stats (hoping to return to Canada - and if so where can I find this info), curriculum, etc. Any advice from past or future students would be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys.
UCC vs UCD
- Thread starter sens4life
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Go to UCD. I was talking to a guy from UCD during my Canadian interviews and he said they actually had time off for their interviews, rather than me who went to UCC and had to make the time up. Also, I'm not sure if this is an Ireland-wide trend, but I was definitely disappointed by UCC's teaching and their organizational abilities. If I was asked if I would go back to UCC if I could do it all over again, there wouldn't be a chance in hell.
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Forget matching stats honestly. The sample sizes are way too small, there isn't much variation between Irish schools, one good year can skew the stats dramatically. Curriculum is super important and advice from people in the schools is also very important. All you need from the school is:
1. A supportive, responsive and timely administration
2. A curriculum that gives you time off for interviews, time for electives and teaches in the way you want to learn.
3. A school where you actually want to spend 4-6 years living in.
Forget everything you've ever learned about prestige when it comes to Irish schools. No one cares. When people think Ireland nobody thinks one school is better than another.
Listen to what asd979 said. If he thinks the curriculum and the administration aren't very good then go to UCD. Personally, I would choose UCD without question. It has what people say are the best teaching hospitals in Ireland, located in Dublin which means easy access to flights and lots of things to do and as asd979 says it seems to have a better curriculum and more responsive administration.
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I attend UCD.
Dublin is definitely a great place to live for 4-6 years.
Match stats are variable among the universities but from what I can see RCSI & Trinity consistently do the best.
The instruction at UCD is pretty good, overall. But, UCD likes their curve so don't expect to come here, work hard, and get all As. It won't happen. Too often it feels like UCD picks their grades out of a hat. And there aren't enough objective tests (MCQ) to compensate for subjective marking.
UCD also does not do much to help with USMLE, it will very much be self-study, and the summer after your second year is abbreviated due to entering the hospitals at the end of 2nd year.
The university is incredibly disorganised.
Overall, I find the course good, but not great, primarily due to random grading practices and it would be nice if there was more support for USMLE, and more time given to prepare for USMLE over that 2nd summer. Especially considering roughly 1/3 of the class will take the exam.
Another thing to consider is what US/Canadian medical schools is the Irish medical school affiliated with? It is becoming increasingly common for US medical schools to only allow you to complete clinical clerkships if your international university has a preexisting agreement with the North American university. From what I can tell is Trinity & RCSI have a lot of affiliations. UCD, UCC, and NUIG not so many.
Dublin is definitely a great place to live for 4-6 years.
Match stats are variable among the universities but from what I can see RCSI & Trinity consistently do the best.
The instruction at UCD is pretty good, overall. But, UCD likes their curve so don't expect to come here, work hard, and get all As. It won't happen. Too often it feels like UCD picks their grades out of a hat. And there aren't enough objective tests (MCQ) to compensate for subjective marking.
UCD also does not do much to help with USMLE, it will very much be self-study, and the summer after your second year is abbreviated due to entering the hospitals at the end of 2nd year.
The university is incredibly disorganised.
Overall, I find the course good, but not great, primarily due to random grading practices and it would be nice if there was more support for USMLE, and more time given to prepare for USMLE over that 2nd summer. Especially considering roughly 1/3 of the class will take the exam.
Another thing to consider is what US/Canadian medical schools is the Irish medical school affiliated with? It is becoming increasingly common for US medical schools to only allow you to complete clinical clerkships if your international university has a preexisting agreement with the North American university. From what I can tell is Trinity & RCSI have a lot of affiliations. UCD, UCC, and NUIG not so many.
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RCSI definitely does seem to have a lot of affiliations. Honestly however, it doesn't really matter since all you need is one place to take you for electives and there are plenty of places that don't require affiliations.
D
deleted158872
Anyone have more reviews on either school or comparisons?
