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When to expect interview?
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A colleague of mine called ABP earlier today and they said that the second round of RCSI interviews will occur in late April so I'm assuming the second round of invitations will go out in early April or late March.
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Hey there docs87,
I'm an international student currently residing in N. America and I just received an interview offer for Mar 3 in Vancouver for RCSI. This is for the five-year programme, not the GEP (I hadn't applied to any since I haven't written the GAMSAT or US MCAT). I was told that there are over one thousand applications this year to RCSI, alone, from applicants all over the world. I applied to a few other Medical Programmes back home (I'm an Aussie), for good measure. Best of luck!
Cheers!
Jim
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Congrats, Jim!
By chance, were you offered any other dates for an interview? The reason I ask is because I was only offered March 3rd but I believe they are conducting interviews the day before. Perhaps, all the five year applicants are on the same day. Regardless, see you there!
Oh yeah, quick Q. for you... Why not attend medical school in Australia? Isn't the tuition heavily subsidized for their own citizens (much like the domestic Irish students pay less than $10K USD/year). RCSI costs a grip!
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Wow over 1000 that is insane. Were all of these applicants for the 5 year program or were they for the other two as well. Also do you know if our odds are still 50 50 given we have an interview, this is what they have traditionally been in the past years.
I too applied to the 5 year program but my interview is on the 2nd of march. Good luck with yours!
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I was told that the chances after an interview are statistically around 50% for the GEP and I assume it's the same for the 5 year program. I think most medical schools initially give out more acceptance letters than there are available spots because of the high number of applicants who get multiple acceptance letters or simply can't afford the school. At any rate, it's probably a good idea to be as fully prepared as possible regardless of the stats. Good luck with the interview.
I wonder why they don't do the second round after May 15 which is when all the Canadian schools come back with their acceptances/rejections so more people may drop around then vs. April.
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It's because RCSI and the other Irish schools want their accepted applicants to enroll in their school and not other schools. It costs approximately $9,000 Cdn to hold your spot at RCSI. This way applicants must either pay the $9,000 or risk not getting an acceptance from another school in which case they wouldn't be going to medical school that year. I know a few people who rejected an RCSI acceptance letter in hopes of getting into a Canadian school and didn't get in. They ended re-applying to Ireland the next year and enrolling.
Wow really? What happens if you receive conditional admission based on your grades and pay the $9000 and do not meet the conditional offer?
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You have to remember that before the interviews are done, the applicants are the ones who are competing with each other at the various schools. Once all the applications are complete and interviews are done, the schools are now competing with each other for the best applicants. I was unaware that the Irish schools gave conditional offers so I'm not really sure. They would only apply to the first round of acceptances since the subsequent rounds are given out after most Canadian Universities are done.
I don't know that the Irish schools offer conditional offers, do they?
The thing about the roughly $9000 is that it's a deposit to hold your place that goes towards tuition. If they have conditional offers, and you don't meet the condition, but they took the $9000 from you I would imagine that you get it back since it's a tuition deposit and you are no longer eligible to enroll in the school.
That being said, I've never heard anything about the Irish medical schools making conditional offers to applicants, but that doesnt they don't make them to prospective students
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Oh, I am not sure if they make conditional offers or not. But I am applying to the 6-year program designated for high school applicants and I am still currently studying my last semester.
Either way, its a clever technique for enrolling students to their school, considering they only give a couple weeks notice to conjure up $9000.
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Does anyone actually know exactly how much time we have? I've read anywhere from 10 days to 2 weeks.
My understanding is that you have 2 weeks from when the acceptance letter is dated, not when it is received. Which is another reason why the FedEx courier service is recommended.
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Ah okay, I remember reading a post that recommended to check in with ABP after your interview in case an acceptance letter got lost in the mail. Two weeks is not a lot of time but, I suppose it's a good problem to have.
It is actually 3 weeks from when the letter is dated- which usually gives you 2 weeks by the time you get it. Last year the deposit equaled $6,666 (creepy) US dollars. So unless the deposit went up, I am not sure where $9,000 is coming from
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From last year's experience, we were given 3 weeks from when the letter was dated to reply with our deposit. I believe RCSI's deposit was ~$6500 US; UCC's was a little less- somewhere around $4000-something I think.
I opted to pay for the courier option on my app. Supposedly, other applicants have received FedEx-ed letters despite not paying for it.
akaVonk & Relia, thanks for sharing your 1st hand experiences.
Somebody a while back posted that the deposit was 6,000 or 6,500 (can't remember which) this year. Also, thanks for clarification about the 3 weeks vs 2.
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3 weeks and $6500 USD is a lot more manageable, thanks for confirming akaVonk and Relia.
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Ack- might have to eat my words about the USD; found the old Atlantic Bridge letter sitting with some other documents in my desk, and the deposit was 6500 Euro. Sorry for the mistake
UCD & UCC are the GEPs that accept students without interviews.
RCSI & UL conduct interviews.
TCD & NUIG are 5 year programs and don't interview.
Last year RCSI's offers came out around March 15th. UCC at or around the same time (maybe a few days before), UCD & TCD about a week later. I'm not really sure about the others.
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I thought my interview went well but, it was very laid back and that seemed to be the general consensus with the other applicants I talked to. The interviewers and ABP staff were all very friendly so it seems unlikely that anyone could have a terrible interview. They only ask questions about personality, past experiences and a few thoughts on RCSI/Ireland in general so its not like there are questions you can't answer either. All in all it was a very good atmosphere and they made it as stress-free as possible. Good Luck to all other applicants.
"Interviewers"? There was more than one person on the panel? And what kind of questions did they ask you?
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I only had one interviewer but, my understanding was that there was supposed to be two. Maybe someone else who had an interview can confirm that. The interviewer had my file on-hand but, didn't use it when asking me questions. I'm not sure if all the interviews were conducted in the same fashion so it may be slightly different based on city/program (GEP or 5/6year)/interviewer.
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I had my interview this past Friday in NYC for the RCSI 4yr GEP. Here is what i remember...
-Mr. Nealon was very nice and helpful. Had a great conversation with him about my previous experience, the program and Ireland in general. This was all while we (2-3 other interviewees from all GEP/5yr/6yr program) waited in the main room for about 20-30min.
-NY interviews were held on Friday and Sat. Just a guess but I think there were about 15 interviews each day.
-I was interviewed by 2 interviewers and the interview lasted about 45min.
-Interview was open file. They knew my file very well and most of the questions came directly from it.
-Interview was very conversational but both interviewers did a great job keeping it to the point- why medicine? past experiences? knowledge about the RCSI program? Also had the financial question.
-They told me that I should hear back in 2-3 weeks.
-Mr. Nealon again greeted me after I left the interview room and was very helpful about the whole process.
Thats all. Very straightforward interview. Goodluck to all.
-Mr. Nealon was very nice and helpful. Had a great conversation with him about my previous experience, the program and Ireland in general. This was all while we (2-3 other interviewees from all GEP/5yr/6yr program) waited in the main room for about 20-30min.
-NY interviews were held on Friday and Sat. Just a guess but I think there were about 15 interviews each day.
-I was interviewed by 2 interviewers and the interview lasted about 45min.
-Interview was open file. They knew my file very well and most of the questions came directly from it.
-Interview was very conversational but both interviewers did a great job keeping it to the point- why medicine? past experiences? knowledge about the RCSI program? Also had the financial question.
-They told me that I should hear back in 2-3 weeks.
-Mr. Nealon again greeted me after I left the interview room and was very helpful about the whole process.
Thats all. Very straightforward interview. Goodluck to all.
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I was also told 2-3 weeks although you can find out a bit earlier if you check your credit card statements for any shipping/fedex charges.
Yea but don't they send you something regardless of acceptance/ waitlist/ or rejection?
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They only send acceptance letters via mail. Regret letters are issued via e-mail and I don't think they actually tell you if you are on wait-list but, you can figure it out based on what other applicants are saying on the forums. I'm sure if you emailed them they would also tell you about wait-list. So if you see an ABP charge on your credit card statement, its a giveaway that you got an acceptance letter from somewhere.
Had my RCSI interview, was interviewed by one person, seemed really quick.
It was more of a conversation and the questions were very much so based on my application.
I was really surprised they did not mention anything about finanaces/funding of education.
It was more of a conversation and the questions were very much so based on my application.
I was really surprised they did not mention anything about finanaces/funding of education.
Wow people are already getting interviews my referee just sent my reference letter today and I gave it to her more than a month ago!!! THis is seriously going to hurt my chances, Not to mention my undergrad gpa sucks
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Hi all,
I realize it's still early, but I was wondering whether anyone has an invitation to the second round of RCSI interviews. Has anyone received a rejection?
I realize it's still early, but I was wondering whether anyone has an invitation to the second round of RCSI interviews. Has anyone received a rejection?
Hey, seems RCSI first round offers are starting to trickle out, although I don't think any 5/6years have heard back.
So, offers will probably roll out for the next week or so, then add another 2-3 weeks time period for people to accept/decline. That means that second round offers probably won't come out to some time in April at the earliest.
Goodluck!
So, offers will probably roll out for the next week or so, then add another 2-3 weeks time period for people to accept/decline. That means that second round offers probably won't come out to some time in April at the earliest.
Goodluck!
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Thanks Salad! I spoke with a lovely woman at RCSI today, and she told me that IF a second round of interviews will be scheduled, it will likely take place in May. Therefore, late April is probably a good estimate for receiving an invitation.
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Did you happen to speak with Celeste? I spoke with her, too, when inquiring about deposit details and she remarked that there are likely to be no further rounds of interviews since the applicant pool is so large this year (as was last years).
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I heard the same. A relative of mine applied late - like freaking January late - and didn't receive an interview offer in the first round. She called RCSI directly and spoke to Mrs. Celeste Golan (sp?) last week and she mentioned that she should apply early next year as there was something like 1500 applicants or more for all of their spots - her late app diminished her chances big time. Mrs. Golan (sp?) said that there wasn't a second round last year and most likely won't be one this year, either. Sucks for my cousin but I told her to apply earlier.
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That is a huge number of applicants wow!
