2003 Rejection/Acceptance - Irish Medical Schools

[Guest M0ses]

Hey Rapid,

If you haven't heard anything then yes (imo) it is a good sign!

 

About my acceptance - indeed I'm very stoked. I'm so tired though...didn't get to sleep last night b/c I'm cramming for an exam...sometimes the excitement hits me...then it fades...tomorrow should be different.

 

About the deposit - 3400US payable to atlantic bridge by april 8th.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[Guest RAPIDPULSE]

wow, 3400USD is pretty steep. but hey, the joy should overcome that!

 

hmm, see, here is where i am concerned; if its due by 8th april, then there is no way that they can send acceptances in the first week of april and expect us to pay the $$$ by the same deadline. [since i still haven't rcvd anything from either of the three schools]

god, i hope the rejections don't find their way in my mailbox.

 

thanks for your input M0ses - keep in touch with your progress, SAME GOES TO EVERYONE ELSE OUT THERE!!! where are you irish med. school potentials?

 

ciao.

[Guest Kara]

Aghh!!!!! Got a rejection from Trinity today. Thought I might be competitive but I guess I was wrong. My stats: cumulative 3.54 (3.5 OMSAS) from Univ of Toronto. Mediocre references and mediocre ECs. I also screwed up my Pharmacy admissions test. Not a very good week to say the least. Good luck to the rest of you!

[Guest Badkarma25]

Hey kara,

do me a favour and drop me an e-mail at badkarma_25@hotmail.com

 

want to ask you a few questoins. thanks a bunch, sorry to hear about the rejection from trinity. didn't they put you on a waiting list?

[Guest Kara]

Badkharma,

 

No, I didn't even make the waiting list. I'm a bit surprised especially given that my more recent years I've had far better grades than 3.5 (see previous post). But I gave it a shot and have no regrets. Must have been a pretty competitive this year.

[Guest avaid]

hey kara

im really sorry about the news dont worry there are the other universities that yet have to reply. im sure u did fine on the pharmacy test dont worry were all in this together take care and talk to you soon

 

ahmed

[Guest sporter1992]

Hi Kara,

 

Sorry about your bad week. I've had lots of those in the past. Well...I opted for the courier option, and nothing has showed up yet so I'm guessing that it's not good.

 

Has anyone other than Andrew received any good news?

[Guest newbee]

Hey Kara:

 

I'm really sorry to hear about your rejection but seriously do not worry. I know it may have seemed that you bombed the Pharmacy test but I know plenty of friends that thought they bombed it (one thought they did so bad they actually accepted a Research Assistant position with a 12 month contract figuring there was going to be no chance in hell to get accepted into Pharmacy after their Exam) You know what all 4 of them got accepted to UofT Pharmacy program!!!!! and I believe all of them had lower GPA's than you

 

So keep the faith girl, I think things will be just fine. Plus you haven't heard from the other Irish schools yet. Did you apply to the others? Did you write the MCAT? If not there's some avenues for next year, if you decide Pharmacy or Rad Tech isn't exactly what you desire!

 

In any case, I know all of your career options are great and you will thrive wherever you land!

 

Take Care

Newbee:p

[Guest RAPIDPULSE]

Hey guys...

Sorry to hear about you Kara. This might relieve you of some depression; I too got a very humble bittersweet rejection from Trinity today.

 

This was my second time applying to this school, and have pretty much given up on it now. My GPA is in the same range as any premed out there, 3.7 - 3.8! - I never took the MCAT.

 

Waiting for another's response [irish medical school].

Kara, was that the only school you'd initially applied to?

 

Everyone; Would you get the rejections at the same time? Since its Atlantic Bridge who sends them out after getting them from the med. schools.

I only ask because I'd applied to 3 schools - Two of them have sent me the bad news, but the third is keeping me in dark.

Is it possible that they might be sending me an acceptance package, thats why its taking so long?

 

GodHELP! I am beginning to think that the odds of winning a lottery or being hit by lightning are much greater than getting an admission in a Medical school.

[Guest Kara]

Thanks for the support.

 

I only applied to Trinity, since I didn't write the MCAT.

 

Nebee,

 

I'm pretty sure I bombed the Pharmacy test. On the second part of it, I read both questions before answering. The two questions were very similar; one asked about a major conflict you had and how you resolved it, etc. the second asked about a major problem and how you resolved it. I ended up writing my answer in the wrong section. I realized this when I got to the second question and then got lost. What's even worse, I didn't have enough time to finish the third question which asked why I should be considered for their school. I think I wrote only about 3-4 sentences for the third question.

[Guest Badkarma25]

hi all,

to those of you who received rejections, my heart goes out to you. i've heard nothing yet, so i decided to e-mail AB today to see if there were any updates. mr. k informed me that i was not among the students who were rejected from UCD and TCD yet...so that is good news...if it's any consolation to all of you out there, trinity is regarded as the premier school in ireland so don't get discouraged if you don't get in there.

 

to kara, trinity isn't the only school that doesn't require the mcat. it isn't required at ucd either. they require that you submit your score(s) if you've written, but you don't need it to apply. i was under the same impression as you until february.

 

to rapidpulse, sorry to hear about your two rejections. you say you are still waiting for one school to get back to you. if that school is either royal college or cork, you could be waiting a while longer, as i don't think any news is expected from either of those schools until may at the earliest. mr. k told me today that it's difficult to give a timeline because it all depends on how fast the admissions committees work in dublin. responses are sent out as they are received...good luck to all those still waiting!!

[Guest M0ses]

Hey guys,

Just found out I was accepted to Trinity - but since I was accepted to UCD I have taken the appropriate steps to have my offer withdrawn. 1 more spot is now open - good luck guys !!!!

Best wishes,

Andrew

[Guest newbee]

That's great Andrew:

 

Congratulations to you

 

 

I'm just wondering if anyone knows how these schools make their decisions. It seems crazy that Kara with a 3.54 GPA and the other poster with a 3.8 were rejected. I have a friend that also received an outright rejection with a 3.75 GPA. Now Andrew I believe you have a 3.2ish GPA if I remember. Surely there must be other aspects to your application which has made you stand out from the folks with higher GPA's. Do you think that the fact that you wrote the MCAT (even though not required by the two schools) looked favourably on you during this very competitive year?

 

Were there other aspects to you application that perhaps in your view are unique or outstanding?

 

Thanks Andrew, and congratulations once again. You go go gettum!!!!

 

 

Newbee

[Guest M0ses]

Hey Newbee,

 

These were my stats :

4 year Bio (hons) degree <upon completion this year>

3 year GPA = 3.36

MCAT = 11 (verbal) , 9 (bio), 8 (phys), P

 

Now, my first year hurt my gpa and then after that I picked up the slack - but by no means exceptional marks (talking about 80's).

 

My EC activities included :

Hospital volunteer (DSU & Peds), High School Hockey/Rugby Coach, UWO varsity rugby, Student council, and some other misc. ones.

 

My references : an ER Dr., my dentist, a professor at UWO (all of whom I've had some relationship with for at least 3 years)

 

I thought I wrote a solid essay as well - I thought long and hard about why I wanted to become a doctor and then wrote about that, also including; what helped me decide, what other professions had I considered, why choose Ireland, etc.

 

Hope that helps,

Andrew

[Guest RAPIDPULSE]

Hi everyone,

 

First of, Andrew Andrew Andrew... You are an envy of this forum now. Goodluck and heartfelt congratulations to you with every step of the way.

 

Now, Newbee, after reading your post, I thought I should share my stats in full too - Maybe we can somehow figure out the "strategy" behind these schools. Strategy that may help us decode their admission granting philosophy.

 

-I have a 3.7ish GPA [slight deviation this term].

-For the last five years, I have been religiously volunteering at a local hospital's E.R.

-Have done numerous amount of research in Psychology.

-For the last two years, I have been an executive member of a University's student body.

-Had three excellent references, one from a former professor with whom I have taken 3 courses with i)Genetics, ii) Neurobiology, and iii) Human Development.

She wrote a pretty good, in depth letter for me.

The other two were from Medical Doctors... Both well experienced and accomplished physicians [One is a Chief of Staff at a Community hospital).

 

Now - the only thing I was missing was an "MCAT"

God help, but I have no idea what the basis of their decision is. To be quite frank with you, I think its nothing more than a draw of luck. Seriously, think rationaly - They get thousands of applications, I don't think they sit down and read each individual one in detail. Or even read it at all for that matter!

 

Well, those are my two cents. As you can see, I am pretty agitated now!

Off to the Masters I go... I hope the same 'strategy' doesn't get applied there.

 

Be well all, do share your thoughts.

[Guest newbee]

That's great!

 

I'm sure most of you will wind up in med schools at some point with backgrounds that you have discussed. I'm curious has anyone thought of back-up plans or plans for next year anyway. Is it off to do a Masters and then perhaps a Phd? are there other routes people are considering? Anybody condisidering a totally differant avenue career wise?

 

Kara, just curious, how many years is the Rad program after you have completed one undergrad?

 

Anyways take care everyone and chin up for the future

[Guest j100]

Hey everyone,

 

I have been reading this forum as an outsider for quite a while and felt it was finally time to step in and say hello. I have been interested in all your discussions regarding the Irish Medical Schools.

 

Many different points have been brought up over time here regarding why someone my have been accepted/rejected at one of these schools. People keep mentioning GPA GPA GPA as a possible reason for not being accepted. However, I like to feel that it is more than that, once you have met the minimum. The Irish schools seem to have a much wider scope when evaluating students, which is a refreshing change. Do they have a further degree than a basic BSc? Do they have experiences outside university? I am not talking just about volunteering for 1000's of hours (although I am sure that helps) but have you travelled, do you have outside interests? Do you know what to expect in another country like Ireland? Are they slightly older and have some experiences? Perhaps I am totally off base and have had too much :smokin (just kidding).

 

As a side note, I was talking with the Atlantic Bridge program last week (they have been so helpful and pleasant). They mentioned that about 170 North Americans applied to the program this year, so word is getting out and it is getting more competitive >: .

 

Good luck everyone. I think it was only 1st round offers that went out recently.

 

Cheers,

 

J.

[Guest Kara]

Newbee,

 

The Rad program is 3 more years regardless of how many years/degrees you have completed previously(but you must complete one year). Here's the web-site for the program:

 

www.michener.ca/radsci/index.php

[Guest newbee]

Thanks for the info

 

Hey Kara, did you ever consider Physiotherapy or Occupational Therapy. It's only a two year program and starting salaries are around 66-70K. Plus you have the opportunity to run your own rehab clinic. A neighbor of mine runs his own clinic and said he is the only pysiotherapist, and he hired a receptionist and 2 hysiotherapist assistants. He makes 120K per year after he pays all of his expenses.

 

Did you ever think about that route? I've nothing but good things about the field.

 

Take Care Kara, Good Luck on your exams

 

Newbee

[Guest Kara]

Thanks Newbee.

 

Physio crossed my mind for a short while but I decided against it primarily because I'm a bit sceptical of the usefulness of a lot of the therapy they do. Same goes with chiropractic (even more so). As a side note, I'm pretty sure that average physio salaries (especially those working in hospitals) are considerably lower than the values you mentioned.

[Guest mymomthinksimacatch]

I applied to all four schools in Ireland. Got rejected from Trinity, and accepted at UCD. Deposit paid.

[Guest M0ses]

Hey mymomthinksimacatch - where abouts are you from?

[Guest mymomthinksimacatch]

Hello MOses

I'm from Vancouver. Yourself?

[Guest M0ses]

I'm from London, Ont. - look forward to seeing you in Sept.

[Guest sporter1992]

Hey folks!

 

I just received my offer from UCC! Anyone else get one of these?