- Joined
- Apr 13, 2005
- Messages
- 60
- Reaction score
- 0
...you know, when they post their stats and say "will I get in?", as if the members of this message board are making the decisions.
But ultimately, since the North American applications to Irish schools seem to be such a crap shoot (no set cutoffs, variety of different people getting accepted), I thought I might throw my story out there to see what people have to say. I know that there are no guarantees, but it's always good to hear some feedback (positive and negative of course).
I did a 4 year B.Sc (honours, w/ a thesis) in psychology and had a cumulative 3.5 GPA. If you take out one semester, my average is more like 3.7-3.8. Science GPA depends on how they define science courses (e.g. are neuropsych and drugs and behaviour considered science courses, even though they're under the faculty of psychology?), but could be anywhere from 3.3 - 3.5.
MCAT is good, but not great. 8P 9B 11V and P on the written section (28P overall).
I graduated a year and a half ago, and have been working as a research analyst for a very large, very respected clinical research unit (oncology drug research). No publications unfortunately, since I do a variety of work on a variety of trials. Get too do a lot of interesting stuff though, and the research is high-calibre. I know it sounds cheesy, but the docs are pretty inspiring (oncology is a damn respectable field).
Extra currics are varied. I've worked as a science teacher (for grade 6-8 summer campers), research assistant, teaching assistant, writer for the student newspaper, student representative, etc. Volunteer experience in senior's home, blood bank, animal hospital (hey, i like animals), and for the past year i've been a volunteer at a large downtown emergency department, where i sit on the advisory committee and develop training programs for new volunteers (big proponent of expanding the volunteer role). I've seen some pretty wild stuff there, but it's been a great experience. Also doing extraneous research with one of our staff docs, mostly patient education stuff.
Hmm...the more I look at it, the more I look like the typical gunner. Blech.
Been snowboarding for 5 or 6 years (no awards or anything, not really into that), and write for an online music website (my record collection is second to none). The music scene in Ireland is great, but I hear bad things about the snowboarding...
Have some solid references (physician, professor, research supervisor) and I wrote your standard "let me into medical school because i am fabulous" essay. One thing that probably sets me apart from a lot of med school hopefuls is my ability to properly use grammar. Periods and commas aplenty.
I know that the Irish schools value life-experience and diversity, but I suppose I'm not the typical "mature" applicant (i.e. haven't been out of school for a long period of time, starting career, etc.), but I'm also not the typical undergrad applicant. I've done a fair amount of research, but not the typical labwork kind (more clinical, sociological).
Thanks for reading my autobiography. It should be hitting the shelves next summer...
But seriously, where are the cracks in my application? Where could it be stronger? I'm not really interested in changing my life to better suit med school applications, but it's good to know where my application might get me into trouble admissions-wise.
So what I'm saying is....will I get in?
But ultimately, since the North American applications to Irish schools seem to be such a crap shoot (no set cutoffs, variety of different people getting accepted), I thought I might throw my story out there to see what people have to say. I know that there are no guarantees, but it's always good to hear some feedback (positive and negative of course).
I did a 4 year B.Sc (honours, w/ a thesis) in psychology and had a cumulative 3.5 GPA. If you take out one semester, my average is more like 3.7-3.8. Science GPA depends on how they define science courses (e.g. are neuropsych and drugs and behaviour considered science courses, even though they're under the faculty of psychology?), but could be anywhere from 3.3 - 3.5.
MCAT is good, but not great. 8P 9B 11V and P on the written section (28P overall).
I graduated a year and a half ago, and have been working as a research analyst for a very large, very respected clinical research unit (oncology drug research). No publications unfortunately, since I do a variety of work on a variety of trials. Get too do a lot of interesting stuff though, and the research is high-calibre. I know it sounds cheesy, but the docs are pretty inspiring (oncology is a damn respectable field).
Extra currics are varied. I've worked as a science teacher (for grade 6-8 summer campers), research assistant, teaching assistant, writer for the student newspaper, student representative, etc. Volunteer experience in senior's home, blood bank, animal hospital (hey, i like animals), and for the past year i've been a volunteer at a large downtown emergency department, where i sit on the advisory committee and develop training programs for new volunteers (big proponent of expanding the volunteer role). I've seen some pretty wild stuff there, but it's been a great experience. Also doing extraneous research with one of our staff docs, mostly patient education stuff.
Hmm...the more I look at it, the more I look like the typical gunner. Blech.
Been snowboarding for 5 or 6 years (no awards or anything, not really into that), and write for an online music website (my record collection is second to none). The music scene in Ireland is great, but I hear bad things about the snowboarding...
Have some solid references (physician, professor, research supervisor) and I wrote your standard "let me into medical school because i am fabulous" essay. One thing that probably sets me apart from a lot of med school hopefuls is my ability to properly use grammar. Periods and commas aplenty.
I know that the Irish schools value life-experience and diversity, but I suppose I'm not the typical "mature" applicant (i.e. haven't been out of school for a long period of time, starting career, etc.), but I'm also not the typical undergrad applicant. I've done a fair amount of research, but not the typical labwork kind (more clinical, sociological).
Thanks for reading my autobiography. It should be hitting the shelves next summer...
But seriously, where are the cracks in my application? Where could it be stronger? I'm not really interested in changing my life to better suit med school applications, but it's good to know where my application might get me into trouble admissions-wise.
So what I'm saying is....will I get in?
