Atlantic Bridge 2021

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_caturday said:
Congrats all on your interview invites so far!

Have any GEM invites been released?
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I would also like to know this :)
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aprit1 said:
Your MCAT is so good! According to MedSchoolInsiders and other famous medical advisor channels you would be able to get into a good med school in the US.
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Thank you! That's so kind of you to say. I wish my MCAT made up for other things in my app, but US schools are so competitive that you really need stellar *everything* to get in. I'm still waiting to hear back from a majority of the schools I applied to in the US, but it would be amazing to interview at any of the Irish schools.
 
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futureneuro7 said:
My dreams are always so vivid, that I think they’re real life. It’s the worst.
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Speaking of crazy dreams, I had one last night(probs cause I looked at this thread before bed). Anyway the way we found out if we got an interview was there was a physical book going around with peoples Instagram selfies in it and if your pic was in that book then you got an interview. And somehow the book had a possibility of adding more pictures so you had to check a bunch. #wtf 😅
 
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hi everyone, Im thinking of applying to the atlantic bridge program for fall 2022 for the 4 year program from the US. I've applied to MD and some DO schools this cycle but I havent had any luck so far. I have some questions if about this program if anyone could help give me advice :)

1) how do you think the irishs school compare to caribbean schools in terms of residency placement in the US? iv'e read that as an IMG its harder to match into residencies so I wanted to know if the irish schools had a better reputation for matching

2) which of the irish schools do you think are the best ? or are they all pretty comparable ?

3) my mcat is a 507 and my GPA is 3.79; i have solid LORS, 200+ clinical hours, i was a college athlete, 1500 volunteer hours, research and presentation. what do you think my chances are of getting in ?

thank you !!
 
agoestomedschool93 said:
Kill it on the interview!! :) Did you just apply to UCD or other programs too?
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Thank you for your support! I applied to all the eligible schools and I’m hoping for an acceptance to Cork to financially consider the 5 year track. (Cork and Galway have cheapest tuition)
 
andiii07 said:
hi everyone, Im thinking of applying to the atlantic bridge program for fall 2022 for the 4 year program from the US. I've applied to MD and some DO schools this cycle but I havent had any luck so far. I have some questions if about this program if anyone could help give me advice :)

1) how do you think the irishs school compare to caribbean schools in terms of residency placement in the US? iv'e read that as an IMG its harder to match into residencies so I wanted to know if the irish schools had a better reputation for matching

2) which of the irish schools do you think are the best ? or are they all pretty comparable ?

3) my mcat is a 507 and my GPA is 3.79; i have solid LORS, 200+ clinical hours, i was a college athlete, 1500 volunteer hours, research and presentation. what do you think my chances are of getting in ?

thank you !!
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You have really high chances of getting in but have you considered a DO medical school? I don’t think Caribbean is a good bet especially with the current pandemic. I think you would be able to get into a DO or spend some extra cash to get disciplined MCAT tutoring to bring the score up. It would be easier to practice in the US if you study there. It’s difficult to match back for competitive specialties if you don’t have strong connections (according to my cousin currently studying at RCSI). If you are willing to spend a lot of money to go to Ireland or Carribbean schools, you may want to consider a consultation service. Most of what I learnt about this is summarized by MedSchoolInsiders and they have a great track record of getting students into med school or into their residency program (I’m not sponsored or anything by them, but I’ve watched them since the channel started and they are very informative).
I would still recommend you apply but only as a backup if you don’t get into a medical school in the US.
 
caterwaiter said:
Thank you! That's so kind of you to say. I wish my MCAT made up for other things in my app, but US schools are so competitive that you really need stellar *everything* to get in. I'm still waiting to hear back from a majority of the schools I applied to in the US, but it would be amazing to interview at any of the Irish schools.
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I hope you crush it wherever you get interviews!
 
aprit1 said:
You have really high chances of getting in but have you considered a DO medical school? I don’t think Caribbean is a good bet especially with the current pandemic. I think you would be able to get into a DO or spend some extra cash to get disciplined MCAT tutoring to bring the score up. It would be easier to practice in the US if you study there. It’s difficult to match back for competitive specialties if you don’t have strong connections (according to my cousin currently studying at RCSI). If you are willing to spend a lot of money to go to Ireland or Carribbean schools, you may want to consider a consultation service. Most of what I learnt about this is summarized by MedSchoolInsiders and they have a great track record of getting students into med school or into their residency program (I’m not sponsored or anything by them, but I’ve watched them since the channel started and they are very informative).
I would still recommend you apply but only as a backup if you don’t get into a medical school in the US.
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thank you for your advice ! thats my plan for next cycle if I dont get in this cycle. I'll reapply to both MD and DO schools but I also want to apply to ireland as a back up. I would honestly love to go to ireland to study medicine but I am just scared about matching back into the US.
 
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Hi everybody! I am a first year student in Ireland. I just wanted to post here that right now Ireland is in full lockdown and we haven’t had any in person classes except for labs since the beginning of the year. A lot of people have been asking me about Ireland and though it’s a great school I wish I picked Australia sometimes as they are doing far better with covid.
 
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Cal2MD said:
Hi everybody! I am a first year student in Ireland. I just wanted to post here that right now Ireland is in full lockdown and we haven’t had any in person classes except for labs since the beginning of the year. A lot of people have been asking me about Ireland and though it’s a great school I wish I picked Australia sometimes as they are doing far better with covid.
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Hey thanks for your post! What school are you attending? Also do you know what the match rates in Australia are vs Ireland.
 
Cal2MD said:
Hi everybody! I am a first year student in Ireland. I just wanted to post here that right now Ireland is in full lockdown and we haven’t had any in person classes except for labs since the beginning of the year. A lot of people have been asking me about Ireland and though it’s a great school I wish I picked Australia sometimes as they are doing far better with covid.
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Hoping conditions are better - worldwide - for next year!!
 
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Bloom2000 said:
Hey thanks for your post! What school are you attending? Also do you know what the match rates in Australia are vs Ireland.
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I don't have Irish med schools match info. I remember seeing about 80-90 % match rate.
Here is one for Australia:

Match rates and locations

Join a medical school with a 96% residency match. Study in Australia and New Orleans. Find out more.
ochsner.uq.edu.au ochsner.uq.edu.au
 
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medreadi said:
Have any 6 year applicants for RCSI been offered an interview.
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I think there are been some 5 year interviews released - I haven’t heard of any 6 year or GEM interview invites yet though.
 
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Which school is rated the best in Ireland? Anyone have any idea? Is NUIG as good as UCD or Trinity?
 
Also, has anyone noticed that the whole AB med forum has been pretty light this year? I find more discussions in previous years to try and find info....
Does this mean less applicants this year?
 
Not sure
cardiocool said:
Also, has anyone noticed that the whole AB med forum has been pretty light this year? I find more discussions in previous years to try and find info....
Does this mean less applicants this year?
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Not sure how COVID has affected other communities, but this application cycle is much more competitive in the US than previous years. I've read a lot of articles about how application numbers have gone up a crazy amount, making it even more difficult to get in. I honestly was expecting the opposite to be true, assuming that people wouldn't want to go out and get clinical experiences, or expose themselves to pts in the medical school setting. Not really sure why the opposite has turned out to be true...I wouldn't think that a significant amount of people would be inspired to go into healthcare because of all this.
 
futureneuro7 said:
Not sure

Not sure how COVID has affected other communities, but this application cycle is much more competitive in the US than previous years. I've read a lot of articles about how application numbers have gone up a crazy amount, making it even more difficult to get in. I honestly was expecting the opposite to be true, assuming that people wouldn't want to go out and get clinical experiences, or expose themselves to pts in the medical school setting. Not really sure why the opposite has turned out to be true...I wouldn't think that a significant amount of people would be inspired to go into healthcare because of all this.
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I think the US saw greater applicants as test waivers were announced. Also in the US.. clinical exposure isn’t really a fear for first year. On the other hand, international fees and the complexities of traveling safely or getting stuck in lockdown.. would impact Irish schools a lot more. There is a glaring absence of applicant discussions this year for AB med.
 
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cardiocool said:
I think the US saw greater applicants as test waivers were announced. Also in the US.. clinical exposure isn’t really a fear for first year. On the other hand, international fees and the complexities of traveling safely or getting stuck in lockdown.. would impact Irish schools a lot more. There is a glaring absence of applicant discussions this year for AB med.
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Hopefully that works in our favour! Less applicants means we all would have a higher chance in acceptance. 🤞🏻
 
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cardiocool said:
I think the US saw greater applicants as test waivers were announced. Also in the US.. clinical exposure isn’t really a fear for first year. On the other hand, international fees and the complexities of traveling safely or getting stuck in lockdown.. would impact Irish schools a lot more. There is a glaring absence of applicant discussions this year for AB med.
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That is true - I also noticed much less activity on this thread compared to previous years.

agoestomedschool93 said:
Hopefully that works in our favour! Less applicants means we all would have a higher chance in acceptance. 🤞🏻
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Fingers crossed! Here's hoping some II start to hit next week for the GEM programs.
 
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cardiocool said:
I think the US saw greater applicants as test waivers were announced. Also in the US.. clinical exposure isn’t really a fear for first year. On the other hand, international fees and the complexities of traveling safely or getting stuck in lockdown.. would impact Irish schools a lot more. There is a glaring absence of applicant discussions this year for AB med.
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They're not true waivers though... more like an extension on the deadline. Idk, maybe that made more of a difference for people than I would have thought.
 
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I think it did..so if you need % of international fees to pay for Irish students and international applicants are down significantly across areas of study and the taxman is bringing in less...I think if you have the stomach... this is the least competitive year to apply. Empirical evidence is the AB med boards are (comparative to previous years ) a ghost town ..
 
andiii07 said:
thank you for your advice ! thats my plan for next cycle if I dont get in this cycle. I'll reapply to both MD and DO schools but I also want to apply to ireland as a back up. I would honestly love to go to ireland to study medicine but I am just scared about matching back into the US.
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I think matching back is not a problem as long as your goal is to match back to a less competitive specialty like paediatrics, gynaecology, or family medicine. Good luck!
 
aprit1 said:
I think matching back is not a problem as long as your goal is to match back to a less competitive specialty like paediatrics, gynaecology, or family medicine. Good luck!
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I don’t think this is necessarily the best advice. I know alumni both from RCSI (Matched into ortho) and UL who have gone on to match into anesthesiology at Hopkins, which even as a non IMG can be hard to match into. It all depends on the amount of work you are willing to put in. Not saying competitive specialities are easy to get, but if you want it bad enough it can be done.
 
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I hope we hear back soon - all the waiting is killing me LOL.
 
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cardiocool said:
Also, has anyone noticed that the whole AB med forum has been pretty light this year? I find more discussions in previous years to try and find info....
Does this mean less applicants this year?
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I dont think that's very true. If you look at the previous thread, it only has 2 pages of conversation till the end of January 2020 and most of the discussion happened after January. Basically after the offers started coming in. Applicants usually get active on threads after they get an offer.
 
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Canadian applicant here!
Applied to 6 Canadian schools this cycle (3rd time applying) and also applied to all 5 Irish schools.

Most Canadian schools have sent out interview invites by now and I’m getting extremely frustrated with the Canadian process, especially after being waitlisted last year and now having 4 pre-interview rejections.

These are my stats:
cGPA: 3.89 (OMSAS scale) undergrad in Biomed
MCAT: 515 (129/125/131/130)
ECs: Fairly diverse with a varsity sport, competitive Irish dancing (went to world championships), volunteering with the disabled, volunteering with underprivileged children, 2 lab volunteer positions, employed as academic support staff at my university, some summer jobs, a 2-day physician shadowing opportunity (was hard to get because normally my local hospital only lets MD students shadow) and some advocacy.

I would love to study in Ireland as I have strong ties there, but am worried about matching if I want to come back. Either way, I’m tired and frustrated with the Canadian process and if I get into an Irish school I will definitely go. Wondering what my chances are as I cannot find much information anywhere on the types of ECs they are looking for
 
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JustWantToBeAnMD said:
Canadian applicant here!
Applied to 6 Canadian schools this cycle (3rd time applying) and also applied to all 5 Irish schools.

Most Canadian schools have sent out interview invites by now and I’m getting extremely frustrated with the Canadian process, especially after being waitlisted last year and now having 4 pre-interview rejections.

These are my stats:
cGPA: 3.89 (OMSAS scale) undergrad in Biomed
MCAT: 515 (129/125/131/130)
ECs: Fairly diverse with a varsity sport, competitive Irish dancing (went to world championships), volunteering with the disabled, volunteering with underprivileged children, 2 lab volunteer positions, employed as academic support staff at my university, some summer jobs, a 2-day physician shadowing opportunity (was hard to get because normally my local hospital only lets MD students shadow) and some advocacy.

I would love to study in Ireland as I have strong ties there, but am worried about matching if I want to come back. Either way, I’m tired and frustrated with the Canadian process and if I get into an Irish school I will definitely go. Wondering what my chances are as I cannot find much information anywhere on the types of ECs they are looking for
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Pulling for you bud. Also Canadian. What are your top two schools for Ireland?
 
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1612214306716.gif
Me checking my email three times a day
 
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_caturday said:
Any idea when they'll start coming out??
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Nope...someone said earlier on this forum that they were told “no sooner than February”. An email I got about deadline reminders said interviews in mid-March. So hopefully the invites will start any day now, but could be another month?
 
Hey y'all! just got an II for RCSI (I applied GEM). So excited!
 
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Do they go through apps in order of complete date? I thought they all went at the same time
 
Hello!

Canadian applicant here! Just received an email indicating that the first round of interviews is typically released between February and March.
 
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Anyone has any idea how often RCSI release interview invites? I applied for GEM as well, saw someone getting an interview is starting to make me nervous.
 
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james77 said:
Anyone has any idea how often RCSI release interview invites? I applied for GEM as well, saw someone getting an interview is starting to make me nervous.
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same lol , i'm getting nervous because I was told interviews don't get released till Mid Feb-March, and someone mentioned that RCSI sent the II
 
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KF2020 said:
Complete 08/17! Manifesting IIs for all of us here let's goo :)
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congrats on your interview, can you let us know your stats? so we know our chances at least? the wait is killing me........slowly
 
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james77 said:
congrats on your interview, can you let us know your stats? so we know our chances at least? the wait is killing me........slowly
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Yeah, of course! 511, 3.83 cGPA, 3.70 sGPA (if you have questions about EC hrs just pm me!)
 
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