Atlantic Bridge Program: advice needed from 'repeat' applicants!

[Fiddler09]

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Hi all-
Didn't know about this forum until recently - what a wealth of knowledge here!
First off, congratulations to all of you who have received acceptance letters for 2009 entry! 👍

Unfortunately, I received my rejection letter from Trinity College (April 20th, 2009).

I really want to use my Trinity rejection in a positive way so that I can strengthen my application for the next application cycle.

Since Trinity doesn't require GAMSAT scores (and I don't have my March '09 results yet), I can thus conclude that my application package was deficient in one or more areas.
The question is: What can I do to address the deficiencies my original application had so that it will be stronger for the next cycle (2010)?

Are there any 'repeat' Atlantic Bridge Program applicants in this forum?

If so, how did you determine what components of your application required work (since we don't get feedback on our application)?

I would also greatly appreciate any advice from those of you who have applied to Irish medical schools via ABP more than once!

A little background on my situation:

Despite being an Irish citizen, since I haven't resided in the EU for the past 3 years, I am not eligible to apply as an EU citizen.
Therefore, I had to apply to Irish medical schools via the Atlantic Bridge Program!
I applied to the Irish GEP programs and Trinity's program.

I'm old(er)!: 34
I graduated from U.C.D. with a 1.1 BSc (Biochem and Pharm) in 1996.
I moved to the USA and worked for 2 years in the biotech sector as a technician.
I then did my PhD in Biochem / Mol Physiol (graduated in 2003; GPA 3.92) in the USA.
I subsequently did the two obligatory post-doctoral fellowships in the USA (finished 2008).
Currently, I am faculty in a clinical department at a university in the USA (since 2008).


I think I have fairly decent clinical experience / shadowing:
For the past 3 years, I have volunteered my time with a transplant center and my research is primarily of a clinical nature.
I go out on transplant donor organ procurements all the time and sit in on a lot of the surgeries and post-transplant procedures.

Even though I haven't seen them, I would imagine my letters of reference are of somewhat decent quality:
2 of my LORs are from academic physicians I work with.

I tried to keep my 'research experience' section as succinct as possible so as not to bore anyone (1 page).

So......
Obviously, there must be certain aspects of the application that I can possibly improve upon:

1. I am thinking that I could have botched my essay ("Why I would be an asset to the Medical School").
2. Perhaps I haven't made a compelling case as to why I want to do medicine at this point in my life?
3. Maybe I haven't expanded enough on the section that asks for what you have been doing if you have been out of school for over a year?
4. Perhaps I need to improve upon my extracurricular activities/accomplishments?
5. My ABP application package was sent in very close to the deadline in Nov '08: perhaps this is an issue? (i.e. it should be sent in earlier)

Apologies for the long post and thanks for reading!
Any comments and/or input from anyone are most welcome!

 

[kevdude16]

I dont think you were late. I sent mine in February and still got into RCSI.

 

[pattycanuck]

Can your Leaving Cert results still count for anything or are they "expired"? Was your overall mark at least 560 or above? Did you not claim your residency in Ireland while being a student abroad? You can still be an Irish citizen and American resident, but as a student I would gather you would be an Irish resident in the US on a J1/HiB visa.

If your Leaving Cert results are high enough and are still valid, go that route! I can only assume you did somewhat well as you got a 1.1 in your UCD science course! 👍

 

[Fiddler09]

Thankyou for the responses thus far!

Can your Leaving Cert results still count for anything or are they "expired"? Was your overall mark at least 560 or above?....

I talked to the CAO and they informed me that my Leaving Certificate results were 'of no use anymore'. I felt like a 'Commodore 64' when they told me that!
Regarding my overall marks in 1992, I got 515 in the leaving certificate - that wouldn't be even near the mark these days. I only got my act together when I started college!

....Did you not claim your residency in Ireland while being a student abroad? You can still be an Irish citizen and American resident, but as a student I would gather you would be an Irish resident in the US on a J1/HiB visa....

I should have done that! I was one of the lucky cohort to receive a DV-1 visa (green card) back in the day so I was automatically considered a US resident. However, even if I had maintained EU residency as a student, it would not have mattered as I was no longer qualified as a student when I was pursing my postdoctoral training. There's no doubt that I screwed up by not maintaining EU residency (even though I'm very happy with the training I received in the US).

....If your Leaving Cert results are high enough and are still valid, go that route! I can only assume you did somewhat well as you got a 1.1 in your UCD science course!

True. Unfortunately, as alluded to above, my leaving certificate results are not good enough now, and the CAO and all the colleges insist that I am not eligible to apply as an EU resident.

No matter - at this stage I consider myself American and I'm amongst great company here! 😀 👍