Chance Me: 5/6 year Atlantic Bridge Program, Tips*

[HopefulMD121]

Hello, first thank you for clicking on this thread. Now to start, I am in my Sophomore year of university and have become interested in applying to all of the 5/6 year Atlantic Bridge Schools. The reasons are personal and of no concern in this thread. However I was wondering if someone would be willing to do me a solid and chance me/ give me any tips as I go through with this, such as an individual having done it before, etc. Thanks for you help/patience.

The schools I am applying to are:
University College Cork University College Dublin National University of Ireland, Galway, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and RCSI, Medical University of Bahrain

My Stats are:
HS GPA: Slightly over a 3.8
ACT:29
UG cGPA: 4.0
UG sGPA: 4.0
Activities:
Biology TA, Volunteering at Hospital, Scribing, Biology Tutor, Co-Founder of Language Club, Member of 5+ science-esque clubs, Study Fraternity, Volunteering at Feed my Starving Children weekly, Intern at Chemical Lab, Biology Research Assistant *(on a Lab)

I really need some advice/help so any input is immensely welcome.

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[Lucky.]

Hey, Ill give you my app to compare, people have said I had a 'good' chance. So I guess that'd be around 60-70%. That being said, AB said that 40% of applicants get offers per their data.

I'm from: Canada
Education: Diploma in Primary Care Paramedicine, Actively taking a BIOL 204 course through Athabasca U
Work Experience: Paramedic ( 2 Years ), Canadian Armed Forces - Reserves ( 1 Year )
GPAs: 3.8 GPA ( 89% avg )
MCAT? Applying to 5-6 year MD, wont be required.
Applying to: NUIG, TCD, RCSI, UCC, UCD
ECs: 400 hrs Shadowing, around 350-400 hours various Volunteering (Non-Clinical)
LoRs: 1 PhD, 1 M.D., 4 Paramedics

My advice to you is to gain clinical experience, the irish medical schools (per the AB website) weigh heavily in the LoR (letter of Rec) section. Personally, I feel they weigh heavily in their clinical and other EC experience. I read once that " GPA + MCAT get you to the door, EC's and a good story get you through the door. " Happy hunting.

In general, you seem to have a strong res.

An ERP I worked with said to avoid Bahrain because of lack of exposure to OB/GYN due to cultural standards. I'm not sure if theres any truth to that but take it with a grain of salt. Additionally, I'd avoid Bahrain due to the lack of NA/EU credibility in a general sense. I would feel like EU/NA residencies wouldn't be jumping for joy versus a NA/EU taught resident applicant. The latter part is just my 2 cents. If you're american, I would suggest becoming an EMT and getting emergency room experience and being exposed to 'SICK' people (knowing SICK was a big part of being a paramedic for me. i.e knowing when to extricate the patient STAT and when to provide acute therapties) so that you can refer to that later in studies. It also helps, from experience, to learn in retrospect. for example, if you see a stroke, MI, Nec Fas, etc.. You can picture a real life picture of it vs a pic from a book and better appreciate the pathology behind it.

Hopefully this provides, atleast to some degree, what you were looking for.

EDIT: I just want to reiterate how heavily the school weighs LoRs because they basically use that in lieu of the MCAT for 5/6 year MD programs. I hope to see you in Ireland for this round. Remember, the ride is only beginning.

 

[HopefulMD121]

Thank you, you're a life saver! I will take everything you said to heart. I would also say your application sounds pretty darn good, you should have no problem getting accepted imho.

 

[Lucky.]

Thank you, you're a life saver! I will take everything you said to heart. I would also say your application sounds pretty darn good, you should have no problem getting accepted imho.

No problem ! Good luck this cycle!!

 

[Medstart108]

I'm pretty confident you two will get in with such strong GPAs.

 

[Lucky.]

I'm pretty confident you two will get in with such strong GPAs.

Thanks ! Im worried about the 'legitimacy' around my GPA. I studied at a private college and my Avg% was 89.65 or something close to that. I researched some conversion stuff and got a 3.8 GPA. On top of that information, my courses were all accelerated medical courses with varying degrees of science.


I was reading that, in older threads, people would be offered interviews around January. I'm getting super stressed out about the whole process. I'm still trying to complete a university course before my app is finalized, so that I can be more competitive.

Welcome to the Ride I guess !

 

[Lucky.]

Thanks ! Im worried about the 'legitimacy' around my GPA. I studied at a private college and my Avg% was 89.65 or something close to that. I researched some conversion stuff and got a 3.8 GPA. On top of that information, my courses were all accelerated medical courses with varying degrees of science.


I was reading that, in older threads, people would be offered interviews around January. I'm getting super stressed out about the whole process. I'm still trying to complete a university course before my app is finalized, so that I can be more competitive.

Welcome to the Ride I guess !

Just an update on this comment. I found out that community/private colleges still count as college credits. My main concern was that they were using the term university and college interchangeably. ( Canada's universities are Americans colleges, for example. )