Irish admissions offers and deposits

[eg77]

I'm starting my applications now but I was thinking of a serious concern. If an offer is put forward I understand that I'll have to put a deposit that's something crazy (like $13, 000). I also understand that the offers are put forward around Feb. The only concern I have is that what if I get accepted at a Canadian school?? Generally speaking, the interviews there are in Feb/Mar and the acceptances are out in May/Jun. If I accept an Irish admission and put that money to hold my seat, will that money be lost if I withdraw later? Sorry if this is a stupid "deposit" question, but I wanted to make sure I'm prepared for that. I'm pretty sure some U.S schools will give you your money back if you withdraw your acceptance within a reasonable time frame; is this the same for Irish med schools?!?

Thanks

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[med2UCC]

No money back, ever, from the Irish schools. The admission letters come out between February and April (I think UCC is the latest) and the deposit is generally around 3300.00 euro, not $12,000.00. I paid it thinking that if I didn't get into a Canadian school I had a back-up, and if I did, oh well, not a huge investment anyway. Cheers,
M

 

[Mr. McDuck]

Is it 3300 euro or 3300 USD? That's a big difference, lol. I need to know how much I absolutely have to save before Feb/Mar.

 

[eg77]

No money back, ever, from the Irish schools. The admission letters come out between February and April (I think UCC is the latest) and the deposit is generally around 3300.00 euro, not $12,000.00. I paid it thinking that if I didn't get into a Canadian school I had a back-up, and if I did, oh well, not a huge investment anyway. Cheers,
M

Thanks M,

When did you hear about your acceptance? You're right though, it is a worth it. How are you enjoying UCC? Is this the only one you applied to? Any other acceptances?

Thanks

 

[med2UCC]

Hey Billy, Eg77,
It was 3300 euro when I applied back in 2003; Unch, what did you have to pay?
I applied to Trinity, UCD and UCC. I was rejected from Trinity in February, never ever heard from UCD and was accepted to UCC at the end of April and given 6 days to get my deposit back to the Atlantic Bridge people (UCC's deadline, not AB's).
I love it at UCC. THe med school office can occasionally be a bit disorganized, but they are caring and respond to individual student needs well. They are not so hot about dealing with mass protests, and individual profs can be intransigent (naming no names!) but by and large they do try to respond to student concerns. I am constantly amazed at how everyone here, from the finance office to the records and examinations to the receptionist at your student accomodation knows your name and where you are from. The Irish seem to have a name retention gene (one which alas seems to be absent from my primarily Scottish and English blood, or maybe it got lost over the 250 years my family have been in Canada).
Cork is also a great little city to live in. It has good live entertainment, including classical music, balet, a jazz festival, theatre and just about anything else you can think of. You can also get a library card if you are a reader and don't want to own thousands of books by the time you go home. The people are friendly for the most part (except if they work in a shop, especially a large chain store like Boots) and it is small enough that you can walk or bike pretty much everywhere you need to go. The new student accomodation complex that has just opened up, University Hall, is very well furnished and comfortable and actually a good place for med students as it is close to CUH, the hospital where you do most of your clinical stuff, and also close to the Mercy, Bons and South Infirmary (as mcuh as any place is close to the South!), and also shopping and the city, and it doesn't take freshmen (except the old international students).
Good luck to both of you on your applications. Hope to see you here next year,
M

 

[SYD0910]

Is it 3300 euro or 3300 USD? That's a big difference, lol. I need to know how much I absolutely have to save before Feb/Mar.

Hello Billy,
I have paid a total of 4000 Euros non-refundable acceptance deposit to Trinity. So, I guess it really depends where you'll be going.

 

[eg77]

I applied to Trinity, UCD and UCC. I was rejected from Trinity in February, never ever heard from UCD and was accepted to UCC at the end of April and given 6 days to get my deposit back to the Atlantic Bridge people (UCC's deadline, not AB's). M

Hi M,

Thank you very much for the informative post. It's great to hear of people's objective experiences. I'm hoping to apply to UCC very soon (within the next month hopefully).

I'm wondering, why didn'y you apply to RCSI? I was recently informed by Mr. Louis Keenan at AB that they accept the most NA students.

I'm also interested to know how you're doing with the CARMS matching so far. I'm guessing you'll be dealing with that within the next year; I'd love to hear your experiences (both positive and negative ) with that.

Thanks

 

[Mr. McDuck]

Thanks for the posts Med and Syd. I hope we can meet up at the Ireland SDN meet up next year!

 

[med2UCC]

I didn't apply to RCSI because it was a 6 year program at that time and I;m not getting any younger,. and also because it was freeking expensive and I am not made of money.
I hav enot entered the match yet (next year the fun begins) but I will certainly keep poeple posted on how it goes.
For any Canadian 5th years reading this, we would all like to know how things go with the new match set-up where you can apply on the first round. Cheers,
M