Medical School in Ireland vs England

[cmn623]

Does anyone know if Medical schools in Ireland consider your high school transcript if you are applying after attaining your Bachelor of Arts degree in North America? Furthermore, is class rank something that is considered? Do you know what percentile you should be around in your class to have a chance of getting in? Lastly, although I would prefer to attend Medical School in Ireland having family there, with a GPA of around 3.1, do you think that I should be applying to schools in England as well? I have heard that Medical School is easier to get into in England, but I'm not sure if that is true. Do you need to take any exams to practice in Ireland if you were educated in England?

Thanks a lot and I hope that everything is going well for everyone!
cmn623

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[ronin13]

Some of your concerns were addressed in this thread:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=241174

You can probably find a lot of information if you spend some time searching the forum.

 

[deleted21609]

Does anyone know if Medical schools in Ireland consider your high school transcript if you are applying after attaining your Bachelor of Arts degree in North America? Furthermore, is class rank something that is considered? Do you know what percentile you should be around in your class to have a chance of getting in? Lastly, although I would prefer to attend Medical School in Ireland having family there, with a GPA of around 3.1, do you think that I should be applying to schools in England as well? I have heard that Medical School is easier to get into in England, but I'm not sure if that is true. Do you need to take any exams to practice in Ireland if you were educated in England?

Thanks a lot and I hope that everything is going well for everyone!
cmn623

No, high school transcript won't be submitted at all.
Class rank would probably be considered if you provide it, but there's no percentile that you need to reach. My classmates ranged from Valedictorian- types with 38 MCATs to below average GPA and 25 MCATs (and everything in between).
I would have thought that it is harder to get into medical school in the UK, but maybe you're right.

 

[Waiting4Ganong]

Advice withdrawn.

 

[dr strangelove]

I have no firm evidence that it is harder to get into UK but it must be true. Someone with "average GPA and 25 MCATs" wouldn't have a chance in h*** at getting a place in a UK medical school (translation for our UK readers - "average" GPA is roughly equiv. to less than CCC at A-level!!!). The US and canadian students I have seen at UK med schools (n=3 or 4) were top of their classes at great colleges (harvard, stanford etc.) with GPAs >3.8 and had all turned down excellent (top 5) med school offers in US. That is not to say the Irish school aren't good - just that may be more motivated for several reasons (read: $$$$) to let some weaker NA students in.

Speaking for myself at least, getting into a UK medical school (or at least the Scottish ones) was much easier than trying to get into Ireland.

 

[Waiting4Ganong]

Advice withdrawn.

 

[dr strangelove]

Yeah - fair point. I was comparing chances for the OP (North American I'm guessing) in Irish vs. UK schools. He'd have it much much easier getting in Ireland.

I accept however that the situation for Irish students getting into Irish schools sucks though (?b/c all these NAs are buying up their places?) and they may find it easier to get in medschool elsewhere (UK, EU, US).

I think my major advantage in being accepted to the UK were that its schools look at an individual as a whole and actually give interviews to see what the prospective student is like. All my extracurricular activities and my personality counted for naught in Ireland, while they amount to so much in the UCAS system.

 

[leorl]

I have to say that North Americans aren't taking up spots. Actually, no international student is taking up spots that are meant for Irish people. The unfortunate fact is, that Irish schools are specifically reserving generally 50% of their classes for international students, so it doesn't spill into the 50% of spots allocated to the Irish. And the reason for it is so that the international students fund all of Irish med ed. But North Americans don't make up the majority of the international students, although they may be among those that pay the most out of pocket (i.e. without some sort of governmental subsidy).

For international students / north americans, our extracurriculars and personality definitely count in our applications. Paradoxically, they mean nothing for Irish students. I've said it before - the Irish system has to change, it's very strange for application procedures to have a complete duality with regards to acceptance.

I would not say it's easier to get into a UK school - there's more spots open in Irish schools for North Americans, for one thing.

 

[cmn623]

Thanks all for the response! You're all very helpful. Not to be a pain, but I do have another question. Does anyone know if a North American student can apply to schools in Ireland as well as in England (maybe Scotland too)? You're not limited to one country right? My cousin, who is in Medical School at the University of South Hampton, told me that you can only apply to a certain number of schools. How does this work?

Sorry for all the questions but I really do appreciate all of your responses.
cmn623

 

[dr strangelove]

Thanks all for the response! You're all very helpful. Not to be a pain, but I do have another question. Does anyone know if a North American student can apply to schools in Ireland as well as in England (maybe Scotland too)? You're not limited to one country right? My cousin, who is in Medical School at the University of South Hampton, told me that you can only apply to a certain number of schools. How does this work?

Sorry for all the questions but I really do appreciate all of your responses.
cmn623

No problem.

In the UK you can only apply to a maximum of four schools per year. You're not limited to one country; Ireland has a totally different admissions system to the UK.

 

[Scottish Chap]

I have no firm evidence that it is harder to get into UK but it must be true. Someone with "average GPA and 25 MCATs" wouldn't have a chance in h*** at getting a place in a UK medical school (translation for our UK readers - "average" GPA is roughly equiv. to less than CCC at A-level!!!). The US and canadian students I have seen at UK med schools (n=3 or 4) were top of their classes at great colleges (harvard, stanford etc.) with GPAs >3.8 and had all turned down excellent (top 5) med school offers in US. That is not to say the Irish school aren't good - just that may be more motivated for several reasons (read: $$$$) to let some weaker NA students in.

I went to high school and did my undergrad in the U.K. and everything thereafter in the U.S. The U.K. and the U.S. have such massive differences in education at the high school and even the undergraduate level. I think implying x-GPA=x-A-level results is very, very misleading. Even guessing - it's not accurate at best and misleading at worst. Also, honest N. American applicants studying medicine in the U.K. will tell you that they were unsuccessful gaining entry into a North American program. It's true that there may be one or two people who chose the U.K. or Ireland first (Loerl, I recall, may be one such person), but readers of this post should know assuredly that those students are most definitely in the minority.

The eligible applicant pool for N Americans applying to British medical schools is far smaller than in the U.S. or Canada (where, for the latter, it is insanely difficult to get into medical school). Also, I think most people will agree that it's the MCAT rather than the GPA that keeps them out of N. American schools. Taken together, a hard-working, motivated N. American applicant (and I know several now studying in the U.K. after no success applying to U.S. schools) with a GPA between 3.1 and 3.5, and a compelling UCAS statement, with diverse experience, definitely has a chance with British medical schools. Good luck to all, and to all, a good night.

 

[Mike MacKinnon]

Well said.

Certainly there seems to be much more liberty and leeway for NA students applying to medical school in the UK/Ireland in terms of admissions. It seems that will work in our favor!

 

[Waiting4Ganong]

Advice withdrawn.

 

[Scottish Chap]

UK Applicants in Medicine: 19,064 total (14275 home)
UK Places Offered: 7955 (7262 to home students)
Acceptance rate: 42% (51% home students)

4789 non-U.K. citzens applied and we STILL don't know much about this pool (how many are eligible applicants, how many are N. American, how many were equally successful gaining entry in N America etc.). Those figures are insightful but, for the point you are trying to make, they are a little misleading, my friend. At best, you, I or anyone else can only provide anecdotal information - not hard statistics

Two different systems, two different ways of doing things; neither is better or worse. It's nice many folks (including yourself) on SDN have done well, but, really, it's not our job to decide which students are "weak" when clearly several of them with the grades you are frowning upon successfully matriculate in U.K./Irish medical schools every year and thrive in that system. Good luck, and thanks for the info!

 

[Waiting4Ganong]

Advice withdrawn.