UCC vs RCSI

[Riverpeth]

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As the title states, the aim of this thread is to get some input on UCC and RCSI, and hopefully devise some form of pros and cons list.
Both schools represent near opposite sides of the spectrum.

RCSI: Most expensive, located in Dublin, not affiliated with a University
UCC: One of the cheapest, located outside Dublin in Cork, affiliated with a University

Does anyone have any personal experience or information that they can add to this list?

 

[captains]

Congrats on your offers, Riverpeth! I did a year of my undergraduate degree at UCC and really loved it there; it's actually the reason I chose to apply back to Ireland for med school instead of staying within the States. That said, I'm pretty sure accepting my offer at RCSI for the fall. Imo, there are a couple of things you have to ask yourself:

Are you afraid of "the bubble"? At RCSI, you won't have easy access to non-medical folks, and meeting people as a newbie foreigner can be tough. If you're someone who values educational diversity in their friend group, you may prefer a university environment, where you'll get the chance to meet and greet with Arts students, as well as future doctors. If you're at a place in your life where you really just want to sink deep into the medical school lifestyle, the college may be a better fit. Also, RCSI separates out GEM and 6 year students for the first two years, which means no 17 year olds. Personally, I'm into that, but you may prefer a broader age range.

UCC will also offer a broader range of clubs and socs, while the ones at RCSI will be more medicine-specific. If you are desperately hoping to join a, idk, parasailing club in the next four years, a university is more likely offer that.

Dublin vs. Cork. At the end of the day, Dublin is a city and Cork is, honestly, a town. Don't get me wrong, Cork is the second biggest city in Ireland, and frankly, it's charming as hell. Very classicly Irish, imo. But fwiw, I had the city centre mentally mapped out within a week; by the end of the year, I felt like I'd been into every shop and walked the greater county. Of course, I'm a big big city kind of guy, so. Y'know. Cork isn't cosmopolitan, but it's lovely and tight-knit and it certainly has its own culture. Up to you, what you prefer!

How worried are you about matching back, etc? From what I've gathered, I think the point for USMLE prep (& the Canadian eq., probably, altho my research has been US-centric) has to go to RCSI. That said, in 2012, UCC had an impressive 94% USMLE stage 1 pass rate! So. I'd also compare curriculums. I like the anatomical focus at RCSI, and I like the rotations they offer. I haven't specifically compared to UCC, though -- that's something you may want to check on!

Cost, unfortunately, only you can decide.

Good luck! And congrats again.

 

[Jloyay]

I'm having a problem with the banks for UCC. Apparently theyre suspicious of the program and afraid that it may not be accredited/legitimate.

They need to scan my letter and run a check and they didn't get back immediately.

Cost wisw UCC is definitely cheaper being in Cork with a lower tuition. Not sure if money is a factor though.

 

[Riverpeth]

Congrats on your offers, Riverpeth! I did a year of my undergraduate degree at UCC and really loved it there; it's actually the reason I chose to apply back to Ireland for med school instead of staying within the States. That said, I'm pretty sure accepting my offer at RCSI for the fall. Imo, there are a couple of things you have to ask yourself:

Are you afraid of "the bubble"? At RCSI, you won't have easy access to non-medical folks, and meeting people as a newbie foreigner can be tough. If you're someone who values educational diversity in their friend group, you may prefer a university environment, where you'll get the chance to meet and greet with Arts students, as well as future doctors. If you're at a place in your life where you really just want to sink deep into the medical school lifestyle, the college may be a better fit. Also, RCSI separates out GEM and 6 year students for the first two years, which means no 17 year olds. Personally, I'm into that, but you may prefer a broader age range.

UCC will also offer a broader range of clubs and socs, while the ones at RCSI will be more medicine-specific. If you are desperately hoping to join a, idk, parasailing club in the next four years, a university is more likely offer that.

Dublin vs. Cork. At the end of the day, Dublin is a city and Cork is, honestly, a town. Don't get me wrong, Cork is the second biggest city in Ireland, and frankly, it's charming as hell. Very classicly Irish, imo. But fwiw, I had the city centre mentally mapped out within a week; by the end of the year, I felt like I'd been into every shop and walked the greater county. Of course, I'm a big big city kind of guy, so. Y'know. Cork isn't cosmopolitan, but it's lovely and tight-knit and it certainly has its own culture. Up to you, what you prefer!

How worried are you about matching back, etc? From what I've gathered, I think the point for USMLE prep (& the Canadian eq., probably, altho my research has been US-centric) has to go to RCSI. That said, in 2012, UCC had an impressive 94% USMLE stage 1 pass rate! So. I'd also compare curriculums. I like the anatomical focus at RCSI, and I like the rotations they offer. I haven't specifically compared to UCC, though -- that's something you may want to check on!

Cost, unfortunately, only you can decide.

Good luck! And congrats again.

Thanks for all these points, and congratulations to you as well!

As an older student I don't mind that RCSI isn't affiliated with a University, and the Dublin "bubble" actually sounds pretty exciting. My main concern is only regarding matching back, everything else I can live with. My point of view is that regardless of which school I attend, all Irish school's are insanely expensive, so what's a few extra grand each year if that helps improve my chances at returning to North America (either way, the debt will be huge). From my understanding, RCSI seems to have more in place for helping students match back, and organizing scheduling to accommodate a smoother experience with all of the paperwork. Additionally, although I'm not sure if it's true, I would assume RCSI would do everything in it's power to support its student and keep match rates high in order to justify it's exorbitant cost over the other schools. (At the end of the day it's a business, and higher match rates means more applicants and a better reputation)

From what I've read, it also seems that RCSI schedules core modules better (cores in 3rd year that other schools only offer in 4th year) which allows for a better selection of electives. I've heard that attaining good electives is the key to matching a residency position, not sure what else factors in to the application.

 

[Riverpeth]

I'm having a problem with the banks for UCC. Apparently theyre suspicious of the program and afraid that it may not be accredited/legitimate.

They need to scan my letter and run a check and they didn't get back immediately.

Cost wisw UCC is definitely cheaper being in Cork with a lower tuition. Not sure if money is a factor though.

Hmm, interesting that the bank is giving you troubles. Are you an American or Canadian applicant?

Money is definitely a factor, but I figure it's insanely expensive either way, I really just want to optimize my chances at matching back. I just wish there was an objective, reliable way to know what kind of advantages each school has in this regard.

 

[Jloyay]

Hmm, interesting that the bank is giving you troubles. Are you an American or Canadian applicant?

Money is definitely a factor, but I figure it's insanely expensive either way, I really just want to optimize my chances at matching back. I just wish there was an objective, reliable way to know what kind of advantages each school has in this regard.

I'm a Canadian haha. Looking at the match results it seems to be pretty consistent between all the schools in Ireland. I think that if you do well on your boards/USMLEs without retake, get a few North American observerships or CEs, you definitely have a good shot at matching even as an IMG. I'm basing this on the lists that I've seen but I'm in the same boat as you pretty much.

Yeah I'm not that good when it comes to money lol this is my first loan from a bank and I'm asking them for $200,000+ feels a bit crazy when you think about it. My parents are not too ecstatic too that the school doesn't show up when the banks tried to check.

 

[Medstart108]

I think if you can afford it, it might be better to choose RCSI especially if what I hear is true that the core rotations are better organized. Most important at the end of the day is that you don't run into much trouble with matching. If you are American its not that difficult to match in a non-competitive specialty, but for Canada its insane and without electives you basically don't have much of a shot.

 

[Riverpeth]

I think if you can afford it, it might be better to choose RCSI especially if what I hear is true that the core rotations are better organized. Most important at the end of the day is that you don't run into much trouble with matching. If you are American its not that difficult to match in a non-competitive specialty, but for Canada its insane and without electives you basically don't have much of a shot.

Do Canadian and American students who train in Ireland compete for the same spots in the US, or are the American students given some form of preference? Basically, do we all have an equal shot of matching back in the US as long as we write the USMLE?

 

[Medstart108]

Do Canadian and American students who train in Ireland compete for the same spots in the US, or are the American students given some form of preference? Basically, do we all have an equal shot of matching back in the US as long as we write the USMLE?

Americans are preferred because they don't need a visa, so its less hassle for the program and less costly to take on an American.

 

[Riverpeth]

Americans are preferred because they don't need a visa, so its less hassle for the program and less costly to take on an American.

Hmm, interesting. Does anyone know what the match rate of Canadians is to US residency spots for RCSI?

 

[Medstart108]

Hmm, interesting. Does anyone know what the match rate of Canadians is to US residency spots for RCSI?

The data that is released isn't clear enough for us to tell. We don't know those who apply to US if they are Canadian or American and also if they applied as well to Canadian residencies, because as you know if you match to Canada you are automatically withdrawn from the US match.

Its complicated to tell, but I would guess that Canadians match just as well as Americans but likely to lesser programs. Also the fact that Canadians are going to have to split their elective time between Canada and the US might hurt them a bit.

 

[Chuenteck]

As the title states, the aim of this thread is to get some input on UCC and RCSI, and hopefully devise some form of pros and cons list.
Both schools represent near opposite sides of the spectrum.

RCSI: Most expensive, located in Dublin, not affiliated with a University
UCC: One of the cheapest, located outside Dublin in Cork, affiliated with a University

Does anyone have any personal experience or information that they can add to this list?

Hi, can I know when you receive offer from UCC?
I am still waiting to hear back from them.
Thanks
Dean

 

[Riverpeth]

Hi, can I know when you receive offer from UCC?
I am still waiting to hear back from them.
Thanks
Dean

If I remember correctly I got my acceptance package from them on March 17th, St. Patrick's day.

 

[Easily_Sunburned]

If I remember correctly I got my acceptance package from them on March 17th, St. Patrick's day.

Ha! St Patrick's Day, 2008 - day I got accepted to RCSI 🙂 Lot of Guinness that day. I wonder if that's something they do intentionally.

 

[Easily_Sunburned]

Does anyone have any personal experience or information that they can add to this list?

RCSI class 2013 grad. here.

@captains Did an excellent job of summarizing RCSI vs UCC, and Dublin Vs Cork. I'd also like to add that RCSI is a private university, with schools of medicine, pharmacy, physiotherapy, and dentistry - and that's it. So it's not a 'full' university in the traditional sense. But it is a 'university.' Definitely doesn't have the same range of students or extra curricular as somewhere like UCC would, though. Still lots to be involved in, but most of it's more 'mainstream,' e.g. rugby, football (soccer, I guess?), field hockey, etc. So if you're interests are in something more esoteric, you'll probably have a problem finding a big group to do it in. But if you want to go to competitions in most sports, represent the college, intercollegiate competitions, etc, RCSI has that.

Regarding the match rate, take a look at the upload - it's a document summarizing who matched to where last year (2014 match) - it's from CIMSA (Canadian Irish Medical Student Association, so emphasis is on CARMS (Canadian version of the Match) and it covers only Canadian Students applying to USA or Canada (Unclear what the overall statistics are for combined Americans/Canadians/Irish Citizens).

Basically, for both the Canadian and American Match:

RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland)
32/39 match overall

NUIG (National University of Ireland, Galway)
6/8 matched overall

UCD (University College Dublin)
15/24 matched overall

TCD (Trinity College Dublin)
17/19 matched overall

UCC (University College Cork)
14/17 matched overall

University of Limerick
20/28 matched overall

 

[Medstart108]

RCSI class 2013 grad. here.

@captains Did an excellent job of summarizing RCSI vs UCC, and Dublin Vs Cork. I'd also like to add that RCSI is a private university, with schools of medicine, pharmacy, physiotherapy, and dentistry - and that's it. So it's not a 'full' university in the traditional sense. But it is a 'university.' Definitely doesn't have the same range of students or extra curricular as somewhere like UCC would, though. Still lots to be involved in, but most of it's more 'mainstream,' e.g. rugby, football (soccer, I guess?), field hockey, etc. So if you're interests are in something more esoteric, you'll probably have a problem finding a big group to do it in. But if you want to go to competitions in most sports, represent the college, intercollegiate competitions, etc, RCSI has that.

Regarding the match rate, take a look at the upload - it's a document summarizing who matched to where last year (2014 match) - it's from CIMSA (Canadian Irish Medical Student Association, so emphasis is on CARMS (Canadian version of the Match) and it covers only Canadian Students applying to USA or Canada (Unclear what the overall statistics are for combined Americans/Canadians/Irish Citizens).

Basically, for both the Canadian and American Match:

RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland)
32/39 match overall

NUIG (National University of Ireland, Galway)
6/8 matched overall

UCD (University College Dublin)
15/24 matched overall

TCD (Trinity College Dublin)
17/19 matched overall

UCC (University College Cork)
14/17 matched overall

University of Limerick
20/28 matched overall

The CIMSA document includes Americans. It mentions the breakdown in the documents.

 

[Easily_Sunburned]

The CIMSA document includes Americans. It mentions the breakdown in the documents.

Nah, it's the Canadian Irish Medical Student Association. They listed Canadians who matched to Canada. UCC and UCD listed both Americans and Canadians (Smaller number, easier to organize). The other places are only the Canadians.

 

[Medstart108]

Nah, it's the Canadian Irish Medical Student Association. They listed Canadians who matched to Canada. UCC and UCD listed both Americans and Canadians (Smaller number, easier to organize). The other places are only the Canadians.

Oh I see, this helps a lot then thanks!

Not a bad match stat 20/39 matched to Canada at RCSI and 12 of the rest matched to the US. If these are all Canadians then these stats are not bad at all.

 

[t0ny]

Urgh it makes the decision so Much harder. RCSI is about 1.5 times the price of the other schools, but as a Canadian the odds of matching seem greater there based on facts.

 

[starstrike]

Urgh it makes the decision so Much harder. RCSI is about 1.5 times the price of the other schools, but as a Canadian the odds of matching seem greater there based on facts.

Where have you received acceptances?

 

[deleted158872]

anyone else can give a comparison between these 2 schools?

or just tell us about your experience if you have gone to either school 🙂

 

[RCSI student]

anyone else can give a comparison between these 2 schools?

Both schools are equally successful in the match and generally have positive reviews. For some people, it comes down to living in Dublin vs living in Cork (both great cities by the way!). The above comparisons outline the differences nicely but, at the end of the day either school would be a good choice.

 

[deleted158872]

about UCC:
can someone comment on the teaching quality/curriculum, attendance policy & American elective rotations at UCC?
when are students allowed to do U.S. elective rotations?
are you given time off to do electives?

acc. to UCC website https://www.ucc.ie/en/medical/prosstud/gem/about/overview/ , students are allowed to do elective rotations in the summer after M3 year.
is that true?
if so, how can they apply for US residency on time? do they have to spend an extra year, then?

and what does the research project that students are required to do in the last 2 years entail?

 

[goldeneyes]

about UCC:
can someone comment on the teaching quality/curriculum, attendance policy & American elective rotations at UCC?
when are students allowed to do U.S. elective rotations?
are you given time off to do electives?

acc. to UCC website Programme Overview | University College Cork , students are allowed to do elective rotations in the summer after M3 year.
is that true?
if so, how can they apply for US residency on time? do they have to spend an extra year, then?

and what does the research project that students are required to do in the last 2 years entail?

Maruko raises some good questions - can anybody comment? Even though a couple of years have now passed?