Ucc

[Franzpop]

Anyone at University College Cork med school or visit there?

What did you think of the school and surrounding city? Nice place to spend five years? good hospital rotations?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Rocket07]

Hi there,

I haven't been to Cork yet (going in Sept), but I did find this link on the Cork website:

http://www.ucc.ie/ga/AbhairMhacLeinn/AgObairineineachtleScoileanna/VisitUCCvideos/index.html

It probably won't answer your med school specific questions , but at least you get to see what the campus and surrounding city looks like.

 

[med2UCC]

Hi there,

I haven't been to Cork yet (going in Sept), but I did find this link on the Cork website:

http://www.ucc.ie/ga/AbhairMhacLeinn/AgObairineineachtleScoileanna/VisitUCCvideos/index.html

It probably won't answer your med school specific questions , but at least you get to see what the campus and surrounding city looks like.

Hi folks. I am going into 5th year at UCC this fall and would be happy to talk to people about the program. I did the old curriculum, so I can't answer specific questions about the new set-up, but I know people in 1st and 2nd years and they seem to be happy with what is happening, and the med school has certainly made some changes that I think are long overdue (more clinical exposure in 1st and 2nd year, more integrated learning, applying the theory learned in anatomy and psysiology to practical medical problems).
The med school is usually very helpful if you have problems. although, as anywhere, there are some people who are more helpful than others. There is lots to do in Cork and on campus, and Cork is a great little city to live in. It is not as expensive as Dublin, but still has good pubs, several movie theatres, some live theatre and lots of live music. There are also several good art galleries in town. People here are very friendly, although I fond the first 3 months a bit difficult (but I think that was me, not Cork). I really like living in Cork.
As far as medical education is concerned, I had some concerns, mostly about the limited clinical exposure we have had. However, I am in week 3 of my elective in Canada and it has not been a huge problem - I learn quickly, and I have been very upfront with my preceptors if I haven't done something on an actual human being before. So far this is working fine. On the plus side, I know more random pharmacology than either of my preceptors (of the "beta blockers can cause nightmares if they are the lipid soluble kind, so a solution to this problem might be to put the patient on a hydrophilic one and see what happens" sort) so occasionally I impress them with that, and I take a mean history. It all works out in the end.
If you have any questions, let me know. Otherwise, ping me when you hit Cork and we can go out for coffee and I can introduce you around the 55-ish other North American students already there (mostly Canadian). Cheers,
M

 

[Zuckman]

MED2UCC,

How many internationals are accepted to CorK? Also, how hard is it currently to get accepted to Cork? Thanks a lot.

Zuck

 

[Unch]

I'll be a 3rd med at UCC this year so can only speak to the numbers in my class. For my year there were about 300 NAmerican (mostly Canadian) applicants for 18 spots. One can assume that the numbers (proportionally) are roughly the same for all four schools that form the Atlantic Bridge group. (NUIG_Galway is or isn't part of Atlantic Bridge depending on who you ask.) UCC probably gets fewer applicants than RCSI, UCD or TCD but only because many think (erroneously) that Cork would be a lesser choice than Dublin (it's not, as a city or medically). Perhaps fewer applicants but also smaller classes and fewer spots (RCSI has 225 or so per class and UCC only 125 or so). Within the Atlantic Bridge application, it's just a matter of ticking the boxes of the schools you want to apply to so, reasonably speaking, there's no reason not to apply to UCC. You can always decide later after an acceptance. I ticked the UCC box as an unknowing afterthought, ended up there, and see now that it would have been the best choice for me regardless (maybe admissions committees know/knew something I didn't at the time).

 

[Zuckman]

UNch,

Thanks for the reply. So, I'm wondering, the Irish schools may even consider you for either their 5yr or 6yr program I guess. There's no box indicating which program you're interested in?

Zuck

 

[Unch]

Don't know but can only assume you'll be routed to the 6-year if coming from high school and the 5-year if you have a bachelor's or better. Some Irish schools are preparing four-year graduate entry programs but not in time for you, i suspect.

 

[Sage880]

Don't know but can only assume you'll be routed to the 6-year if coming from high school and the 5-year if you have a bachelor's or better. Some Irish schools are preparing four-year graduate entry programs but not in time for you, i suspect.

Yes, that's all true. And the four-year programs are for Irish students post-degree only right now.

UCC is nice. I really like it anyway. If you're happier in a really big city then go to Trinity or UCD. Not that Cork is that small - it's half the population of my city back home but because it's so compact it feels a lot bigger. The cities don't sprawl quite as much as in NA.

Congrats on being accepted Rocket. Where are you from originally?

 

[Rocket07]

I'm from Toronto, ON. I think I PMed you a few times under an older account. You mentioned something about a get together for Canadian Cork students?

 

[Zuckman]

Rocket07,
Congrats on getting into UCC!! I'm wondering what my chances are to get into UCC if my stats are as follows: cgpa 3.9, MCAT 28 O...MCAT is not so good so I'm not too confident.

It would be great if you could PM me your stats and maybe give me some advice on the application process...I'm very new to the ABP. Also, is my MCAT too low for acceptance? Thanks Rocket07.

Zuck

 

[med2UCC]

Rocket07,
Congrats on getting into UCC!! I'm wondering what my chances are to get into UCC if my stats are as follows: cgpa 3.9, MCAT 28 O...MCAT is not so good so I'm not too confident.

It would be great if you could PM me your stats and maybe give me some advice on the application process...I'm very new to the ABP. Also, is my MCAT too low for acceptance? Thanks Rocket07.

Zuck

I'll answer you in open forum. 4 years ago I got into UCC on a 28 MCAT (I think the writing sample score was R, or maybe S) and a GPA of 3.56 on my science degree, around 2.1 if you count all the courses I ever took at uni. Things have changed a little in the past 4 years, but they still look at other things than marks, so if you have some life experience you stand a better chance of getting in. Your marks are better than mine, and your MCAt is comparable (mine broke down to 8 physical, 9 biological and 11 verbal reasoning - not sure how they weight the different parts). Good luck on your application.
As for a gathering for the Canadian students, usually we get together on Thanksgiving Monday at Flannery's pub on the Glasheen Road for a big dinner with potluck desserts. It's a good time and lets everyone meet in an informal setting. We also usually do a pub night some time early in the term (late-September, early October) although I don't know if we did that this year - maybe I missed it. Cheers,
M

 

[Rocket07]

I'll answer you in open forum. 4 years ago I got into UCC on a 28 MCAT (I think the writing sample score was R, or maybe S) and a GPA of 3.56 on my science degree, around 2.1 if you count all the courses I ever took at uni. Things have changed a little in the past 4 years, but they still look at other things than marks, so if you have some life experience you stand a better chance of getting in. Your marks are better than mine, and your MCAt is comparable (mine broke down to 8 physical, 9 biological and 11 verbal reasoning - not sure how they weight the different parts). Good luck on your application.
As for a gathering for the Canadian students, usually we get together on Thanksgiving Monday at Flannery's pub on the Glasheen Road for a big dinner with potluck desserts. It's a good time and lets everyone meet in an informal setting. We also usually do a pub night some time early in the term (late-September, early October) although I don't know if we did that this year - maybe I missed it. Cheers,
M

I think things may have changed in terms of academic requirements. I applied to the schools in Ireland in 2006 with a 3.5 GPA and a 28R and was rejected from them all. The following year I improved my MCAT to a 36Q and applied with a 3.6 GPA and had an RCSI interview (rejected post-interview) and got accepted into Cork with no other acceptances. Based on my experience applying it appears to me that the requirments have risen.

I think the rise is academic requirements is normal (it's happened here in Canadian med schools). Also ABP has way more applications this year so that may also be a part of it...