What are my chances for TCD and NUI Galway?

[OntMedic]

I'm trying to explore all of my med school options at this point and am hoping that you can give me an idea of my chances for admission at NUI Galway and TCD. I am a Canadian and would be applying through the ABP for fall 2011.

Brief overview:
- undergrad GPA 3.5 from U of T
- grad GPA 4.0 (MSc in Disaster Medicine and Management)
- 2+ years experience as a paramedic
- lots of volunteering
- fair bit of research (with publications)

Any thoughts?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[asd979]

Trinity is tough to get in but you stand a good chance to either school. Remember it's not all about GPA, your letters of recommendation and your essay play a huge part, as well as your application.

 

[Handsome88]

you have a good chance. I got in with a 3.6, but i know people who had 3.8 and did not get into trinity.

 

[krazyfish]

You have a pretty good chance.
I have a 3.5 undergrad as well, and was accepted.
The publications and 2+ years working as a paramedic is a definite plus. The only tricky thing is to convince the admissions why you chose not to stay as a paramedic after 2+ years.

 

[iwantajob]

OntMedic...don't rely on the statistics of others to find out your chances! The admissions process is random and luck. I personally know students who have failed numerous classes, scored low on the MCAT, and still gotten accepted over students who have aced their MCAT, classes, and have extracurriculars! Every school is different in what they want. I hate to be a pessimist here but the admissions process is not always fair.

On the positive side, I think you stand a good chance based on the fact that you have a post-graduate degree with publications. The Europeans have a much greater appreciation (I think) for that than most American or Canadian medical schools for some reason who focus primarily on the MCAT and undergraduate GPA and the rest is just extra. Try applying to the other schools (such as RCSI, dublin, cork) as well and I'm sure you would get accepted to at least one of these schools.

 

[OntMedic]

Thank you for the replies everyone! I'm limited to those schools at this point due to not having written the MCAT (along with missing some prereqs for four year programs).

I have a conditional offer for an Australia undergrad med program to start in February 2011. What I'm debating at this point is whether I should pass on that and roll the dice on Ireland or whether I should go with Oz. (I know that a lot of this depends on my personal goals in terms of Ireland being much better for coming back to Canada, but I still appreciate any thoughts anyone has on this.) It looks to me like acceptances to Ireland through the ABP do not come out until the spring at the earliest, so it wouldn't be possible to hang onto Oz pending the outcome of Ireland apps.

 

[UptownMed]

I posted this reply elsewhere, but I think it will help. I have heard rumors that Trinity really likes Research. If you can focus on this in the app, I think you are good. I had a 3.8 with no MCATs, and a lot of research. I think it also helped that I had been to Ireland before. I wrote a lot about how I did my application in the Sticky stats accepted thread. Read it, it might help you out.

Cheers,
Charlotte

 

[OntMedic]

Thanks, I'll take a look!