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Applying to Universities in Dublin

I am in Year 12 and want to apply to a couple of Universities in Southern Ireland, including TCD.
I have tried to find some information on applying but it has been quite hard.
If anyone could help me understand the application process, and any big differences between applying through CAO to applying through UCAS for UK unis.

Or if you know of any useful sources of information as any suggestions of books or websites would be greatly appreciated.

These are just a few of my questions:
1.Do they operate the same sort of system to ucas? do you put in one personal statement-does it have a similar structure?
2.Are places like TCD as competitive as the best in the UK?
3.Do they make it harder for non-irish people to get in?
4.Can it be hard to get a job when back in the UK?

Thanks in advance.

Reply 1

username153949

2

Felicity_Ella

1.Do they operate the same sort of system to ucas? do you put in one personal statement-does it have a similar structure?
2.Are places like TCD as competitive as the best in the UK?
3.Do they make it harder for non-irish people to get in?
4.Can it be hard to get a job when back in the UK?

1) Yes and No. The Irish universities have their own system, call the Central Application Office, a system much like UCAS. But unlike UCAS, CAO decides which university you are given a place at, the universities have no say in the matter.
There is no personal statement required, all you need are your personal details, and your grades when you have them. As you are applying for medicine, you'll also have to submit your HPAT score.

2) In terms of grades, yes. I went through the 2008 cycle, and we needed AAAA to gain a place. Now considering oxbridge only wants AAA at the maximum, TCD is actually harder to get into - but only in terms of grades; bear in mind there was no personal statement, admission test nor interviews. Now they are introducing an admission test.

3) No, as a British student you'll be counted as a local student over there - slightly weird system which i have not fully understand yet, but they are charging me local fees instead of EU fees, so i am not complaining. There are plenty of people in my class from Northern Ireland and England (no one from Scotland though); so i wouldn't think they are letting in less UK students.

4) Once you gain your MB BCh BAO (completed your 5 year degree), you are responsible for finding yourself an intern post; this can be anywhere in the world. I am not very familiar with this area yet, so i can't really give much information, try boards.ie for more assistance.

Just give me a shout if you need a hand with the application process, and especially when term starts i can get information for you quite easily from the medical office if you really need it. (I was quite confused when i applied, as there wasn't anybody to help me out, so if i can help do tell me)

Reply 2

StarsAreFixed

13

No I think the CAO is completely different to what I've heard about UCAS to be honest. You are not even known by your name in the system, but your number. There is no personal statement. You must put your choices in GENUINE order of preference, not what you think you're capable of. This is because when the results come out, they take your grades and see if you're entitled to your first place, if yes all of your other choices are immediately struck off your list, if not they move on to your second choice and so on. So if you find you're more partial to your 3rd choice but you get your first, you'll never be offered that choice. You cannot track your choices, nor will any unis contact you since they're not in the frame until results come out. You have several times where you can re-order your courses or change them etc. though so no need to worry. DO NOT APPLY to the CAO online in the last few days of January, every year loads of muppets do this and the whole thing crashes and the poor pets don't get their applications through and have to pay double for the late application. So be on time! The structure may seem cold and unfriendly but it really is the most efficient way to deal with it, it might not work in a much bigger system such as UCAS though.

The CAO determine the points for each course. It works by supply and demand. This is why Medicine and Law have consistently really high points and why science, maths, nursing and computer science have average points. They're not as popular with such limited places. An extremely small percentage of Leaving Cert students get maximum points (600), I'm pretty sure it's less than 2%. So perhaps the Irish students who get 580 (ie. TCD's current Medicine points) would be 5% or less. This is a lot less than get maximum scores in the A-Level system and is the cause really of a lot of A-Level students not getting into Irish courses- it's extremely hard to compare the two anyway. They are not being deliberately unfiar and TCD in particular leaves a lot of places open for non-Irish applicants and has a massive amount of Internationsl students.

You are currently entitled to free fees (tuition fees being debated- there IS a registration fee of €1.5k though). Student loans and credit cards DO exist but it's not so much part of the student culture because of free fees. Accom wouldn't be as expensive as a few years ago but it's still a rip-off. Consider living 15 minutes or so away in an area with great transport links (although transport's a joke except for the minority). The cost of living is high though and since you're looking for medicine you won't really be able to get a part-time job.

cao.ie- you can order the CAO handbook from there. boards.ie is an Irish forum, under the sub-heading Edu(cation) you'll find the Leaving Cert forum (full of CAO applicants, although Irish), and a forum for each uni. Most will have threads for FAQ's containing links to older helpful threads that should answer a lot of your questions. Qualifax.ie has every course in Ireland and lists points etc. tcd.ie ucd.ie should have sections for UK students- both have their prospectus online. Good luck! I know lots about Trinity but not about how to apply through anything other than internal CAO tbh. And the HPAT is after my time.

Reply 3

username153949

2

StarsAreFixed

and since you're looking for medicine you won't really be able to get a part-time job.

Not targeting you or anything, but i have to disagree with that point! Many medical students in my class have weekend jobs - medicine isn't as intensive as people think it is! To be honest I don't think the workload is a lot greater than most other courses...

Reply 4

StarsAreFixed

13

billykwok

Not targeting you or anything, but i have to disagree with that point! Many medical students in my class have weekend jobs - medicine isn't as intensive as people think it is! To be honest I don't think the workload is a lot greater than most other courses...

Hmm really? Don't actually know anyone doing medicine, but a few doing courses with the same type of hours/lab/placement commitments and none of them have one because they can't. Fair enough so.

Reply 5

username153949

2

StarsAreFixed

Hmm really? Don't actually know anyone doing medicine, but a few doing courses with the same type of hours/lab/placement commitments and none of them have one because they can't. Fair enough so.

Well i guess you are correct to a point, medicine is split into pre-clinical (1st and 2nd years) and clinical years (3rd, 4th, 5th years).

Pre-clinical years is just like any other courses, maybe workload is a bit more but its not that intensive, so you can manage a weekend job.

Clinical years will work you off your back, needing to be in hospitals all the time; any free time you have you'll sleep it.

Reply 6

BOBbee

is it possible to only apply for 1 course via cao. for example there is only 1 course i want to apply for in ireland which is TCDs BESS.i also have an offer from loughborough for econ for 2010 entry. would it be okay to try my luck and apply to BESS at TCD if i get the required amount of points from a levels.?

Reply 7

StarsAreFixed

13

Yes you can only put down one if you want.

Reply 8

Felicity_Ella

OP

billykwok

1) Yes and No. The Irish universities have their own system, call the Central Application Office, a system much like UCAS. But unlike UCAS, CAO decides which university you are given a place at, the universities have no say in the matter.
There is no personal statement required, all you need are your personal details, and your grades when you have them. As you are applying for medicine, you'll also have to submit your HPAT score.

2) In terms of grades, yes. I went through the 2008 cycle, and we needed AAAA to gain a place. Now considering oxbridge only wants AAA at the maximum, TCD is actually harder to get into - but only in terms of grades; bear in mind there was no personal statement, admission test nor interviews. Now they are introducing an admission test.

When, I looked at a papercopy of the application, there is a page for special catergories for a personal statement, I thought special catergories included foreign applicants but I am mistaken and is this only for mature applicants?

Also, online from the universities admission requirements, they stipulate that all AS grades gained in Year 12 and all A2 grades gained in Year 13.
Does anyone know if this it a firm rule?
I have done Maths Alevel this year. So I can fulfil the 4 alevels requirement but they won't have all been sat in Year 13. Would simply retaking the Maths A2 modules in Year 13, work?

Also, what are Irish Universities policies on resits, as with stipulations over the AS and A2 year, does that make them impossible?

For the application: Is there a school reference?
Do they just have space for GCSE and AS Grades and predicted A2 Grades?
My school's policy is not to declare AS Grades through the UCAS system, is this possible through CAO or are the AS Grades required?

Thanks for all the applies so far, your help is much appreciated

Reply 9

Spike4848

12

Felicity_Ella

When, I looked at a papercopy of the application, there is a page for special catergories for a personal statement, I thought special catergories included foreign applicants but I am mistaken and is this only for mature applicants?

Also, online from the universities admission requirements, they stipulate that all AS grades gained in Year 12 and all A2 grades gained in Year 13.
Does anyone know if this it a firm rule?
I have done Maths Alevel this year. So I can fulfil the 4 alevels requirement but they won't have all been sat in Year 13. Would simply retaking the Maths A2 modules in Year 13, work?

Also, what are Irish Universities policies on resits, as with stipulations over the AS and A2 year, does that make them impossible?

For the application: Is there a school reference?
Do they just have space for GCSE and AS Grades and predicted A2 Grades?
My school's policy is not to declare AS Grades through the UCAS system, is this possible through CAO or are the AS Grades required?

Thanks for all the applies so far, your help is much appreciated

I'm Londoner and have applied through both UCAS and CAO this year, so might be able to help a little...

1. No, ignore that - I know one instance where it's used - to explain learning disabilities, but beyond that I'm not sure but I do know that EU students (including the UK) aren't meant to use it.

2. Not sure to be honest, I strongly suspect they won't be very stringent on that rule.

3. Again, not completely sure - I did resits and they never mentioned them, but accepted my later grade - but my AS grades weren't certified and so that could be why (they didn't show up on my final A2 certificate, basicly).

4. No school reference.

5. No, there is also a section for other qualifications, I put down the ECDL Computer driving license, for example

6. You don't need AS grades declared as they don't use predictions or make conditional offers. All offers are based on your final marks after A2 and are unconditional.

Hope that helped!

Applying to Universities in Dublin

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