Okay so first of all, I didn't get to see any admissions tutors when I was over there but I'm sure if you call and ask they'll be happy to see you. About the HPAT, the resources aren't cheap, but I'd say it's well worth buying a few of the practice tests. In terms of the sections, the first is basically GSCE maths and logic questions, they can be tricky and they put in answers to try and catch you out but I think it all comes with practice. The second section I found came the most naturally. They give you a scenario and you basically have to say what they're feeling or something. The only problems I had was the vocabulary they used. So, for example, they gave a scenario and asked is the person feeling a) aggrieved b)apprehensive c)distressed and either I didn't know what the words fully meant, or I thought all 3 would fit, but again I think it comes with practice. As for the last section, this for me was the hardest. It's sort of like the decision analysis section of the UKCAT but some of the questions were a bit different; definitely practice this section. Lastly you need to bare in mind that it is a written paper. They give you the paper and an answer sheet to mark which letter you think the answer is (from multiple choice). Make sure you time it right because you have a little more time than the UKCAT but don't be fooled, this is where I was caught out. I ended up panicking and guessing 4 or 5 because I simply didn't have the time to read it. Also, you do each section in order and CANNOT go back to a previous section to spend more time on it (they are very strict about this).
In terms of entry requirements, one very important thing to bare in mind is that NONE of the universities in Ireland consider a personal statement. Any relevant experience or your emotional aptitude to medicine isn't required. So to put it simply, if you're a complete genius without a caring bone in your body, you would get in. So yes unfortunately, grades are pretty important but I'm sure you'll be alright. You need a minimum of 480 points from A2 and AS to be considered
You get 150 for an A at A2 and 130 for a B at A2 and you also get an extra 25 points for having maths at A2 no matter what grade you get (even if you get an E). It all explains it all on the CAO website and explains the points on UCC's website.
There are only 5 Irish Uni's that do undergrad med: TDC, UCD, UCC, RCSI and NUI Gallway. However, unlike UCAS, you get 10 choices to put in so if filled the rest of mine with biomed just for the hell of it.
Any more questions?
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