Everything HPAT and medicine for 2010 (R1 points post #1247)

briankirby

Hey guys,i thought id link this thread for us prospective med students.It has definitely made me think twice about being a doctor in ireland.I think there have been similar threads but i found this one quite an intersting readhttp://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055854041.

mcrdotcom

Im in 5th year and I recently find myself aiming towards becoming a surgeon. I know its extremely difficult to get into with a limited number of spaces and high points etc... but I can deal with that. My only problem is the Hpat exam. I looked at some sample questions and it seems difficult.

I was wondering if anyone can explain to me the points system from the Hpat because surgery is 715 points on qualifax which doesnt explain the Hpat/leaving cert. ratio of points. And if anyone who has taken the exam could tell me how they prepared and just how difficult it is and the structure etc... I'd be truely grateful.

ayumi

a friend of me on friday recieved a letter saying that she has 3 days to submit an application for rcsi,
why is this and is it because its private and has its own system of excepting applicants.She is not irish but shes from outside europe.

zam

mcrdotcom wrote: »

Im in 5th year and I recently find myself aiming towards becoming a surgeon. I know its extremely difficult to get into with a limited number of spaces and high points etc... but I can deal with that. My only problem is the Hpat exam. I looked at some sample questions and it seems difficult.

I was wondering if anyone can explain to me the points system from the Hpat because surgery is 715 points on qualifax which doesnt explain the Hpat/leaving cert. ratio of points. And if anyone who has taken the exam could tell me how they prepared and just how difficult it is and the structure etc... I'd be truely grateful.

Basically your Leaving Cert is out of 560 and your HPAT is out of 300. You add them together to get your score.
Normally the highest you can get in the Leaving Cert is 600 but when applying for medicine, every 5 points you get above 550 only counts for one point - so for example if you get 555 in your Leaving Cert it translates as 551, and 560 as 552 etc.
The HPAT is out of 300 but very rarely would anyone get over 200.
So basically if you get 600 points in the Leaving Cert and 174 in the HPAT you have a combined score of 734, which would get you into medicine.
The HPAT is difficult enough but everyone's in the same boat. I didn't do a prep course or anything, just a few practice questions... time will tell how well I did :P

wouldbedoc

ayumi wrote: »

a friend of me on friday recieved a letter saying that she has 3 days to submit an application for rcsi,
why is this and is it because its private and has its own system of excepting applicants.She is not irish but shes from outside europe.

Hi Ayumi, I'm not 100% sure if this helps answer your question but I'll give it a go-I can only speak for the Irish undergraduate application process for medicine through RCSI but I found a page on their website that explains the standard process for Non-EU/International applicants:
http://www.rcsi.ie/index.jsp?pID=149&nID=245&aID=304
Hope it helps.

ayumi

wouldbedoc wrote: »

Hi Ayumi, I'm not 100% sure if this helps answer your question but I'll give it a go-I can only speak for the Irish undergraduate application process for medicine through RCSI but I found a page on their website that explains the standard process for Non-EU/International applicants:
http://www.rcsi.ie/index.jsp?pID=149&nID=245&aID=304
Hope it helps.

she has done primary school and scondary school here in ireland and is living here for the past 7 years

bleh!

ayumi wrote: »

a friend of me on friday recieved a letter saying that she has 3 days to submit an application for rcsi,
why is this and is it because its private and has its own system of excepting applicants.She is not irish but shes from outside europe.

Hey ayumi, I think I was in the same situation as your friend there last year (I'm also not Irish and I'm from outside Europe too but lived here for over 3 yrs=EU student). I received a letter from the RCSI too but if I'm not mistaken, it was just asking for proof that I have a legal status here not a separate application to the school. I then went on to go to the RCSI for college so no worries for your friend there:D

bythewoods

tommy92 wrote: »

Hey everyone, sorry VERY off topic here, but I'm looking to do Medicine, hopefully in Trinity, but i have a pretty wide range of interests too. Are there any options to do Medicine and then minor in something like a foreign language, or do english on the side or anything? Or is it if you're in medicine, that's all you can do? Apparently there's some flexibility in UCD but I'm still not totally clear on it. Any ideas?

Hi hi,
I'm in Trinity first med.

This year, we all got to do a broad curriculum subject worth 5 credits (out of a total of 60 for the year).
There were all sorts of options- a few classes were made just for us, so the likes of history of medicine, philosophy of medicine, etc. I did Literature and Medicine, really enjoyed it, was a nice wee break from the usual scientific stuff. There was also Creative writing classes, Perception in Art, Bioethics, Life Sciences ...
You could go in with students from all sorts of courses to do various languages (Not sure what the choice here was tbh, defo French, Italian, Spanish, German, Irish and Turkish... possibly more) and a few random bits and pieces like a Film studies module and stuff.

With UCD, you're thinking of Horizons. It's basically the same idea- you have to pick up 2 extra modules which can be either from within your department or from any other course. Long story, but I was there for a while and I was able to choose an Irish Language module and a Psychology module with PreMed (I didn't stay there though, so not 100% sure on the details)

Hope that helps.

ayumi

bleh! wrote: »

Hey ayumi, I think I was in the same situation as your friend there last year (I'm also not Irish and I'm from outside Europe too but lived here for over 3 yrs=EU student). I received a letter from the RCSI too but if I'm not mistaken, it was just asking for proof that I have a legal status here not a separate application to the school. I then went on to go to the RCSI for college so no worries for your friend there:D

she told me that they asked for her satus here and passport photos and an essay,i dont know what its about she didnt tell me
but thanx for reading my post

mcrdotcom

zam wrote: »

Basically your Leaving Cert is out of 560 and your HPAT is out of 300. You add them together to get your score.
Normally the highest you can get in the Leaving Cert is 600 but when applying for medicine, every 5 points you get above 550 only counts for one point - so for example if you get 555 in your Leaving Cert it translates as 551, and 560 as 552 etc.
The HPAT is out of 300 but very rarely would anyone get over 200.
So basically if you get 600 points in the Leaving Cert and 174 in the HPAT you have a combined score of 734, which would get you into medicine.
The HPAT is difficult enough but everyone's in the same boat. I didn't do a prep course or anything, just a few practice questions... time will tell how well I did :P

Thanks and good luck

acfan

Hi Everybody!

Was just wondering have any of the mature applicants to medicine been called for interview yet???
I know the TCD interviews are scheduled for the 27th / 28th of April!! Has anyone been asked to attend??

Thanks!

zam

I keep having HPAT nightmares...

psychoduck

zam wrote: »

I keep having HPAT nightmares...

you're not alone

zam

Here when actually are the HPAT results? 25th June, last day of leaving cert is it? or 26th or even 28th?

28th June.

zam

28th?! That's longer having to wait! Grrrghghrhh!

wouldbedoc

With the UKCAT you're given the results immediately after the exam,although it's computerised so I suppose the results are easier to deliver more promptly-at least it keeps the nightmares to a minimum:).

zam

Yeah I loved getting them straight away! With the HPAT the idea is to avoid discouraging people from doing well in their LC even if they do badly in the HPAT

Patsypooky

Anthony16 wrote: »

Really?I know someone who did it and said the same.Apparently the guy doing it claimed all his relations were doing medicine because of med entry.Is that true?:pac:

The guy doing it also claims many things in Australia and New Zealand so be alert.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/talk-umat/

http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/HPAT-test-HPAT-prep-HPAT-Ulster-HPAT-Ireland/

Steer clear or forfeit the hard earned stuff.

Bookmarked

How do you calculate your points for the HPAT? Is the percentile i.e 70 percentile equal to 0.7x300 = 210?

pathway33

Bookmarked wrote: »

How do you calculate your points for the HPAT? Is the percentile i.e 70 percentile equal to 0.7x300 = 210?

No. Based on last years 70 percentile was lower than that

Patsypooky

pathway33 wrote: »

No. Based on last years 70 percentile was lower than that

I heard that all final raw scores results go on a bell curve to determine percentiles so each year the equivalent raw score > percentile would differ depending on that years cohort.

pathway33

Patsypooky wrote: »

I heard that all final raw scores results go on a bell curve to determine percentiles so each year the equivalent raw score > percentile would differ depending on that years cohort.

I heard about the bell curve. I also heard that 2010 percentile marks would have to be not only a bell curve but also in line with 2009 percentiles. Something to do with repeat students being able to use the HPAT marks from last year for this year. That could be completely wrong

Patsypooky

pathway33 wrote: »

I heard about the bell curve. I also heard that 2010 percentile marks would have to be not only a bell curve but also in line with 2009 percentiles. Something to do with repeat students being able to use the HPAT marks from last year for this year. That could be completely wrong

I "heard" exactly the same that from year to year the results need to be standardised but I guess we are all truly in the dark on this.

aine92

In the prep course in the institute we were told it is 100% marked on a bell curve. When out tutor did it he got in the top 2 percentile and I think he got 196 or something like that.:eek:

Zenith23

Patsypooky wrote: »

I "heard" exactly the same that from year to year the results need to be standardised but I guess we are all truly in the dark on this.

Where did you hear this? I doubt it's true. I heard of someone who got 30th%ile one year and 95th%ile the next.....

OxfordComma

Zenith23 wrote: »

Where did you hear this? I doubt it's true. I heard of someone who got 30th%ile one year and 95th%ile the next.....

In the HPAT? The HPAT's only been held twice ever, and the results from the second sitting haven't been released yet...

Logically, the results are probably going to have to be adjusted to take into account the fact that the test will more than likely vary in difficulty from year to year, to prevent people who took the test one year from having an unfair advantage over candidates from a different year. So it's most likely that someone who scores in the 50th percentile this year will have their total HPAT points adjusted so they'll have the same number of points as someone who scored in the 50th percentile last year.

Just to clarify (there seems to be some confusion above) the percentile only really tells you how well you performed in relation to everybody else. If you score in the 90th percentile, you've outperformed 90% of the total candidates. Last year, this required a HPAT score of approx. 180 out of 300.

Look_Me_Up

I "heard" from my guidance councellor that the highest in the country was 212 or something? would that be about right?

and ultimatley does it make it harder or easier for entry? because although i am able to get the required LC points now, before the HPAT test I highly doubt I would!

Zenith23

1fahy4 wrote: »

In the HPAT? The HPAT's only been held twice ever, and the results from the second sitting haven't been released yet...

Logically, the results are probably going to have to be adjusted to take into account the fact that the test will more than likely vary in difficulty from year to year, to prevent people who took the test one year from having an unfair advantage over candidates from a different year. So it's most likely that someone who scores in the 50th percentile this year will have their total HPAT points adjusted so they'll have the same number of points as someone who scored in the 50th percentile last year.

Just to clarify (there seems to be some confusion above) the percentile only really tells you how well you performed in relation to everybody else. If you score in the 90th percentile, you've outperformed 90% of the total candidates. Last year, this required a HPAT score of approx. 180 out of 300.

Actually, in Australia they do the UMAT which is exactly the same as the HPAT in terms of form and scoring. I was talking about someone over there.

Just to clarify the above 1fay4; is that to say that next year (if your assumption is correct) some repeaters will have the same percentiles as those who sat it the first time but different scores?

Oh and Look_Me_Up I'm pretty sure that the highest score last year was 225.

Look_Me_Up

QUESTION, I'm reading up about trinity because I'm without chemistry and it says the minimun required points for 2008 was 580. they havn't updated the site obviously

I was wondering if anyone know the points for this year or 2009 with HPAT included?