a science degree in ucd..... then...

kate.m

I'm about to start science after not getting medicine. Got 169 in hpat and 6a2s in the lc.

I WISH I had read this before my lc as I would have looked into pharmacy, I didn't and even though I would have got rcsi am stuck doing science. Guidance councillor didn't mention it at all....

Is science really not good to have before doing grad. Med? I'd be interested in genetics, pharmacology or neuroscience for 3rd year, anything medical related at all....is it a bad decision?

Sorry for dragging this up..

Sid_Justice

Have you considered repeating Kate, it will really save you a lot of time and energy especially as you didn't actually want to do the alternative undergrad in the first place.

Science is a great background for Medicine, especially the subjects you've mentioned.

kate.m

Parents don't want me to repeat. It's financial I tink, like repeating would cost quite a bit (even if I don't get grinds...) and I've already paid my registration fees, did during september, so I'd loose 2000 and my parents would be so mad, not like they can just throw that away. I would repeat but not an option. I might give the hpat a shot but I know I've not really got a shot. Need an amazing score.

So science isnt a bad move? I know I'm wasting 4 years, and I've been told the first 2 years of science are awful because you only get interested in 3rd and 4th year....I transferred to science this week from an arts degree (after my hpat score realised it wouldn't happen and for some strange reason decide I liked languages...wrong)...so I start science next week.

I know you've risked losing €2000 and will be liable for fees for next year(but only half of them, if you withdraw between now and 31st Jan 2012). It would be worth it in the long run if you withdraw now and repeat the LC and HPAT and get the points for undergrad Med next year, if it's what you 100% really want to do. You did a BRILLIANT LC, well done on that !!
If you're very hung up on the financial implications, what you've lost now is NOTHING compared to what you will have to pay if you continue in your BSc and go on to do GRADMED. Think of all the money you'll spend during the 4 years of your science degree, then if you apply for GradMed after that, you'll have to pay over €13,000 (that's just for this year, and this fee is subsidised, so it will likely be even higher by the time you graduate) a year for four years, plus living expenses after that. Most people have to take out a €100k loan to do it. It's up to you though, and the best of luck

imported_guy

Deleted User wrote: »

Think of all the money you'll spend during the 4 years of your science degree, then if you apply for GradMed after that, you'll have to pay over €13,000 (that's just for this year, and this fee is subsidised, so it will likely be even higher by the time you graduate) a year for four years, plus living expenses after that. Most people have to take out a €100k loan to do it. It's up to you though, and the best of luck

i thought the fees was closer to 16,000?

http://www.rcsi.ie/index.jsp?p=112&n=202&a=746#Fees

TOTAL 15940

Yeah (dyscalculia got the better of me).
http://www.ucd.ie/registry/adminservices/fees/undergraduate2011.htm
Close to €14k for UCD GEM.

I was aiming to get Kate to think about financial implications of going the GEM route versus repeating to get the points and getting in as an undergrad next year.

imported_guy

Deleted User wrote: »

Yeah (dyscalculia got the better of me).
http://www.ucd.ie/registry/adminservices/fees/undergraduate2011.htm
Close to €14k for UCD GEM.

I was aiming to get Kate to think about financial implications of going the GEM route versus repeating to get the points and getting in as an undergrad next year.

wonder if that includes the reg fee, it doesnt include the student centre levy of 158 or what ever it is probably, and certainly doesnt include the health screening as there is a foot note there which is 225 euro, so even UCD is over 14k

kate.m

Well if I pull put before the 31st of October I think I can still pay 2000 next year.

I want to repeat, I would. Even though I'd end up doing OL maths and new Irish course ect. But my parents can't afford it. So I honestly don't have a choice. My mother hopes I'll just like science or become a teacher or something. I've explained the fees to her for grad med and everything. And I don't want to guilt trip her into it...I had all this research done in 5th year...I know that by 22 or whatever age I am I'll have killed myself to get a 2.1 (if I even can...) and that then I'll be looking at being in debt for god knows how many years. My parents figure it probably wont be their problem.

My lc was really average for med people. I hate how friends of mine who got 3a1s and 3b1s did better points wise even though I got more as! Also my guidance coucellor told my parents that I wouldn't be likely to go up....could just as easy go down.

Maybe I'll convince them soon...I'll see. If I hate science they might feel sorry for me.

Sid_Justice

I'm not trying to pretend to be a guidance councellor. I don't know much abot the HPAT but if you got 6 H A2s you'd almost definitely get a couple of A1s on a repeat.

If you had arts degree as your second choice, I have to be suspicious of the advice you've got thus far.

What do you want to be? ignore what your parents want you to be. It sounds like you're a bit young, you need to be looking after your own affairs. If you want to do medicine, get into it now and save yourself a lot of expense later.

If you still want to go the grad route, a science degree will be helpful, make sure to do as many biomedical topcis and try and avoid doing the ecology/evolutionary biological stuff (botany, zoology, ecology etc.) and stuff like geology/physics etc.

Try and do biochem, genetics, micro, anatomy, physiology, cell biology etc.

QueenOfLeon

If you're going to stay in Science for this year, but you still want medicine, I would advise you to reapply for the HPAT and the CAO. At least if you don't get any better in the HPAT you won't have wasted a year.

kate.m

I've never been influenced by my parents, my mother wants me to give up on medicine, doesn't want me to repeat.

Arts want my second choice, it was like my 8th....I had other science courses above it, but I didn't get the points. 545 and so on.

My guidance councillor told me to consider ther options, that maybe I would like something else. So I had one general course in tcd down. With my hpat score I knew I wouldn't get in anyway...

I want to repeat but can't. Im determined to do grad med because I can't do undergrad, I will retry the hpat. Have nothing to lose....

I've looked up the modules for science, you decide in 3rd and 4th year. For first year, it's biology chemistry, maths, then there's an extra choice.

wayhey

kate.m wrote: »

I've never been influenced by my parents, my mother wants me to give up on medicine, doesn't want me to repeat.

I want to repeat but can't. Im determined to do grad med because I can't do undergrad, I will retry the hpat. Have nothing to lose....

Kate, you're statements are contradictory. I don't know where you're from, but you have to ask yourself what you want to do with your life.

This time last year I was in your shoes. I was offered Science but I did not accept and I decided to repeat. Now I'm in Medicine. It was bloody hard but I knew that I did not want to do anything else with my life. Even though it's early days I can get through the harder stuff because I actually like what I'm studying.

I have to ask, do you want to do a Science degree? It will be a lot harder to motivate yourself over 4 years than 9 months if you don't like the degree. Better to drop out now than later. Just realise that these very early weeks are a poor representation of any degree really.

Try to speak to older students to see what you'll be studying later. You never know, you might actually end up loving your course if you know more about what's coming!

Also, on the person that pointed out that it's approximately €15k per year. Graduate programmes can have a shorter summer. I think in RCSI they have only 3-4 weeks off at the summer. It's extremely intensive. I know a woman doing it up there and she found 1st Year extremely tough, and it was near impossible for her to hold down a job. She has to pay for accommodation and living expenses as well so I'd well believe that her loans could approach €100k, living in Dublin.

Kate, you say that it's not financially viable to repeat your Leaving Cert. I know the new courses make everything difficult. But it is what it is, and I still think that it would be easier to repeat your Leaving Cert, even for 2 years, and do a course later that you would actually like to. There are lots of excellent public schools that take repeat students across the country.

You are the one that will have to live with the consequences of your degree.

foreverandever

I agree with the posters above, i know two grand might seem like alot now but compared to graduate entry med it's nothing. And you can always pay your parents back once you qualify for this year. Did you get any of your papers rechecked? If you repeated the hpat and were brought up in a paper or two you might get into med easier than you thought. I will say you need to be sure it's medicine you want, it's going to be a long eight years with alot of debt after it so you need to really want it and be sure.

imported_guy

wayhey wrote: »

Also, on the person that pointed out that it's approximately €15k per year. Graduate programmes can have a shorter summer. I think in RCSI they have only 3-4 weeks off at the summer. It's extremely intensive.

this is false, atleast in UCD they get full summer holidays in first year of the graduate program, they are from mid may until mid september. In 2nd year, they have an extended module which carries into about june, but they still get about 10 weeks of summer holidays, the year 3 and 4 are same summer holidays as undergraduate med year 4/5 or 5/6 depending on which undergrad course you look at (5 vs 6 year)

a course is shorter doesnt mean its more intensive, it just has less in it, i.e. the amount of electives etc.

https://sisweb.ucd.ie/usis/w_sm_web_inf_viewer_banner.show_major?p_term_code=201100&p_cao_code=DN401&p_major_code=MDS9

vs

https://sisweb.ucd.ie/usis/w_sm_web_inf_viewer_banner.show_major?p_term_code=201100&p_cao_code=DN400&p_major_code=MDS2&p_cao_code=DN400&p_website_mode=PROSPECTIVE&p_show_prog_link=Y&p_crumb=%3CA%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fsisweb.ucd.ie%2Fusis%2Fw_sm_web_inf_viewer_banner.program_list%3Fp_website_mode%3DPROSPECTIVE%26p_term_code%3D201100%22%3E%20Degrees%20by%20CAO%20Code%3C%2FA%3E

im just doing UCD as an example, other med schools may as well have less or no summer holidays.

Sid_Justice

imported_guy wrote: »

this is false, atleast in UCD they get full summer holidays in first year of the graduate program, they are from mid may until mid september. In 2nd year, they have an extended module which carries into about june, but they still get about 10 weeks of summer holidays, the year 3 and 4 are same summer holidays as undergraduate med year 4/5 or 5/6 depending on which undergrad course you look at (5 vs 6 year)

a course is shorter doesnt mean its more intensive, it just has less in it, i.e. the amount of electives etc.

https://sisweb.ucd.ie/usis/w_sm_web_inf_viewer_banner.show_major?p_term_code=201100&p_cao_code=DN401&p_major_code=MDS9

vs

https://sisweb.ucd.ie/usis/w_sm_web_inf_viewer_banner.show_major?p_term_code=201100&p_cao_code=DN400&p_major_code=MDS2&p_cao_code=DN400&p_website_mode=PROSPECTIVE&p_show_prog_link=Y&p_crumb=%3CA%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fsisweb.ucd.ie%2Fusis%2Fw_sm_web_inf_viewer_banner.program_list%3Fp_website_mode%3DPROSPECTIVE%26p_term_code%3D201100%22%3E%20Degrees%20by%20CAO%20Code%3C%2FA%3E

im just doing UCD as an example, other med schools may as well have less or no summer holidays.

did you read the post?

Graduate programmes can have a shorter summer. I think in RCSI they have only 3-4 weeks off at the summer. It's extremely intensive.

this is false, atleast in UCD they get full summer holidays in first year of the graduate program, they are from mid may until mid september. In 2nd year, they have an extended module which carries into about june, but they still get about 10 weeks of summer holidays, the year 3 and 4 are same summer holidays as undergraduate med year 4/5 or 5/6 depending on which undergrad course you look at (5 vs 6 year)

Not only that, you contradict yourself, in admitting UCD DO have shorter summers from 2nd year on.

A shorter course is more intensive, as anything from the modules they do not take they are supposed to learn themselves.

Why did you go to the trouble of posting that?

imported_guy

Sid_Justice wrote: »

did you read the post?





Not only that, you contradict yourself, in admitting UCD DO have shorter summers from 2nd year on.

A shorter course is more intensive, as anything from the modules they do not take they are supposed to learn themselves.

Why did you go to the trouble of posting that?

why did you go to the trouble of posting this?

where did i say from 2nd year on? I said the 2nd year has an extra module in june, and that the 3rd and 4th year is the same as the undergrad.

and it IS shorter, did you even look at the links? the undergraduate has horizon electives (2 worth 10 credits in 1st year) graduate has 1 in first year (and its not a "horizon" elective), hence the course has less in it.

even a quick tally of total credits of both courses will sum it up for you 270 for graduate vs 360 for the undergraduate

for reference sake a normal 4 year honours degree is worth 240 credits, so on that level the graduate course is only a tiny bit more intensive than a normal degree (about one semester's worth), and the undergraduate course has about a year's worth of extra credits and then some.

kate.m

thanks for all the information, graduate entry would have to be pretty intensive, especially as its 4 years :-/

I've looked into repeating...trying to figure it out in my head, looked into schools where I could at least sit the LC exam - (wouldn't be able to go back to my old school)

Wouldn't do Project maths, it seems so different...only have a few months to learn all of it, HL irish has kind of demolished paper 2...I would probably drop music as I'd have to pay for music lessons for another year....having 6 HL subjects instead of 8 seems to be the ideal thing.

I'll try one week of science, I've already talked to 3rd and 4th years, they all say the degree only gets good in the latter years because thats when you pick your moderatorship (sp)...and the maths is supposed to be really hard, and I'm 2 weeks late starting it properly (freshers week was all introductions -or so I've been told)

I didn't want to do a science degree, but I like biology and chemistry. It's not what I set out to do, but nevertheless I don't think i'd hate it...(I hope..)

QueenOfLeon

kate.m wrote: »

Wouldn't do Project maths, it seems so different...only have a few months to learn all of it, HL irish has kind of demolished paper 2...I would probably drop music as I'd have to pay for music lessons for another year....having 6 HL subjects instead of 8 seems to be the ideal thing.

For medicine, you have to get your requirements AND your points in the same sitting, ie, you need to sit English, Irish, Maths, and all the other university requirements if you repeat.