Gamsat 2013

Stephan Grundy

laurielu wrote: »

I'm heading to RCSI too! Passport photos may be for Garda Clearance as well as file. I've had to supply far too many passport photos in the past for Garda clearance so assumed it was for this reason. No idea if there's a fb page yet (i'll check). Might make one and post details here if not!

That'd be great, love to see it!

snizzledan

Who is heading to ucd lads. May have a room to rent come September. St Helens wood. Just down the road from ucd. Pm me if interested

gilmarm3

Will be in RCSI and wondering if anyone has any plans for house/apartment sharing in the area! PM

PeadarGalway

gilmarm, join the FB page for RCSI GEP class of 2017. Some of the north american portion of your class are still looking for places, and Im sure as the Irish start joining there'll be posts from them too

Dr hoRse

Hows everyone's last few days been sorting out the next 4 years of your lives???

I've been through the emotions, getting the RCSI offer then finding out that as a northerner i'm ineligible for the loan, only for my hopes to be raised again by the possibility of a similar loan from a BoI branch at home to be let down again yesterday -

I've one last shot though with my uncle with a residence in Dublin prepared to act as guarantor for the BoI loan - if only I could get through to BoI to find out if this is acceptable, does anyone know perchance?

When talking to Orlaith on Thursday the fact that I'd lived in Dublin for a few years before going back studying my undergrad degree seemed to make me eligible for the loan until it came to the guarantor of the loan for the indemnity insurance and the fact that my parents' address was outside the jurisdiction made me ineligible.

Has anyone in a similar situation been able to apply??

pc11

Has anybody sorted a bloody loan yet? Or had any feedback at all from BOI??

RCSI want their deposit for tomorrow. It is refundable in the case of not getting the loan or if you get a higher preference in another college in a later round, but still, this is pretty nerve-wracking.

demure

House_QC wrote: »

Hey guys,

Yeah, I got a Round Zero offer to attend UCD as well. If I can organise my finances in time, I hope to see some of you there come beginning of September.


Good luck.

pc11 wrote: »

Has anybody sorted a bloody loan yet? Or had any feedback at all from BOI??

RCSI want their deposit for tomorrow. It is refundable in the case of not getting the loan or if you get a higher preference in another college in a later round, but still, this is pretty nerve-wracking.

I think the lending situation may seriously impair the Irish GEM courses. It is very worrying to see that many people may be rejected a loan based on the stringent criteria. I hope you all get sorted. Nearly there.

Dr hoRse

Just heard from BoI, didn't get accepted for the loan, pretty gutted to be honest but as someone mentioned above me the difficulty gaining loans is gonna affect the programme. I was on to RCSI while I was waiting for BoI to get back to me letting them know I wanted to accept a place but was waiting to hear back from the bank, she said the push was on to accept by tomorrow in case they were unable to fulfill places,

surely it shouldn't be the case that Uni's are unable to fill places, I've a feeling this might lead to the scrapping of the course altogether in the not too distant future but hopefully it'll motivate the Uni's to be a bit more proactive in ensuring students are able to take up places.

Best of luck to everyone that have been successful in gaining a place and getting a loan, I think i'm gonna have to take myself away from the happiness of this place for a while.

nomoreexams

Dr hoRse wrote: »

Just heard from BoI, didn't get accepted for the loan, pretty gutted to be honest but as someone mentioned above me the difficulty gaining loans is gonna affect the programme. I was on to RCSI while I was waiting for BoI to get back to me letting them know I wanted to accept a place but was waiting to hear back from the bank, she said the push was on to accept by tomorrow in case they were unable to fulfill places,

surely it shouldn't be the case that Uni's are unable to fill places, I've a feeling this might lead to the scrapping of the course altogether in the not too distant future but hopefully it'll motivate the Uni's to be a bit more proactive in ensuring students are able to take up places.

Best of luck to everyone that have been successful in gaining a place and getting a loan, I think i'm gonna have to take myself away from the happiness of this place for a while.

Sorry to hear that dr hoRse. The only small mercy is that they didn't keep you waiting too long to tell you.
I'm dreading the wait, hoping they just rip the plaster off quickly!

Agnieszka_88

My cousin has also been denied a BOI loan today, all 'cause she could only prove 2 years of residency. It's pretty gutting, she's been planning it for years, inspired me to try myself. I know that she sent a rather emotional email to all four colleges, asking if they are ever going to do something about the financial situation. I asked her to let me know how they respond, will let you guys know if they write back anything different from the usual platitudes.

kaya770

Dr hoRse wrote: »

Just heard from BoI, didn't get accepted for the loan, pretty gutted to be honest but as someone mentioned above me the difficulty gaining loans is gonna affect the programme. I was on to RCSI while I was waiting for BoI to get back to me letting them know I wanted to accept a place but was waiting to hear back from the bank, she said the push was on to accept by tomorrow in case they were unable to fulfill places,

surely it shouldn't be the case that Uni's are unable to fill places, I've a feeling this might lead to the scrapping of the course altogether in the not too distant future but hopefully it'll motivate the Uni's to be a bit more proactive in ensuring students are able to take up places.

Best of luck to everyone that have been successful in gaining a place and getting a loan, I think i'm gonna have to take myself away from the happiness of this place for a while.

So sorry to hear this.

Something will have to be done guys, it's not right!

Hypnos

kaya770 wrote: »

So sorry to hear this.

Something will have to be done guys, it's not right!

Guys I know it sucks but its a consequence of the recession. The reason why this country is a mess is because the banks were careless and were approving ludicrous (not referring to GEM Loans) things. They were very destructive before and now they have to cover their tracks because their actions are being monitored much more stringently. Also with this, there is a drop in GAMSAT points. When the economy gets healthier, the loans will be proportionally less stringent, but in turn you can be sure the points will go up correspondingly.

I know GEM loan isn't an example but I'm glad to see them taking more care when dealing with the financial side of things. I wish it weren't like that for the GEM loan but I guess they have to treat it like all other loans, weigh the risk against the potential profit. I don't know if anyone has been in touch with AIB last year but I was talking to them last summer after they scrapped the GEM loan. They said the 100K loan was proving too much for junior doctors to pay back and there were cases where a couple just left the country and they lost out on the money so they dumped it, and as a result BOI and UB cut the loan down just to cover the fees to make it more manageable and they're much more anal about guarantors now.

It really sucks that people are being rejected for the loan and I'm super sorry to anyone that failed at the last hurdle there. I face possible failure on my application too. But I'm glad they're at least still doing the loan instead of scrapping it like AIB. That I am happy about. They're not really obliged to offer it and the colleges don't really seem to get involved at all (the impression I got from it). Basically, what I'm saying is, this is the best we can expect for the time being

j.mcdrmd

I am sorry about this too.

I think that the real argument is with the HSE, because if they paid doctors, for all the hours they work, there wouldn't be a problem, would there?

Having said that, what sort of an advert was this from BOI?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_URy6gEijg

Hypnos

j.mcdrmd wrote: »

I am sorry about this too.

I think that the real argument is with the HSE, because if they paid doctors, for all the hours they work, there wouldn't be a problem, would there?

Having said that, what sort of an advert was this from BOI?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_URy6gEijg

See brilliant example of a disgusting practice that caused this mess. Would love to see an advert like that from them now. I love the title of the video though XD laughed for a full few minutes.

As to the HSE part, that is true, but, like most government agencies here in Ireland, the HSE is extremely inefficient, poorly organised and is in a financial mess because they have too much administrative and redundant staff. If public services and government bodies like the HSE were just managed more efficiently they wouldn't be scrambling over a bigger budget cut to cover the flaws and inadequacies. Back in the boom, there was so much money that no one cared about things like that since there was enough money to plug the holes. Sure FAS had a budget of 1bn before when unemployment was at its lowest. That is just wrong on so many levels but now everyone is paying the price.

I wouldn't get my hopes up on getting paid for all the hours. You're more likely to draw blood from a stone.

ojomhgoek

Hey guys, this is awful I'm sorry to hear about this. does anyone know if there is a difference between BoI and UB? I'v heard that UB requires you to re-apply every year starting from 2013 but BoI def needs a guarantor? Can anyone shed some light on this? Lads if the uni's dont get more involved these courses aren't gonna survive and it'll be back to leaving cert if you want med in the future!

j.mcdrmd

Hypnos wrote: »

Back in the boom, there was so much money that no one cared about things like that since there was enough money to plug the holes.

But they didn't care about health did they. Maybe they thought that they were "Forever Young"?

Hypnos

j.mcdrmd wrote: »

But they didn't care about health did they. Maybe they thought that they were "Forever Young"?

I think the influx of money created a inflated ego to the extent that people refused to believe that the economy would collapse despite warnings and reports being made as early as 04-05 warning about a potential burst of the property bubble. I was super young at the time but I'd like to know, who thought it was sane and normal for a 3 bedroom house to cost up to 800k in a decent area? This load of rubbish was completely self-inflicted.

Nah, no one really ever paid any attention to the HSE. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out in the next few years.

j.mcdrmd

ojomhgoek wrote: »

it'll be back to leaving cert if you want med in the future!

I suppose the down side of that is:-
a. You will have to work really, really hard, when you are young.
b. You will be repeatedly, called a nerd.

Mind you
a. you will not have to ask anyone to go guarantee a loan

because

b. you will not need one!

Emma Catherine

If it makes anyone feel better I got enough points to do medicine in my LC... But halfway through 6th year when I told my guidance councellor I wanted to be a doctor I was told to 'be realistic' I never put it on my CAO and just did a four year science degree as a result! 60K BOI loans later.. Sickened hahaha!

nomoreexams

Emma Catherine wrote: »

If it makes anyone feel better I got enough points to do medicine in my LC... But halfway through 6th year when I told my guidance councellor I wanted to be a doctor I was told to 'be realistic' I never put it on my CAO and just did a four year science degree as a result! 60K BOI loans later.. Sickened hahaha!

You mad scone, for an obviously clever girl, that was a stupid mistake to not put it down at the top of your preferences just in case you got the points!

Emma Catherine

Hahaha what can I say other than I was 17 and very silly!

Ah sure everything happens for a reason - I loved my degree and met some great friends! Just a funny little thing to remember (strange sense of humour I guess haha!)

skatielady

ojomhgoek wrote: »

Hey guys, this is awful I'm sorry to hear about this. does anyone know if there is a difference between BoI and UB? I'v heard that UB requires you to re-apply every year starting from 2013 but BoI def needs a guarantor? Can anyone shed some light on this? Lads if the uni's dont get more involved these courses aren't gonna survive and it'll be back to leaving cert if you want med in the future!

Hi! I was just wondering where you heard this? I am trying to apply for the UB bank loan at the minute and havent heard anything about this. A bit of a pain in the ass is this is the case!

pc11

skatielady wrote: »

Hi! I was just wondering where you heard this? I am trying to apply for the UB bank loan at the minute and havent heard anything about this. A bit of a pain in the ass is this is the case!

I'm now applying to BOI but I did have several long chats with UB and they never mentioned that to me.

I know the AIB 'package' requires annual renewal, but I cannot imagine how anyone would ever want this product, it's so ridiculous I presume they don't really want to offer it.

On a related note, it totally sucks how the loans work and I'm nervous myself about approval. But, didn't people talk to the banks long before this and find out the conditions in advance? Surely no-one just went to the banks in the last few days, did they??! :eek:

skatielady

pc11 wrote: »

I'm now applying to BOI but I did have several long chats with UB and they never mentioned that to me.

I know the AIB 'package' requires annual renewal, but I cannot imagine how anyone would ever want this product, it's so ridiculous I presume they don't really want to offer it.

On a related note, it totally sucks how the loans work and I'm nervous myself about approval. But, didn't people talk to the banks long before this and find out the conditions in advance? Surely no-one just went to the banks in the last few days, did they??! :eek:

Thanks for that! Yes, the AIB loan seems crazy. Iv been investigating the loans for a while, but only properly applying now so all the quirks of the loan scheme are coming out. Its all a bit unnerving.

amorris452

skatielady wrote: »

Hi! I was just wondering where you heard this? I am trying to apply for the UB bank loan at the minute and havent heard anything about this. A bit of a pain in the ass is this is the case!

It says in the information for the UL package from ulster bank you need to reapply every year. I'd imagine that'd be the same all over but I don't know. Here the link for the info sheet for the UL one anyway:

http://www2.ul.ie/pdf/596532976.pdf

demure

skatielady wrote: »

Thanks for that! Yes, the AIB loan seems crazy. Iv been investigating the loans for a while, but only properly applying now so all the quirks of the loan scheme are coming out. Its all a bit unnerving.

Just curious, why is the AIB package crazy?

skatielady

amorris452 wrote: »

It says in the information for the UL package from ulster bank you need to reapply every year. I'd imagine that'd be the same all over but I don't know. Here the link for the info sheet for the UL one anyway:

http://www2.ul.ie/pdf/596532976.pdf

Thats great, thank you so much for this!

zeitsif

What happens if you have accepted an offer but are subsequently refused funding? Do you just let the college know and more importantly are you allowed to reapply again next year?

Flange/Flanders

Has anyone got any info pack from UCD yet?

Hypnos

Flange/Flanders wrote: »

Has anyone got any info pack from UCD yet?

No XD Still waiting :P