*Everything HPAT and Medicine 2015*

Consonata wrote: »

When did you begin your HPAT Prep? I'm in fifth year ATM and I don't want it piling up on me next year.

Hi. As I'm from the UK (gap year student with achieved A levels and reapplying) and only discovered Irish Med schools a couple of weeks ago I haven't really done any prep. I only registered for cao last week and they've asked me to send in my GCSE/AS/A2 certificates to them, then I can register for the HPAT and start preparing properly.

So yeah I haven't actually started preparation yet but since the test is in February 28th 2015 I think I have quite a bit of time for prep, especially since I'm on a gap year so will have about roughly 3 months HPAT prep, is that enough do you think ?

Sorry I'm not familiar with what you mean by the fact your in 5th year right now as I don't know how the education system works there. Here in the UK we just have 2 Years of A levels and you can apply after your first year based on predicted grades for your second year, if that makes sense. Why cant you apply for 2015 entry med during 5th year??

mendelmania wrote: »

Okay so I'm in 6th year but I'm still unsure regarding my career choice. I went to a medicine lecture and absolutely loved it. My question is- am I too late? In this thread I see people who have been studying for it from day 1 in fifth year and I hardly have time as it is.

Nah you're hardly too late. I started HPAT prep in January, and went from about 20 hours a week of study in November to maybe 28-30 in April.

mendelmania wrote: »

If I were to get points of 580+ and if I were on the HEAR scheme, would less be demanded of me regarding the HPAT?

Dunno how much use HEAR would be. The main thing is to get 550 or more points (after 550 every 5 points are worth 1). Obviously the more points you have the worse your HPAT can be

For all those gone into medicine or who are on the right track how much were you studying on average in 5th year?

[/QUOTE]nothing too crazy at all! [/QUOTE]

Good to know! My teachers keep yapping on about how we should be doing a minimum of 2 1/2 hours study after our homework to 'ease us into the whole routine and start adding on from there'

So basically just do what's asked of you and study take good notes

Username6212 wrote: »

Just want to ask, what would be an average leaving cert for someone wanting to go one of the Dublin medical schools?

I'd say the average in UCC would be 595, 595 would probably be the most common points anyway. UCD and Trinity would be somewhat higher of course.

Someone got in with 520 to UCC, and there's people here on 530, 545 and 550. But you'd a very good HPAT for that (high 90s percentile-wise). There are like 8 625s on the other hand, so it's all relative :pac:

debbysoap wrote: »

Hi, does anyone know if you can do the HPAT while you're in an undergrad course already and afterwards when you get a place in Medicine decide whether or not to continue in your present undergrad degree or do you HAVE to do medicine?? Also, how about if someone doesn't get the points for medicine after repeating, would they be able to continue in their current undergrad degree or have to find and start again in another course? Hope my questions are understood haha
Thanks 😊

Getting med: You can chose not to accept/reply to med cao offer and simply continue into next year of college course.

Not getting med: Applying and not getting an offer has absolutely no effect on your status in separate course.

futuremedic19 wrote: »

Hi I just have a question and would really appreciate some advice.

How long do you realistically need for preparation for the HPAT i.e how many months/weeks/ hours a day should I be studying in order to score atleast within the top 75th percentile in the HPAT.

Bare in mind I've completed my A levels (leaving cert equiv) so my main priority will be the HPAT.

Thanks so much in advance

You can prepare for the HPAT, but it's not like you can just study for it to consistently improve. You might never be able to achieve 75th percentile, or you could get 96th with no prep at all. Prep helps but only so much.

Can you do an undergrad degree and retake the hpat? I thought they changed that so you couldn't do that? Doesnt your LC and hpat have to be in the same year?

I'm fairly sure the only change is that you have to sit the HPAT in the year you're hoping to start studying medicine, regardless of whether you're sitting the Leaving or doing an undergrad in that year.

This means you can no longer carry forward your HPAT result to the next year, i.e use your 2015 HPAT result to enter undergrad Medicine in September 2016.

lolalaughsalot wrote: »

Hey guys! I'm currently in an undergrad degree in trinity and have decided I want to change to medicine starting my HPAT prep now and got 595 in the leaving last year, can anyone tell me my odds? What percentile I need etc.? Also I'm horrendous at section 3 so any tips for this would be hugely appreciated. If anyone could PM me with a reply that would be brilliant.. I'm also kind of at a loss of where to start? Thanks!

Hi. 595 cao points is a great score. But remember this WILL be readjusted before the HPAT to give you 559. I've achieved 580 through A levels and my score is readjusted to 556 so similar to yours and according to my calculations I/you need to score roughly within the top 25%(75th percentile) to secure a place at NUIG and UCC. For trinity/UCD were looking at 90th percentile and RCSI is about 78th percentile.
I would say a leaving cert/cao score of around 575+ puts you in a commanding position and it's all down to HPAT from there.

How the prep going ?

aisling95 wrote: »

I'm in 3rd year medicine now and I just spotted your comment when I popped in here to procrastinate for a few minutes instead of studying for exams :P I got in on my 1st leaving cert and HPAT and I know quite a few other people in my year did too! I didn't do any prep course so I can't really say if they're any good or not, but I definitely don't think I was at any disadvantage by not doing one, I found the most important thing was getting a feel for managing your time and figuring out a style of reasoning that suits you! I have some practice bits and pieces that I got from someone in the 2012 thread when I was getting ready for my HPAT at the time and I can send them on to anyone that wants them through email, if its any use to people!

Sent you a PM!

Did anyone else here do the DATs? do you think how you scored on that test could relate to the HPAT? just curious

Just wondering if there are any medicine students here who could tell me about the course? Trying to fill out the CAO and don't know whether to put UCD, RCSI or NUIG as my first choice!!! Oh and I would also appreciate any advice on how to prepare for the hpat

tammy353 wrote: »

Just wondering if there are any medicine students here who could tell me about the course? Trying to fill out the CAO and don't know whether to put UCD, RCSI or NUIG as my first choice!!! Oh and I would also appreciate any advice on how to prepare for the hpat

I put NUIG in front of both UCD and RCSI on my CAO and don't regret it in the slightest. Very intense course once you get past premed but really rewarding. The first 2.5 years are all theory/background knowledge with some clinical skills and early patient contact. Then in 3rd year you go on placement in one of the regional hospitals (Sligo, Castlebar, Roscommon, Ballinasloe or Letterkenny) for 2 semesters and do 2 semesters of placement in Galway. This is where the bulk of your clinical skills are learned. I love it and wouldn't do anything else but it's a tough course in terms of volume of information that has to be assimilated.

As for HPAT, I never did a prep course so can't comment but apparently they're good for section 3. I genuinely believe that section 2 cannot be taught in a course. My advice would be to familiarise yourself with the layout/ timing of the paper. It is not a test that was designed to be studied for (however that seems to have been lost on many). Maybe a course will help, but if you test well in aptitude tests like the DATS and are calm and collected in the exam, there is no real reason you should have to fork over a few hundred euro for a course that has not been scientifically proven to improve scores. For every prep course student that gets a great score, there is one who does not. There is no evidence to suggest that the outcome would not have been the same had neither done the course.

jjC123 wrote: »

I put NUIG in front of both UCD and RCSI on my CAO and don't regret it in the slightest. Very intense course once you get past premed but really rewarding. The first 2.5 years are all theory/background knowledge with some clinical skills and early patient contact. Then in 3rd year you go on placement in one of the regional hospitals (Sligo, Castlebar, Roscommon, Ballinasloe or Letterkenny) for 2 semesters and do 2 semesters of placement in Galway. This is where the bulk of your clinical skills are learned. I love it and wouldn't do anything else but it's a tough course in terms of volume of information that has to be assimilated.

As for HPAT, I never did a prep course so can't comment but apparently they're good for section 3. I genuinely believe that section 2 cannot be taught in a course. My advice would be to familiarise yourself with the layout/ timing of the paper. It is not a test that was designed to be studied for (however that seems to have been lost on many). Maybe a course will help, but if you test well in aptitude tests like the DATS and are calm and collected in the exam, there is no real reason you should have to fork over a few hundred euro for a course that has not been scientifically proven to improve scores. For every prep course student that gets a great score, there is one who does not. There is no evidence to suggest that the outcome would not have been the same had neither done the course.

I'm considering doing that too tbh! I went to UCD and NUIG open days and preferred NUIG!! Thanks a million for your advice on the hpat!! Section 3 is definitely my worst. I suppose I just need to practice much more at it!!