cao 1st preference applications for ucd medicine up 46%

pathway33

http://www.ucd.ie/news/2009/03FEB09/100309_cao.html

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0310/1224242572033.html

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This amuses me greatly:)

mardybumbum

Why?

Gavin "shels"

Harsh stuff, luckily for me I'm going for Computer Science in DIT and according to the Sunday Tribune a few weeks back there was a huge decrease last year in people doing science, engineer, etc... courses in DIT and ITT.:cool:

K4t

mardybumbum wrote: »

Why?

Think about it.

Did all those people (a 46% increase on last year) want to do medicine more than anything else before the 'recession'? :pac:

mardybumbum

Hmmm, a valid point.
I know there are a lot of first years in college sitting the HPAT as well so that may have something to do with it.

rainbowtrout

maybe it's because the cut off point points wise is 480 +HPAT so it seems a lot more attainable to students who would never have been able to get the 570 mark, so more people are giving it a go

pathway33

Does it also tell us that for the past few years there have been a lot of leaving cert students who actually wanted to be doctors but didn't put it down as their first preference simply because they didn't believe that they would get near 570 points.


And isn't this what the CAO tell students every year not to do. Do not try to anticipate points. Every year we hear of students who don't want their first choice on their CAO when they get it because they actually got the points for their third or fourth choice (the course they really wanted!!!!)


Even if you think you are going to fail your leaving cert but medicine would be your favourite course you must put it down as number 1. If for nothing else at least it's something to brag about until august.

Ginja Ninja

well I think it's that there are a lot more people out there that would be great doctors but don't have the luck of being that talented

I know people would be more suited to being a doctor than some as they would be almost guarenteed A's in biology and the sciences but can't handle languages so have no chance at 500+ but with the HPAT they can and I think we would be much better off for it

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mardybumbum wrote: »

Why?

Because a ridiculous amount of people seem to think if they get 480 and do decently in the HPAT they'll get in.

I doubt somehow, that there'll be many Med Students next year who got 480.

Dont think its much to do with the recession tbh.

bythewoods

I had UCD Medicine as my number one last year!
This year though, Trinners.

I'm just hoping the vast majority of applicants FAIL horribly. Like, really horribly.
I'm lovely really.

mardybumbum

Ah I dont know to be honest.
I'd say there's a fair scatter of students who take this recession lark into account when choosing their course.

And I think you are right about the 480 cut off mark. I really dont see the point/advantage to this HPAT at all.

Perhaps someone can enlighten me......

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bythewoods wrote: »

I'm just hoping the vast majority of applicants FAIL horribly. Like, really horribly.
I'm lovely really.

You're competing, its the right attitude:)

mardybumbum

bythewoods wrote: »

I had UCD Medicine as my number one last year!
This year though, Trinners.

You made the right decision!:pac:

bythewoods

mardybumbum wrote: »

And I think you are right about the 480 cut off mark. I really dont see the point/advantage to this HPAT at all.

Perhaps someone can enlighten me......

'Fraid not!
I took the damn exam, it was a load of rubbish tbh!

Dubs

does it matter what college you put first or is it just the top points get all the places in the country assuming they have the colleges on the CAO in whatever order... if you get me

think i have UCD first at the moment and then RCSI and Trinners... might be making a few changes to this come May

bythewoods

In general, Trinity has the highest points. Then Cork/ UCD are around the same. Galway/ RCSI are too. Ish.
Who knows how it'll go this year though?

Your order is your preference like...

Dubs

ye i get that (uhh i dont even know how to explain this properly so sorry for this crappy attempt :rolleyes:), but is it just the people who get the top points in the country will get the 500 or so places available or does order of preference make a difference on whether or not youll get say your second or third choice if you dont get enough points for your first?

Piste

bythewoods wrote: »

I had UCD Medicine as my number one last year!
This year though, Trinners.

I'm just hoping the vast majority of applicants FAIL horribly. Like, really horribly.
I'm lovely really.

I feel exactly the same >_>

PurpleFistMixer

Dubs wrote: »

ye i get that (uhh i dont even know how to explain this properly so sorry for this crappy attempt :rolleyes:), but is it just the people who get the top points in the country will get the 500 or so places available or does order of preference make a difference on whether or not youll get say your second or third choice if you dont get enough points for your first?

If you don't get the points for your first choice, you'll be considered for your second choice. If you don't get the points for that choice, you'll be considered for your third, and so on, and so forth. It moves down the list until you do qualify for a course you put down, and that's what's offered to you.
When who gets in to what course is being chosen, it's about the points. If there are x places available, the x people with the highest points (and who have the course as their first choice,of course) will get them. (I think they do lottery draws, too, in case, say, x+1 people have the necessary points.) Having, say, Medicine for all your CAO choices (I think this is what you were trying to ask?) won't affect your chances of getting any of them in particular, the fact that your choices are consistent means nothing when courses are being allocated. It's just down to who got the points. (And metriculation etc., of course.)

timmywex

A few people in my schoolgoing for medicine this year that dont have a hope!

People who'll get maybe 520 pushing hard, heard about this 480 thing and think theyll get med aswell.........! Chances

xOxSinéadxOx

there's people in my year going for it that don't have a hope either
It's probably just cos of the aptitude test that more people applied, if you're seriously going for it I wouldn't really worry about it

Des23

Realistically I would think that the people who would've gotten into medicine before the HPAT was introduced will be the same people who get in this year.
I would find very hard to imagine that the people who get in to medicine this year will be drastically different from previous years.

Dubs

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

...

ye i think this is what i was trying to ask, thanks!:

and to be honest i think it will be more down to luck with the HPAT results. Everyone iv spoken to has said they feel the same way as me about the HPAT and they felt they performed the same way in each of the sections. Of course it doesnt mean the other 12,000 applicants feel the same way but i think its going to come down to the guesses and high enough leaving cert results

phasers

There are at least 5 girls in my school who have never expressed even a vague interest in science or medicine before who have UCD Med as their number one, simply because of the HPAT, points reduction and the prestige of being a doctor. I was talking about med school with one of them and how hard it looks and she said "Ah sure I'd say I'll be out clubbing most nights."
good luck love!

I hope this means the points for my course will go through the floor, I mean who wants a degree in media during a recession?

Heggy

I know a few people who have medicine down but don't care, and others who do care but haven't a hope.
People seem to think that if they can get medicine they should go for it. A friend of mine has no interest in it whatsoever, but his mother is pressuring him into medicine just because he's capable. He's still going to change his first choice to Genetics anyway, which is what he wants. But I'm still baffled by this mindset of not going for what you want, or in that case trying to get the person to do something he doesn't want to do.

Disease Ridden

Heggy wrote: »

I know a few people who have medicine down but don't care, and others who do care but haven't a hope.
People seem to think that if they can get medicine they should go for it. A friend of mine has no interest in it whatsoever, but his mother is pressuring him into medicine just because he's capable. He's still going to change his first choice to Genetics anyway, which is what he wants. But I'm still baffled by this mindset of not going for what you want, or in that case trying to get the person to do something he doesn't want to do.

To be honest, everybody grows to despise whatever choices they make in life so you might aswel do something like medicine, even if it makes you want to grab the nearest person and kick the faeces out of them.

PurpleFistMixer

Disease Ridden wrote: »

To be honest, everybody grows to despise whatever choices they make in life so you might aswel do something like medicine, even if it makes you want to grab the nearest person and kick the faeces out of them.

Wow, someone's a pessimist...

I remember the day of my results someone telling me I should do medicine 'cause I got the points for it... yeah, except I can't handle blood, or injections, and hate biology, and just about everything. : p

Disease Ridden

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

Wow, someone's a pessimist...

I remember the day of my results someone telling me I should do medicine 'cause I got the points for it... yeah, except I can't handle blood, or injections, and hate biology, and just about everything. : p

Nah, I'd say realist!!

I think if somebody has a kind of nagging feeling in their mind about wanting to do something worthwhile with their life, it isn't a bad idea to set your sights on medicine. It might be a good idea however to fully inform yourself as to what you are getting into. This thread and article may provide some insight.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055506988

http://doctoryblog.wordpress.com/2008/12/18/its-a-doctors-life/

xOxSinéadxOx

Heggy wrote: »

I know a few people who have medicine down but don't care, and others who do care but haven't a hope.
People seem to think that if they can get medicine they should go for it. A friend of mine has no interest in it whatsoever, but his mother is pressuring him into medicine just because he's capable. He's still going to change his first choice to Genetics anyway, which is what he wants. But I'm still baffled by this mindset of not going for what you want, or in that case trying to get the person to do something he doesn't want to do.

yeah people think they should do something with really high points if they can get it, I don't understand!

phasers wrote: »

I hope this means the points for my course will go through the floor, I mean who wants a degree in media during a recession?

I'm hoping that for me too, economics and finance anybody? hopefully nobody

MrPain

I feel tv with shows like scrubs and greys anatomy has turned medicine into a fashion parade, with people just wanting the glamour.

K4t

We're all f**ked if Grey's Anatomy is seen as fashionable tbh.

theowen

I'm tailoring my self to be like JD, need my own Turk though

SligoBrewer

MrPain wrote: »

I feel tv with shows like scrubs and greys anatomy has turned medicine into a fashion parade, with people just wanting the glamour.

Whether we like it or not, medicine will always have that 'Superhero' glamour quality to it. Regardless of any television show.

bythewoods

SligoBrewer wrote: »

Whether we like it or not, medicine will always have that 'Superhero' glamour quality to it. Regardless of any television show.

There's nothing that glamorous about blood, faeces and death.
Oh, and horribly long hours and no social life.

HQvhs

bythewoods wrote: »

There's nothing that glamorous about blood, faeces and death.
Oh, and horribly long hours and no social life.

Well, there was until people started giving out about consultants' fees.

Stev_o

Surely by now this country has a abundant supply of medicine graduates? How many more do we actually need?

HQvhs

Stev_o wrote: »

Surely by now this country has a abundant supply of medicine graduates? How many more do we actually need?

You'd think that, but actually we don't have enough. This is seen in the fact that doctors command high wages.
The problem is because it's so costly to train a medicine student it's very hard to increase the number of places, particularly as we have some of the most cash-strapped universities in the western world.
As a result, we have a situation where we have huge competition for medicine places. This further serves to make them more attractive because since it is so difficult to get into the course, there is a certain prestige attached to it. This increases demand again and so on in a vicious circle.
It's a similar story for veterinary and dentistry.

Anthony16

I heard there is an increase in the number of places in medicine so that could have contributed.Any1 know how many more places there is in medicine this year

christina_x

how would the recession increase the amount of people going for medicine? wouldnt the recession mean that less people can afford it?

bythewoods

christina_x wrote: »

how would the recession increase the amount of people going for medicine? wouldnt the recession mean that less people can afford it?

Well, if fees are not reintroduced, no.

Taking myself as an example, I live in the shticks. 3 hours (roughly) by bus to UCC or Dublin, more again to Galway or whatever.
I'm going to have to move away from home one way or another (Unless I want to go to the local IT. Which I do not, as there's no courses there of any interest to me whatsoever. I'd still probably have to move out of home as the commute'd be way too much to handle every day- I did it this year as I was repeating down that direction. HOURS on buses every week. GAH)
So whether I do arts or Medicine, my accomodation and all that will cost the same.

The reason the recession could've driven more people towards medicine is the prospect of a guaranteed job by the end of it, whereas a course like Construction management or something mightn't give you many employment opportunities.

TBH, I'd say the rise in applicants was more to do with the introduction of the HPAT though.