Questions about undenominated science in TCD

Ponta

Hi, I did a year of arts in UCD but I am changing to science next year. I am trying to decide between biomedical science in NUI Galway and undenominated science in Trinity. I think that I'd find physiology and anatomy very interesting. These subjects are 2 out of 4 of the options for biomedical in Galway, and there are no quotas for places. But TCD has a bigger range of specialisations.

Is it difficult to get the specialisation you want for third year? What experiences have people had of this (do many people generally get their first preference etc.)?

If I want to do biology and chemistry for both semesters in first year, what options does this leave for the rest of my modules in first year? I don't want to do geology or geography.

Would this be a good degree to do if I want to do graduate entry medicine after it?

GlasnevinRed

Ponta wrote: »

Is it difficult to get the specialisation you want for third year? What experiences have people had of this (do many people generally get their first preference etc.)?

This depends on the course you're looking to get in to. Physiology is one of the more popular courses. One of my friends got into this with decent but by no means exceptional 2nd year results

Ponta wrote: »

If I want to do biology and chemistry for both semesters in first year, what options does this leave for the rest of my modules in first year? I don't want to do geology or geography.

You could do Maths Methods for one semester and Foundation Physics for the other. This is what I did in first year

blubloblu

Human health & disease would cover anatomy & physiology. I'd imagine it's similar enough to biomedical science. Worth a look at? http://www.tcd.ie/courses/undergraduate/az/course.php?id=271

Ponta

Thanks for your replies blubloblu and GlasnevinRed. I thought about human health and disease, but the newness of the course is a bit off-putting. So I'll probably put down biomedical science.

spotsanddots

I am current studying physiology in tcd and love it:) in first yr i studied geology biology chemistry and maths methods(you have to do some sort of maths I choose the easy option maths methods over proper Maths) then in 2nd yr i dropped Chemistry and maths methods and studied 8 bio subjects and 4 geology..i had originally wanted to study for physiology and put it down as my first choice of moderatorship and got it...the year i did my exams i think around 30% of the class had to do repeat exams.

I think geology is a nice subject its not overly difficult and the lecturers are really nice. I wasn't really interested in it but kept it up in 2nd year because i didnt want to study chemistry as I found it very difficult.

Physiology is such an interesting subject and would be right up your alley if your considering medicine ( you share some of your lectures with 1st and 2nd year meds)
I'm like you in that I also want to study medicine and at the moment i'm trying to study for the GAMSAT and sit it in sept in England (instead of march in Ireland which is the most ridiculous time to have it since annual exams are in may and there are so many assignments at that time of year)

First and second year science made me almost reconsider what i wanted to study simply because i was studying subjects that i didnt like but as soon as i specialised to physiology i loved what i was studying. I can't wait to start 4th year

If you have any other questions let me know:)

Emmerz

Ponta wrote: »

Hi, I did a year of arts in UCD but I am changing to science next year. I am trying to decide between biomedical science in NUI Galway and undenominated science in Trinity. I think that I'd find physiology and anatomy very interesting. These subjects are 2 out of 4 of the options for biomedical in Galway, and there are no quotas for places. But TCD has a bigger range of specialisations.

Is it difficult to get the specialisation you want for third year? What experiences have people had of this (do many people generally get their first preference etc.)?

If I want to do biology and chemistry for both semesters in first year, what options does this leave for the rest of my modules in first year? I don't want to do geology or geography.

Would this be a good degree to do if I want to do graduate entry medicine after it?

I had nearly the exact same problem lol I had to choose between Biomed in NUIG and Trinners, I want to do Biology and Chemistry too and the specialisations are what attracted me to this course...I hear some are fierce competitive though and can be hard to get into....anyone have any experience or thoughts on Molecular Medicine specialisation? Thats what set TCD apart from the other courses in the first place

Craguls

Emmerz wrote: »

anyone have any experience or thoughts on Molecular Medicine specialisation? Thats what set TCD apart from the other courses in the first place

I'm doing Immunology which isn't that far removed from Molecular Medicine. Anything you'd like to know?

Jammyc

Mol med is one of the more popular ones but that being said if you had a II.1 or a high II.2 this year, you'd have secured entry.

Emmerz

Jammyc wrote: »

Mol med is one of the more popular ones but that being said if you had a II.1 or a high II.2 this year, you'd have secured entry.

Yeah thanks thats what I needed to know really just like how to boost my chances of getting it

Emmerz

Emmerz wrote: »

Yeah thanks thats what I needed to know really just like how to boost my chances of getting it

Well from what I saw this year when the results came out, with the possible exception of physiology and genetics, if you're determined to get a certain moderatorship you'll most likely get it. It's all about effort. It's not so much a competition of academic talent, and more a competition of who is most committed.

The few people I knew who had their heart set on one thing got accepted to it. Most people I knew who got their course got it purely by managing to pass the exams at all. In molecular medicine, AFAIK, 8 out of 13 places were filled before the repeat exams, which means that anyone who passed first time round and had it as their number one choice would get in. Of course this could change, if your year happened to be full of people who all want to do it, but I'd honestly say that if you're genuinely willing to make the effort, you can get into a moderatorship you want.

NeuroCat

Molecular medicine filled up this year, it's one of the smaller moderatorships with only 13 places, all of which filled in the first round. The numbers change each year for the moderatorships depending on demand for the places.

For example in the year above us the lowest grade accepted into Neuroscience was a low II:II, whereas this year I know people who got reasonably high II:I's and didn't have a look in.

NeuroCat

NeuroCat wrote: »

Molecular medicine filled up this year

Oops, my bad, I read the survey breakdown instead of the results breakdown, sorry!