Pros and Cons of Different GEM courses

Nessa859

Hi all,

I'm hoping to sit the GAMSAT this September (provided I get that 2.1 of course!), and hopefully start a GEM course in September 2018. I'm unsure of what order I should put the different courses though. At the moment I'm undecided between UCD and RCSI for first choice (largely due to location. I have relatives I can stay with in Dublin. The locations for RCSI are a bit easier to get to from where I'd be staying). I haven't heard very much about UCC, and what I've heard of UL has been very mixed.

What I'm looking for is a list of pros and cons from current or past students of these courses to help me decide what order I should put them in on the CAO. Huge thanks in advance

Celestial12

Would be nice if you got some replies!

I was thinking about the allocation of places for the intern year, and I know that the person ranked first in each of the courses are all equal, same for second, third etc. However, how do they factor that some courses take more students than the others? I read that UCC take 40 people for example, so #40 in UCC is bottom of their class whereas the same is not true for #40 in UCD. Do they take this into account when allocating places? Seems very unfair if not! Thanks

inca2

I posted at length about UL in another thread last week (I've just finished 1st year). It's difficult to just do a general pros and cons list because a pro to one person could be a con to another. Also, we all only have experience of our own colleges so it's hard to compare. I'm more than happy to answer any specific questions here or privately - please just ask.

My advice would be to go with whatever college it's going to be easier for you to get to. GEM is extremely demanding and anything you can do to take other pressures off yourself (e.g. commuting long distances) is crucial. It doesn't seem like there's a huge amount to separate the colleges otherwise. I was nervous going to UL because I felt that it might be inferior to the other colleges but I have no fears about that anymore. I've said it before, but we all leave with the same degree, it's what you do with it that's important.

I'm not sure what the situation is with allocation of intern jobs but I'd imagine that all of that is taken into account - would be a bit ridiculous if not. I feel that that's something to worry about well down the line - the priority is to get through the four years first. You're pretty much guaranteed a job and that's the most important thing.

RainBow_xo

Celestial12 wrote: »

Would be nice if you got some replies!

I was thinking about the allocation of places for the intern year, and I know that the person ranked first in each of the courses are all equal, same for second, third etc. However, how do they factor that some courses take more students than the others? I read that UCC take 40 people for example, so #40 in UCC is bottom of their class whereas the same is not true for #40 in UCD. Do they take this into account when allocating places? Seems very unfair if not! Thanks

Don't the undergrad and the grad classes merge together like in UCD?

Celestial12

RainBow_xo wrote: »

Don't the undergrad and the grad classes merge together like in UCD?

They do, but I wasn't aware of that at the time. In UCD GEM merges with the undergrad course for the final two years, whereas in UCC I believe it's in semester 2 of second year GEM.