GAMSAT 2010...for discussion of all things related to this exam.

robjmiller · 05-08-2010 08:31AM

Stratford, I'd give the CAO a ring at 9

stratford · 05-08-2010 08:33AM

MicraBoy wrote: »

I'd get on to them straight away. There are loads of things that may have gone wrong along the way. Do you get confirmation of your eligibility from CAO earlier in the year? Does your online application confirm your GAMSAT score?

Yes I have confirmation and my updated gamsat score on my CAO account.

Did everyone else get an offer, or do some people have to wait til round 2?

ZombieMed · 05-08-2010 08:38AM

Think you should have received an offer if everything was ok - documentation needs to have been with them as well as Gamsat.. I was receiving small updates by post from them all through the process.. gamsat ok, documentation ok.. you're eligible etc.

Let us know how you get on..

Double check your application on the CAO website - that's where the offer is listed - you won't get an actual email, though you should get an offer by post this morning.

MicraBoy · 05-08-2010 08:39AM

stratford wrote: »

Yes I have confirmation and my updated gamsat score on my CAO account.

Did everyone else get an offer, or do some people have to wait til round 2?

what does it say in the Offers/Acceptance Section of your online application?

Yes everyone should have gotten an offer if they qualified for one today.

MicraBoy · 05-08-2010 08:41AM

bluewall wrote: »

Out of interest - how did some people know the cut-off point scores by 2.30 am this morning?? (tazzle, don keypunch and zombiemed)

I think they guessed the URL based on last years. I can't find a link on CAO yet.

EDIT:
Ah it's up now http://www.cao.ie/index.php?page=points&p=2010

bettyo'surf · 05-08-2010 09:13AM

Did the points go up this year for all courses? Looks like 60* was round 1 for UCC then 59 no * (!!) for final offer, so all with 59 got offer? I got 59, will do UL 4-year or UCC 5-year. Was hoping for Cork GME but delighted all the same to have offers!

bluewall · 05-08-2010 09:26AM

MicraBoy wrote: »

I think they guessed the URL based on last years. I can't find a link on CAO yet.

EDIT:
Ah it's up now http://www.cao.ie/index.php?page=points&p=2010

someone had some inside info in the early hours of this morning if you ask me!!

Tazzle · 05-08-2010 10:12AM

bluewall wrote: »

Out of interest - how did some people know the cut-off point scores by 2.30 am this morning?? (tazzle, don keypunch and zombiemed)

Same as others, I just changed the link from last year to 2010. It was actually up yesterday. UCC for me anywho. Anyone got a lend?

stratford · 05-08-2010 10:40AM

ZombieMed wrote: »

Think you should have received an offer if everything was ok - documentation needs to have been with them as well as Gamsat.. I was receiving small updates by post from them all through the process.. gamsat ok, documentation ok.. you're eligible etc.

Let us know how you get on..

Double check your application on the CAO website - that's where the offer is listed - you won't get an actual email, though you should get an offer by post this morning.

I've gotten no offer even though I'm entitled to one with 61 points.

All documentation is ok and this was confirmed by post.

So I rang the CAO and the receptionist said I should have gotten an offer and that she was mystified as to why I didnt and said the supervisor would ring me back.

Does this mean I wasn't in the lottery for the UCD places- its 61 asterik?

Nervous wreck here.

moncai · 05-08-2010 10:55AM

Even if you didnt get a place in the lottery for UCD you should have gotten an offer for UCC or UL, so it appears you were 'lost in the system' altogether. I'd imagine this now means you'll get offered a place in UCD first if anyone declines an offer, or in UCC if anyone declines an offer, or UL if anyone declines an offer. I'd say you'll get a place in UCD. Dont worry and just let the cao sort it out, it's their mess now.
If you dont get offered a place at all, take a court case agains the cao and apply for damages and potential loss of earnings. Unless you're waiting for an offer next year in which case i'd hold off on the lawsuit

MicraBoy · 05-08-2010 11:02AM

stratford wrote: »

I've gotten no offer even though I'm entitled to one with 61 points.

All documentation is ok and this was confirmed by post.

So I rang the CAO and the receptionist said I should have gotten an offer and that she was mystified as to why I didnt and said the supervisor would ring me back.

Does this mean I wasn't in the lottery for the UCD places- its 61 asterik?

Nervous wreck here.

Bummer man, I feel for ya.

It's not really a lottery. Every one is assigned a random number when they apply and ordered on the basis of that number so in theory you can't have been left out. It might just be a mix up with the actual offer process. I hope so anyway.

In any case I'm sure if every thing is ok with the application, it is up to CAO to sort out. You'll get a place somewhere!

jenga-jen · 05-08-2010 11:03AM

Got UCD on 61! Delighted

Anyone know when it starts? Excited and scared in equal measures!

figs86 · 05-08-2010 11:10AM

http://www.ucc.ie/en/media/Schedule-for-Orientation-Sep-2010.pdf

Orientation and Reg for GradMed in Cork is on the 20th of August! :eek:

Right so...anybody who's looking for a housemate get in touch (PM me) cos 2 weeks to get sorted is not a huge amount of time!

jeanie123 · 05-08-2010 11:15AM

bettyo'surf wrote: »

Did the points go up this year for all courses? Looks like 60* was round 1 for UCC then 59 no * (!!) for final offer, so all with 59 got offer? I got 59, will do UL 4-year or UCC 5-year. Was hoping for Cork GME but delighted all the same to have offers!

Betty what are you going to do? In a very similar situation I have an offer of a 5 year undergrad course but also now got Limerick on offer. I do not want to go to Limerick ( I am sure it is a nice place but never been there and do not know anyone there !) but the chance of doing all this in 4 years is tempting.... as I am a bit older. But then a huge difference in fees between undergrad and GEM and will be able to do some work and earn money during the 5 year course. On the other hand would be nice to be with an older class group. Not sure what I am going to do either but only 6 days to decide!! That crucial year could make all the difference! Although given the points jum for GEM this year lucky to have got anything

stratford · 05-08-2010 11:21AM

Can anyone estimate based on past years how much the points will drop if it all on the next round?

The chance of UCD going from 61* to 61?

The chance of RCSI going from 64 to 61?

Slim?

crazy dude · 05-08-2010 11:48AM

stratford wrote: »

I've gotten no offer even though I'm entitled to one with 61 points.

All documentation is ok and this was confirmed by post.

So I rang the CAO and the receptionist said I should have gotten an offer and that she was mystified as to why I didnt and said the supervisor would ring me back.

Does this mean I wasn't in the lottery for the UCD places- its 61 asterik?

Nervous wreck here.

Weirdly enough I got an offer on the CAO website, accepted it at 9 am, got an email immediately acknowledging my acceptance and then....at 11 am they sent an email to tell me I was offered the place.....
I think their computer system is just a bit behind!
I wouldn't worry too much as I worked with a girl who got her LC results rechecked and found they had made an error and weeks after round 2 she was still entitled to get in to undergrad medicine because the dept of ed had made a mistake adding up her LC marks.

getleft · 05-08-2010 11:54AM

I'd echo what you said there crazy dude. I accepted the offer at 8am this morning and received a text from CAO acknowledging my acceptance. Then got a text off them at 10 saying that there was an offer on the website for me. Surprise surprise - a state body with IT issues. They'll probably commission a report at a cost of several million and then tell us that our fees have to go up cos there's no money in the country.

bettyo'surf · 05-08-2010 12:02PM

hi jeanie, snap! u pretty much summed up my situation there. i'm still undecided, but right now i'm leaning towards the 5-year. if we were in situation where we didn't an acceptable gamsat score we would still only be graduating (all going well!!) in 2015 so its the same really! I understand undergrad & postgrad start to join up from year 3 anyways and there are similar number of/more post grad students in the undergrad courses than in the GME programmes in most colleges anyways! its tough to decide though, i'm in my late 20s so the years are a little more precious to me now too, but then whats another year in the greater scheme of things & it might be easier to focus on what u don't know (med stuff?!) when ur surrounded by what u do know! Don't know much about Limerick either but I'm sure that given the class size there, all in the same gme boat, one would make plenty friends in no time!

stratford wrote: »

Can anyone estimate based on past years how much the points will drop if it all on the next round?

The chance of UCD going from 61* to 61?

The chance of RCSI going from 64 to 61?

Slim?

check this out, points for last year,
http://www2.cao.ie/points/lvl8_09.pdf

2009 POINTS, from CAO website
Final | Median
CK791 Medicine - (Graduate Entry) 59 | 60
RC101 Medicine - (Graduate Entry) 60* | 64
DN102 Medicine - Graduate Entry 60* | 63
LM101 Medicine - Graduate Entry 56* | 57

looks like there would be a chance? i'm hoping for a similar drop for ucc gme! but there are more applicants this year i feel

stratford · 05-08-2010 12:17PM

crazy dude wrote: »

Weirdly enough I got an offer on the CAO website, accepted it at 9 am, got an email immediately acknowledging my acceptance and then....at 11 am they sent an email to tell me I was offered the place.....
I think their computer system is just a bit behind!
I wouldn't worry too much as I worked with a girl who got her LC results rechecked and found they had made an error and weeks after round 2 she was still entitled to get in to undergrad medicine because the dept of ed had made a mistake adding up her LC marks.

Thanks everyone for your advice and reassurance.

I'm sorry to say its not IT problems. Turns out the CAO hadn't bothered to notify the colleges of my updated Gamsat score.

Phone calls are ongoing, expensive when one lives in London.

Can't help wondering if I might have been offered UCD this morning if things had gone smoothy. Sigh.

Nonoperational · 05-08-2010 12:28PM

I didn't think the colleges had anything to do with cao offers? Hope it works out for you.

ZombieMed · 05-08-2010 12:28PM

You're officially living my nightmare:-(

I really hope that you get your place. Sending lots of good karma towards you

middaydemon · 05-08-2010 01:12PM

I knew CAO would f*ck something up stratford - sorry it was you!

Really hope it gets sorted out

Edible · 05-08-2010 01:21PM

the colleges don't receive the gamsat scores...they just check the 2.1 documentation and notify the CAO that it's all OK. It's the CAO who decide who gets in based on gamsat scores....

getout · 05-08-2010 02:07PM

So why do you think the cutoff scores went up?

Were the 180 places that we expected ever actually confirmed? Does anyone know for certain if the number of places offered was less.

That would explain this unexpected rise in cutoff scores.

I was so sure I'd get an offer for UL with a score of 57, but no such luck.

middaydemon · 05-08-2010 02:11PM

anyone know when the colleges themselves will get in touch? After we accept, or after the 11th?

need to get this loan sorted out pronto - on holiday next week, for nearly a month!

vrfcno7 · 05-08-2010 02:19PM

getout wrote: »

So why do you think the cutoff scores went up?

Were the 180 places that we expected ever actually confirmed? Does anyone know for certain if the number of places offered was less.

That would explain this unexpected rise in cutoff scores.

I was so sure I'd get an offer for UL with a score of 57, but no such luck.

I can only presume that extra places did not come through.

Take UCD for example. Last year, the cut off was 60, and they only had 20 places available.
This year, the cut off has risen to 61*, despite there being (supposedly) 55 places available.

Just doesn't seem to be any other explanation.

In any case getout, I would imagine you'd get an offer from UL in later rounds. A lot of people, including myself, look like they're gonna reject, based on unforeseen move to limerick. I was banking on UCD with my 59. Made logical sense that it would drop. Expected RCSI to rise but, the rest to fall. C'est la vie!

ljg1 · 05-08-2010 03:04PM

Congrats to everyone who got offers! And to those who didn't the very best of luck for September-the hard work WILL pay off!

Limerick was my first choice and I accepted today thank God!
For anyone who's unsure about Limerick, I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't absolutely love the course here. I totally understand if people are settled where they are but IMHO, unless you have a mortgage, it doesn't really matter where you do medicine. We're all going to be so busy and no matter what anyone says I don't believe that the education provided is superior in any of the colleges, otherwise the college would not have gotten the funding to go ahead with the course. As we all know, every University had to fight for each graduate place that it was granted so if the teaching was lacking, those places would not have been made available.
I know moving to Limerick seems unappealing and this is the main reason some of you are adverse to going but you'll be in a course and studying medicine instead of studying for another GAMSAT sitting.

The only reason I'm posting this is because I know how awful it must be having to make a decision like this especially after sitting the horrible GAMSAT and this unmerciful wait for offers. Best of luck with the decision!

Sid_Justice · 05-08-2010 04:43PM

I think it's worth factoring in that people know a lot more about GAMSAT and GEM this year then they did previously. A lot of people are repeating and I'm sure most people's first attempts are improving. Coupled with it getting more exposure in the UK I'm sure it's natural that the scores will get more competitive.

Obviously the number of places is critical but I'd also note that the standard is also raising.

ZombieMed · 05-08-2010 05:03PM

middaydemon wrote: »

anyone know when the colleges themselves will get in touch? After we accept, or after the 11th?

need to get this loan sorted out pronto - on holiday next week, for nearly a month!

Get in touch with your chosen college immediately and find out what they can do for you - maybe you can start getting forms and info together and complete the app when you return.

On the reason why the points are higher, I'd say it's because more people are applying with higher scores this year, either repeaters or people who took it in 2009 for this year. I also didn't expect RCSI to go so high, hopefully not a sign of things to come for future years.

gem2010 · 05-08-2010 05:05PM

Got Limerick with my 62

delighted, SO excited

can't wait but also slightly petrified??? wohooooo

GAMSAT 2010...for discussion of all things related to this exam.

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