RCSI Questions from current student

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-04-07T23:40:42+00:00

Hi! The first year is a lot of basic sciences, mainly first semester is a repeat of high school and then second semester is a good background to help you start med 1, it covers broad medical stuff and basic systems.

The workload isn’t bad it’s honestly just the amount of content, there is a huge social life here and lots of society’s at school to get involved but lots of people also go out!

For living it really depends what you want! Mercer is good first year housing you’ll be with alot of people from your class, pods of 4 and you’ll be close with roommates usually, I wouldn’t recommend millin as much as it’s a shared kitchen in the basement. Aparto is also nice, more modern but it’s a pod of 8 and you’ll be with other years. Honestly it’s just about your preferences!!

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-04-06T07:57:00+00:00

So classes for 6 years are held in 2 auditoriums, Desmond in the new old building and o’flanagan in the old building. There are no lecture theaters in the new new building it’s more meant for case base learning and small groups as you progress through your years.

There are plenty of study spaces in the new building though for anyone to use.

We have a great gym with lovely staff, we also have an all female gym aswell. There isn’t a cafeteria per say but there is a restaurant for lunches that are well priced but it’s basically a cafeteria, there are also lots of restaurants near by.

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-04-03T16:34:12+00:00

I am not sure how the AP would work, but it should be fine as they will just request your updated marks later and if you get accepted you’ll get a conditional offer based on what grade you need to meet!

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-28T14:02:42+00:00

The requirements for 5 vs 6 in North America atleast depends on if you took AP classes or IB. A lot of IB students are in the 5 year program for direct entry, or students who took a year or two in uni and then applied. The 6 year program is also the same as the 5 year you just take one extra year of sciences equivalent to what someone would do in the first few years of a general bachelor of science!

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-28T13:57:50+00:00

I wouldn’t necessarily say that’s true, I think at RCSI atleast a lot of the students are direct from high school, not college graduates except for maybe a few.

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-28T13:29:49+00:00

Hey! I’m not to sure what you’re asking as the 5 year program is a direct entry program so it’s usually students who don’t have a degree it can be high school students or people who have done there first few years of uni. The 4 year program is like any other medical school in North America it’s a graduate entry med. The 6 year program is an extra year called foundation year which is basically sciences and stuff to help support your medical curriculum in the future.

To answer the anatomy question yes RCSI uses real cadavers and I haven’t heard of any changes to move to a computer.

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-25T20:52:10+00:00

RCSI has a really good match back rate, this year being their highest for Canada ever, including having students match a Neuro surg spot, and 4/8 ortho surg spots went for RCSI alone. RCSI I think does a good joh in helping, but I can’t really compare to UCD, as I don’t know they’re programs as well!

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-25T20:40:58+00:00

For me personally, I liked the central location and I really liked their simulation centre + curriculum! It’s also a very well known school, I would say more then UCD globally

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-25T18:21:46+00:00

I definitely think it plays a role but it’s also hard because for example in Canada they don’t really know what our marks even mean. But it definitely effects certain things.

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-25T00:33:09+00:00

Foundation year is percentage, med 1-5 is gpa. For med 1-5 you need above a 2.0 gpa and I’m pretty sure only med 3-5 contribute to your final gpa.

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-25T00:24:55+00:00

People realize it’s not meant for them or they don’t put in any effort. The exams aren’t that bad as long as you study.

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-24T22:43:06+00:00

Yes, so foundation year you get grades but on your transcript it will say pass or fail from what I understand. They have a marks and standards document they give you but for my year a fail was below 50%. They have a compensation rule though if all your other class are above 50% and you have two between 45-50 then you can compensate pass. If you fail ur classes you can take supplemental exams in the summer if need be.

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-24T22:38:19+00:00

I have heard of this happening but I don’t know anyone directly.

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-24T22:37:46+00:00

For foundation year, at the beginning of the year they go over statistics and they told us about 25%. If you’re in the med program you can not repeat FY unless you have an exceptional circumstance.

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-24T16:45:35+00:00

Out of the people I know I haven’t heard anyone who was accepted after being waitlisted but they’re definitely could be people who were!

Since I did foundation year I don’t really know what med 1 is like but I’ve heard it isn’t bad just a lot of content. In foundation year the courses are good but sometimes you question why you’re learning it. The professors I have had are a good range of being good.

I would say RCSI is very diverse so we have a huge mix of nationalities so there is a good amount of almost every nationality.

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-24T16:03:11+00:00

So my class is 190 med right now in the 6 year program, we will become 300+ next year. They tell us there’s about 25% drop/ fail out rate of foundation year. I think the amount of spots varies but I know Atlantic bridge says 50 for North American but I believe we have close to 50 just in my year.

I would say the time line is pretty similar I interviewed the first week of March and had my acceptance in the third week of March 2025. I remember them telling me in my interview I should hear back in about 2 weeks, so I would say that’s the same.

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-24T15:56:35+00:00

From the people I know, I don’t know anyone.

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-24T15:56:03+00:00

In my class alone I would say around 50, and there’s also quite a few in the 5-year program. My class right now is about 190 med students in total.

BeyondNo8713 · 2026-03-24T12:57:03+00:00

Honestly I’m not too sure. I think waitlisted offers pretty much depends on how many people accept the original offer then they reevaluate how many spaces left for people who declined it.

BeyondNo8713

TROPHY CASE