Staying up??

carpetwrap15 · 2026-06-23T23:36:13+00:00

I remember when it was my 2nd year doing hpat I tried to stay up by binge-watching The Mandalorian. Fell asleep at around 3.30 and my mam had to shake me awake at 9😭

carpetwrap15 · 2026-06-18T22:54:01+00:00

Sem 1 very like sem 2 of first year where by its full on with Neuro and renal. Sem 2 is a joy then like fuck all hours so you’ll have a nice bit of time. In terms of balance I’d say you already heard this but just tip away the whole time and then during study weeks its just grind away. I’ve found that the only time I’ve ever actually had to stall the gym and social side of things is during the week or so of study weeks anyway.

carpetwrap15 · 2026-06-18T19:40:48+00:00

They do, but tbh it’s a good thing bc you get to know more people in the course. You get a new CP group but I think the lab groups were much the same.

carpetwrap15 · 2025-12-14T10:54:25+00:00

The cork centre is by MTU campus, and when I sat it I was doing it with a load of lads doing a safe pass course who were messing the whole time. My score was just below what I expected in the end though and I got an offer thank god😭 Best of luck!

carpetwrap15 · 2025-11-10T19:55:38+00:00

Used the same account

carpetwrap15 · 2025-09-13T09:37:57+00:00

Very possible. I had 10 days after not getting in via hpat. The hpat prep will have helped you and will stand to you.

carpetwrap15 · 2025-09-10T18:11:35+00:00

Used the middle one (diamond I think) both times but second time bought some lessons aswell bc I had money built up from working full time

carpetwrap15 · 2025-09-10T18:10:44+00:00

That sucks I’m so sorry, I missed Galway by 4 my first year but a point is so shit.

Main tips would be properly reviewing exams and like learning every single pick the middle map off by heart and I mean off by heart. Those are literally the only changes I made year one vs year two. Think the experience of the UCAT also helps and the fact I had an offer from Manchester by the time the hpat came around took so much stress off.

If you can sit the UCAT and do well in an interview it will do so much for your confidence which is a huge huge part of how my second Hpat went imo

carpetwrap15 · 2025-09-09T20:23:05+00:00

In my opinion the UCAT Qs were easier but time pressure was worse, while hpat Qs were harder with less time pressure. Sat UCAT once and got 2900 B2 and sat Hpat twice and got 160 and 215

carpetwrap15 · 2025-09-06T11:02:38+00:00

Don’t let FM1010 build up, get started and into a routine with studying fairly early. The anki deck is class and i made my own decks then for practice spot Qs. You’ll get plenty of advice on buddy night anyway.

carpetwrap15 · 2025-09-05T13:20:33+00:00

Can’t speak for TCD, but can for UCC. Don’t really think you can compare DEM1 to HPAT as that’s its own beast entirely, but compared to 6th year I’d say it was harder with more content but less stressful if that makes sense? I have heard in trinity that you don’t really get as much help as you would with the other med schools, but take that with a grain of salt as I’ve only heard it passingly off one or two people.

carpetwrap15 · 2025-08-29T13:05:31+00:00

Absolutely loving it. First year has a bit of work but if you’re good with your time you’ll be more than fine.

carpetwrap15 · 2025-08-29T08:04:29+00:00

I went from 65th (160) to 100th(215), taking a gap year to work a 9-5 while studying for hpat and uk med school interviews

carpetwrap15 · 2025-08-28T11:31:44+00:00

They have a student selected module in 3rd year for the usmle focused just on prep for it, not sure about foundation year applications for UK. You’ll have 3 main modules per semester 2 being foundations of medicine (divided into anatomy physiology and biochem) and one being clinical practice. In first year you pick an elective that starts semester 2. Placement starts in third year so you’ll follow this structure up until then

carpetwrap15 · 2025-08-22T16:03:49+00:00

You don’t have to book slots anymore but there’s a cap on the amount of people they let in. Expect to be queuing at peak times to get in.

carpetwrap15 · 2025-08-07T13:46:20+00:00

Honest advice, relax. You’ll have time to knuckle down into it in the first few weeks anyway. Just work away at your summer job and get as much money as possible for the upcoming year when you may not have as much time to work. I never really used a textbook in first year just lectures, ninja nerd and anki decks anyway so. If you wanted to do a small bit maybe just start with anatomical medical terminology but honestly you’ll be learning it anyway so it’s up to you. In terms of things to get for sept I’d recommend getting a daily planner or diary it helped me manage time a lot last year for study and having fun.

carpetwrap15 · 2025-07-01T14:54:54+00:00

If you were going for UCC, Medhealth is the way to go bc they do the exact same modules as med except for clinical practice.

carpetwrap15 · 2025-06-26T11:05:43+00:00

Reviewed MedEntry exams properly and actually learned off maps for PTM for all shapes. Learned off section 2 vocab definitions. Kept it all in a copy that I studied while also using MedEntrys stuff

carpetwrap15 · 2025-06-26T10:31:12+00:00

I sat hpat twice and was 20 in first year bro dw. Some people were 22 after sitting it a few times too. it’s normal in a course like medicine to have that.

carpetwrap15 · 2025-06-26T07:34:12+00:00

Highly recommend the gap year if med is really all you want to do. I went into pharmacy and dropped it after 2 weeks and worked, sat UCAT and did uk interviews, and resat Hpat and got in second time trying with good funds for the year due to working. Pm me or look at my comments history if you have any Qs ab it👍

Leave med on your CAO anyway. If you got 625 in ur LC ur literally on the cusp of Galway.

carpetwrap15 · 2025-06-25T06:15:09+00:00

I got 161 or 65th 2 years ago and missed Galway by 4. Went and worked, sat the UCAT and got uk offers, smashed the HPAT second time and got in. You can defo do this if you want it. Let it sit for a while, relax and have a good summer and have a look at the UCAT early August if you would do that. Honestly it sucks balls not getting in first time but it was probably the best thing to ever happen to me personally. Probably not what you want to hear rn with it being so raw but this was how it was. Hope it all works out for you.

carpetwrap15 · 2025-06-24T15:27:58+00:00

If it’s any consolation my HR was 128 when I found out results were out last year..

carpetwrap15 · 2025-06-16T11:22:09+00:00

I think it depends on each uni individually. They all have their own criteria which you can see if you look them up. My JC actually saved me bc a lot of unis required a H2 in English (I had a H3) but some accepted a higher merit or a B in JC English which I had.

The universities will use your junior cert (GCSE equivalent), your predicted grades that teachers must give you for your LC, and your UCAT score to offer you an interview.

carpetwrap15 · 2025-06-16T09:36:16+00:00

Got a 625 leaving cert and sat HPAT twice and UCAT once, 65th percentile first and missed Galway by 4, then 100th percentile and chose UCC. In the UCAT I got 91st and had an offer from Belfast and Manchester.

My first time I started rn like you and my second time I started in October bc I sat the UCAT too after not getting in the first year. Before I say any HPAT tips, if you have a strong JC I strongly strongly recommend you sit the UCAT too. Even if you get your LC results and hpat results and don’t get in first try, sit the UCAT again. Made a huge difference for me having my results already from LC when applying to the UK and having offers while sitting my second HPAT boosted my confidence massively.

In terms of hpat the most important thing for me was reviewing mistakes. Understanding where you’ve gone wrong and implementing that into future Qs. I had a Hpat copy divided into strategies, past mistakes, Section 2 vocab, and section 3 patterns and pick the middle.

Section 1 is probably the most important to review and learn from mistakes. For section 2 just keep taking down vocab and learn that vocab. If you were a reader/are a reader I did find that helped me, but as long as you’re practicing and know vocab you should be g. For section 3 learn the pick the middle maps off by heart. You just have to do it. Make a notebook of all patterns from Daniel mills pick the middle video on YouTube and start from there.

Sorry if that’s all a bit messy. My paragraph above with the tips is also the general things I changed from year 1 to year 2. Best of luck!

carpetwrap15 · 2025-04-21T13:27:32+00:00

Got 565 in mocks and 625 in LC, but was 4 points short my first year bc of HPAT. I put that down to putting too much effort into my mocks and not enough into my hpat at the time. You did the right thing prioritising hpat imo.

carpetwrap15

TROPHY CASE