I got up this morning and relectantly checked my e-mail for the dreaded (in my eyes) HPAT result. Okay so i thought the exam was alright in general,i did a prep course that didnt really do much but i guess helped with time and strategy. My overall score was 124/300,,0-20%. If im being honest i didnt expect a high mark,i know myself i was never too strong with the HPAT. Im dissapointed though,,i did get a very low mark in my eyes..*sigh* oh well. So now i need about 550+ LC points to even get an offer for medicine,odds are i wont. one cant help but feel pessimistic at this moment in time:( I guess since im moving to Canada ill have to do science for 4 years then do another HPAT type exam and hope that i get into medicine that way.. if i stay in Ireland ill prob end up doing science aswell,then try get into post grad medicine.

Well..what else can i say. Im sure at this stage were all relaxing catching up on whatever we shoved aside until after the exams. I have to agree with Cillian,the hype kind of died down, it was hectic during the first week but then we kind of eased into it! It wasnt as bad as we thought, none of us died or had panic attacks because Boland didnt come up,,,we pulled through and made it out the other end…stronger..and im sure we’ve all learned a thing or two about ourselves because of this whole process! i sure did…i may be a procrastinator but i can really commit to something once i put my head to it.

For all of us now, whether we performed as we wanted in the HPAT or not, whether we get the points we need, whether we get into the college we want or get the career of our wildest dreams or end up repeating i hope we can ALL say “atleast i gave it my all,,,i tried my best”. Because that’s all that matters,everything else will move into place if it is to be.

Fifth years who are soon to be 6th years, if your reading this…the Leaving cert isnt a big deal. well okay,in one sense it is..but i mean dont kill yourself about it! If your a student who always does their homework, is on top of weekly revision and wants to do well then dont worry. Early revision is key but dont morph into a studious zombie and become a recluse who doesnt want to see the light of day or hang out with their friends for  a while,,,thats important too. All ill say is just keep in mind what you want to acheive,, always remind yourself of what you want and try your best to achieve it.

I cant thank Patrick Barry enough for allowing us to vent our feelings online! Thanks Patrick, you run an amazing site that really helped me a year ago exactly when i was looking for answers on medicine,,the new HPAT, asking for subjects and college choices,all honours allowed me to get the answers i wanted from the huge community of students who were just like me! I also found out about my saturday grinds from allhonours. So without this site and Patrick’s ongoing work (searching for bloggers,updating the site and the likes!) it wouldnt be as succesful so I think from all the bloggers we just wanted to say thanks Patrick and we wish you ongoing success with this brilliant site! I highly recommend signing up for this blogging thing,,its a great excercise to have throughout the studying year!

All ill say is best of luck to everyone this august,i hope you all get what you want. Thanks for reading my blogs, i really appreciate it,you all make it worthwhile. Ill be back, like Cillian, when the results are out,,i may be in Canada at that stage or i may still be here. untill then, enjoy your break,,,you deserve it!!

au revoir mes amis!!!!!!!!! xx

-Ally