UoO Rural Category Entry Criteria

[Bunny230]

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone else has had issues with the health sciences admissions office regarding applications for MBChB entry via rural? I've applied for Medicine under the rural category over the last two years with no issues but today I gave the office a ring just to confirm they still had proof of my rural residence and pre-tertiary education stored in their system but to my surprise they told me I didn't qualify for rural entry. The rural entry criterion I believe I meet is:

"Have undertaken a combination of pre-tertiary education at a school in a rural area of New Zealand and residence in a rural area of New Zealand, for a minimum of four consecutive years"

I spent two years at a rural primary school and resided in a rural area for 6 consecutive years (so 4 years if you exclude my years at primary). According to the receptionist I talked to, the years of rural residence must follow secondary school but this is a separate and optional criterion. After reading out the criterion to her she discussed the matter with some other staff members then later told me that there seems to be a lot of confusion between students and the health sciences office atm so they currently don't know if I qualify for rural entry or not. A few other students are in the same boat as me right now apparently. I personally know of someone that had the same background as me last year and managed to get in to medicine via the rural category under the same criterion. It would be extremely unfair in my opinion if they chose to exclude students like myself from the rural category just because their criteria wasn't very clear or erroneous.

 

[rustyedges]

Am I right in saying you lived in a rural area for six years, two of which you attended primary school in that area, and four of which at an urban school?

If that's the case, my interpretation of the criteria would mean you wouldn't meet them, unfortunately. That third criterion implies that the years living rurally but not at school were because you were working in a rural area, not studying in a city. It might seem unfair, but it would be less fair to take a place from a student with much stronger rural connections, for whom the places are designed.

 

[Fencess]

If they approved you in the past and haven't changed the criteria since then there's no reason they wont approve you again. They have to ensure the system is fair however, so you can understand their stringency.

I can see how your situation could be both included and excluded based on their criteria statement. It's not really up to us to debate the semantics.
I assume you had to put in some kinda statement alongside your application about your commitment to rural medicine. That might play a part in this as well. If it's well written and then that might tip the balance in your favour.
Best of luck.

 

[Fencess]

Seeing as the other criteria are:

Have undertaken a minimum of four years of their pre-tertiary education at a school in a rural area of New Zealand
or
Have resided in a rural area of New Zealand for a minimum of four consecutive years following the completion of their secondary education
or
Have undertaken a combination of pre-tertiary education at a school in a rural area of New Zealand and residence in a rural area of New Zealand, for a minimum of four consecutive years

I would say that your combination of living and going to school in a rural area of New Zealand for >4 years qualifies you.
Seemingly they haven't really sorted anything yet so just give it time, it'll come through.

 

[Serpent123]

I'm in a similar situation in that I attended a rural primary school for 3 years then continued to live rurally for several years afterwards. It shouldn't matter that you (we) attended an urban school while living rurally in the latter part of the consecutive years, because the criterion only requires that you "resided in a rural area" and that it is continuous with the years that you spent at a rural school. Nevertheless it would be nice if you could update us as on whether they accepted you under the rural category! Personally I haven't contacted them about this and am just hoping for the best... That you've been accepted before under the rural category gives me hope

 

[Bunny230]

I'm in a similar situation in that I attended a rural primary school for 3 years then continued to live rurally for several years afterwards. It shouldn't matter that you (we) attended an urban school while living rurally in the latter part of the consecutive years, because the criterion only requires that you "resided in a rural area" and that it is continuous with the years that you spent at a rural school. Nevertheless it would be nice if you could update us as on whether they accepted you under the rural category! Personally I haven't contacted them about this and am just hoping for the best... That you've been accepted before under the rural category gives me hope

Hi there,

I got a response from the Health Sciences admissions office a while ago. Didn’t even cross my mind to update you guys on MSO! Apologies. So, after some deliberation between the admissions people they came to the conclusion that I am eligible as a rural applicant! What a relief hahahaha

 

[Serpent123]

Hi there,

I got a response from the Health Sciences admissions office a while ago. Didn’t even cross my mind to update you guys on MSO! Apologies. So, after some deliberation between the admissions people they came to the conclusion that I am eligible as a rural applicant! What a relief hahahaha

That's awesome, thanks for letting us know.

 

[dotwingz]

This thread is for the graduate entry category for the university of otago in NZ...it makes me think that you haven't:

a) read through this thread, and as a result
b) read through the many many pages on this forum where rural entry/benefits/etc are discussed

Please make yourself more resourceful of the information that is avaliable on this website and not rely on others to point you in the right direction. Youve got two years of time to read through this website before any of it concerns you.

 

[E_N]

This thread is for the graduate entry category for the university of otago in NZ...it makes me think that you haven't:

a) read through this thread, and as a result
b) read through the many many pages on this forum where rural entry/benefits/etc are discussed

Please make yourself more resourceful of the information that is avaliable on this website and not rely on others to point you in the right direction. Youve got two years of time to read through this website before any of it concerns you.

There appears to not be a section related specifically to what I am talking about (i.e. Rural Entry Benefits General Medicine Australia). There is one thread for eligibility, but obviously that is the wrong one. Rather than me posting the same question in there and you getting mad at me, would you be so kind to send me a link for the relevant thread. Thanks.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

There appears to not be a section related specifically to what I am talking about (i.e. Rural Entry Benefits General Medicine Australia). There is one thread for eligibility, but obviously that is the wrong one. Rather than me posting the same question in there and you getting mad at me, would you be so kind to send me a link for the relevant thread. Thanks.

Why is the eligibility and general discussion thread obviously the wrong one? FYI: it’s not. It’s exactly the right one and I have moved the content posted here to that thread.

Rural Eligibility and General Discussion

(Off topic content)

medstudentsonline.com.au

 

[caityutoo]

Does UofO notify you if you do not qualify for rural? I was so confused. I think I qualify but wasn't sure so applied under rural and then it says they will notify you if you get put back in the general category. Is that correct? And if so do you know when they notify you?

 

[Muchneededsleep]

Hi does anybody know what the maximum and minimum first round and waitlisted offers for medicine via the rural category (from HSFY) was last year 2020 who made med in 2021? as I'm confused how the covid boost affected the thresholds in what I have already reserched...

 

[TePutekai]

Hi does anybody know what the maximum and minimum first round and waitlisted offers for medicine via the rural category (from HSFY) was last year 2020 who made med in 2021? as I'm confused how the covid boost affected the thresholds in what I have already reserched...

This is going off of memory, but for rural the minimum is ~87%, mean is ~95%, whereas for general the minimum is 95.14%, mean is ~97%.
As for working out the pre-COVID 5% grades, we can't know exactly but we calculate a range of 2.5% lower, plus minus 5/14 (0.36). That gives rural a minimum of approx 84.14 to 84.86% and a mean of approx 92.14 to 92.86%.

Please do not assume your likelihood of a successful or unsuccessful application from these approximations. These are not necessarily indicative of how this year's thresholds will be- they're only guesses. At this moment, not even the medical admissions committee knows what the grade thresholds are. I wish you all the best for your application!

 

[Muchneededsleep]

This is going off of memory, but for rural the minimum is ~87%, mean is ~95%, whereas for general the minimum is 95.14%, mean is ~97%.
As for working out the pre-COVID 5% grades, we can't know exactly but we calculate a range of 2.5% lower, plus minus 5/14 (0.36). That gives rural a minimum of approx 84.14 to 84.86% and a mean of approx 92.14 to 92.86%.

Please do not assume your likelihood of a successful or unsuccessful application from these approximations. These are not necessarily indicative of how this year's thresholds will be- they're only guesses. At this moment, not even the medical admissions committee knows what the grade thresholds are. I wish you all the best for your application!

Thanks TePutekai this is exactly the information that I was after !