Moved here from Potential HSFYers Read Me thread as it fits here better.
The 8th paper, for current and prospective HSFYers
Why (and why not) an eighth paper?
There are three common (and good) reasons to take an eighth paper:
1, You are very interested in the subject (and don't need a grade-bumper), in which case that's fair enough, go for it - if you get into med (and I suspect other professional programmes also) this would be one of the only times when you get to choose a paper of your interest, according to (the legendary) greenglacier.
2, You've made a blunder in a First Semester paper (this is where I remind prospective HSFYers that you have until the start of Second Semester to tell them that you want to do an 8th paper).
3, You're okay with your first semester results (a fair A+ average), but have not sat UMAT before (or are sitting on a mediocre UMAT pending another go) and are not confident with a second semester paper. (Notice the word AND - this will become important in a minute)
[box=Scenario where it is okay not to take an 8th paper]You're sitting on a good UMAT and a good S1 average, so that you can get much (>10%) lower S2 average and still maintain an overall average that will give you a Ranking Score of 78 or above using Greenglacier's formula below, and you have no interest in the paper other than to bump grades in case HEAL192 "is mean to you". In this case you have little to lose to HEAL, and there is a good chance that if you knew you had no choice but to do HEAL to its best, and had the extra time freed up by not doing an 8th paper, that you would do fairly well.[/box]
What marks will I need?
An aid to decision-making, particularly useful for those who already have a UMAT result. If you haven't sat UMAT before, probably best to assume a mediocre UMAT.
[box=The Infinite Wisdom of the Legendary greenglacier]In order to be eligible for undergraduate entry into 2nd year medicine, applicants
must pass all HSFY papers with at least a B (70%). If this is the case, then all applicants are ranked by:
Average mark across best 7 papers in HSFY (which means that an 8th paper, if taken, can knock out the worst HSFY mark) - 66% weighting
UMAT score (sections 1, 2 and 3 weighted 45:45:10 respectively) - 34% weighting
Note that for UMAT it is the score that is used, NOT the percentile.
This can be viewed as a score calculated by the following formula: [box=formula](Mark in best paper + Mark in 2nd best paper + ... + Mark in 7th best paper)*2/21 + (UMAT S1 mark*0.45 + UMAT S2 mark*0.45 + UMAT S3 mark*0.1)/3[/box] The cut-off score for entry into the 2010 2nd year class through a first round offer (i.e. not off the waiting list) was somewhere between 77.2 and 77.5, which can approximately translate to one of the following:
30th percentile UMAT and 94% average
50th percentile UMAT and 92% average
80th percentile UMAT and 89% average
90th percentile UMAT and 87% average
95th percentile UMAT and 86% average[/box]
Okay, I need an 8th paper to bump my grades, which one should I do?
The tried-and-true approach: MAOR102, BSNS104, PSYC112
I'll let our resident guru, greenglacier, take over:
If you don't take MAOR102, BSNS104 or PSYC112, don't count on getting an A+. If you take PSYC112, make sure it's something you're interested in - I've seen people love it and people hate it. It's definitely more work than the other 2, but an A+ is quite achievable. I know many people who took PSYC112, loved it, and got a really good mark.
"Now wait a minute," I can hear you through the screen (not really), "what about the others? Surely there might be some that are easier than those three?"
Yes, there are limited accounts of the other 8th papers, but that's because almost no one does an 8th paper that isn't BSNS, MAOR, or PSYC. I've known two people who did - in both cases it brought their average down, but that was the sacrifice they were willing to make to do a paper that really interested them (and they both still got into med). What you have to realise is that it is actually pretty easy to get an A/A+ in a typical health sci paper compared to the average paper offered across the whole university. That's why I take the stance I do - if you want to take a paper apart from BSNS, MAOR, or PYSC then by all means do, but be prepared for it to be harder to get an A+ than your health sci papers. Such a paper would be an unknown, and it wouldn't be wise to expect it to be easy. BSNS, MAOR, and PSYC are popular options that have been taken by many students I've known so I can vouch for them being manageable.
Essentially, not to discourage the innovative spirit (trying new stuff is what got us, the human race, where we are, right?), but the tried-and-true papers are tried-and-true because they are known to work. If you head on to do the others, that is your choice, and I respect it, but I'll draw your attention to the phrase from the above quote
"what you have to realise is that it is actually pretty easy to get an A/A+ in a typical health sci paper compared to the average paper offered across the whole university," so if you take another one, you'll be in uncharted waters, and how you'll do is anyone's guess. If anything, I feel that in terms of the papers you take to bump grades in HSFY, this is a better time to conform to known methods of success, rather than exploring new stuff (which may or may not end well in terms of getting into med.)
MAOR102 vs BSNS104
I've taken neither (being a health sci on break between semesters at time of writing), and don't actually intend to take an 8th paper after applying the decision process I've written about above. So I'll again pass over to Green "Health Sci God" Glacier.
MAOR102 - less content than BSNS104, and easier for most people. Just make sure you know what content it includes and that you'd like to learn it, and be prepared to have to write essays when other HSFYers are studying for mid-semester tests.
BSNS104 - easy if you're a maths person, very manageable if not. Plussage, so essentially 100% final exam - great during the semester because it really reduces the workload but make sure you attend the lectures and do 1-2 hours tutorial prep/reading each week. You can easily get an A+ with 6 hours work per week (and those 6 hours include lectures and tutorials).
I did BSNS104 and all I did was turn up to all the lectures and tutorials (which is more than most people!) and in the weekend did the pre-reading for that week (generally one chapter from the textbook per week) and the tutorial prep. I then did a few hours study before the final exam. It wasn't taxing in the slightest and I actually enjoyed it. In many ways MAOR (even though a bit easier) can be more stressful during the semester because you have to write a couple of essays - e.g. in my year the BIOC192 mid-semester (20%) was on a Saturday and the 2nd HEAL192 terms test (15%) the following Friday, and the MAOR students had a 20% essay due the Monday after that. The only mistake that most people make with BSNS is not turning up to/listening in lectures.