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HSFY 2019

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Stuart

Administrator
Emeritus Staff
Hi everyone,

Welcome to MSO!

This is the thread for HSFY (Health Sciences First Year) students at Otago University. This is the place to meet and interact with others who will also be going through the same challenges in 2019.

We do have a lot information about HSFY on the forum, anything from accommodation advice to content advice. So, we encourage our users to have a thorough search prior to asking questions. This is mainly to avoid repeated questions which can quickly become a problem. However, do not be afraid to ask questions. If you cannot find anything relevant, feel free to post here.

Finally, if you are a new member, be sure to familiarise yourself with the MSO rules.

Thank you and good luck!
 
So I just finished my first semester in HSFY so if any newbies want to know in detail how it is like in HSFY or how you should prepare for HSFY ( or if you should consider HSFY at all, just hit me a message and I can answer all :) The memory is still fresh so the sooner you ask the better :)

If any of you guys are going to apply to HSFY of the University of Otago and need any advice or have questions relating to HSFY, you guys can message me :)

I am an international student studying HSFY at Otago 2018. I am also flatting and have a wide range of friends from flatting to staying in the hall so I know quite a bit knowledge of everything to help. I will try my best to help if I can :)
 
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Bootleg

Regular Member
Hi,

Just out of curiosity, what grades should we be achieving in (physics, chemistry, biology) in Level 3 to stand a realistic chance of getting good grades in HSFY papers?
 

rustyedges

Moderator
Moderator
In my opinion, a majority of excellences. Of course there are exceptions both ways: people who don't do well in high school acing HSFY and vice versa, but the reality is most people entering HSFY wont get grades good enough for medicine or dentistry. If you do well in level 3, you will be able to hit the ground running, especially for chemistry and physics, have some idea on how to study those subjects to do well, and have confidence knowing that with your hard work you are capable of doing well compared to your competition.
 

Stuart

Administrator
Emeritus Staff
Hi,

Just out of curiosity, what grades should we be achieving in (physics, chemistry, biology) in Level 3 to stand a realistic chance of getting good grades in HSFY papers?

Hi,

It obviously helps if you are good at them. However, your grades now won't directly affect you in the end. There are plenty of people who don't do well (even fail) after getting good grades in highschool. Conversely, there are plenty of people who do well after getting bad grades in highschool (or even have no background in them). I would rather focus on learning the basics well to prepare for HSFY, not the grades.
 

Bootleg

Regular Member
Alright thanks for your responses. My friend (who is also planning to study Health Science at UoA) told me that, to achieve success in HSFY is to have a strong mentality, do you think this is true? Also, I have heard that alot of students struggle within the first two weeks of HSFY?
 

Stuart

Administrator
Emeritus Staff
Alright thanks for your responses. My friend (who is also planning to study Health Science at UoA) told me that, to achieve success in HSFY is to have a strong mentality, do you think this is true? Also, I have heard that alot of students struggle within the first two weeks of HSFY?

Hi,

I believe you need to have a strong mentality to succeed in anything, and an admission ticket definitely is one. In general, students struggle throughout the year mainly due to the pressure and workload. It obviously can be more hectic in the beginning. Some people get used to the university study/life fairly quickly while others may struggle even in the second semester. I think it largely depends on the person and how adaptable they are to new environments.
 

Bootleg

Regular Member
Hi,

I believe you need to have a strong mentality to succeed in anything, and an admission ticket definitely is one. In general, students struggle throughout the year mainly due to the pressure and workload. It obviously can be more hectic in the beginning. Some people get used to the university study/life fairly quickly while others may struggle even in the second semester. I think it largely depends on the person and how adaptable they are to new environments.
Thanks for your reply! much appreciated. Do you know how big the size of the lectures are? since there are around 1800 students per year, there must be around 300 students per lecture over 6 lectures?
 

Stuart

Administrator
Emeritus Staff
Thanks for your reply! much appreciated. Do you know how big the size of the lectures are? since there are around 1800 students per year, there must be around 300 students per lecture over 6 lectures?

Hi,

They use multiple lecture theaters (using video and audio streaming facilities) and they also run two or three sessions in a given day. The biggest and the most frequently used lecture theatre for HSFY is St. David Lecture Theatre (the biggest one in Dunedin). Its capacity is over 500.
 

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Bootleg

Regular Member
Hi,

They use multiple lecture theaters (using video and audio streaming facilities) and they also run two or three sessions in a given day. The biggest and the most frequently used lecture theatre for HSFY is St. David Lecture Theatre (the biggest one in Dunedin). Its capacity is over 500.
Alright, Do you know the structure of the papers? is it like 50% multi choice and 50% short answers?
 

Stuart

Administrator
Emeritus Staff
Alright, Do you know the structure of the papers? is it like 50% multi choice and 50% short answers?

Hi,

I do know to an extent. The structure is department and paper dependent. If you are talking internal assessments, MCQ makes up the majority. There is SAQ here and there, too.
 

Bootleg

Regular Member
Hi,

I do know to an extent. The structure is department and paper dependent. If you are talking internal assessments, MCQ makes up the majority. There is SAQ here and there, too.
Hi,
This might sound dumb, what do you mean by internal assessments? is it the paper that helps determine our average across 7 papers?
 

Stuart

Administrator
Emeritus Staff
Hi,
This might sound dumb, what do you mean by internal assessments? is it the paper that helps determine our average across 7 papers?

Hi,

They are summative assessments. They include tests and assignments. In other words, all assessments other than the final examination.
 

Bootleg

Regular Member
Hi,

They are summative assessments. They include tests and assignments. In other words, all assessments other than the final examination.
Hi,
Do they count towards the final mark for the overall paper? lets say you are doing HUBS1 and you get 0% in your class tests and assignments, but you ace the final examination. Will your mark be the final examination mark? or a combine of both? Thanks!
 

Stuart

Administrator
Emeritus Staff
Hi,
Do they count towards the final mark for the overall paper? lets say you are doing HUBS1 and you get 0% in your class tests and assignments, but you ace the final examination. Will your mark be the final examination mark? or a combine of both? Thanks!

Hi,

There is no plussage in the HSFY papers apart from PHSI191.
 

Stuart

Administrator
Emeritus Staff
Hi Sturat,

How hard is the english diagnostic test? Is it equivalent to Level 2 or 3 english?

Hi,

I wouldn't compare it to the NCEA standards. They test you on pretty basic skills (such as listening and writing) that is deemed necessary. If you have got the university entrance (i.e. gained the literacy skills), you shouldn't have any problem. I definitely would not stress if your first language is English and you studied English in highschool. Most students pass without a problem. If you fail the first time, you get a second chance.
 

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frootloop

Doctor
Moderator
Alright thanks for your responses. My friend (who is also planning to study Health Science at UoA) told me that, to achieve success in HSFY is to have a strong mentality, do you think this is true? Also, I have heard that alot of students struggle within the first two weeks of HSFY?
It's worth remembering that HSFY is just the entry year. While it's not exactly a fun year, it's academically not that challenging - the mindset is as simple as 'cool, I have to rote learn everything on every slide, and then I'll be fine'. The later year of whatever course you're aiming to get into, and then your actual career as a health professional, will be harder and more stressful.

So yes, being resilient and able to deal with stress are helpful skills to have going into HSFY. But they're not really things most people leaving high school are any good at. You need to be able to develop them during first year (and beyond).

While it's easy for me to say as someone who cleared the HSFY hurdle years ago, try not to think of things like that as 'things you need to have going into first year'. They're things you need to be able to develop - plenty of people who struggle early in HSFY get in and do well afterwards because they can identify areas of weakness and work on them.
 

Bootleg

Regular Member
Hi,

I am not sure if this is off topic or not (excuse me if it is). I have been looking at old threads, some people were talking about how they were doing Biomed or health science at UoA but was also on the waiting list for Otago? How is that possible?
 

Stuart

Administrator
Emeritus Staff
Hi,

I am not sure if this is off topic or not (excuse me if it is). I have been looking at old threads, some people were talking about how they were doing Biomed or health science at UoA but was also on the waiting list for Otago? How is that possible?

Hi Bootleg,

Which thread are you referring to? Also, can you clarify which category/programme this applies to?

It's not really possible for a first year Auckland student to apply for health-sciences professional programmes (exception Oral Health) at Otago under the HSFY category. It would be if they were applying under the graduate category. Although, I don't recall reading anything like this on MSO (I have read most, if not all, of the NZ posts dating back to 2004 or 2005).

- edit -

If you have been looking at old offers-threads, pay attention to whether people applied under the FY (OLY1) category or the graduate category. You may have been reading posts from graduate category applicants.
 
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