'What papers should I do at UoO for graduate entry' Chat, Enquiries and Help

[Morty12]

Hi,

What exactly are you wanting to know? Isn't the BB test really soon? They probably would post some information on BB sooner or later. It is best to just go and ask. Aren't they quite simple MCQs?

Yeah they have posted the details and stuff, just wanted to know what content they are actually going to examine?

 

[Student247]

Hey, has anyone had any experience with the COMP 111 Blackboard tests? there is virtually no information in lectures, any advice would be appreciated!

Heya, I did that paper last year from what I can remember, we didn't have the option to do bb tests, we all had to do an essay. I think that's something they introduced this year. Wish you all the best.

 

[Stuart]

Heya, I did that paper last year from what I can remember, we didn't have the option to do bb tests, we all had to do an essay. I think that's something they introduced this year. Wish you all the best.

Hi,

Did you take it as a HSFY? I think you have to do the essay if you are taking it as a HSFY student. The other students might get to choose.

 

[acbard9]

treesarenice This would be a good place to start to see what papers tend to be easier for most applicants

My particular advice for anyone is to pick papers to your strengths by perhaps finding out about the kinda assessments available (e.g. I try to pick papers with lots of MCQs).

Also, use Student Course Reviews to help... some papers are run by coordinators who refuse to give out A+/A, (though this doesn't seem to be a problem at Otago BSc).

 

[zoe179]

Hey,

Just wondering is the certain amount of papers at each level you have to take each year for postgrad med?
Do you have to have 7, 300-level papers or could you do the 4 required for the major and then do other 200-level papers to fill out the rest of the points ?

 

[acbard9]

You are free to do that (as long as you meet your degree's prerequisites... is it not at least 5 300-level papers?), but remember under the new system for Otago entry, 300-level papers are worth 1.5x whereas 200-level are only worth 1.0x.

 

[zoe179]

Nope one I’m looking at is 4 at level 2 and 4 at level three and then another 162 points with 36 at 200 level or above.

What would that mean for doing less third year papers and such for it being worth different amounts ?

 

[acbard9]

Well if you got A+ in one of your 200-level papers, you would've only needed to achieve a B+ in a 300-level paper for you to have gotten the same number of points.

(A+ = 9, B+ = 6)
(9*1 = 6*1.5)

So say you might've gotten an A- in your 300-level paper. It would exceed the points you could've gotten if it were a 200-level paper instead

 

[zoe179]

Oh I see, okay thank you

Do they look at your 7 best papers for the level or all of the papers for that level? (I’ve got 9 papers at 100-level but one is a lot lower than the rest because I did it at high school as a certificate of proficiency)

 

[acbard9]

zoe179
Here is all the information you need to know for 2021 entry

Changes to scoring for admission categories

Please have a read through first, then post again (or email admissions directly) if you have any other questions!

ETA: To answer your question, it looks like they take your best 120 points (7 papers at Otago, 8 at Auckland) 300-level papers, and the rest is free-for-all from 200 and 100-level papers.

 

[student2828]

Hi,
I just did HSFY hoping to get into med/dent but like a lot of people, my UMAT let me down. I'm planning to do a Bsci to try for postgrad med but I'm super unsure about what papers to take, and what to major in. I've been browsing around medstudentonline to look for potential 'easier' papers that people commonly take and am still trying to work out what I'm truly passionate about. I enjoyed learning about Hubs but I'm not sure if I could handle doing 4 papers of content-heavy papers like hubs all at once. Although physics was my best paper, I'm unsure if I can handle concepts beyond this year because I often struggled to understand concepts but just knew how to plug numbers into the calculator . I learn best by looking at heaps of past papers answers to direct my learning and am unsure how I'd do with group work projects/presentations/stuff that wasn't in health sci (+ heard its a bit subjective). Perhaps since physics/stats (tied w hubs) were 2 of my best papers, I should try find papers which have lots of MCQ assessment? I don't think I'm very gifted in a particular department (like how some people have a 'math' brain), but I think I'm determined enough to get grades that I need. Also, I'm also hoping to apply for aussie uni's so I wonder if the actual percentage (as opposed to just an A+) may matter?

My grades for HSFY are
PHSI191 = 99%
HUBS191 = 96%
CHEM191 = 95%
CEL191 = 94%

STAT115 = 96%
HUBS192 = 95%
PUBH192 = 95%
BIOC192 = 93%

Any recommendations would be much appreciated

 

[Fili]

Hey guys!
I'm currently thinking of doing Bioc352, Bioc353, Micr332, Micr334 and Micr335 next year. I also have the option of doing Micr337 (PHSL 300s are out of the question as Micro and Phsl 300 papers have a lot of clashes and the Uni's emailed us that we can't take them both ~ big )

So the main question is ... Has anyone taken any of these papers and have any tips?
(I'm also doing Forb and Bioa in Summer School)

 

[Startersbar]

student2828
To answer your question of wondering what papers are more MCQ based compared to projects/presentations/reports/group work: In basically all 300-level science papers you need to do this stuff, and doing this in 200-level first will make your life easier in 300-level because you already have an idea of what you are doing. Just follow their instructions exactly for the reports/presentations and don't be afraid to ask. This happened to me with doing pharmacology, a lot of people complained and half the class dropped out going into the sequel paper in 2nd semester (PHAL211-->PHAL212), but this was because this paper introduced the project/report writing assessments in 200-level rather than PHSL papers (physiology) where you don't face that stuff until 300-level.
PHSL 200-level is internally assessed using MCQs.

The graduate entry med students that made it in my year come from all kinds of degrees, including BSci in math (which might take your liking), neuroscience but a BBioMedSc in Functional Human Biology (very hubs-like) was what I did along with what a few others did to get in. If we can do that, I think you can too. The advantage of taking a BBioMedSc is that if you don't get in via graduate-entry the first time around, you can try again in your honours year, and when taking a BBioMedSc you only have to focus on your big experiment, vs. taking a Bsci you still have a big experiment but you also take 4 400-level honours papers (although some say they aren't overwhelming difficult).

MICR (microbiology) is very content-heavy, but they are MCQ-based too in 200-level and its definitely possible to get your A+.

I'm not sure if you still can with the change in how weighted scores work now, but I also took Maori and Economics papers during the normal year, and also took summer school papers in FORB201 and BIOA201, which I would recommend as grade boosters. Maori, economics, and FORB have much lower amount of content than any health sci paper. BIOA201 has a lot of anatomy (but the content is not anywhere near as much as a HUBS paper), and it has overlapping content with ANAT241 if you take ANAT241 in semester 1.

These 200-level papers consist of about 25-32 lectures and maybe 6-10 labs, but I personally don't think they have anywhere near as much content as the 50~ lectures in HUBS. (Basically I'm trying to say that it might not be as hard as you think in relation to HUBS)

With regard to graduate entry to Aussie unis, from what I remember, when it came to transferring your NZ grades over to Aussie, I think they took into account all of your grades (So try not to get a B) but an A- in all your papers was enough to get the highest grade score possible. An A or A+ will not increase your grade score. (Someone please confirm this, this may just be for particular Aussie unis)

 

[acbard9]

student2828
With regard to graduate entry to Aussie unis, from what I remember, when it came to transferring your NZ grades over to Aussie, I think they took into account all of your grades (So try not to get a B) but an A- in all your papers was enough to get the highest grade score possible. An A or A+ will not increase your grade score. (Someone please confirm this, this may just be for particular Aussie unis)

I believe this is correct. (Try not to get a B+, but ~ 3*B+ is still an Australia GPA of 6.9+, which is competitive).

 

[xxxz98]

Hi everyone! Has anyone done some 300 level ANAT paper? I am doing a Bachelor of Science in Anatomy and am currently choosing the 300 level paper. I want to choose two from ANAT333, ANAT331 and BIOA301. I know that 331 is an extension from 241 while 333 is an extension from 243. I did slightly better in 243 compared to 241 but I was equally interested in both. I am doing BIOA201 for SS and hopefully will see whether I am interested in BIOA.

If anyone has done any of the paper above can you please give me an overview of these Anatomy paper and advice me on what paper to choose? What are the assessment style like? Which of these three paper are considered “easier” or more “doable”? How does the BIOA201 paper reflect the contents and difficulty level of BIOA301?(same way for ANAT241 and ANAT331; ANAT243 and ANAT333).

Thank you in advance!

 

[torilemon]

Hi everyone, I'm getting a lot of messages asking for advice around ANAT/BIOA/FORB/GENE papers. I'm a bit busy to reply to everyone's messages (I have a 4 month old now!) but I'm happy to give anyone access to my notes if you're interested. I have my full course notes for ANAT331, 333, 334; BIOA301; GENE 312; and FORB201. I took these papers in 2017 so the courses may have changed since then but take from them what you wish. Even if you just want to look at what the course offers before deciding which papers to take. I've also taken the 200 level ANAT + 335, 200 level GENE + 314/312, and BIOA201 but I don't have my notes for these. If you have very SHORT and SPECIFIC questions about these feel free to ask but I don't have time to (nor do i even remember in detail) the assessments, if they're marked harshly, etc. Anyway. If you're interested in notes just flick me a message with your email.

 

[nz_637]

Hi! im not really sure how this works so was hoping someone on here could please help me out So im deciding between biomed and bsc for postgrad entry into med and i want my maori paper grade to replace my phsi191 grade for the first year when my GPA is scored, and in biomed phsi is a requirement for the first year of the degree whereas in bsc its only an option. Therefore if i took biomed would phsi be counted in my GPA? Is there anyone i should email to ask? Thanks very much - sorry is this is confusing

 

[Startersbar]

Hi! im not really sure how this works so was hoping someone on here could please help me out So im deciding between biomed and bsc for postgrad entry into med and i want my maori paper grade to replace my phsi191 grade for the first year when my GPA is scored, and in biomed phsi is a requirement for the first year of the degree whereas in bsc its only an option. Therefore if i took biomed would phsi be counted in my GPA? Is there anyone i should email to ask? Thanks very much - sorry is this is confusing

They would still count Maori as that is the better grade. It's why people take papers outside of their degree in summer school to boost their grade.

 

[nz_637]

They would still count Maori as that is the better grade. It's why people take papers outside of their degree in summer school to boost their grade.

Awesome, thanks very much!!

 

[rarabro]

Hi guys!
I've been browsing around the possible degrees and the majors offered for quite some time and have narrowed the list down to a degree in biomedical sciences majoring in either functional biology or reproduction, genetics and development. After going through these threads I've read a lot of posts on functional biology and from what I understand it's like a continuation of hubs (please correct me if I have the wrong idea). But I haven't seen many people talking about repro. According to some websites, the compulsory genetics papers in repro are really hard, so that worried me. If any of you guys have any insights or information about these majors please let me know, I would really really appreciate it! Thanks so much for all your help