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JCU JCU Medicine: Non-Standard Entry

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The RA2-5 you see in the publication was as resulting from this process, not as selection criteria themselves.

Very interesting, yes, quota probably wasn't the best choice of words. I was speculating based on the data showing that from RA 2 to RA 5 the entry requirements/scores continue to decrease amongst all criteria (interview score + GPA/OP/ATAR). Therefore I assumed maybe that as you increase in rurality, so does the boost you get to your entry scores. Therefore in order to do that in the first place they would have to have a system in place to differentiate a candidate who is RA 2 from RA 5 consistently which you wouldn't be able to do from Q1-Q4 but you would with schooling.

Or I am completely wrong as you pointed out and its merely that someone who emphasizes rural in their application is more likely to be RA 4-5 in the first place and gets a higher boost.
 

katuriaan

Lurker
How seriously do they take the requirement to write the whole application within the lines given? I have gone over the lines for 3 of the questions, would this hurt my application greatly?
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
How seriously do they take the requirement to write the whole application within the lines given? I have gone over the lines for 3 of the questions, would this hurt my application greatly?


ETA: we have someone conducting something of an experiment this year though, and if they get an interview offer, then we can adjust expectations on this front! But, by and large, no, the expectation is don't go over the space provided.
 

katuriaan

Lurker

ETA: we have someone conducting something of an experiment this year though, and if they get an interview offer, then we can adjust expectations on this front! But, by and large, no, the expectation is don't go over the space provided.
Welp, I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up then.
It said above that "reasonable adjustments may be made if required" which is why I didn't think it was a strict "follow or discard application" rule. It's just 1/2 a sentence - 1 sentence over, but I do understand why they might prefer an applicant that has managed to stay within the lines over an applicant that can't.
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Welp, I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up then.
It said above that "reasonable adjustments may be made if required" which is why I didn't think it was a strict "follow or discard application" rule. It's just 1/2 a sentence - 1 sentence over, but I do understand why they might prefer an applicant that has managed to stay within the lines over an applicant that can't.

'Reasonable adjustments' tends to refer to people who need alternative arrangements due to a disability or, say, a broken arm at the time and unable to write so have typed the application.
 

Oreo

Member
Hello, just wondering if others have received any confirmation from JCU that their written application has been received? According to my tracking number it was delivered but am yet to receive confirmation from JCU as they normally do. Thanks
 

hazell

Regular Member
Valued Member
Hello, just wondering if others have received any confirmation from JCU that their written application has been received? According to my tracking number it was delivered but am yet to receive confirmation from JCU as they normally do. Thanks
Hey, mine was also delivered when I checked the tracking and I also haven’t received a confirmation. I think it takes a while for the confirmation to come through.
 

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Stapedius

JCU MBBS VI
Valued Member
Hello, just wondering if others have received any confirmation from JCU that their written application has been received? According to my tracking number it was delivered but am yet to receive confirmation from JCU as they normally do. Thanks

I made an edit to the FAQ answering this commonly asked question. Long story short - as others have said it can take them a few weeks to get through them. I would not contact JCU unless you haven't heard from them by the end of October/early November. :)
 

Archive

Member
Hey, mine was also delivered when I checked the tracking and I also haven’t received a confirmation. I think it takes a while for the confirmation to come through.

I got my confirmation email yesterday, but I did hand mine in person.
 
I had a detailed conversation with the admisison office and they have clearly stated that JCU does not have Rurality bonus taken into consideration. It all comes down to your ATAR equivalent, written application and interview.
Thanks
 

jampa123

Member
I had a detailed conversation with the admisison office and they have clearly stated that JCU does not have Rurality bonus taken into consideration. It all comes down to your ATAR equivalent, written application and interview.
Thanks
I had a chat to them too, but they mentioned that for competitive courses such as med, they don't provide special access schemes (financial disadvantage/ rural location etc). Given JCU's mission and the fact that the application emphasised our motivations in rural/remote practice and health, I reckon ruralty does play a significant role in the final selection but there is just no such scheme. I think earlier in the forum, the mods spoke on this and did say ruralty does play a significant role, but there is no rural pathway like the ones many other programs have, just a 'ruralty score'. I think when you call the admin up, they think we are referring to these pathways/ schemes. The admin reply to queries for all courses so it's fair that they assume this I guess (that we are referring to any such scheme).
I may be wrong, but this is what I thought.
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
I had a chat to them too, but they mentioned that for competitive courses such as med, they don't provide special access schemes (financial disadvantage/ rural location etc). Given JCU's mission and the fact that the application emphasised our motivations in rural/remote practice and health, I reckon ruralty does play a significant role in the final selection but there is just no such scheme. I think earlier in the forum, the mods spoke on this and did say ruralty does play a significant role, but there is no rural pathway like the ones many other programs have, just a 'ruralty score'. I think when you call the admin up, they think we are referring to these pathways/ schemes. The admin reply to queries for all courses so it's fair that they assume this I guess (that we are referring to any such scheme).
I may be wrong, but this is what I thought.

Anecdotally, we can confirm that rurality plays a huge role. You only have to look at the ATARs of people receiving interview invites and then offers to see the impact of rurality. There may not be a specific pathway dedicated to rural applicants (I don't think we've ever suggested that there is), but it is definitely a part of the consideration of a person's application. There is the very occasional non-rural applicant with a relatively lower OP or ATAR or GPA, but predominantly, the non-rural applicants have high academic results. Applicants with a rural background have much greater variability in scores (reported here to MSO).

Admin are often misinformed when it comes to the intricacies of medicine admissions, or they give technically correct information that is misleading (ie. UTAS saying that you need an ATAR of 95 to be eligible. Technically true, yep, but practically not even close to accurate for non-rural interstate applicants who need ~99.90).
 
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Crow

Staff | Junior Doctor
Moderator
I had a detailed conversation with the admisison office and they have clearly stated that JCU does not have Rurality bonus taken into consideration. It all comes down to your ATAR equivalent, written application and interview.
Thanks
I firmly believe this is false. We aren’t saying there is a special admissions scheme for rural students, but there is a rurality indexation (essentially a multiplier of your initial score according to your RA status) and a subjective “how likely is this person to go rural” score given in the interview. Our data strongly supports this too. I’d be very surprised if JCU had made any changes to this in recent years given their philosophy as a medical school (and more broadly as a university).
 

Stapedius

JCU MBBS VI
Valued Member
Anecdotally, we can confirm that rurality plays a huge role. You only have to look at the ATARs of people receiving interview invites and then offers to see the impact of rurality. There may not be a specific pathway dedicated to rural applicants (I don't think we've ever suggested that there is), but it is definitely a part of the consideration of a person's application. There is the very occasional non-rural applicant with a relatively lower OP or ATAR or GPA, but predominantly, the non-rural applicants have high academic results. Applicants with a rural background have much greater variability in scores (reported here to MSO).

Admin are often misinformed when it comes to the intricacies of medicine admissions, or they give technically correct information that is misleading (ie. UTAS saying that you need an ATAR of 95 to be eligible. Technically true, yep, but practically not even close to accurate for non-rural interstate applicants who need ~99.90).

I think this research paper published by JCU themselves says it all (on pages 2/3); "A major component of the school’s rural and remote mission has been the establishment of a selection process that is orientated towards attracting and preferentially selecting applicants from rural, remote and Indigenous backgrounds, often targeting secondary school students... Admission decisions are based on a selection policy that combines rurally adjusted academic achievement, a written personal statement demonstrating attributes relevant to rural medical education and panel interview scores."

Clearly Med20212022 the person you spoke to was either misinformed or perhaps there was misinterpretation on both sides which lead to some wrong conclusions.
 

jampa123

Member
As a first year non-standard applicant with a GPA of 6.75 (maybe around 6.5 after 1 FTE), (first eight schooling years were in RA3 and RA4 areas then moved to a metro area), with an average application (not too sure), would I have a chance at an interview. I know the 'what are my chances' questions are annoying, but I was confused how my ruralty would rate. Anything would be greatly appreciated.
 

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DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
As a first year non-standard applicant with a GPA of 6.75 (maybe around 6.5 after 1 FTE), (first eight schooling years were in RA3 and RA4 areas then moved to a metro area), with an average application (not too sure), would I have a chance at an interview. I know the 'what are my chances' questions are annoying, but I was confused how my ruralty would rate. Anything would be greatly appreciated.

It's not that the questions are annoying (in fact, we openly invite them elsewhere and understand completely why people ask), it's that, for JCU, it's honestly impossible for us to tell you anything meaningful. Your written application is such a huge component of the process. All you can do it wait and see. Your GPA is competitive.
 

TC787

Member
Hello everyone,
Is it safe to assume those with a completed undergraduate degree - applying via non-standard entry pathway - would likely receive 1st-round interview offers?

Thank you for clarifying this for me!
 

Crow

Staff | Junior Doctor
Moderator
Hello everyone,
Is it safe to assume those with a completed undergraduate degree - applying via non-standard entry pathway - would likely receive 1st-round interview offers?

Thank you for clarifying this for me!
If they were to receive one (sadly most applicants don’t) then yes.
 

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