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UoA Graduate Category Chat/Enquiry

studykiwi

UoA MBChB II
It's a frustrating process that's for sure! I am submitting my thesis over a month early to ensure I meet the deadline and my external markers have agreed to mark within a week - unfortunately it is admin staff who have final control, as UoA have advised they cannot provide a timeline between receiving the grade and submitting it online (hence the early submission).

I would let your lecturers know ahead of time, but other than that I think you've done the best you can! Unfortunately this is a new deadline, as previously final grades were only due in mid December. Not sure why they've changed it this year but 🤷‍♀️

Good luck for you assignments/exams!
 

drum99

UoA MBChB III
Hello everyone

Just a follow up - I have just done the online UCAT (due to lockdown), and even though there were NUMEROUS bloody issues (calculator would only register inputs very very slowly, UGH!!!), I have managed to get 2690, in line with what I previously had said.

I understand this year SJT is also taken into account at UofA, but not sure in what capacity or how. I have scored 638, which seems to be in the upper 70th percentile.

2 questions:
1- Are we still thinking I should apply with the above numbers and my expected GPA of 9 or 8.875?
2- I am doing my Masters currently as I said. I only have 3 papers in the first semester (45 points), 3 papers in the second semester (30 points), and 1 paper that spans the whole year at 45 points, to give a total of 120 points. This is how this Masters is structured, I am not doing anything out of the ordinary for this Masters paper. The first semester results that I have submitted so far will be showing 3 papers only on the "final academic results". How does UofA decide whether to invite me for an interview to me with only those results available? Do they wait to invite till they have the final academic results? I am unsure how this works and would like to know if they'll just ignore my application?

Thanks!
Yes man you gotta apply! Yeah I can confirm - my UCAT was total trash. I only scored around 2300, but I was in the exact boat as you - applying with an A+ Masters (by research), I got an interview and then a provisional offer - just finishing off the stage 1 papers now. Have you done those papers? If yes - let's be class mates next year, it even looks as though we are similar ages (early 30s) ha!!
 
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studykiwi

UoA MBChB II
Have just been told by a friend that apparently the University is using a platform called KiraTalent for interviews this year! Not sure why the change - maybe internet stability/privacy? And don’t really understand what they’ve said about it, but here’s a link to where they’ve mentioned it!

 

Hollyw28

BSc Biomed, PGDip Biomed, PGDip HSc, MBiomedSc
Have just been told by a friend that apparently the University is using a platform called KiraTalent for interviews this year! Not sure why the change - maybe internet stability/privacy? And don’t really understand what they’ve said about it, but here’s a link to where they’ve mentioned it!

It will be interesting to see how it is structured! I think I heard the university is sticking to the 8 station structure, but judging by the KiraTalent website they provide a lot of options including video essays, and written essays. This should be interesting...I hope they give us more information ASAP!! 😅
 

drum99

UoA MBChB III
It will be interesting to see how it is structured! I think I heard the university is sticking to the 8 station structure, but judging by the KiraTalent website they provide a lot of options including video essays, and written essays. This should be interesting...I hope they give us more information ASAP!! 😅
Good luck for all your interviews!! When are they? Interesting they're doing 8 stations this year....last year it was only 3 stations!
 

Hollyw28

BSc Biomed, PGDip Biomed, PGDip HSc, MBiomedSc
Good luck for all your interviews!! When are they? Interesting they're doing 8 stations this year....last year it was only 3 stations!
Offers go out between the 2nd-5th November, and then interviews are held 16-26th Nov. Roughly the same as last year if I remember rightly! I did the interview for the first time last year, so a shift from 3 to 8 stations is pretty daunting!
 

studykiwi

UoA MBChB II
Good luck for all your interviews!! When are they? Interesting they're doing 8 stations this year....last year it was only 3 stations!
Interview invites are released around early November and then interviews are between 15th-27th (someone correct me if I'm wrong!). So still a while before we all know when we are interviewing!

The 8 station is the traditional structure though, last year was the first/only year they had only 3 (because of COVID)!
 

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Have just been told by a friend that apparently the University is using a platform called KiraTalent for interviews this year! Not sure why the change - maybe internet stability/privacy? And don’t really understand what they’ve said about it, but here’s a link to where they’ve mentioned it!

I saw this too! Ngl not sure what to expect. I wonder if we still get to communicate and interact with a live person or if its just prerecorded questions.
 
Hey guys, I have been lurking around this forum for a bit. I am currently a first year biomed student in UoA but due to personal circumstances, I did not manage to secure a good GPA thus will most likely not get an interview offer this year. I am currently weighting my options for my undergrad degree and I am looking between physiology, biomed and psychology. By any chance can anyone doing these degrees in UoA could give me a brief overview of what it's like in your degree, or give me any suggestions for other degrees I could consider? That would be wonderful thank you very much.

An additional question I would like to add on is I was hoping if there are anyone who tried to apply for Aussie med with a UoA degree? Can you please share your experiences? I do know that I would have to sit the GAMSAT, but I am interested in what degree you did, possibly your GPA etc. Thank you! Tbh I have no idea where to post this question but I am putting it here hoping that some of you are trying to Aussie too! Thanks a lot! ~a struggling premed for who knows how long.
 

Hollyw28

BSc Biomed, PGDip Biomed, PGDip HSc, MBiomedSc
Hey guys, I have been lurking around this forum for a bit. I am currently a first year biomed student in UoA but due to personal circumstances, I did not manage to secure a good GPA thus will most likely not get an interview offer this year. I am currently weighting my options for my undergrad degree and I am looking between physiology, biomed and psychology. By any chance can anyone doing these degrees in UoA could give me a brief overview of what it's like in your degree, or give me any suggestions for other degrees I could consider? That would be wonderful thank you very much.

An additional question I would like to add on is I was hoping if there are anyone who tried to apply for Aussie med with a UoA degree? Can you please share your experiences? I do know that I would have to sit the GAMSAT, but I am interested in what degree you did, possibly your GPA etc. Thank you! Tbh I have no idea where to post this question but I am putting it here hoping that some of you are trying to Aussie too! Thanks a lot! ~a struggling premed for who knows how long.
I am not applying to Aussie so have no experience there, but I think I can give some advice regarding your major. I graduated UoA with a BSc in Biomed, however I was also able to graduate with Physiology if I wanted, and I majored in Psych for a bit (it's complicated, but basically I did my BSc over four years and did extra papers, I advise against this lol).

In terms of Biomed versus Physiology, they're relatively similar, but it really depends on your area of interest. For example, if you like neuroscience, you could do either. But if you like reproductive biology for example, then Biomed is the way to go. At 300 level there are way more papers you can choose to do in Biomed (e.g. cancer biology, immunology, reproductive biology etc) compared with the compulsory ones in physiology (you can choose 3 of 5, and I wouldn't advise doing any more than 3 MEDSCIs because they're tough). For Physiology, I did 311, 312, 316 and 317. I loved the papers individually but doing them all was rough.

In terms of Psych, I majored with Psych for a short time so I have a little experience here too. I did all the first and some of the second year papers, but never got around to doing any of the third year ones. If you're interested in psych, and want some 'easy' A+s (you still have to try!) then Psych is a good option.

However, it's important to consider if you don't get into Medicine, what qualification will get you down a pathway you're happy with, and potentially into an area of research you're interested in. I did Biomed, including a range of Physiology and Psych papers, so I got the best of the three worlds in that sense. However, doing Physiology might make it difficult to add Biomed papers, and doing Psych might make it difficult to add Biomed or Physiology papers. So, in my view, Biomed is the one that would allow you to get a taste of everything :)
 

MMD

Regular Member
Yes man you gotta apply! Yeah I can confirm - my UCAT was total trash. I only scored around 2300, but I was in the exact boat as you - applying with an A+ Masters (by research), I got an interview and then a provisional offer - just finishing off the stage 1 papers now. Have you done those papers? If yes - let's be class mates next year, it even looks as though we are similar ages (early 30s) ha!!

So sorry for the delayed response!

I have indeed finished Stage 1 papers already last year. Definitely keen to be class mates next year haha! (I'm 32).

For others - I have confirmed from UoA that the latest date for official transcript submission is now 6 December, so an additional week has been granted.

It will be interesting to see how it is structured! I think I heard the university is sticking to the 8 station structure, but judging by the KiraTalent website they provide a lot of options including video essays, and written essays. This should be interesting...I hope they give us more information ASAP!! 😅

From the MMI page:
In using the Platform, applicants will access and submit responses to the interview content the University makes available to applicants via the Platform. Kira Talent will make applicants' responses available to the University via the Platform.

This is reaaaaallllyyyy interesting. Sounds a bit like there may be pre-recorded questions that we have to record answers to? That would be a massive disadvantage to other years I would've thought. Not actually interacting with someone and just "recording" answers seems quite unnatural. I've also heard that in the usual MMI the interviewer(s) often ask further 'leading' questions if they don't think you have quite nailed the answer.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?
 

drum99

UoA MBChB III
So sorry for the delayed response!

I have indeed finished Stage 1 papers already last year. Definitely keen to be class mates next year haha! (I'm 32).

For others - I have confirmed from UoA that the latest date for official transcript submission is now 6 December, so an additional week has been granted.



From the MMI page:


This is reaaaaallllyyyy interesting. Sounds a bit like there may be pre-recorded questions that we have to record answers to? That would be a massive disadvantage to other years I would've thought. Not actually interacting with someone and just "recording" answers seems quite unnatural. I've also heard that in the usual MMI the interviewer(s) often ask further 'leading' questions if they don't think you have quite nailed the answer.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Wow yeah that's strange - a big part of the interview last year was chatting to the people interviewing me and you're right, they did lead me down the right track sometimes to answer the question more fully. Bizarre!
 

studykiwi

UoA MBChB II
I’m thinking it might just be the platform that’s changing - it looks like it provides an easier alternative to breakout rooms for zooms & allows them to interview multiple people at once? Also gives a way to read the question with timer running! I’m convinced they won’t have us speaking to the computer as they’ve said the interview won’t be recorded…but I am a little nervous there’s been no confirmed info!!
 

MMD

Regular Member
uoa just confirmed that we’ll be talking to interviewers on Kira talent! So basically just like the 2019 MMI but online 😃

Thanks for finding this! Was this on their website somewhere or...?

I keep finding more information on here than anywhere else because I'm not a current student at UoA. I'm keen to know what sources I should keep an eye on to keep my finger on the pulse of whats changing.
 

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kinesin

Member
Thanks for finding this! Was this on their website somewhere or...?

I keep finding more information on here than anywhere else because I'm not a current student at UoA. I'm keen to know what sources I should keep an eye on to keep my finger on the pulse of whats changing.
Yup! I just edited in the link in my post above
 
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02Penguin02

Member
Hi there, not sure I'll get a reply here but it's worth a shot.

I'm currently a second-year biomedical science student at UoA. I'm super conflicted with what to do with my life honestly. I took up Biomed after my first-year pre-med in the hopes of getting into medicine with a solid GPA through the graduate scheme but turns out, that GPA of mine is tragic. Thanks to two lockdowns in the two years that I have been at university, my GPA has plummeted so hard to be just above a meagre 6.

I don't know if I should switch to psychology or whether I should stay doing Biomed (I'm about to finish my second year). Or if I should finish my Biomed degree and then do additional honours (1 year) and then apply as a graduate. But, then I have no idea how well I will do in the honours even though it's just a year that makes up your total GPA. Heck, I don't even know what you do in honours.

Super conflicted, medicine is for sure what I want to do. I just need to figure out how to get there. If I stay with my Biomed degree, my GPA is way too low to even consider medicine at this point... Ugh, I don't know what to do.
If I switch to psych, ill have a fresh start and definitely do well, but is it too late to switch now to switch, with already 2/3 of the way into my degree?

Help.
 

Hollyw28

BSc Biomed, PGDip Biomed, PGDip HSc, MBiomedSc
Hi there, not sure I'll get a reply here but it's worth a shot.

I'm currently a second-year biomedical science student at UoA. I'm super conflicted with what to do with my life honestly. I took up Biomed after my first-year pre-med in the hopes of getting into medicine with a solid GPA through the graduate scheme but turns out, that GPA of mine is tragic. Thanks to two lockdowns in the two years that I have been at university, my GPA has plummeted so hard to be just above a meagre 6.

I don't know if I should switch to psychology or whether I should stay doing Biomed (I'm about to finish my second year). Or if I should finish my Biomed degree and then do additional honours (1 year) and then apply as a graduate. But, then I have no idea how well I will do in the honours even though it's just a year that makes up your total GPA. Heck, I don't even know what you do in honours.

Super conflicted, medicine is for sure what I want to do. I just need to figure out how to get there. If I stay with my Biomed degree, my GPA is way too low to even consider medicine at this point... Ugh, I don't know what to do.
If I switch to psych, ill have a fresh start and definitely do well, but is it too late to switch now to switch, with already 2/3 of the way into my degree?

Help.
I was in a very similar position as you when I was undergrad. I decided in second year I wanted to do med, but no way had a good enough GPA (it was like 5.4, and I'd failed BIOSCI 107 the first time around LOL). I decided to finish my degree and do a postgraduate diploma in Biomed (8 700 level papers in one year) and worked super hard and managed to get a GPA of 8.375 (they only take your grades from the PGDip). Still didn't get in unfortunately, but I'm trying again this year with another diploma. If you're not sure what you want to do in research, a postgrad diploma is a great way to go. Just remember, it's really important to make sure you have an alternative to medicine that you are happy with, because even with brilliant grades there remains a chance you won't get in. For me personally, if I don't get in again I'm really happy with my Masters alternative that I've organised. You should definitely spend some time thinking about this!

Also, I'm not sure how they consider an honours degree (i.e. if they consider the full four years or just your one honours year) so maybe someone else can clarify that.

Feel free to message me if you have any questions about the postgrad diploma in Biomed route :)
 

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