Admissions Centres Preferencing: General Discussion

[ucatboy]

hey everyone, I need a a bit of a hand here.
So I'm applying for UQ med and dent, and the offers for UQ dent are given out somewhere in January. But I am also applying for Bond Uni medicine, however they invite you for psychometric test in about February start. But if I put bond uni medicine above UQ dent, will I be getting a UQ offer for dent before bond? Or will UQ wait for me to sit the bond psychometric test and then interview and wait and see if i get an offer or something? Im really confused I dont know what I should do. If i put UQ dent above bond uni medicine, does that mean after receving a UQ dent offer in Jan, i wont be eligible for bond uni medicine in February when they give psychometric test/interview ?
Or is there perhaps some sneaky preference changes I can do after receiving UQ dent, and after doing so, put bond uni medicine to the top of my preferences and snag both offers?
NOTE: I do want Bond uni medicine over UQ dent, but preferencing it above UQ dent may result in me getting neither!

I'm pretty sure Bond doesn't become a selectable preference until well after all the offers come out? Something like early February? I don't think you can even put it on your preferences until then.

 

[nb]

I'm pretty sure Bond doesn't become a selectable preference until well after all the offers come out? Something like early February? I don't think you can even put it on your preferences until then.

QTAC is allowing me to put it on right now though?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

QTAC is allowing me to put it on right now though?

This has not typically been the case, though Bond have obviously done a few things differently this year. Might be worth looking to see if Bond have published their key dates yet. If applications don't close until, say, end of Feb, then I'd not be even bothering putting it into QTAC yet.

 

[nb]

This has not typically been the case, though Bond have obviously done a few things differently this year. Might be worth looking to see if Bond have published their key dates yet. If applications don't close until, say, end of Feb, then I'd not be even bothering putting it into QTAC yet.

Ah right, so this means I can not even have it in my prefrences for QTAC until AFTER UQ med and dent offers are released (given that they are released before 28th Jan) ?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

View attachment 4086
Ah right, so this means I can not even have it in my prefrences for QTAC until AFTER UQ med and dent offers are released (given that they are released before 28th Jan) ?

I’d say QTAC have screwed something up because this clearly states Bond Med doesn’t open for applications until Jan 14th 2021, which is more typical of how things work. You definitely don’t need it in your preferences yet (as per all previous years I’ve been at MSO).

 

[ucatboy]

Yeah dw about it I think QTAC may have let one slip by making Bond an available preference this early.

 

[Crow]

nb - you will be able to alter your preferences after UQ med/dent offers come out and Bond begins selecting applicants for psychometric testing invites. So regardless of your preference order or when QTAC is allowing you to add Bond to your preferences currently or not, it would be better to put the UQ courses higher for the time being.

 

[Emmamz]

Hi, I wasn't sure where to post this, but I have a few questions regarding UAC preferences and how I can change them before the offers come out.
I just received an email from USyd about their future leaders scheme, which can give me an offer for a lower atar if I place the usyd degree as my top UAC preference for December round 2.
I had the usyd bachelor of applied science (physiotherapy) as my 4th preference originally, since it is something I want to do if I wasn't able to get into med. It is also around a 99 required atar, but it would be lowered to a 95 for me if I placed it as first preference. (however it is also has a quota I'm pretty sure so idk what might happen if it is reached) I searched up the dates for the med offers for WSU and UNSW and they all come out round 1 January. Does this mean I can put the usyd physiotherapy course first in the december rounds and later change my top preference to med in January without affecting my chance at getting an offer for med from UNSW or WSU?
While med is still my number one choice, I wanted to have a back up ready in case I don't get a high 99. atar or mess up my interviews. If someone could explain how the UAC prefereces work it would be great!!!

 

[dotwingz]

Yes thats exactly what it means! In fact med schools often encourage people to put their backup preferences at the top for the december round, accept the offer, then remove it before the January round (we were actually given a speech about this at my JMP interview last year)

 

[Emmamz]

Yes thats exactly what it means! In fact med schools often encourage people to put their backup preferences at the top for the december round, accept the offer, then remove it before the January round (we were actually given a speech about this at my JMP interview last year)

I see! And I would assume that all med offers come in the January rounds then? I was getting worried about what to do but it seems that the universities have already come up with a solution. Thanks for clearing it up for me!

 

[dotwingz]

WSU used to a december round but on their website they've said " January 2021 - Round 1 offers released" so id say youre safe

 

[JulesRose]

Probably a silly question on my part, but once you receive an email invitation for an interview, can you shuffle around UAC preferences or remove those courses and still have a chance to get an offer (for the one you removed / shuffled down to the bottom)?

 

[Crow]

Probably a silly question on my part, but once you receive an email invitation for an interview, can you shuffle around UAC preferences or remove those courses and still have a chance to get an offer (for the one you removed / shuffled down to the bottom)?

You can shuffle them around, yes, but don’t remove them from your preferences unless you’ve received and accepted a place offer (NOTE I am referring to place offers that come AFTER you’ve completed the interview process, and NOT interview invites). Also, don’t move something to the bottom of your preferences unless you’d actually prefer to get an offer from anything that’s positioned higher than it. There are a couple of minor exceptions to this rule if you’re trying to get a place offer from a uni that participates in the December offer round, but other than that, preference according to your actual preferred order.

 

[Eleanor Rigby]

Yes thats exactly what it means! In fact med schools often encourage people to put their backup preferences at the top for the december round, accept the offer, then remove it before the January round (we were actually given a speech about this at my JMP interview last year)

If an applicant placed his/her med preferences before the 'back-up' preferences, wouldn't the applicant (provided the ATAR is being met) be offered the back-up choice in the Dec round, accepts this, removes it, the other preferences 'move up' then wait to see what happens in January 2021.
I thought this is what normally happens.

 

[dotwingz]

If an applicant placed his/her med preferences before the 'back-up' preferences, wouldn't the applicant (provided the ATAR is being met) be offered the back-up choice in the Dec round, accepts this, removes it, the other preferences 'move up' then wait to see what happens in January 2021.
I thought this is what normally happens.

Yeah that would work. If you dont get an offer for a higher ranked course (e.g. Med because they dont give out offers in december) UAC will move onto your others.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

If an applicant placed his/her med preferences before the 'back-up' preferences, wouldn't the applicant (provided the ATAR is being met) be offered the back-up choice in the Dec round, accepts this, removes it, the other preferences 'move up' then wait to see what happens in January 2021.
I thought this is what normally happens.

This doesn't work for scholarships that require the course to be placed at the top though, so beware of this if relevant.

 

[fluffyboy]

Hi!

My dad is really encouraging me to apply to Bond so I looked up when their QTAC offer starts which is 14 Jan 2021, however for Griffith and UQ they also say that their offer rounds start on 14 Jan 2021 on my QTAC application. I know that Bond requires you to put them as 1st preference to even be considered for an interview, so I'm wondering if placing Bond as 1st preference would hurt my chances at Griffith (since I personally prefer Griffith over Bond).

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hi!

My dad is really encouraging me to apply to Bond so I looked up when their QTAC offer starts which is 14 Jan 2021, however for Griffith and UQ they also say that their offer rounds start on 14 Jan 2021 on my QTAC application. I know that Bond requires you to put them as 1st preference to even be considered for an interview, so I'm wondering if placing Bond as 1st preference would hurt my chances at Griffith (since I personally prefer Griffith over Bond).

I’m not 100% sure on the first preference thing but note: Bond applications open on the 14th, not close. They don’t close until the 28th. You could add Bond to QTAC well after the Jan 14th offer round.

 

[Endgame.]

If WSU and UNSW are higher on my UAC preferencing than JMP, and WSU + UNSW gives second offer round for my state QLD, while JMP gives first offer round, will I even get to know if I got into JMP before the second offer round. By extension to that answer, should I be changing my preferencing for UAC?

 

[A1]

If WSU and UNSW are higher on my UAC preferencing than JMP, and WSU + UNSW gives second offer round for my state QLD, while JMP gives first offer round, will I even get to know if I got into JMP before the second offer round.

The way UAC worked 3-4 years ago was, in cases like this^ UAC would *not* release a JMP offer to you. Instead they indicate in your UAC application an Offer status code next to JMP - either "No" or "Qualified but pending a high pref's result" (i.e. WSU/UNSW). In the 2nd offer round you get one offer being the highest among WSU/UNSW/JMP that you qualify for.

UAC has recently changed that process. If the higher-pref schools don't participate in the offer round of the lower pref they do release a lower pref offer. If you get another (higher pref) offer in the 2nd round, good on you.

In your particular case I can't tell whether it's the former or latter, since it's not like WSU/UNSW don't participate in the first round.

By extension to that answer, should I be changing my preferencing for UAC?

It's no harm you put JMP highest for the first round, then move WSU/UNSW higher in time for the 2nd round.