Auckland OLY1 chat - archive

[Srao92]

Yeah I heard that too. Which sucks, because in all honestly, im probably gonna get 8.25 or something. 8.5 if Im super lucky in the exams. Neither of which are good enough really. How hard is it to get A+ in the poplhtlth and chem exams btw?

I think I know who you are! *pokes username* :blink:

 

[qbob]

well to put it in perspective, I got:
gpa of 8.56
umat of 64th percentile
interview score of 7.5/10

and I was the absolute LAST person to be accepted off the waitlist for the 2011 cohort (I was accepted 3 days before the start of class).

so holding the umat score constant, then if you got a GPA of 8, you'd have to get atleast 1.5 more marks in the interview to be equal

 

[Nealie]

This sums up my thoughts nicely...

The uni displaces those that get a 2/10 interview score, and automatically accepts those with a 10/10 interview score. Anywhere in-between that and you're ranked using the 60:15:25 ratio. Yes that is possible and has been done. If we knew how the uni actually used umat scores in their calculations, then you could work out the answer to your question. As they don't you can only guess. Sure most of the weighting sits on gpa at 60%, but most people that get an interview are really only separated by a maximum of 1.5 GPA points, whereas umat and interview scores are likely to have a larger range than that...regardless this is only guesswork.

As qbob has already pointed out a 0.5 GPA (say 8.0 v's 8.5) difference is made up for by almost 2 interview points on a 10 point scale (assuming some things about UMAT score weighting). I think the interview has the effect of 'shuffling the deck' fairly thoroughly. The difference between a 6 and an 8 in the interview becomes quite important. One of the issues though is that the cut off for interview keeps increasing as more and more OLY1's score btwn 8.5-9.0.... personally I think this is a shame because some really great people end up missing out on a shot at something they would exceed at & that would increase the diversity of the cohort. That said, the selectors do seem to do a good job of creating an interesting mix of people in every year of the MBChB.

 

[Nealie]

BTW qbob - how are you getting on this year?

 

[Srao92]

well to put it in perspective, I got:
gpa of 8.56
umat of 64th percentile
interview score of 7.5/10

and I was the absolute LAST person to be accepted off the waitlist for the 2011 cohort (I was accepted 3 days before the start of class).

so holding the umat score constant, then if you got a GPA of 8, you'd have to get atleast 1.5 more marks in the interview to be equal

Did you apply via an undergrad degree also?
It's looking increasingly likely that I won't make it in this year and I'm not going to give up hope just yet, but I was hoping to get some advice about how you handled not making it in.
Medicine is my dream and I'd absolutley feel like a failure if I went through life without accomplishing it...

 

[E2011]

thank you for all your input peoplez.(yy)(yy)(yy)

gbob, you said you got a gpa of 8.56...i thought total gpa was calculated by averaging the gpa over the four cores.
e.g 8,8,9,9 = 8.5 ,
8,9,9,9 = 8.75,
8,7,9,9 = 8.25
how is possible to 8.56?
am i mistaken???

also are the MCQs in the pophlth exam based on module four alone?

 

[kakarot]

well to put it in perspective, I got:
gpa of 8.56
umat of 64th percentile
interview score of 7.5/10

and I was the absolute LAST person to be accepted off the waitlist for the 2011 cohort (I was accepted 3 days before the start of class).

so holding the umat score constant, then if you got a GPA of 8, you'd have to get atleast 1.5 more marks in the interview to be equal

After what qbob said, I don't think I'd be happy with anything under 8.75..
8.56 + 7.5/10 but still LAST person off the waitlist? @_@

I know qbob's year may not be indicative of what this year will be like, but it seems to have knocked my expectations out of the park

 

[Srao92]

After what qbob said, I don't think I'd be happy with anything under 8.75..
8.56 + 7.5/10 but still LAST person off the waitlist? @_@

I know qbob's year may not be indicative of what this year will be like, but it seems to have knocked my expectations out of the park

Looking over the past posts on this site, I think qbob might have gotten in on grad not undergrad.
From what i've read from a couple of the Auckland forums on this site, Grad is SLIGHTLY easier to get into...undergrad will probably be tougher.
But you hear those random stories of people getting in on low 8's upper 7's

 

[kakarot]

Looking over the past posts on this site, I think qbob might have gotten in on grad not undergrad

Sounds like grad entry for his year was pretty damn tough :/

 

[Srao92]

Sounds like grad entry for his year was pretty damn tough :/

Hmm i'm not entirely sure...but I was scanning through last years convo and I think Nealie got a score of 8.1 (but a higher UMAT?), and other grads with high 7's got in too?
Perhaps the rest gave knock out interviews

 

[Nealie]

FWIW - qbob & I both applied as grads last year. I got in with 8.1 & 95%UMAT. I could have scored 10/10 in my interview but I may not of. It seems to me the grad grades are slowly increasing every year as well. I know of others with GPA's in this range who missed out. Then I got to the course and found other grads with lower GPA's who made it in.....go figure????

 

[lordgarlic]

different quotas for grads and undergrads I believe which may explain it?

 

[Srao92]

FWIW - qbob & I both applied as grads last year. I got in with 8.1 & 95%UMAT. I could have scored 10/10 in my interview but I may not of. It seems to me the grad grades are slowly increasing every year as well. I know of others with GPA's in this range who missed out. Then I got to the course and found other grads with lower GPA's who made it in.....go figure????

I've been looking through the 200 or so pages of this thread and the Otago Section and yea I have noticed Grad marks have been creeping up and up...kinda scary!
I love interviews though and hopefully I can score enough to get me one

How's life in medicine-same as you expected it?

 

[Nealie]

different quotas for grads and undergrads I believe which may explain it?

I was comparing grads with grads. Last year I know of a handful of 8.5ish GPA grads that were either waitlisted or missed out altogether. Then in my cohort I know a few (obviously) successful grads with GPA's more like mine 8ish. I'm not entirely convinced this is explained by the auto-entry function alone???? I'm purely speculating however.

Srao92 - No, it's not quite what I expected. The workload is heavier than I naively thought it would be - it's not tough stuff, just alot of it. The people are different than I expected and my enjoyment levels are much lower than I expected. I am hopeful though that I'll find my niche over time. I think most of life is the same, the anticipation of arriving somewhere is always a little sweeter than the destination itself!!! So enjoy the stressful anticipation!

 

[Srao92]

I was comparing grads with grads. Last year I know of a handful of 8.5ish GPA grads that were either waitlisted or missed out altogether. Then in my cohort I know a few (obviously) successful grads with GPA's more like mine 8ish. I'm not entirely convinced this is explained by the auto-entry function alone???? I'm purely speculating however.

Srao92 - No, it's not quite what I expected. The workload is heavier than I naively thought it would be - it's not tough stuff, just alot of it. The people are different than I expected and my enjoyment levels are much lower than I expected. I am hopeful though that I'll find my niche over time. I think most of life is the same, the anticipation of arriving somewhere is always a little sweeter than the destination itself!!! So enjoy the stressful anticipation!

Hmm that seems to be the general consensus around the MBCHB 2 students i've spoken to.

The one thing i've seriously regretted this year was not appreciating what i've been learning and doing in my courses (particularly biology). The stress of competition and getting everything "perfect" just takes away all my natural awe for the subject! I was really hoping to enjoy things more next year if I do get into medicine.

I'm sure you'll find your niche, most uni degrees start of with the basics for everything but over time I'm sure you'll get to take part more in things you enjoy and drift away from things you dont....pending medicine is flexible at the later stages :S

 

[kakarot]

I was comparing grads with grads. Last year I know of a handful of 8.5ish GPA grads that were either waitlisted or missed out altogether. Then in my cohort I know a few (obviously) successful grads with GPA's more like mine 8ish. I'm not entirely convinced this is explained by the auto-entry function alone???? I'm purely speculating however.

Srao92 - No, it's not quite what I expected. The workload is heavier than I naively thought it would be - it's not tough stuff, just alot of it. The people are different than I expected and my enjoyment levels are much lower than I expected. I am hopeful though that I'll find my niche over time. I think most of life is the same, the anticipation of arriving somewhere is always a little sweeter than the destination itself!!! So enjoy the stressful anticipation!

SOOOOOOO MUCH ANTICIPATION

I think I might just end up in the same boat as you nealie, I am putting a lot of work into getting in and I think my expectations may be blown up quite a bit in proportion - Although, I'd still be pretty damn happy to be in there in the first place ^^

Will have the greasiest meal of my life if i get in. And a few litres of soju to wash it down. And a big black forest gateaux CAKE

 

[Nealie]

Yes, I remember that well from OLY1. Unfortunately it doesn't get a whole lot better. I think medicine is such a steep learning curve for a very long time - you are constantly having to think reasonably hard about what you're doing. Whether it's theory or practical skills or people skills or maintaining a work/lifestyle balance.....things will settle down for sure, but for the moment most of the class is pretty stressed out & apart from a few 'wow' moments (like the type you described) I think people are just fretting getting through the year without failing anything.....many are still hyper-competitive but others (like myself) just want to pass without having to sacrifice my life to do it!

It really doesn't change as much as you think it will.....you just have to change to find some kind of happy, sustainable pace. Well that's my 2c worth 12 weeks into year 2!

Best of luck with your studies this year.

 

[Srao92]

[offtopic]

SOOOOOOO MUCH ANTICIPATION

I think I might just end up in the same boat as you nealie, I am putting a lot of work into getting in and I think my expectations may be blown up quite a bit in proportion - Although, I'd still be pretty damn happy to be in there in the first place ^^

Will have the greasiest meal of my life if i get in. And a few litres of soju to wash it down. And a big black forest gateaux CAKE

Lol you seem to be on a strict diet? [/offtopic]

 

[Srao92]

.....many are still hyper-competitive

Hyper competitive?

 

[kakarot]

[offtopic]

Lol you seem to be on a strict diet? [/offtopic]

im sorry rod jackson