Auckland OLY1 chat - archive

[4everAlone]

Hey guys, as promised, this is what Professor Alan Merry, Head of Department said: " The interview will remain in place for admission in 2012. However, we are considering the admission system and it is possible that an alternative admission process will be in place for 2013. The process or selection tools are not yet certain, but GPA will continue to play a significant role in selection." I think that they are seriously looking at other ways to select people for med in Auckland from 2013 onward. I have no idea what they will replace it with though.

Cheers for posting that. Will be interesting to see where they go with this, I would imagine the decision will have to be made reasonably soon too

 

[govpop]

I guess the uni feels that five years of the course is enough to teach the appropriate communication skills even in someone who is lacking from the start.

Its a a shame though, because the interview provides a chance for some fantastic people to get in who maybe wouldn't have made it through grades alone. And as someone mentioned, grades are hardly a predictor of a good doctor. Especially in OLY1.

 

[juna]

I suppose that it will become more like Otago, with higher weighting on UMAT than before?

 

[Cathay]

Hey guys, as promised, this is what Professor Alan Merry, Head of Department said: " The interview will remain in place for admission in 2012. However, we are considering the admission system and it is possible that an alternative admission process will be in place for 2013. The process or selection tools are not yet certain, but GPA will continue to play a significant role in selection." I think that they are seriously looking at other ways to select people for med in Auckland from 2013 onward. I have no idea what they will replace it with though.

Thanks for posting this official response, although had I been able to access MSO at home during the weekend (which for some reason I couldn't, despite a perfectly good internet connection) I would've felt inclined (as I did just before while going through the previous pages) to tell you that (from patterns I've anecdotally observed) universities don't generally make "effective immediately" sort of changes, so if they did make a decision to abolish interviews during next year, it would come into effect the year after at the earliest. If it was just a "will I have the interview" you were after, you would've been pretty safe to assume that it won't change on you halfway through the year.

 

[xyz]

From that report that was released a while back by Otago and Auckland's med schools to assess their entrance tests and all that (I'll try to find it if anyone wants a read), it said that the interview's main purpose was to reduce attrition rates (i.e. to find out why people are doing medicine so that they don't quit later when they find out it's not what they want to do with their lives) and that Otago didn't need/want one because they were happy with their already low attrition rates. So maybe they'll remove the interview for a few years and see what the cohort attrition rates are like before deciding to permanently remove it or whatever. That last bit is just speculation though.

 

[iUsername]

This study (from the Auckland med school) might have something to do with it:

https://www.springerlink.com/content/h16121u1p0k58411/

From the abstract: Prior academic achievement remains the best measure of subsequent student achievement within a medical programme. Interview scores have little predictive value. Future directions include longer term studies of what UMAT predicts, and of novel ways to combine selection tools to achieve the optimum student cohort.

They haven't. All we've been told is that they were going to remove it, there was massive outcry from student representatives at the meeting, enough to get them to delay making any decision. This was a few months ago and we haven't heard anything since.

I'm interested to read that article greenglacier and will try to find a free copy online. As I've said before, I'm hugely against the removal of the interview here, but that's for obviously biased reasons

Is there much difference between the medical students from Otago and the medical students from Auckland? In terms of 'fitness' for the role of doctor?
If there isn't much difference between the two cohorts then I can see why they're dumping the (expensive) interview system...

Still I'd prefer if the interview was there if I do apply for med 2014

 

[4everAlone]

Is there much difference between the medical students from Otago and the medical students from Auckland? In terms of 'fitness' for the role of doctor?
If there isn't much difference between the two cohorts then I can see why they're dumping the (expensive) interview system...

Still I'd prefer if the interview was there if I do apply for med 2014

The fear is that Auckland will turn into a class of antisocial geeks with no communication skills - which we like to say is what otago is like but obviously in jest haha. Also the interview selects for the best looking (or it appears to! ) so obviously I'm all for keeping it

 

[greenglacier]

The fear is that Auckland will turn into a class of antisocial geeks with no communication skills - which we like to say is what otago is like but obviously in jest haha.

Haha, just like at Otago we say that Auckland is full of ultra-competitive asian study freaks

 

[4everAlone]

Haha, just like at Otago we say that Auckland is full of ultra-competitive asian study freaks

Glad we both think of each other the same way then hahaha

 

[juna]

I spoke with a student representative in Auckland about this, and she said that they haven't been notified of anything regarding taking the interview process out. I think that if nothing more is said (officially) about this whole interview thing, before the end of this year, then perhaps we can take that, at least for med intake of 2013, it will remain the same? Because the school has to let future students know before of the changes, not just spring it upon them half way through the year...
Well, at least this is what the student rep said, that we will be "notified in advance" and also what cathay808 said.

 

[cinnamon]

Hi everybody. I also emailed the Professor and he said the exact same thing to me as he said to juna except adding at the end:
"No decision has been made about changing the admission process, so it is difficult to answer your question, but there are several factors to consider."

And on how many med places there will be at Auckland, he said:
"An additional 28 domestic students will enter the medical programme in 2012. The government promise is for an additional 28 students, per year, for 2013 and 2014 taking the domestic total at Auckland to about 275."

 

[E2011]

so it's that time of year where advertisements are starting to surface about interview prep programmes. have you done a programme? (without naming names obviously)
if yes, how beneficial did you find it?
if no, what did you do otherwise to prepare?
Thanks to everyone so who has answered my questions in the past. appreciate what your all doing for me(/us).

 

[4everAlone]

Nope.

I had a good think about why I wanted to do medicine, had a look online at typical questions and thought about how I'd answer them, read around about current health issues in nz, and then got a family friend who is a doctor to interview me as practice.

I personally do not think that interview prep COURSES are beneficial at all

 

[g.walker]

Similar to what 4ever said.

Honestly the (read:my) interview was mostly a conversation. Its not about giving correct answers rather its how you answer and how you present yourself

With that said, if you're seriously in doubt of your ability to perform for whatever reason, I would personally consider an interview course, otherwise it shouldn't be very necessary

 

[Tupac4life]

I think this year they're having the ENTRY INTO MEDICINE talk on the 13th October at 6:00pm if I'm not mistaken somebody correct me please?

 

[sibirica]

hi, i was wondering if someone knew how fast the med-relevant courses in OLY1 fill up during the enrollment period? the auckland uni site says these courses (e.g. MEDSCI 142, BIOSCI 107) are limited entry even after you get accepted into BSc biomed and encourge you to enroll in the courses early... i'm applying for graduate entry at auckland for 2012 but if i don't get in this way would like to do OLY1 and try again next year, but was thinking that by the time i find out if i get in or not via the graduate pathway around the end of december/january i might miss out on a place in OLY1?

so i guess what i'm asking is should i apply and enroll in OLY1 early just in case and cancel the enrollment if i'm lucky enough to get graduate entry?
cheers,

 

[qbob]

Hi Galadh, I was in the same boat. All the BSc biomedical courses fill up. I enrolled in them (under a pseudo-BSc) in late January, which was already rather late (I was waitlisted for chem, but then I saw the course co-ordinator who let me in because my gpa was rather high (8.5))

so if I were you, I would enrol in all the biomed courses in early - mid jan if you don't get into med.... note that you may still get in off the waitlist later

 

[sibirica]

thanks for the info qbob, now i have more of a timeframe in my mind. nice gpa by the way!

 

[marz]

Hi, New here so not sure if I'm posting in the right place? I'm planning on doing biomed at Auckland next year and was wondering what kind of UMAT scores are needed to be eligible for medicine? The main reason I'm leaning towards Auckland instead of Otago is that the UMAT only counts for 15% at Auckland so if I don't do well in UMAT, is it still possible to get into med at Auckland? At Otago the UMAT is worth a lot more so I'm thinking that perhaps that isn't a good choice. Thanks!

 

[4everAlone]

Hi, New here so not sure if I'm posting in the right place? I'm planning on doing biomed at Auckland next year and was wondering what kind of UMAT scores are needed to be eligible for medicine? The main reason I'm leaning towards Auckland instead of Otago is that the UMAT only counts for 15% at Auckland so if I don't do well in UMAT, is it still possible to get into med at Auckland? At Otago the UMAT is worth a lot more so I'm thinking that perhaps that isn't a good choice. Thanks!

No kind of umat score is 'eligible' - There's no threshold and as you said it counts for bugger all anyway. People get in with 50th%ile, even lower. Entry really only comes down to grades and interview