Best degree for applying non-standard

[Sala]

Commerce or Com/Sci would be pretty fantastic, I'd say! Many and varied career options along those lines, particularly if the science is computer science/similar. Many have said that 1st-year commerce, in particular, is quite easy, but perhaps only if you enjoy the content. In my experience, Stage I Maths and Stats are pretty good for getting decent marks.

Best to document what you know right now . Make a table!

Thanks for all the advice! Making a table is a pretty good idea, I definitely will do that to help me make a decision once my HSC exams finish (next Friday, finally!) I think I need to do a bit more research into non-MedSci/Allied Health courses so that I'll be able to make a more informed decision.
My main concern in regards to this, though, is that I may unintentionally choose a degree that is too humanities-based. I've always had more of an aptitude and interest in sciences/mathematics, and I personally prefer to study subjects that have an objective right/wrong rather than something that is more 'up for interpretation' (if that makes sense).
I'll definitely need to have a look into Engineering and Commerce, since they both seem to fall under the category of degrees that I may quite enjoy studying before I make it (hopefully!) to Med. If you're not a current school leaver/med student, what do you currently study and what do you think of it?

 

[Thots]

Those all sound like pretty solid options to me! Good luck for interviews, did you get any offers yet?

Newcastle and (hopefully) UNSW

 

[acbard9]

If you're not a current school leaver/med student, what do you currently study and what do you think of it?

I study Pharmacology, which, in all honesty, is probably the worst decision I've made thus far. I hadn't read the Common pitfalls to avoid for year 12 school leavers and other medicine applicants before I started my 2nd year. I thoroughly recommend you do so.

It's difficult, I'm not very good at it either, and I'll only have a career in research, which, in itself, is not a career to suitably rely on.
I am potentially switching into Optometry next year. I deferred my UNSW Optom in the hope that Auckland accepts me. If not, I can earn money for the year for UNSW.

 

[acbard9]

Thots best of luck Let me know how those go! I plan to sit the UMAT next year whether or not I get Optom haha.

 

[Thots]

Thots best of luck Let me know how those go! I plan to sit the UMAT next year whether or not I get Optom haha.

Thanks! And to you in umat 2018

 

[DrDrLMG!]

and I'll only have a career in research, which, in itself, is not a career to suitably rely on.

This is a really important point. I know someone who is currently riding the Med school application wave with the rest of us who has a BMedRes(Hons) degree that they did very deliberately because their number one career goal was to be in medical research. They love medical research, and would very much like to continue doing this long term... but...

Having been graduated for a few years now, they have only been able to pick up short term temporary employment contracts that generally run for, say, the data collection portion of someone's NHMRC project or similar. Try taking that to the bank and asking for a home loan... (an unpleasant experience, as this person has repeatedly found).

Obviously, this is not everyone's experience of completing a degree geared towards research, but it's a bit disheartening to hear, and definitely worth weighing up.

 

[acbard9]

Having been graduated for a few years now, they have only been able to pick up short term temporary employment contracts that generally run for, say, the data collection portion of someone's NHMRC project or similar. Try taking that to the bank and asking for a home loan... (an unpleasant experience, as this person has repeatedly found).

Man, that for real got me sad.

Some have said that the more higher degrees you accrue the more likely someone is to find employment in research, but I definitely don't think that's a viable pathway either, unless being a lecturer is something the person really wanted to do.

 

[Crow]

Some have said that the more higher degrees you accrue the more likely someone is to find employment in research, but I definitely don't think that's a viable pathway either, unless being a lecturer is something the person really wanted to do.

Actually, I believe most available jobs in research are not in academia (academic research positions are quite hard to come by given most academics stay in these positions for a long time once they have one) - most are in external research and pharmaceutical companies.

 

[Sala]

Newcastle and (hopefully) UNSW

That's fantastic, congrats! Good luck with (hopefully) both of them

 

[Sala]

I study Pharmacology, which, in all honesty, is probably the worst decision I've made thus far. I hadn't read the Common pitfalls to avoid for year 12 school leavers and other medicine applicants before I started my 2nd year. I thoroughly recommend you do so.

It's difficult, I'm not very good at it either, and I'll only have a career in research, which, in itself, is not a career to suitably rely on.
I am potentially switching into Optometry next year. I deferred my UNSW Optom in the hope that Auckland accepts me. If not, I can earn money for the year for UNSW.

I'm also looking into UNSW Optometry, more as a possible starting point for transferring into Med than anything though. I'm not especially interested in pursing Optometry as a career long term but if it came to that I wouldn't be mad at all.

 

[acbard9]

Think the cut-off is ATAR 98 for UNSW Optometry, but you might prefer doing Deakin Optometry, as it's 1.5 years shorter. Definitely don't be afraid to search around and discover a bit more about each of the allied-health professions after your HSC exam .

Let me know if I can help, as I've done a bit of Google-ing for Optometry, Pharmacy and Podiatry in particular (and Audiology, but that's almost always a Master's). Of course, any allied health profession will be a very good choice for an undergrad degree (Physio/Diagnostic Radiographer/Oral Health/Occupational Therapy/SPLT).

I will say that your maths inclination could serve you well in first-year Engineering, but I wouldn't rely on that in particular.

 

[biom]

I'm also looking into UNSW Optometry, more as a possible starting point for transferring into Med than anything though. I'm not especially interested in pursing Optometry as a career long term but if it came to that I wouldn't be mad at all.

Sala Have you had a chance to read the link @ Common pitfalls to avoid for year 12 school leavers and other medicine applicants. There is some really good advice there. The link has been provided a few times above.

The gist of the advice in the link abiove is to try and figure out the thing that you would be happy studying if med did not exist. You are likely to achieve higher grades in such a course than one that is of little interest but you think might be a good tactic for med entry. If you can find such a course then you have a Plan A and a solid Plan B. Given that ~94% of those that sat the UMAT will not get a med offer.... a Plan B is good idea. A lot of great people will miss out on their plan A.

As to what is good for you.... this is a personal decision.

You mentioned you like maths and science - this says engineering. ext1 or ext2 maths is helpful. This is one of the most difficult courses at uni.
You also mentioned commerce. Lots of jobs... but very little maths/science content.

Perhaps also try and think about what you are good at versus what you enjoy. For example, I wasn't very good at maths at school... but achieved highly in maths at uni. It turned out that I quite enjoyed maths and in particular what you could do with it.

Your school advisor can probably give you some guidance. have a chat to recent graduates if you can. They will have a balanced perspective of what the degree is about and what career opportunities follow.

Good luck.

 

[Sala]

Think the cut-off is ATAR 98 for UNSW Optometry, but you might prefer doing Deakin Optometry, as it's 1.5 years shorter. Definitely don't be afraid to search around and discover a bit more about each of the allied-health professions after your HSC exam .

Let me know if I can help, as I've done a bit of Google-ing for Optometry, Pharmacy and Podiatry in particular (and Audiology, but that's almost always a Master's). Of course, any allied health profession will be a very good choice for an undergrad degree (Physio/Diagnostic Radiographer/Oral Health/Occupational Therapy/SPLT).

I will say that your maths inclination could serve you well in first-year Engineering, but I wouldn't rely on that in particular.

I do have a very strong case for EAS (medical illness) so I think I'd have a chance at making the cut for UNSW's program (or at least I hope so! I live close to UNSW and would love to stay in the area). I will have to check out Deakin's program as well - is it a Bachelor's or a Bachelor/Masters dual program like UNSW's? I have done a bit of searching into Podiatry and based on that I'm not too sure if it's for me, but I haven't gone too in-depth on it yet. I think Radiography seems interesting so I put USyd's program on my UAC prefs already. I would be quite interested in Psychology as well but I'm not too sure as to how easy/hard it would be to get the GPA required for non-standard entry. I never even thought about Occupational Therapy or Speech Pathology so I'll need to look into those options!
I would love to be able to do something maths-related as well, so I'll do some research on Engineering and Commerce as well (probably would do these as dual degrees with a BSc).

 

[acbard9]

Perhaps also try and think about what you are good at versus what you enjoy. For example, I wasn't very good at maths at school... but achieved highly in maths at uni. It turned out that I quite enjoyed maths and in particular what you could do with it.

!!! ^ That is an important consideration too Sala , I didn't do Physics in high school, and I got a 95% in my University Physics paper, purely because I genuinely found it interesting. On the other hand, I went to Chem Olympiad training in high school, but my Chemistry paper at Uni turned out quite poorly.

EtA: Do not worry about the difficulty of the first year for any degree. You will get a good grade if you want to.
EtA2: Bachelor of Vision Science/Master of Optometry | Deakin Yes, it's the double.

 

[Crow]

This has been mentioned a few times Sala, but GPA comes down to how much you enjoy something and therefore how hard you work in the degree - of course, there is subjective marking and bell curve marking etc which varies between different unis and degrees, but enjoyment and work ethic is key to achieve highly in any degree. If you want to get into med, it is definitely important to want to maintain a high GPA, but you should never choose a degree based on this (I saw you were considering doing nursing for a year and then transferring - why not just start the degree you would transfer into straight away rather than waste a year on something you aren't keen on?), nor should you choose a degree that will prepare you for GAMSAT etc if you can't get a job out of it. Choose something you think you'll enjoy, that has job opportunities at the end and something you could see yourself doing if med doesn't work out. Good luck

 

[Sala]

Sala Have you had a chance to read the link @ Common pitfalls to avoid for year 12 school leavers and other medicine applicants. There is some really good advice there. The link has been provided a few times above.

The gist of the advice in the link abiove is to try and figure out the thing that you would be happy studying if med did not exist. You are likely to achieve higher grades in such a course than one that is of little interest but you think might be a good tactic for med entry. If you can find such a course then you have a Plan A and a solid Plan B. Given that ~94% of those that sat the UMAT will not get a med offer.... a Plan B is good idea. A lot of great people will miss out on their plan A.

As to what is good for you.... this is a personal decision.

You mentioned you like maths and science - this says engineering. ext1 or ext2 maths is helpful. This is one of the most difficult courses at uni.
You also mentioned commerce. Lots of jobs... but very little maths/science content.

Perhaps also try and think about what you are good at versus what you enjoy. For example, I wasn't very good at maths at school... but achieved highly in maths at uni. It turned out that I quite enjoyed maths and in particular what you could do with it.

Your school advisor can probably give you some guidance. have a chat to recent graduates if you can. They will have a balanced perspective of what the degree is about and what career opportunities follow.

Good luck.

I had a read of it last night, it really is quite informative!
My UMAT score this year was relatively solid - 84th%ile, 172 65/53/54 (I was very sick on the day of the exam and walked in with almost no preparation) so I'm sure that I would be able to emulate this at the bare minimum, if not surpass it, come next year's exam. I would've received a JMP interview if not for my UoN application not going through (I didn't realise until two days ago, sadly). I have been ill for a few years, especially in the past 9-12 months, and this affected my prospective ATAR (currently predicted 94-96, probably would have been able to achieve 98.5+) but I do have a strong EAS case for that. I am also much healthier now (and my medical state will only keep on improving from here on out) so I'll be able to perform to a much higher standard in uni. Taking all of this into consideration, I think I have a decent enough chance to get in though non-standard entry if I really work to the best of my ability next year.

I will need to look into Engineering, for sure.
I accelerated 2U Maths last year (got a mid-B6) and am currently taking Ext. 1 and will most likely end up with a low band E4 (I couldn't take Ext. 2 since my school wouldn't run a class for me only as I was the only student who wanted it, and I was already taking 3U by myself). I also accelerated HSC Biology, but couldn't take Chemistry or Physics (same reason as 4U Maths) so as much as I always have enjoyed sciences I'm very unsure as what exactly University level would entail.

I have always been quite good at Maths, and I do enjoy it as well which works out. I am not too sure as to how much I would enjoy University-level sciences or if I would even be good at them in the first place. I also do have an interest in Health Sciences so I am struggling to decide what degree would be the best for me to study for undergrad. Psychology, Optometry and Diagnostic Radiography all interest me as well (albeit, nothing does nearly as much as Med itself) so I have no clue as to what I will decide on.

 

[Sala]

!!! ^ That is an important consideration too Sala , I didn't do Physics in high school, and I got a 95% in my University Physics paper, purely because I genuinely found it interesting. On the other hand, I went to Chem Olympiad training in high school, but my Chemistry paper at Uni turned out quite poorly.

EtA: Do not worry about the difficulty of the first year for any degree. You will get a good grade if you want to.
EtA2: Bachelor of Vision Science/Master of Optometry | Deakin Yes, it's the double.

In regards to Psych, I'm not worried that it'll be hard but rather that I won't do especially well since I've heard that the marking is more subjective.

I didn't do Chemistry or Physics for my HSC so my main worry is that I don't know if I will/won't like them in University in the first place.

 

[Sala]

This has been mentioned a few times Sala, but GPA comes down to how much you enjoy something and therefore how hard you work in the degree - of course, there is subjective marking and bell curve marking etc which varies between different unis and degrees, but enjoyment and work ethic is key to achieve highly in any degree. If you want to get into med, it is definitely important to want to maintain a high GPA, but you should never choose a degree based on this (I saw you were considering doing nursing for a year and then transferring - why not just start the degree you would transfer into straight away rather than waste a year on something you aren't keen on?), nor should you choose a degree that will prepare you for GAMSAT etc if you can't get a job out of it. Choose something you think you'll enjoy, that has job opportunities at the end and something you could see yourself doing if med doesn't work out. Good luck

Thank you for the help
I've already decided that Nursing isn't for me and am looking into other options, but I'm just concerned that I won't enjoy what I do/I won't be good at it/I won't be able to do well even if I enjoy it because it is too hard. I'm considering every aspect of what I need for Med and what I would be able to use as a backup career if I never made it into medical school but there are so many options and I'm honestly kind of stuck.

 

[acbard9]

Such a hard decision tbh . It's hard to actually ever be certain that your career at the end will be one you truly enjoy and do well in, even Medicine. I'm glad you're taking necessary precautions, but definitely don't beat yourself up about it if your decision doesn't go as well as you want.

Just know that there are so many ways you can make it into Medicine, but also remember that only a very small number of people make it. Tbf, you have many options, but I'm sure you will learn to like aspects of each career option, regardless of where you end up in the future, even if that's not Med. Write your table after your test, but don't be afraid to go with your gut at the end, and then try your best for the years you do that degree. Best of luck!

 

[Monika23]

Hi Thots
I am applying for Vet Medicine this year. What is the ATAR Cutoff for your college / others that you know of?
Any idea what is the criteria for selection in Adelaide Vet for interstate ?