Choosing Between Universities and Offers

[DrDrLMG!]

WSU's program opened in 2007 (back when it was still called UWS), and while there are always teething issues for early cohorts, I believe the course was actually purchased from Melbourne University (whose last undergraduate cohort was also 2007).

Nah, they switched to an MD format just in the last year or so. That’s what I was referring to by ‘newish’. That said, unlike JMP who basically started from scratch with their MD format, someone above mentioned they don’t think WSU changed much at all (just shoved a research project in to qualify for the AQF9 rating, I guess).

 

[Sokka]

Can someone please confirm the duration of the med courses for NSW universities? To my understanding:
UNSW- 6 years
WSU- 5 years
JMP- 5 years
USyd- 7 years (provisional)

 

[Cal]

Can someone please confirm the duration of the med courses for NSW universities? To my understanding:
UNSW- 6 years
WSU- 5 years
JMP- 5 years
USyed- 7 years (provisional)

LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You

For all those people who find it more convenient to bother you with their question rather than to Google it for themselves.

lmgtfy.com

 

[dotwingz]

Can someone please confirm the duration of the med courses for NSW universities? To my understanding:
UNSW- 6 years
WSU- 5 years
JMP- 5 years
USyed- 7 years (provisional)

yes that’s true

 

[E_N]

Hi there,

I have been doing research on medical schools, as I am quite keen on undertaking either the 5-year or 6-year undergraduate course. Obviously medicine is a reasonably expensive path to undertake, and as a student who will most likely have little money to spend in his tertiary education years, I feel that it is important for me to cut costs wherever possible to ensure that I can start a job without ridiculous amounts of debt. For this reason I have listed all the 5-year and 6-year courses for medicine (please add any other medical schools which I have not listed). Could you also please give advice on which would be the cheapest but most enjoyable course. Please also consider living expenses as this is an important consideration. (Obviously I have not listed universities such as Bond and Macquarie, as these do not qualify! )

5 year undergrad courses:

• UNE/UON
• CSU/WSU
• Monash University
• Curtin University
• University of Tasmania

6 year undergrad courses:

• University of NSW
• Griffith University
• James Cook University
• University of Adelaide
• Flinders University
• NT University

Obviously the place that you will stay is a big consideration too. Are there any particularly nice campuses or decent student accomodation available in any of these places?

Related to this topic, especially in a big city, would it make sense to live faraway (but travel more for cheaper accomodation), or stay close to the uni (but pay more accomodation/less for travel fees)?

 

[garmonbozia]

• What do you mean by 'most enjoyable'? There is no objective answer here.
• If you are just looking for the quickest and cheapest path to becoming a doctor, then you should obviously aim for one of the five-year courses. But note that a Medicine degree costs the same on a yearly basis no matter which university you do it at (unless you take a full-fee-paying spot at e.g. Bond or Macquarie). It is approximately $11k a year, so you'll be graduating with about $50-70k in debt if you put it all on HECS. This is not really a 'ridiculous amount' of debt as you'll be going into a relatively well-paid and stable career.
• Your questions about student accommodation would better be answered by having a look at the relevant threads for each university yourself rather than expecting people to lay out exhaustive information for every single university in this thread.
• And also keep in mind that you will very likely not have a range of medical school offers to pick and choose from. The best medical school is the one that you get accepted into.

 

[dotwingz]

Obviously medicine is a reasonably expensive path to undertake, and as a student who will most likely have little money to spend in his tertiary education years, I feel that it is important for me to cut costs wherever possible to ensure that I can start a job without ridiculous amounts of debt.

You keep saying this but its not true. Do you understand the HECS system? The financial burden of university is delayed until after youre working (except residential costs), and by the time your a junior doctor you will barely notice it. $50-70k of debt is not ridiculous when you will be earning 65k+ in a full time job as soon as you graduate. Most people will realistically get in 500-800k debts for their houses around their late 20s or early 30s. Medicine is not expensive in Australia if you get a CSP

 

[TKAO]

Hi there,

I have been doing research on medical schools, as I am quite keen on undertaking either the 5-year or 6-year undergraduate course. Obviously medicine is a reasonably expensive path to undertake, and as a student who will most likely have little money to spend in his tertiary education years, I feel that it is important for me to cut costs wherever possible to ensure that I can start a job without ridiculous amounts of debt. For this reason I have listed all the 5-year and 6-year courses for medicine (please add any other medical schools which I have not listed). Could you also please give advice on which would be the cheapest but most enjoyable course. Please also consider living expenses as this is an important consideration. (Obviously I have not listed universities such as Bond and Macquarie, as these do not qualify! )

5 year undergrad courses:

• UNE/UON
• CSU/WSU
• Monash University
• Curtin University
• University of Tasmania

6 year undergrad courses:

• University of NSW
• Griffith University
• James Cook University
• University of Adelaide
• Flinders University
• NT University

Obviously the place that you will stay is a big consideration too. Are there any particularly nice campuses or decent student accomodation available in any of these places?

Related to this topic, especially in a big city, would it make sense to live faraway (but travel more for cheaper accomodation), or stay close to the uni (but pay more accomodation/less for travel fees)?

Which city are you living in? The one that is there is the best one for you. It's cheaper because you have no accomodation fees if you live with your parents and you have the support there in your own city.
- NT University is im pretty sure only available to rural/aboriginal/torres strait islanders? I think? Isn't for most people
- All Australian universities have good campuses. None are particularly outstanding but none are terrible either. For example, UAdel has a massive new building next to the CBD. Is that what you want compared to the spread out feel of Curtin?
- Appears like you aren't interested in UWA's 6 year provisional thingo?
- On the topic of staying on campus vs. far away, my recommendation is first to stay on campus so that you can make some friends before moving off. Trust me, it's a lot easier to get to know people when you see them everyday and have to share a toilet with them rather than pissing off to an apartment that's half an hour away

 

[Crow]

Do you happen to be an international student? You have mentioned fees a few times on here even though we’ve mentioned that the degree can all be put on HECS and won’t be an up front cost if you’re a domestic applicant.

Honestly, you should aim to study in the state you wish to work in after your graduate. If finances are truly a concern then you should look outside of university accommodation, as this is very expensive.

As mentioned before, you’ve got plenty of time to think about these factors and learn more, so while it’s good to be thinking ahead, don’t become too fixated on these issues just yet.

 

[E_N]

You keep saying this but its not true. Do you understand the HECS system? The financial burden of university is delayed until after youre working (except residential costs), and by the time your a junior doctor you will barely notice it. $50-70k of debt is not ridiculous when you will be earning 65k+ in a full time job as soon as you graduate. Most people will realistically get in 500-800k debts for their houses around their late 20s or early 30s. Medicine is not expensive in Australia if you get a CSP

Do all New Zealand citizens qualify for a CSP? off topic for this thread. Moved to appropriate thread by Mod.

Which city are you living in? The one that is there is the best one for you. It's cheaper because you have no accomodation fees if you live with your parents and you have the support there in your own city.
- NT University is im pretty sure only available to rural/aboriginal/torres strait islanders? I think? Isn't for most people
- All Australian universities have good campuses. None are particularly outstanding but none are terrible either. For example, UAdel has a massive new building next to the CBD. Is that what you want compared to the spread out feel of Curtin?
- Appears like you aren't interested in UWA's 6 year provisional thingo?
- On the topic of staying on campus vs. far away, my recommendation is first to stay on campus so that you can make some friends before moving off. Trust me, it's a lot easier to get to know people when you see them everyday and have to share a toilet with them rather than pissing off to an apartment that's half an hour away

Thanks for the info. Preferably I would like to do the 5-year course, but if you notice a considerable difference in the difficulty (or how intensity) of the course vs 6-year provisional in UWA, I will def consider it.

• What do you mean by 'most enjoyable'? There is no objective answer here.
• If you are just looking for the quickest and cheapest path to becoming a doctor, then you should obviously aim for one of the five-year courses. But note that a Medicine degree costs the same on a yearly basis no matter which university you do it at (unless you take a full-fee-paying spot at e.g. Bond or Macquarie). It is approximately $11k a year, so you'll be graduating with about $50-70k in debt if you put it all on HECS. This is not really a 'ridiculous amount' of debt as you'll be going into a relatively well-paid and stable career.
• Your questions about student accommodation would better be answered by having a look at the relevant threads for each university yourself rather than expecting people to lay out exhaustive information for every single university in this thread.
• And also keep in mind that you will very likely not have a range of medical school offers to pick and choose from. The best medical school is the one that you get accepted into.

Yes I agree I shouldn't be too optimistic about getting in. Out of curiosity, what is the acceptance rate usually? Off topic for this thread

 

[ucatboy]

If cost is your BIGGEST concern, then the best uni for you would be the one closest to your doorstep. Taking a 5 year course in favour of a 6 year course might save you 11k in debt, but if the former is located interstate then expect to pay over $50,000 in rent over the course of 5 years, not to mention food and other living expenses.

 

[TKAO]

Do all New Zealand citizens qualify for a CSP? off topic for this thread. Moved to appropriate thread by Mod.


Thanks for the info. Preferably I would like to do the 5-year course, but if you notice a considerable difference in the difficulty (or how intensity) of the course vs 6-year provisional in UWA, I will def consider it.


Yes I agree I shouldn't be too optimistic about getting in. Out of curiosity, what is the acceptance rate usually? Off topic for this thread

Which state are you from? You seem to be very good at keeping this very crucial bit of information to yourself hahaha

 

[E_N]

QLD!

 

[Crow]

QLD!

Where do you want to work after you graduate? If it’s QLD I’d honestly be aiming for JCU as top preference if I were you.

 

[ucatboy]

QLD!

Just go Griffith, UQ or JCU lol /thread

 

[Crow]

Just go Griffith, UQ or JCU lol /thread

It always pains me to say it but I usually recommend other unis over Griffith for provisional entry because the “compete for CSP/BMP in your first two years” thing, coupled with the more hefty consequences of the latest BMP scheme, isn’t worth subjecting oneself to if they have a guaranteed CSP elsewhere, in my opinion.

Griffith is objectively and obviously still the best though.

 

[A1]

Where do you want to work after you graduate? If it’s QLD I’d honestly be aiming for JCU as top preference if I were you.

Not if their family lives in Brisbane and they're cost conscious. Six years of living-away-from-home expenses in Townsville (or Gold Coast) would be quite substantial.

 

[E_N]

Ok I see. Does JCU have a good program? I hear they're a pretty young university, but nevertheless quite good reputation and would be closest to me I guess. Have many of you people studied at interstate universities, or do you just go to the closest/local?

 

[LeSpicyGinger]

It always pains me to say it but I usually recommend other unis over Griffith for provisional entry because the “compete for CSP/BMP in your first two years” thing, coupled with the more hefty consequences of the latest BMP scheme, isn’t worth subjecting oneself to if they have a guaranteed CSP elsewhere, in my opinion.

Griffith is objectively and obviously still the best though.

Wait what you compete for BMP and CSP?

 

[A1]

Have many of you people studied at interstate universities, or do you just go to the closest/local?

The majority of us go to a home state med school. Of those studying interstate most are because they don't have a home state offer. One exception I know of is SA ucatboy rejecting Adelaide to go for Monash, because he chases prestige