Choosing Between Universities and Offers

[Tomato]

Hi A1,

It (defer) was definitely top of my mind but UQ policy is quite strict. Not sure how they would check though.

Deferring your offer

If you wish to defer your 2022 offer, please do so via QTAC. Deferment is permitted for a period of one year only, and during this period you are not permitted to study in bachelor level programs at any other institution. When enrolments for 2023 open in November 2022, you will then be required to contact UQ Admissions through [email protected] to provide your first degree choice.

A1 said he deferred the UQ med offer and 2 years later UQ still asked if he wanted to enrol the program. That's why I suggested to defer UQ's offer. However the situation may have changed. I am not sure how they identify if you have started another tertiary course elsewhere.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hi A1,

It (defer) was definitely top of my mind but UQ policy is quite strict. Not sure how they would check though.

Deferring your offer

If you wish to defer your 2022 offer, please do so via QTAC. Deferment is permitted for a period of one year only, and during this period you are not permitted to study in bachelor level programs at any other institution. When enrolments for 2023 open in November 2022, you will then be required to contact UQ Admissions through [email protected] to provide your first degree choice.

I think A1 means if you initially defer your UQ offer and start UAdel Dent, then decide within the first two or three weeks that Dent really isn’t for you, you could withdraw from UAdel without penalty (financial or academic) and ask UQ to re-instate your Prov Med offer the following year. As long as you’ve withdrawn from UAdel prior to census date, you’re not classed as a tertiary student and the Prov Med deferral is still open to you, even according to UQ deferral criteria.

 

[A1]

It (defer) was definitely top of my mind but UQ policy is quite strict.

As LMG! mentioned, even after starting if you withdraw from Dent before the census date your UQ defer is still valid.

If you nearly or have completed a Dent year then change your mind to Med, you can write to UQ saying something like at beginning of 2022 you could not move to UQ due to financial constraints but now things have improved you can afford to move. Worth asking if UQ would still accept you. The unis often give a bit of leniency in that regard.

 

[mvn]

As LMG! mentioned, even after starting if you withdraw from Dent before the census date your UQ defer is still valid.

If you nearly or have completed a Dent year then change your mind to Med, you can write to UQ saying something like at beginning of 2022 you could not move to UQ due to financial constraints but now things have improved you can afford to move. Worth asking if UQ would still accept you. The unis often give a bit of leniency in that regard.

Thank you A1 and LMG.

Deferral sounds like a plan to buy a bit more time and also a chance to visit Bris to look around.

 

[dotwingz]

Where can I check how each courses are being offered? e.g online

First undergrade course - BSc or Biomed?

Just checking out all options before final call/decision (closing doors).

Once again, Thank you for all the great input and help.

my.UQ - The University of Queensland, Australia

Programs, majors and courses details for current students at The University of Queensland.

my.uq.edu.au

So check your Program (e.g. BSci - Biomedical Science Major) (side note: I recommend this over BBiomedSc for many reasons which I've said across the forums on multiple times) - then courses and requirements - then re-search it on that programs-and-courses page and if its offered externally then its online

 

[dotwingz]

If you nearly or have completed a Dent year then change your mind to Med, you can write to UQ saying something like at beginning of 2022 you could not move to UQ due to financial constraints but now things have improved you can afford to move. Worth asking if UQ would still accept you. The unis often give a bit of leniency in that regard.

Hm - I would ask UQ BEFORE deferring if its possible to get an exception to do a year of dentistry - asking UQ to bend rules sounds like a plan for failure. Keep in mind, even though OP can't move to Brisbane, the option to study online does still exist, so that excuse doesn't really work imho.

'Deferring' imo doesn't sound like a good plan to buy time, you can only do a few weeks of dentistry before you invalidate your UQ offer, which is not enough time imo to get an understanding of how much you like your course.

ETA: OP if your biggest gripe with UQ is stepping out of your comfort zone on such short notice, I would take it based purely off the fact you can do a year online. 12 months is a long time, and you will be able to work up the comfort of moving out of home.

 

[A1]

Hm - I would ask UQ BEFORE deferring if its possible to get an exception to do a year of dentistry

My suggestion above was in the context of deferring vs rejecting now. Not a premeditated plan.
Deferring at least gives a chance, however slim, UQ might still accept OP should they change their mind to Med. Rejecting = zero chance.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Discussion re. some specifics of studying and practicing medicine vs dentistry have been moved to a new thread.

Choosing Between a Medicine or Dentistry Offer: Questions and Discussion

- It requires less memorisation. You'll primary focus on the head and neck region. You'll learn about other parts of the body and systemic diseases, but it's nothing compared what med students have to go through. A lot of your lecturers will tell you to understand the content, but at the end of...

medstudentsonline.com.au

 

[ucat3300+]

I think it was mostly me who steered you toward UWA.
So my apology in advance if it later turns out a terrible choice

Haha yes I think especially what you've said about UWA students doing most of their clinical placements at Charlie, RPH and Fiona Stanley was one thing that affected my decision.

I think mostly though, it was me not being able to let go of prestige that led me to choose UWA. I know it doesn't do anything for your future career as pointed out by many here, I guess it's just the personal satisfaction of going to a 'sandstone' 'group of 8 uni' that mattered to me.

I think the the only way this turns out to be a terrible choice is if I get below 5.5/65 and get kicked out of medicine. Will have to study hard. But as you point out in this post, "any provisional students scared of 5.5 should forfeit their offers".

Thanks so much again A1 for all the help you've given me, I see you've changed your name to Retired Admissions Helper. I can see why since you're in final year of medicine now, things are getting busy. Haha I ended up going to same uni as you lol

Btw one last question I want to ask, I'm doing IMED1001 and IMED1002 (compulsory core units) and my electives are CHEM1001 and CHEM1002. I chose chem as my elective because I think it was most relevant to medicine and IMED1002 which is a biochemistry unit. I'm just worried this might be too hardcore and too much to study. Is this too hardcore? Should I choose some easier subjects ?

 

[TKAO]

Haha yes I think especially what you've said about UWA students doing most of their clinical placements at Charlie, RPH and Fiona Stanley was one thing that affected my decision.

I think mostly though, it was me not being able to let go of prestige that led me to choose UWA. I know it doesn't do anything for your future career as pointed out by many here, I guess it's just the personal satisfaction of going to a 'sandstone' 'group of 8 uni' that mattered to me.

I think the the only way this turns out to be a terrible choice is if I get below 5.5/65 and get kicked out of medicine. Will have to study hard. But as you point out in this post, "any provisional students scared of 5.5 should forfeit their offers".

Thanks so much again A1 for all the help you've given me, I see you've changed your name to Retired Admissions Helper. I can see why since you're in final year of medicine now, things are getting busy. Haha I ended up going to same uni as you lol

Btw one last question I want to ask, I'm doing IMED1001 and IMED1002 (compulsory core units) and my electives are CHEM1001 and CHEM1002. I chose chem as my elective because I think it was most relevant to medicine and IMED1002 which is a biochemistry unit. I'm just worried this might be too hardcore and too much to study. Is this too hardcore? Should I choose some easier subjects ?

You'll be alright. IMED1001 and 1002 are pretty easy all things considered, I haven't personally done chem units but I'd assume much of the same. I'd recommend you take electives that are fun and interesting, not ones that will help you do better in med. You'll be fine so enjoy your time in your bachelors or else you really are wasting that extra year you spend.

smh I didn't influence your decision so sad hahaha

 

[A1]

I'm doing IMED1001 and IMED1002 (compulsory core units) and my electives are CHEM1001 and CHEM1002.

When I did the undergrad course's structure was different so can't give you direct advice on the CHEM units but I think they are not that necessary. If you can fit into the electives I suggest STAT1400 Stats and PHIL2002 Logic - for competent UCAT takers these should be automatic HD.

Regarding my 5.5 GPA comment think of it this way. Graduate entry candidates have to fight for 6.5 to be competitive, you have been given the privilege of MD entry yet you're scared of not achieving 1 full GPA point lower, does that make you worthy of the automatic spot?

 

[ucat3300+]

You'll be alright. IMED1001 and 1002 are pretty easy all things considered, I haven't personally done chem units but I'd assume much of the same. I'd recommend you take electives that are fun and interesting, not ones that will help you do better in med. You'll be fine so enjoy your time in your bachelors or else you really are wasting that extra year you spend.

smh I didn't influence your decision so sad hahaha

Hahaha thanks so much TKAO . Don't really have a passion in any particular field, just want to do subjects that will set me up best for medicine haha. I could kind of sense from your earlier post that you are wondering maybe you should've gone Curtin, and a very famous figure in Australian medicine entry says this so much - high achieving students enter provisional entry courses and end up regretting, undergraduate >>> postgraduate.

I guess if I regret for not having gone Curtin - that's on me. But if I regret not going UWA in the future (my parents strongly wanted me to go Curtin as well as that very famous figure) - it's going to be tougher for me to deal with.

When I did the undergrad course's structure was different so can't give you direct advice on the CHEM units but I think they are not that necessary. If you can fit into the electives I suggest STAT1400 Stats and PHIL2002 Logic - for competent UCAT takers these should be automatic HD.

Regarding my 5.5 GPA comment think of it this way. Graduate entry candidates need to fight for 6.5 to be competitive, you have been given the privilege of MD entry yet you're scared of not achieving 1 full GPA point lower, does that make you worthy of the automatic spot?

Ahhh I understood what your 5.5 GPA comment meant just now haha I think I interpreted it in a slightly different way - it's ridiculous that provisional (i.e. 99+ ATAR students) should be scared of a 5.5 GPA

Yess you mentioned Stats and Logic in your 5.5 GPA post, might take these in Sem 2 2022 or in 2023. Not sure about PHIL2002 though - had a brief look through the unit outline and I see things like truth tables and propositional logic - this stuff is an entire topic in Mathematics Extension 2 (highest level of maths) in NSW HSC and I sucked at these But yes I know what you mean, this stuff comes up all the time in UCAT Decision Making

 

[Juicecan]

Home state: NSW
Offer 1: Biomedicine -Melbourne Chancellor Scholarship
Offer 2: Medical Sicence- Griffith (GC)
Offer 3: Medicine-UWA
Any scholarships offered: Mebourne
Any accommodation secured: NA
Internship location preference: NSW
Other important information: ATAR 99.9, UCAT:92

Which offer is better to take

 

[TKAO]

Home state: NSW
Offer 1: Biomedicine -Melbourne Chancellor Scholarship
Offer 2: Medical Sicence- Griffith (GC)
Offer 3: Medicine-UWA
Any scholarships offered: Mebourne
Any accommodation secured: NA
Internship location preference: NSW
Other important information: ATAR 99.9, UCAT:92

Which offer is better to take

bonded or non-bonded at UWA?

 

[ucat3300+]

I don't really like UniMelb's chancellor scholarship / pathway to medicine. You need to get 75+ WAM for your undergraduate degree which is higher than the GPA requirement at all other provisional med entry universities like USYD, UQ, UWA, Flinders and Griffith. You also need to do a MMI before you progress to MD. It’s basically graduate entry minus the GAMSAT, with a lower GPA requirement and probably easier interview as I've heard you just need to receive a minimum score and 'pass'. I honestly think the requirements for progressing into the MD is too much and I would stay away from UniMelb despite it being one of the most prestigious med schools in Australia. But you got a 99.90 which is crazy high and so these might be easy for you.

Comparing UWA and Griffith, Griffith chooses bonded/unbonded by GPA ranking in the first two years of accelerated MedSci. You're competing against cohort who all got 99.85+ so pretty tough. If you're bottom 28.5%, you get bonded.

So if UWA is unbonded definitely go UWA. (UWA is also more prestigious and better ranked than Griffith). If UWA is bonded, I'd say go Griffith because then you at least have a shot at unbonded and this depends on your amount of study at uni which I think is pretty fair.

 

[Juicecan]

bonded or non-bonded at UWA?

non bonded

University Western Australia is far from NSW. Is it anyone go UWA from NSW? I am scared of having no chance go back NSW.

 

[chinaski]

You may realistically expect to be in WA for internship - but movement across state lines is very possible and very common thereafter. This is even moreso if you are willing to accept offers in less sought-after locations in the state you want.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

non bonded

University Western Australia is far from NSW. Is it anyone go UWA from NSW? I am scared of having no chance go back NSW.

Can confirm WA won’t hold you hostage.

In all seriousness though, moving back after internship is likely very doable. It may even be possible to move back for internship if you’re happy to be allocated anywhere available, though this is not guaranteed.

A1 TKAO do you happen to know how UWA works as far as reapplying to JMP, JPM, UNSW using undergrad GPA goes (in the same way it’s possible from UQ, for example, as you’re not considered a Med student until MD).

 

[dotwingz]

I guess elephant in the room but its risky going to WA. It certainly seems that after 2 years they're rejoining the rest of Australia but it's honestly impossible to know if that would be for long. Who's to say that a new variant or wave will come along and they will close their borders again.

If you're uncomfortable with the idea of that I would say go Griffith.

QLD certainly hasn't been the most liberal on their borders either but at least with this current wave they walked in at a high. They could have shut down the borders when Omicron was ravaging NSW whilst QLD was clear of it, but decided against it for better or for worse. WA seems to only be opening now because they've lost control of Omicron. When the next variant/wave/etc comes and ravages the east I have no doubt that WA will close up shop again before they lose control of it themselves.

Just my 2c

 

[A1]

I am scared of having no chance go back NSW.

Assuming the process stays the same in 6 years time, being a NSW Y12 student returning you'll be Priority 2 for NSW internship allocation. If you then apply for Rural or Regional Allocation (i.e. place them high on your preference list) you're practically guaranteed a spot

> https://www.heti.nsw.gov.au/__data/...-internship-in-NSW-for-2022-clinical-year.pdf

But if you preference the hospital networks sought by the Priority 1s you could end up not getting any.

@A1 @TKAO do you happen to know how UWA works as far as reapplying to JMP, JPM, UNSW using undergrad GPA goes

They are eligible to apply non-standard to JMP JPM UNSW. Any provisionals leaving after 1-2 years UWA has more spots to offer to graduate entry, it's no problem.