Choosing Between Universities and Offers

[BethMark25]

I'm a current WSU student, so I can weigh in for our side of it!

As others have said, uni is what you make of it. WSU actually has a very active medical society and they run heaps of social events throughout the year. There are lots of opportunities to join in social events if you want to, and to join the medical society to run those events.

As for the research year you can still do that at WSU, it's just optional as opposed to being built into the program - so if you're concerned about missing out on networking opportunities you really don't need to be. (There have been changes with the switch to the MD program for this year, but from my understanding they're actually making research a bigger focus).

As for quality of teaching, that's tricky. I wouldn't assume that an older program automatically has a better quality of teaching. There are some issues with teaching in WSU that are still being worked out, particularly with the anatomy program and basic sciences in first semester. Some lecturers and tutors are better than others - some are phenomenal and some not so much. But you'll find that at any university. On a positive note we get a lot of feedback from doctors that WSU students tend to be really well versed in practical skills compared to some of the other university graduates.

From a practical (and possibly biased) standpoint it seems that WSU is a good option for you, due to the scholarship, finishing a year sooner, and being sure of being placed at a uni close to home. But I'm sure a UNSW student could weigh in with a lot of their positives regarding that uni too, they're both great programs

lily19873 if you have any questions about WSU timetables, teaching etc feel free to ask (pm if you want) and I'm happy to answer if I can. Good luck with the offers!

 

[Nihal]

Hey y'all, I'm a Brisbane school leaver and I am currently weighing up between JCU and UNE. What do you think I should consider and what did you think is best?

 

[futuremed2019]

Course Type: Med
Offer Received: Yes
University: UNE + call from JCU
UMAT: 72nd, 164, 60,53,50
ATAR or GPA: 99.05
Offer Type: CSP
Other Information: If you live in Brisbane , would you choose Townsville or Armidale?

I reckon Armidale would be a nicer place, but it all depends on your friends and family at the end.

 

[hiln]

Course Type: Med
Offer Received: Yes
University: UNE + call from JCU
UMAT: 72nd, 164, 60,53,50
ATAR or GPA: 99.05
Offer Type: CSP
Other Information: If you live in Brisbane , would you choose Townsville or Armidale?

From what I understand JCU would be better for your internship because you wouldn't be an interstate but I'm not entirely sure. Someone else should confirm

 

[Mana]

Hey y'all, I'm a Brisbane school leaver and I am currently weighing up between JCU and UNE. What do you think I should consider and what did you think is best?

You might find the answer in this post from very early in the thread and also at
A guide to choosing between medical degrees

Here is what Mana suggested:

The most important things I would consider when I have multiple offers are these, in this order:

1. Are you already living in a city with one of these universities? If so - regardless of the year committment or even the bonded committment - I would take that offer, because it means that you get to save on rent for that year, and you get family support because you still live at home (which honestly makes a huge difference).

2. If none of these are, then, where do you want to stay for the next few years, including the years of early practice? Where you will live for the next few years as well as where you will receive an internship is dictated mostly by which university you attend. If you graduate from a NSW university, for example, you will be prioritised first for NSW, and the same for all other states.

3. Finally, I would then take 5 year courses over 6 year ones, because you finish earlier and start work earlier. (I would take 6 year courses over 7 year provisional ones for the same reason). When you start work earlier, you will avoid the intern bottleneck by one year, the training bottleneck by one year and and you'll also be around $65k richer pre-tax (because working as an intern earns more money than being a final year medical student).

That should be sufficient to make your decision - because otherwise, no one cares where you did your degree (as long as it was in Aus/NZ). No one cares about prestige, no one cares about the name of the degree (as long as it's a medical one, MD, B. Med, MBBS, all the same, no one cares).

 

[Crow]

Hey y'all, I'm a Brisbane school leaver and I am currently weighing up between JCU and UNE. What do you think I should consider and what did you think is best?

I think this ultimately comes down to whether your preference to remain in QLD during your JMO years (assuming you want to stay in your home state) and potentially beyond outweighs the opportunity to graduate a year earlier in NSW (which means earlier career progression and earlier income).

That’s a factor that you’ll need to decide for yourself. For me, 1 year of extra study wouldn’t mean too much given you are only a school-leaver and have plenty of years ahead of you, so I’d be going with JCU.

However, if you have a driver’s licence and a car and could make the commute to Armidale from Brisbane, you’ll save a fair bit of money by not flying whenever you visit your family and friends at home. If finances are tough then this may be an important factor as well.

 

[msothrowaway23]

I'm tossing up between unimelb chancellor's program (7 yrs) and wsu bonded (5 yrs). I'm from nsw but don't mind going interstate for uni.

I'm planning to try and move to the US after med school, and I feel like the uni prestige is going to be a factor when trying to land a residency over there (hence a bit unsure of wsu).
Also I most likely need to stay an extra year in australia if I take wsu due to the bond, so it ends up being a one year difference rather than two. Probably the only concern I have about melbourne is the compulsory mmi.

What do y'all think?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

I'm tossing up between unimelb chancellor's program (7 yrs) and wsu bonded (5 yrs). I'm from nsw but don't mind going interstate for uni.

I'm planning to try and move to the US after med school, and I feel like the uni prestige is going to be a factor when trying to land a residency over there (hence a bit unsure of wsu).
Also I most likely need to stay an extra year in australia if I take wsu due to the bond, so it ends up being a one year difference rather than two. Probably the only concern I have about melbourne is the compulsory mmi.

What do y'all think?

My biggest thing here would be giving up certainty (WSU) for likely but not definite (UMelb due to MMI). Is that a risk you’re willing to take?

 

[hyperbole]

I'm tossing up between unimelb chancellor's program (7 yrs) and wsu bonded (5 yrs). I'm from nsw but don't mind going interstate for uni.

I'm planning to try and move to the US after med school, and I feel like the uni prestige is going to be a factor when trying to land a residency over there (hence a bit unsure of wsu).
Also I most likely need to stay an extra year in australia if I take wsu due to the bond, so it ends up being a one year difference rather than two. Probably the only concern I have about melbourne is the compulsory mmi.

What do y'all think?

This is interesting. Risking a guaranteed position in medical school can be risky. If you were going to practice in Australia, then yeah I would go for the guaranteed offer in WSU.
Having said that, I heard all you need to do is "pass" the MMI (ie make sure you're not an antisocial person) for the Chancellor Program as opposed to actually outperform your competitors for the Gamsat/graduate entry cohort at UniMelb. Since you did well enough at your WSU interview (an interview focussed school), "passing" shouldn't be too hard I assume.

I did alot of research on the US system since I really wanted try live in LA when I was younger haha. I also know a few Canadians who studied here and decided to go the US after graduation.

In the US, what is important for the competitive specialties is where you graduated (Harvard graduates typically seem really make their presence felt in the top tier derm/ophthamology residencies), your USMLE scores and references(from US doctors). In America, it's not like Australia and you apply for the residencies in the final year of med school and enter a program after your graduate. The healthcare systems seem to be protective so they won't really recognize your Australian training in terms of counting towards your US residency fulfilment.

As an Australian graduate, you'll be behind graduates from American medical schools. Having said, someone from USyd did get admitted to surgery (search on PagingDr) so it's still possible to get into the "competitive" specialties if your application is very strong. Ideally, you should also do your electives (in between your penultimate and final year of med school) in an American hospital and get American doctor references.

As far as WSU Bonded vs Melbourne MD for US residencies:

-Both are accredited (pretty much all the Aussie schools are though)
-Melbourne has the edge in "prestige" which does play a small role unfortunately for the US.
- Australian postgraduate entry med school's international student body are pretty much dominated by North Americans. So alot of the cohort at -Usyd/UniMelb/UQ/Flinders etc will sit the USMLE and there'll be alot of study groups for the USMLE. I assume UniMelb is similar but USyd has the NAMSA society for example. I don't know WSU's specific situation in regards to its students forming USMLE study groups. Someone please fill in? Nevertheless, in general, undergraduate medical schools don't have as many North Americans so USMLE is less of a concern/focus amongst the cohort.
Study groups and seminars might not be super important if you can study by yourself. However, doing well on the USMLE is very very important.
-Despite Melbourne's advantages, if the WSU was unbonded, that makes WSU very tempting since it would be guaranteed place in medical school. However being bonded does seem to offset that somewhat.

The US System is very different to Australia so my advice is do your research before making the decision!

 

[jj21]

Hey guys
I've somehow managed to land a place at both usyd med and unsw med and am really stuck on which one to choose.
I currently have a 2 scholarships to usyd (its around $11000 total) but none for unsw.
Usyd is also closer but not by much. Then again UNSW is one less year (usyd is 7, unsw 6)
What do y'all think I should do?

 

[Mana]

Hey guys
I've somehow managed to land a place at both usyd med and unsw med and am really stuck on which one to choose.
I currently have a 2 scholarships to usyd (its around $11000 total) but none for unsw.
Usyd is also closer but not by much. Then again UNSW is one less year (usyd is 7, unsw 6)
What do y'all think I should do?

Read this:
A guide to choosing between medical degrees

Then choose UNSW, because you can earn more than $11000 total by graduating a year earlier and working as an intern.

 

[OptimistPrime]

Hey I've made a bit of a grid comparing pros/cons of UTas/UNE using Mana's guide
I was wondering if I've missed any major points, and if the best idea would seem to be UTas?
Still, I probably won't reject UNE until UTas contacts me to confirm that I'm 100% in..

Thanks!!

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hey I've made a bit of a grid comparing pros/cons of UTas/UNE using Mana's guide
I was wondering if I've missed any major points, and if the best idea would seem to be UTas?
Still, I probably won't reject UNE until UTas contacts me to confirm that I'm 100% in..

Thanks!!

Definitely don’t worry about the social aspect at UTAS. There is always SO MUCH going on if you want to be involved, plus heaps of informal get-togethers.

Also, add LMG! goes to UTAS to the pros column

If you have specific questions about UTAS ask away in the UTAS thread.

 

[Mana]

How would you say UTas, UNE, UNSW, Monash and WSU compare? I have offers from UTas and UNE as of now. UNSW and WSU were later in my preferences so not sure if I did well for them. I'm currently in Canberra and because I've taken two gap years, I'm super keen to do a shorter degree but it's not the be all and end all if another course is better suited. I've got Monash as my first preference (but haven't interviewed for that yet). Especially struggling between the three in NSW
- UNSW of course is a great uni, close to home, I have a lot of people I know studying med there already BUT huge cohort so I wouldn't get to know everyone and research oriented which I'm not v interested in.
- UWS is a shorter course, in Syd, much more clinical based BUT in a dodgey part of Sydney but if I remember correctly it's got #1 med school in Aus or something?
- UNE is much further away, really small town, didn't like the student accom at all, doesn't begin clinical placements till few years in BUT gives a lot of rural experiences and is shorter course too. I don't know if the small cohort is a positive or negative though
- Monash is ideal (I haven't done much research on this though) - great course, lots of clinical experience, I loveeee melbourne and I have some friends there. Can't really think of a negative?
- UTas - don't know anything about the course! But it is pretty far away and in a smaller city. Is the cohort weaker since there are no interviews?

And I know prestige doesn't matter but does the reputation of a school benefit you in the long run? If I were interested in working overseas later, wouldn't UNSW look better than UNE on my resume, because they've probably heard of UNSW much more?

Did you by any chance read this A guide to choosing between medical degrees

 

[hyperbole]

How would you say UTas, UNE, UNSW, Monash and WSU compare? I have offers from UTas and UNE as of now. UNSW and WSU were later in my preferences so not sure if I did well for them. I'm currently in Canberra and because I've taken two gap years, I'm super keen to do a shorter degree but it's not the be all and end all if another course is better suited. I've got Monash as my first preference (but haven't interviewed for that yet). Especially struggling between the three in NSW
- UNSW of course is a great uni, close to home, I have a lot of people I know studying med there already BUT huge cohort so I wouldn't get to know everyone and research oriented which I'm not v interested in.
- UWS is a shorter course, in Syd, much more clinical based BUT in a dodgey part of Sydney but if I remember correctly it's got #1 med school in Aus or something?
- UNE is much further away, really small town, didn't like the student accom at all, doesn't begin clinical placements till few years in BUT gives a lot of rural experiences and is shorter course too. I don't know if the small cohort is a positive or negative though
- Monash is ideal (I haven't done much research on this though) - great course, lots of clinical experience, I loveeee melbourne and I have some friends there. Can't really think of a negative?
- UTas - don't know anything about the course! But it is pretty far away and in a smaller city. Is the cohort weaker since there are no interviews?

And I know prestige doesn't matter but does the reputation of a school benefit you in the long run? If I were interested in working overseas later, wouldn't UNSW look better than UNE on my resume, because they've probably heard of UNSW much more?

Yeah prestige doesn't matter domestically in Australia. If you want to become an ophthamologist or dermatologist (or any other "competitive speciality), what you do in the hospital system after you graduate (PGY1 onwwards) matters for Australia. Med school is irrelevant for that process.

Internationally(at least in East Asia and the US), prestige is taken into account more though for residencies. The "#1 med school" in Australia according to the various international rankings is USyd and UniMelb. (In one ranking USyd was higher and the other UniMelb).

 

[OptimistPrime]

umatsitter if I was you I'd go:

1. Monash (big cohort, good research, you have friends here, 5 years, prestigious. However it is the only state with merit-based intern allocation, which some people worry makes it more competitive within the course)
2. WSU (5 years, not too far from Canberra, but sort of an un-aesthetic area)
3. UTas (5 years, aesthetic area, Royal Hobart Hospital is pretty big, but I agree I wish it had an interview..)
4. UNSW (big cohort, learn about/do research, prestigious. However it's 6 years and accommodation might be expensive)
5. UNE (5 years, and some students are mature age - which makes it more diverse/interesting [a good thing]. However imo the cohort is too small and I've heard Armidale gets bad woodsmoke pollution in winter. Also I wonder if you still get to do placements in major hospitals?)

Some people aren't worried about cohort size, but I personally feel that bigger is better as you get to know more people and you're more likely to meet people you get on with really really well

Also, would you rather do you intern years in Victoria (merit-based allocation), NSW, or Tas (less major hospitals)?

 

[Deleted member 35034]

Course Type: Med
Offer Received: Yes
University: UTAS (unbonded), UQ (unbonded), UWA (dentistry)
UMAT: 96%, 191, 69/52/70
ATAR or GPA: 99.45
Special Considerations: none, live in WA
Offer Type: CSP
Other Information: rejecting dent for UWA, unsure whether going to choose UTAS or UQ

Course Type: Med
Offer Received: No
University: UniAdel, UWA, Curtin, Monash
UMAT: 96%, 191, 69/52/70
ATAR or GPA: 99.45
Special Considerations: none

Congratulations Jace.
I have the same dilemma - in WA and need to choose between UTas or UQ med.

 

[A1]

Congratulations Jace.
I have the same dilemma - in WA and need to choose between UTas or UQ med.

Are you both not swayed by UTas being 2 years shorter?

 

[Deleted member 35034]

Are you both not swayed by UTas being 2 years shorter?

Hi A1. I simply haven’t had time to weigh it up fully; just getting my mind around it. My Utas offer is bonded but my UQ is unbonded. I was also considering your dare - to do dentistry as a pathway at UQ.

Additionally, I was weighing up deferring for a year (I don’t wish to post on a forum why but happy to pm you on) and not sure if both will allow this. So, just weighing it all up. But I understand your point - 5yrs is better than 7yrs.

I’m open to any thoughts you have on the decision.

 

[Jace]

Are you both not swayed by UTas being 2 years shorter?

Yup, only reason why I'm leaning towards UTas is cause its 5 years versus 7. Its a miracle I even got UTas cause I didn't get 60 for section 2 and I've been told interstate applicants need 100% for umat, don't know what's up with that