Common pitfalls to avoid for year 12 school leavers and other medicine applicants

[Nonstandard983]

Is scaling a common thing in uni? I’ve never been curved ever

I don't know how widespread it is I assumed all courses did it most courses don't need to be scaled ever as people naturally fall on a bell curve however it does happen.

I had a chemistry unit that was at an introductory level however was a core unit for biomedicine science degrees. This course mainly retaught year 11+12 content with maybe 4 weeks of extension past topics that you wouldn't cover in school. The issue with this course is that most people who take it have done chemistry in year 11+12. This results in people getting abnormally high grades in all the assessments leading up to the exam for reference I was on an average of 93% and I had several friends who had 90+ averages.

We don't see exam marks in our university just the final course grade after leaving the exam I felt wildly confident and knew I had correctly answered the majority of the questions however when I received my final unit result I was sitting on 79% (The cut-off for a HD in WA is 80%) several of my classmates also were sitting on 79% after emailing the course coordinator she said she had to scale the marks massively as over 50% of students would have received a HD if she hadn't.

Apparently this is very common practice in that a unit as I had a friend come through the university a year earlier with the same experience.

EDIT: when I say the 10% HD thing above thats what another lecturer told me but it doesn't have to be a hard 10% it could be 5%-15% however the university can't have an abnormally large number of HDs otherwise it indicates the course/marking was way to easy and if this is a trend over the whole universities courses eventually other institutions would start not trusting that institutions grading for say courses like postgraduate medicine.

Further edit: My point with this whole block of text is just that if a unit is considered way too easy you will likely be scaled as only a set amount of people can receive HDs you are better off choosing units you will actually enjoy making the workload easier as you enjoy studying them

 

[JE_FR]

You're aware that many university courses are graded on more than just exam marks, no?

Of course. I just hope that works in my advantage.

I don't know how widespread it is I assumed all courses did it most courses don't need to be scaled ever as people naturally fall on a bell curve however it does happen.

I had a chemistry unit that was at an introductory level however was a core unit for biomedicine science degrees. This course mainly retaught year 11+12 content with maybe 4 weeks of extension past topics that you wouldn't cover in school. The issue with this course is that most people who take it have done chemistry in year 11+12. This results in people getting abnormally high grades in all the assessments leading up to the exam for reference I was on an average of 93% and I had several friends who had 90+ averages.

We don't see exam marks in our university just the final course grade after leaving the exam I felt wildly confident and knew I had correctly answered the majority of the questions however when I received my final unit result I was sitting on 79% (The cut-off for a HD in WA is 80%) several of my classmates also were sitting on 79% after emailing the course coordinator she said she had to scale the marks massively as over 50% of students would have received a HD if she hadn't.

Apparently this is very common practice in that a unit as I had a friend come through the university a year earlier with the same experience.

EDIT: when I say the 10% HD thing above thats what another lecturer told me but it doesn't have to be a hard 10% it could be 5%-15% however the university can't have an abnormally large number of HDs otherwise it indicates the course/marking was way to easy and if this is a trend over the whole universities courses eventually other institutions would start not trusting that institutions grading for say courses like postgraduate medicine.

Further edit: My point with this whole block of text is just that if a unit is considered way too easy you will likely be scaled as only a set amount of people can receive HDs you are better off choosing units you will actually enjoy making the workload easier as you enjoy studying them

This was actually really helpful. Thank you. Also, that scaling sounds almost Soviet to me.

 

[Crow]

In my undergraduate degree only 1 of 24 courses marked on a curve and then another course altered the HD requirement to 90% because too many students achieved too highly in the course. Other than that, it didn't happen at all. I guess it's dependent on the course convenor and what their preference is.

 

[PankaG4]

I have read the post about the common pitfalls for medical science and have come to understand that the medical science degree should be avoided since it does not have many job opportunities after completion. Would medical science still be a good choice if also planning to complete a masters after it, such as a master of optometry or master of teaching? Any advice would be appreciated, maybe even from someone who has completed a medical science degree. Also, can someone explain how GPA/WAM works? Is it like the UCAT with the percentile system, where a score of 1800 does not mean the 50th percentile but less because it compares your score to the total cohort, such as the ATAR? For example, a medical science degree with competitive students that fixate on GPA, is therefore harder to get a GPA of 7, in comparison to a less student competitive degree for the same GPA of 7?
Thank you.

 

[2xq]

I have read the post about the common pitfalls for medical science and have come to understand that the medical science degree should be avoided since it does not have many job opportunities after completion. Would medical science still be a good choice if also planning to complete a masters after it, such as a master of optometry or master of teaching? Any advice would be appreciated, maybe even from someone who has completed a medical science degree.

Why would you want to spend time (and therefore money) on a medsci degree? You might as well enter education/optometry directly from high school and bypass the medsci degree.

Also, can someone explain how GPA/WAM works? Is it like the UCAT with the percentile system, where a score of 1800 does not mean the 50th percentile but less because it compares your score to the total cohort, such as the ATAR? For example, a medical science degree with competitive students that fixate on GPA, is therefore harder to get a GPA of 7, in comparison to a less student competitive degree for the same GPA of 7?
Thank you.

This is a slightly tougher question to answer because there will be slight variations between universities (with some marking by bell curves [based on anedotal evidence from other users] and others being marked on what you end up getting after weighting each task)

WAM is your "weighted average mark". This is (to put it simply) just an average of your marks (obviously taking into consideration credits for the units you do). The following formula is used.


GPA is a scale. For each unit, you can figure out the number associated to each grade [grade point]. 4 being a pass, 5 credit, 6 distinction, 7 high distinction. Universities will specify what mark corresponds to each grade point. Once this is figured out, you will then calculate your GPA using the following formula (Note that this is NOT the same formula used by GEMSAS for Postgraduate medicine).

Let's do an example of a WAM and GPA calculation for 1 FTE at a university where 50-64 is a pass, 65-74 credit, 75-84 distinction, and 85+ high distinction and where 0.5 FTE is 24 credit points.

Semester 1

Unit of Study	Name of Unit	Mark	Grade	Credit Points
UNIT1001	Sample Unit 1A	76	D	6
UNIT1002	Sample Unit 2A	81	D	6
UNIT1003	Sample Unit 3	75	D	6
UNIT1004	Sample Unit 4	61	P	3
UNIT1005	Sample Unit 5	54	P	3

Semester 2

Unit of Study	Name of Unit	Mark	Grade	Credit Points
UNIT1011	Sample Unit 1B	92	HD	6
UNIT1012	Sample Unit 2B	80	D	6
UNIT1041	Sample Unit 6	73	C	6
UNIT1070	Sample Unit 7	79	D	6

Okay. The WAM over 1 FTE will be calculated to be [(76x6)+(81x6)x(75x6)+(61x3)+(54x3)+(92x6)+(80x6)+(73x6)+(79x6)]/(48) = 76.6875.

GPA will be calculated by converting the WAM to a letter (which will then correspond to a number on a 7.0 scale [i.e. a grade point])
[(6x6)+(6x6)+(6x6)+(4x3)+(4x3)+(7x6)+(6x6)+(5x6)+(6x6)]/(48)=5.75.

Hopefully, this makes sense.

 

[student24]

Wow, I definitely need to show this thread to my friends. Way too many of them are doing biomed

 

[dotwingz]

In my experience they won’t care

 

[student24]

Probably not, no

 

[JE_FR]

So I'm reading that nursing is also recommended as a bachelor's program. Has anyone ever considered the 2 year bachelor's program at Flinders for those who already have a bachelor's but need a second one to become competitive? Anyone experience/advice regarding that particular program?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

So I'm reading that nursing is also recommended as a bachelor's program. Has anyone ever considered the 2 year bachelor's program at Flinders for those who already have a bachelor's but need a second one to become competitive? Anyone experience/advice regarding that particular program?

I know someone who moved from a teaching career into a fast track nursing degree to ‘re-set’ their GPA as a route to Medicine (or Nursing as a career change from teaching if Med didn’t happen). It is certainly a feasible option as long as nursing is a viable backup career for you.

For graduate entry (a topic I’m less familiar with), just make sure the two year degree is actually 3 years FTE (as in the fast track options), as I don’t think 2 year degrees count.

I can’t comment on the Flinders course specifically and doubt you’ll find anyone here who can.

 

[JE_FR]

I know someone who moved from a teaching career into a fast track nursing degree to ‘re-set’ their GPA as a route to Medicine (or Nursing as a career change from teaching if Med didn’t happen). It is certainly a feasible option as long as nursing is a viable backup career for you.

For graduate entry (a topic I’m less familiar with), just make sure the two year degree is actually 3 years FTE (as in the fast track options), as I don’t think 2 year degrees count.

I can’t comment on the Flinders course specifically and doubt you’ll find anyone here who can.

Thanks for the swift reply!

Ah, I'm afraid it's an 'accelerated' degree. The website says: 'Students receive 1 year (36 units) of credit for previous tertiary study and undertake 2 years of full-time study (or the equivalent part-time).'

So the question remains, which credits get 'transferred'? Or is it more of an 'acknowledgment' of previous academic achievements?

The end result is a bachelor degree, so I have no idea how that would be looked on by schools.

I just read that Flinders accepts 2 year bachelor degrees. This might work out, but I still don't know whether this degree really counts as a 2 year degree or a 3 year degree and then they pick and choose which previous subjects of my previous degree count towards credits earned.

The other program I was looking into is UQ, but I have no idea how they view such degrees.

 

[dotwingz]

I just read that Flinders accepts 2 year bachelor degrees.

Be careful here. The terminology is very important. Flinders will accept accelerated bachelors (3 years of credits into 2 years) or 2 year graduate entrh degrees


(soz for bad quality lol on my phone)

Most schools will accept accelerated degrees, however many will have a clause that degrees must be finished by semester 2. So accelerated degrees which typically end at the end of the summer semester means you gotta wait till the next application cycle (good opportunity to make some money though)

I suspect the credit transferred will be “unspecified credit” and hence follows the rules from the GEMSAS guide below



which from what i can understand means they’ll take the last year of your last degree

 

[JE_FR]

Be careful here. The terminology is very important. Flinders will accept accelerated bachelors (3 years of credits into 2 years) or 2 year graduate entrh degrees

View attachment 5158
(soz for bad quality lol on my phone)

Most schools will accept accelerated degrees, however many will have a clause that degrees must be finished by semester 2. So accelerated degrees which typically end at the end of the summer semester means you gotta wait till the next application cycle (good opportunity to make some money though)

I suspect the credit transferred will be “unspecified credit” and hence follows the rules from the GEMSAS guide below

View attachment 5159

which from what i can understand means they’ll take the last year of your last degree

Hmmm, so for Flinders I could potentially do the graduate entry nursing bachelor program, which is a good thing. I guess there's no way of doing something to be eligible for 'most' medical schools except for completely undertaking 3 years of undergraduate studies then.

 

[kancerguy]

Hey mana,

Idk if this is against the rules to say something like this without a proper purpose, but thanks so much for that write-up. I did a last minute switch from MedSci to an infinitely more useful degree for a career that, while not as satisfying as med, would still be awesome. I almost certainly would've done medical science if I didn't read this thread.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hey mana,

Idk if this is against the rules to say something like this without a proper purpose, but thanks so much for that write-up. I did a last minute switch from MedSci to an infinitely more useful degree for a career that, while not as satisfying as med, would still be awesome.

Definitely not against the rules! Thanks for sharing your experience

 

[JeydinNewWon]

Hey mana,

Idk if this is against the rules to say something like this without a proper purpose, but thanks so much for that write-up. I did a last minute switch from MedSci to an infinitely more useful degree for a career that, while not as satisfying as med, would still be awesome.

Yes!! I think school leavers for med get a bit too hyper focused on that one degree, but medicine is just one path in life, and you might find a lot of interests in other things, too! Obviously, if you still got the hype for it, go and apply, but don't make getting into medicine consume your whole life.

 

[kancerguy]

Yes!! I think school leavers for med get a bit too hyper focused on that one degree, but medicine is just one path in life, and you might find a lot of interests in other things, too! Obviously, if you still got the hype for it, go and apply, but don't make getting into medicine consume your whole life.

I'm actually really glad I've gotten off the rails to med, I feel like I've changed a lot this year and I want to spend some time in first year really thinking over whether I wanna do med or not. There are still a lot of other things that interest me.

 

[dotwingz]

I'm actually really glad I've gotten off the rails to med,

I just wanna clarify to anyone reading along that not picking biomed/medsci/whatever certainly doesn't equal getting off the med train. You can be as/or more dedicated to medicine (whatever that means) doing any degree.

 

[forevafrensbear]

There are also many different pathways once you're "in" medicine. Especially when it comes to lifelong vocational decisions.

It would be prudent not to put all your eggs in one basket. Outside of the pathways with guaranteed entry, it remains competitive and there will be a proportion (even majority) of people who do not get in. You do not want to do a bachelor degree that does not lead you to a suitable Plan B. However, many people go with the flow...

As to comments regarding medicine being satisfying ... well ... that's highly debatable on the other side of the fence.

 

[ar456]

Hi all,

On the topic of finding a Plan B, I'm a gap-year student thinking about back up plans. I'm just wondering what you guys think about doing a uq science degree first (with intention of getting into med, exploring different parts of science that I'm interested in) and then applying for a two-year master (or doctor at some unis) of physio course if I don't get into med. That way, significant time really isn't lost and I'm pursuing something I enjoy with decent employability. Although, as Mana and others said earlier, it could be better to go straight to physio - yet my concern is whether physio/allied health degrees are truly less competitive/easier to do well in. For example, I spoke to some physio students at UQ who wanted to get into med, and they mentioned not many people go through from physio.

Thanks again in advance for all your help guys!