Curtin Curtin Medicine: General Questions and Discussion

[Crow]

I received a Curtin Interview and offer last year with a 99.70 ATAR and 88th UCAT if that might give you some hope - I feel for you!!! (I am from nsw with no special considerations or rural etc.)

Yep, they weight ATAR higher than UCAT so I suspect your ATAR helped you land that interview. Definitely saba is still in with a shot for the WA unis, but I always try and err on the side of caution with these predictions rather than give false hope - especially seeing as the cutoffs this year seem to have increased significantly across the board.

 

[lasa]

Based on their application guide they say you just need a Masters awarded. Does this mean they don't worry about the exact grades and instead just take it a GPA 7/7 equivalent? Meaning you'd be a decent shot at interviews regardless of WAM given your UCAT is strong?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Based on their application guide they say you just need a Masters awarded. Does this mean they don't worry about the exact grades and instead just take it a GPA 7/7 equivalent? Meaning you'd be a decent shot at interviews regardless of WAM given your UCAT is strong?View attachment 4155

Do you happen to know whether GPA is factored into the offer equation? I’d have thought, if they were going to enforce hard cut offs at different GPA levels (credit, distinction, awarded, etc), in order to give people equivalent chances, they’d need to scrap GPA from the equation for offers. Otherwise, someone with a credit average is going to be at a disadvantage over the person with the distinction average, and that seems to go against the point of their hurdles entirely (ie. lower marks required for more advanced degrees).

If this is the case, you won’t be considered as a 7/7, you’ll just get a tick as having met the academic requirement and offers will be based on other measures (UCAT, interview).

If it isn’t the case, then it seems like a pretty weird system, but that wouldn’t be unusual for Curtin

 

[A1]

Does this mean they don't worry about the exact grades and instead just take it a GPA 7/7 equivalent?

If you read the paragraph fully from "A minimum notional ATAR of 92" & "the grade requirement for each level" it indicates Curtin treats an awarded Master as equal to a Distinction Bachelor, not necessarily 7/7.

Then they have an internal calculation to determine the actual notional ATAR for each applicant, which they nicely won't disclose.

Do you happen to know whether GPA is factored into the offer equation?

For school leavers Curtin's offer weighting is 40:20:40 (20 for UCAT), so I assume GPA's notional ATAR will also count 40%.

 

[lasa]

Easy, thanks guys the equivalence between a Masters and distinction Bachelors with an undisclosed notional ATAR calculation clears things up

 

[DrDrLMG!]

If you read the paragraph fully from "A minimum notional ATAR of 92" & "the grade requirement for each level" it indicates Curtin treats an awarded Master as equal to a Distinction Bachelor, not necessarily 7/7.

Then they have an internal calculation to determine the actual notional ATAR for each applicant, which they nicely won't disclose.

For school leavers Curtin's offer weighting is 40:20:40 (20 for UCAT), so I assume GPA's notional ATAR will also count 40%.

So do you reckon a credit grad dip/post grad dip gets roughly the same notational ATAR as a distinction bachelor and both get roughly the same as an awarded doctorate/masters?

ETA: the nuance is probably hidden in the notational ATAR secret, but if a credit grad dip gets you roughly the same as an awarded doctorate, what does a high distinction grad dip get you and how is it possible for an awarded doctorate to boost their result beyond the notational ATAR, particularly given it may not have been a coursework degree?

 

[A1]

So do you reckon a credit grad dip/post grad dip gets roughly the same notational ATAR as a distinction bachelor and both get roughly the same as an awarded doctorate/masters?

What I decipher from that table is you need distinction *average* Bach to meet the minimum notional ATAR 92 requirement; a little lower for Grad Dip being credit average, a little lower again for Master/PhD being awarded = pass average. They can't lower it any more for Master/PhD can they?

Note that Bach distinction average isn't equiv to GPA 6.0. In D=75+ scale, an average of 75% means you have around half >75 half <75 so equate to GPA 5.5 to meet the minimum, which isn't far from WSU's 5.4 for example.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

What I decipher from that table is you need distinction *average* Bach to meet the minimum notional ATAR 92 requirement; a little lower for Grad Dip being credit average, a little lower again for Master/PhD being awarded = pass average. They can't lower it any more for Master/PhD can they?

Note that Bach distinction average isn't equiv to GPA 6.0. In D=75+ scale, an average of 75% means you have around half >75 half <75 so equate to GPA 5.5 to meet the minimum, which isn't far from WSU's 5.4 for example.

No, I think I get all that. What I mean is, if all those degrees at the quoted level are awarded a similar notational ATAR, then it would seem that there is much more scope for someone with a much higher than credit average grad dip to achieve a much higher notational ATAR but that this same opportunity is not available for doctorate level degrees (or even bachelor level degrees which had to be at distinction level to be the standard notational ATAR). (I may not be explaining this very well).

The sensible thing about WSU is that they just have ATAR as a hurdle! It would make much more sense, given different cut-offs, for Curtin to do the same.

 

[A1]

What I mean is, if all those degrees at the quoted level are awarded a similar notational ATAR, then it would seem that there is much more scope for someone with a much higher than credit average grad dip to achieve a much higher notational ATAR but that this same opportunity is not available for doctorate level degrees

It all depends on Curtin's internal calculation to yield the notional ATAR for each level of degree (& its grade if available), which Curtin won't disclose the method. We can only trust Curtin knows what they're doing, but then can we?

EtA: Iirc Lillysace's Master was given a notional ATAR of just 97, which was astonishing low to me. But then since the non-standard graduates are only competing in their own pool it isn't a disadvantage when everyone gets similarly low.

 

[ccchloeee]

Hi! I'm applying as a course switcher for 2021. Does anyone know an approx number of course switchers/non standard applicants that are invited for an interview? I know there are 8/9 accepted but just would like to know my chances
Is anyone else applying as course switcher/non standard applicant?

 

[Jana1999]

Hi! I'm applying as a course switcher for 2021. Does anyone know an approx number of course switchers/non standard applicants that are invited for an interview? I know there are 8/9 accepted but just would like to know my chances
Is anyone else applying as course switcher/non standard applicant?

Hey! I completed a Bachelor degree, so will be applying as a non-standard applicant. From what I have read online, there are approximately 3-4 interview offers for every place in the program. So I assume if they have 8 to 9 positions available for course switchers and non-standards, this would equate to between 24-36 interview offers. Not too sure if this is correct though!

 

[KB8]

Hi! I'm applying as a course switcher for 2021. Does anyone know an approx number of course switchers/non standard applicants that are invited for an interview? I know there are 8/9 accepted but just would like to know my chances
Is anyone else applying as course switcher/non standard applicant?

don’t think they’ve specified this anywhere

Hey! I completed a Bachelor degree, so will be applying as a non-standard applicant. From what I have read online, there are approximately 3-4 interview offers for every place in the program. So I assume if they have 8 to 9 positions available for course switchers and non-standards, this would equate to between 24-36 interview offers. Not too sure if this is correct though!

Just thought I’d mention as a side note that a first year Curtin student this year on MSO has stated that they believe there are up to 11 non-standard students(out of a cohort size of 90), so it appears Curtin gives more offers to non-standards than posited in the AMC Document where the 8% maximum non-standard quota comes from!

 

[DrDrLMG!]

don’t think they’ve specified this anywhere

Just thought I’d mention as a side note that a first year Curtin student this year on MSO has stated that they believe there are up to 11 non-standard students(out of a cohort size of 90), so it appears Curtin gives more offers to non-standards than posited in the AMC Document where the 8% maximum non-standard quota comes from!

I’ve got no idea what the fail rate is at Curtin, but numbers are not necessarily as straightforward as they seem. It’s possible (though I legit have zero confirmation either way) that one or more of those people is repeating first year. Just something to always be aware of when looking at raw stats.

 

[KB8]

I’ve got no idea what the fail rate is at Curtin, but numbers are not necessarily as straightforward as they seem. It’s possible (though I legit have zero confirmation either way) that one or more of those people is repeating first year. Just something to always be aware of when looking at raw stats.

Definitely true! However, matcha.latte mentioned that nobody has failed first year medicine in Curtin’s short history thus far. I might be forgetting some other factors to be fair.

 

[matcha.latte]

Yeah, no Year 1 fails as of yet.
However, three of the “extra” non-standards were top-up offers that joined us a little after semester formally began. They might’ve just been higher up on the queue than the school leavers on the list. Who knows!

 

[Jana1999]

Hey everyone, I'm applying as a non-standard for 2021. Does anyone know when Curtin University will send out interview invites?

 

[ccchloeee]

Hey everyone, I'm applying as a non-standard for 2021. Does anyone know when Curtin University will send out interview invites?

Should be anytime now! I spoke with the admissions coordinator over the phone about 1.5 hours ago and she said in the next few hours (which means any time now!!) .....

Are you in WA or interstate?

 

[Jana1999]

Are you in WA or interstate?

Phew that's good to hear...at least there is still hope I'm a WA local!

 

[ccchloeee]

Phew that's good to hear...at least there is still hope I'm a WA local!

Hopefully Are you a course switcher?

Interview invites are being sent out...I just got mine about 5 min ago

 

[TKAO]

I would love to know what kinds of scores are required for course switcher interview invites!