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First Year (FY) BHSc/BSC 2020 Chat/Enquiry

Hi guys, I am already enroled in first year biomed 2021 and I am having difficulties in choosing a Gen Ed paper that fits into my schedule AND is not tricky. I personally would not prefer doing the phil 105G paper as I have gotten an overview of it and it sounds bad. Any possible recommendations? Thank you so much for your help and I hope you enjoy the rest of your holidays ;)
 

Bootleg

Regular Member
Hi guys, I am already enroled in first year biomed 2021 and I am having difficulties in choosing a Gen Ed paper that fits into my schedule AND is not tricky. I personally would not prefer doing the phil 105G paper as I have gotten an overview of it and it sounds bad. Any possible recommendations? Thank you so much for your help and I hope you enjoy the rest of your holidays ;)
The purpose of gen eds are to help you explore other disciplines, that is to allow you to take papers that you may find interesting. I could tell you a easy gen ed to take, but you might end up not liking it at all; worsening your GPA.

With that said, I heard that ACCTG151G, ECON151G, MKT151G, SCIGEN101G, and GEOG103G are all very easy gen eds to do well in. STATS101G is relatively easy however some of the concepts you learn in the later topics such as linear regression, hypothesis testing, and chi squares can be quite complex and confusing for you to understand, if you haven't done level 3 statistics.
 

ProfessorPond

Yahallo!
Hi guys, I am already enroled in first year biomed 2021 and I am having difficulties in choosing a Gen Ed paper that fits into my schedule AND is not tricky. I personally would not prefer doing the phil 105G paper as I have gotten an overview of it and it sounds bad. Any possible recommendations? Thank you so much for your help and I hope you enjoy the rest of your holidays ;)
I wrote a bit more on the previous page about this but ECON 151G is pretty decent and very crammable. I managed an A+ on the final just by doing an entire sem's worth of stuff in 2 days (plus a little bit of work every week- I'm talking like 1hr a week).
Downsides: Not sure if the new lecturer is going to be as good as Gamini. The assignment takes effort for data analysis and applying what you've learnt, and some of the people who mark them are actual clowns. Macro economics can be very confusing but it's interesting.
 
Life update guys… Semester 1 finally over and heading off to sem2! I have looked into all of your suggestions but unfortunately non of them fit into my schedule :( At the end I chose FRENCH 101 and managed to get a 88.67% with barely any effort other than cramming the night before my two tests. Managed to score a decent 80 something in both tests but severely winged my final oral test! Lucky for me this year we don’t have to do an exam so the course work counted quite a bit but I’m quite happy with what I’ve got!

Also I need life advice, I winged my biosci107 and got a really bad grade I.e. a B (I passed but a pass is not good enough for me to try for clinical pathways) non of my other papers are out yet and I’m not sure how I should continue living anymore. I have disappointed my parents hugely and I felt really guilty cause they got me an iPad for me to learn better in uni but it seemed like it didn’t help me much. I don’t help out a lot around the house either and I know that I did not give my all for these 3 core papers so I cannot confidently tell them I tried my hardest. I am now rotting in my life, no motivation to wake up and study for UCAT and had multiple breakdowns during the year but I still want to pursue med (I’m hopeless ;-;). Any advice on sem2 and potentially UCAT will be greatly appreciated and sorry for making you listen to my rant.
 

014phalo

Regular Member
Life update guys… Semester 1 finally over and heading off to sem2! I have looked into all of your suggestions but unfortunately non of them fit into my schedule :( At the end I chose FRENCH 101 and managed to get a 88.67% with barely any effort other than cramming the night before my two tests. Managed to score a decent 80 something in both tests but severely winged my final oral test! Lucky for me this year we don’t have to do an exam so the course work counted quite a bit but I’m quite happy with what I’ve got!

Also I need life advice, I winged my biosci107 and got a really bad grade I.e. a B (I passed but a pass is not good enough for me to try for clinical pathways) non of my other papers are out yet and I’m not sure how I should continue living anymore. I have disappointed my parents hugely and I felt really guilty cause they got me an iPad for me to learn better in uni but it seemed like it didn’t help me much. I don’t help out a lot around the house either and I know that I did not give my all for these 3 core papers so I cannot confidently tell them I tried my hardest. I am now rotting in my life, no motivation to wake up and study for UCAT and had multiple breakdowns during the year but I still want to pursue med (I’m hopeless ;-;). Any advice on sem2 and potentially UCAT will be greatly appreciated and sorry for making you listen to my rant.
To be entirely honest with you, my advice is to stop winging it and cramming last minute. If you want to get into med you're going to have to put in consistent effort. Besides the short-term, you will need to learn to do that to retain the information you'll need to be a doctor.
 
Life update guys… Semester 1 finally over and heading off to sem2! I have looked into all of your suggestions but unfortunately non of them fit into my schedule :( At the end I chose FRENCH 101 and managed to get a 88.67% with barely any effort other than cramming the night before my two tests. Managed to score a decent 80 something in both tests but severely winged my final oral test! Lucky for me this year we don’t have to do an exam so the course work counted quite a bit but I’m quite happy with what I’ve got!

Also I need life advice, I winged my biosci107 and got a really bad grade I.e. a B (I passed but a pass is not good enough for me to try for clinical pathways) non of my other papers are out yet and I’m not sure how I should continue living anymore. I have disappointed my parents hugely and I felt really guilty cause they got me an iPad for me to learn better in uni but it seemed like it didn’t help me much. I don’t help out a lot around the house either and I know that I did not give my all for these 3 core papers so I cannot confidently tell them I tried my hardest. I am now rotting in my life, no motivation to wake up and study for UCAT and had multiple breakdowns during the year but I still want to pursue med (I’m hopeless ;-;). Any advice on sem2 and potentially UCAT will be greatly appreciated and sorry for making you listen to my rant.
First of all I think it is really nice that you have taken the time to reflect and congrats on doing well for French 101. I think that many others have been and will be in your place right now and you are definitely not alone.

In regards to your results for Biosci 107, traditionally a B is likely to make your journey a bit more difficult. Hypothetically your maximum core GPA can be an 8 providing you A+ your other 3 core papers. There have been some instances where individuals have gotten in with below 8 in the past so the key is to keep trying. Providing your are not ellgible for any entry schemes as a first year, yes the chances may not be what you like but none the less, if you stop working as hard and lose motivation for semester 2, it could prevent you from a) obtaining an interview and b) could hamper your overall GPA for graduate entry providing you would like to take this route. Also the semester break gives you some time to experiment with maybe your study technique or reflect why you didn't give it your all. The advice given by 014phalo is perfect in regards to rectifying it. The thing is if study becomes a habit, it is much more sustainable. Because almost everyone loses motivation, but habit tends to be harder to break. So staying on top from the beginning is the most important and regularly studying is more effective then cramming. However, also do look after yourself and you do not want to experience burnout. So regular efficient effective study is the key in my opinion.

A heads up for Semester 2, I think Medsci 142 is traditionally the paper people spend the most time on as it is essentially a welcoming tour of the human body. It is often the one where people do fall behind on and once you fall behind, it requires immense effort to catch up. If you have time maybe even looking to read ahead or understand what's in this course may be beneficial.

In terms of UCAT, I don't think we are allowed to given recommendation for companies on this forum. However general advice is the UCAT is something which is an aptitude test where it tests your thinking in a variety of ways. I think there are definitely ways to prepare and personally I found practice to really help. Its sort of a like an IQ test but if you know certain types of questions, you can devise certain type of thinking strategies and hence it can help you reach your answers quicker. I think this is what makes UCAT challenging for some as it is a race against the clock.

Good luck for Sem 2! I am sure you will do well and at the end of the day I am sure giving it your all will give you personal satisfaction regardless of the end outcome.
 

ProfessorPond

Yahallo!
Life update guys… Semester 1 finally over and heading off to sem2! I have looked into all of your suggestions but unfortunately non of them fit into my schedule :( At the end I chose FRENCH 101 and managed to get a 88.67% with barely any effort other than cramming the night before my two tests. Managed to score a decent 80 something in both tests but severely winged my final oral test! Lucky for me this year we don’t have to do an exam so the course work counted quite a bit but I’m quite happy with what I’ve got!

Also I need life advice, I winged my biosci107 and got a really bad grade I.e. a B (I passed but a pass is not good enough for me to try for clinical pathways) non of my other papers are out yet and I’m not sure how I should continue living anymore. I have disappointed my parents hugely and I felt really guilty cause they got me an iPad for me to learn better in uni but it seemed like it didn’t help me much. I don’t help out a lot around the house either and I know that I did not give my all for these 3 core papers so I cannot confidently tell them I tried my hardest. I am now rotting in my life, no motivation to wake up and study for UCAT and had multiple breakdowns during the year but I still want to pursue med (I’m hopeless ;-;). Any advice on sem2 and potentially UCAT will be greatly appreciated and sorry for making you listen to my rant.
Brutal honesty incoming. Not meaning to be nasty if it comes off that way.

A B seriously hamstrings your odds. You can still get interview no problem if you do well in the other papers and UCAT but you really need to pull some magic out of the hat in the interview. It's still doable if you pull off a 9 in all the other papers (average of 8, which is juuust good enough in a less competitive year).
As for motivation that's something you have to work out for yourself. I understand that it's difficult to have the stamina to keep working through a break, especially after receiving some less than desirable results, but at the same time you need to tell yourself that right now you need to squeeze every bit of advantage from ucat and other papers to make up for your 107.

I would also recommend changing your study habits for 142 because however hard you think it is it's worse (at least personally--> found it to be way more work than the 3 sem 1s put together). My advice is to WRITE. Write everything down. Then write it again. Then do it from memory. Then do the past papers (Angela's advice of doing past papers early on is rubbish imo). If you have to write out the full baroreceptor reflex arc from memory 3 times, trust me, you'll remember it just from pure muscle memory.
Still doing this in med if you're wondering. You burn through paper and pen refills like nobody's business but it works.

Like other people said, keep on top of the content. Pre-reading is kind of unnecessary imo since you're gonna be reading that bit of the textbook to death afterwards to revise anyways. Never go into a lecture without doing the previous lectures because you'll just get confused.
 
Thank you all of you for leaving a message and your honestly, I appreciated it loads and you are all too kind! ✨My other papers were out and they were not as terrible as Biosci but not what I need either :( For now, I am trying to adjust myself into a proper mindset as I probably did not realise the amount of work I should put in in order to achieve a good grade at the start of sem1. Just finger crossed and trying to work as hard as I can so I will not leave anymore regrets for sem2! 🤞

Also regarding the winging my tests, I guess the intense atmosphere in the community made me feel like I don’t have a passion for med in comparison to other students who have a “med or dead” attitude, perhaps that really lowered down my self confidence in sem 1.

In addition, I am actually not quite sure of the medicine application process, haha sounds stupid coming from me who wants to do med. So I heard that I have to write up a personal statement and apply to the programme through the application portal (or sso? Idk). Is that true? Also when do the applications start? I originally and immaturely thought that I have applied to clinical pathways so that means I would get an automatic interview? Now I’m confused can someone please clear my confusion for me?
 

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ProfessorPond

Yahallo!
Also regarding the winging my tests, I guess the intense atmosphere in the community made me feel like I don’t have a passion for med in comparison to other students who have a “med or dead” attitude, perhaps that really lowered down my self confidence in sem 1.

In addition, I am actually not quite sure of the medicine application process, haha sounds stupid coming from me who wants to do med. So I heard that I have to write up a personal statement and apply to the programme through the application portal (or sso? Idk). Is that true? Also when do the applications start? I originally and immaturely thought that I have applied to clinical pathways so that means I would get an automatic interview? Now I’m confused can someone please clear my confusion for me?
Interview offers are given to everyone who has a GPA of above 6 across all 8 papers. I'm not sure about the personal statement cos I didn't have to do it (not that I would have time to during sem 2 with medsci being the biggest pain in the butt).
Just as an aside, optom in my year didn't take people who didnt put them as first choice. Just as a FYI.
 
Also regarding the winging my tests, I guess the intense atmosphere in the community made me feel like I don’t have a passion for med in comparison to other students who have a “med or dead” attitude, perhaps that really lowered down my self confidence in sem 1.

In addition, I am actually not quite sure of the medicine application process, haha sounds stupid coming from me who wants to do med. So I heard that I have to write up a personal statement and apply to the programme through the application portal (or sso? Idk). Is that true? Also when do the applications start? I originally and immaturely thought that I have applied to clinical pathways so that means I would get an automatic interview? Now I’m confused can someone please clear my confusion for me?
I can definitely feel how the "med or dead" attitude seems to present around. Especially with the anticipation of grades and the constant comparison. I think that just keep going with your confidence in semester 2 because at the end of the day no one knows who you are and what you have been through then yourself. Hence, don't let others affect your belief in yourself

Application starts with you clicking this link:

Then click apply now. I think it redirects you to the apply now page. Then you navigate through the page and find the title start your application for admission. Then sign in and then choose MBChB and apply like this.

I don't remember much about a personal statement but I think it is not used in your application process as they interview you and the interviewers do so anonymously without knowing any knowledge of you before hand.

Also an interview is not guaranteed for Medicine. There is an interview cutoff for first years. Roughly twice as many first years are interviewed for medicine then places offered. Last year the cutoff was 7.2 assuming A+ in medsci but last year was an anomaly because of the CST. (20201 MBChB General Entry 2021 - a Official Information Act request to University of Auckland). Pretty much regardless of whatever programme you apply for that needs an interview i.e. optometry or medical imaging and Med, you will only be interviewed once and your interview scores will be used across all programmes you applied for.

Hence even though you may recieve an MMI invite (providing your GPA average across 8 papers is greater then 6), the only way you can possibly know it was for MBChB is if you only applied for that programme. However as most people apply for many programmes assuming your GPA is over the usual threshold for interview cutoff for med which is usally high 7's. This is because every first year who applies will have an A+ assumed for them in Medsci.

I think you are open to apply now if you would like. I think I applied sometime in September, but there is a deadline before the end of September so as long as you apply before then you will be fine. You will need your UCAT ID handy when you apply.

Also I think that your application to each course is treated as indepedent and as there are people who received offers for both Med and Optometry despite putting Med as their first prefence
 

ProfessorPond

Yahallo!
Also I think that your application to each course is treated as indepedent and as there are people who received offers for both Med and Optometry despite putting Med as their first prefence
That wasn't the case in 2019 at least. My friend applied to both med and optom and he had a very good chance for optom. However, he was rejected for optom and when he asked it was because he didn't put it as first choice and there were too many applications for optom that year.
 
That wasn't the case in 2019 at least. My friend applied to both med and optom and he had a very good chance for optom. However, he was rejected for optom and when he asked it was because he didn't put it as first choice and there were too many applications for optom that year.
Oh my apologies. Perhaps I might be mistaken and this is the case for people who get into med getting into both whereas without getting into med, as you said you might be disadvantaged for Optom if it is not your first preference.
 

Avatar Aang

UoA MBChB IV
That wasn't the case in 2019 at least. My friend applied to both med and optom and he had a very good chance for optom. However, he was rejected for optom and when he asked it was because he didn't put it as first choice and there were too many applications for optom that year.
Idk about that cause I applied for optom and med and I got offers for both in that year
 

ProfessorPond

Yahallo!
Idk about that cause I applied for optom and med and I got offers for both in that year
That's really strange then because I explicitly remember hearing about what I said from my friend.
Admissions have always had questionable transparency though. Bit of a circus honestly.
 

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