General Medicine Entry Discussion and Advice Requests

[Crow]

Hi, I'm a bit unsure as to what to do. I took a gap year after year 12 to improve my ucat (which I did) but unfortunately not enough. I applied to all medicine unis and 2 dental unis (UoAdel & UQ). My chances of receiving an interview for Med seem difficult according to the mods but I have received an interview at UoAdel dent. I only really want to do med so I'm wary of entering a dental degree, should I receive an offer. I don't currently have the money for Bond uni so what are my best options and am I too late to apply? Should I just focus on post-grad or maybe start uni and do non-standard undergrad? Which uni will give me the greatest chance of admission into med (as in through any subquotas or whatever)? Thanks

Have you thought about what career you would go into if you didn't get into medicine? The unfortunate reality is that medicine entry is insanely competitive and the supply of applicants greatly exceeds the number of positions available. It is always wise to have a back-up plan.

It sounds like you aren't keen on dentistry. I think you should enrol in a degree that you can see yourself happy in as a career in the long-term (or if there is a career you'd like to go into that doesn't require tertiary education, follow that instead!). If you do choose to go to uni, thinking about the employability of the degree you choose would be a smart move. I'd definitely recommend Mana's post if you haven't read it already: Common pitfalls to avoid for year 12 school leavers and other medicine applicants

As you complete your degree, you can apply as a non-standard applicant to UNSW/WSU/JMP/JCU. Once you get to the penultimate year of your degree, you can sit GAMSAT and try through the graduate entry pathway. This is what I'd recommend you do to maximise your chances of entry while setting yourself up for an alternative career in the meantime.

I personally got into medicine via graduate entry and am more than happy to discuss that pathway in more detail if you have questions or would like advice.

 

[saba5678]

Why not both? Start uni with the goal of post grad medicine and resit the UCAT to try non standard.

It terms of 'which uni' would make it easiest, I would think the best one would be the one most convenient to you, where you're still with all your current social groups, etc. Subquotas are pretty common and typically not large enough to justify going to a single uni because of it. I know Flinders is pretty favourable to their own grads, but you can do a diploma there and be considered a flinders grad...

Have you thought about what career you would go into if you didn't get into medicine? The unfortunate reality is that medicine entry is insanely competitive and the supply of applicants greatly exceeds the number of positions available. It is always wise to have a back-up plan.

It sounds like you aren't keen on dentistry. I think you should enrol in a degree that you can see yourself happy in as a career in the long-term (or if there is a career you'd like to go into that doesn't require tertiary education, follow that instead!). If you do choose to go to uni, thinking about the employability of the degree you choose would be a smart move. I'd definitely recommend Mana's post if you haven't read it already: Common pitfalls to avoid for year 12 school leavers and other medicine applicants

As you complete your degree, you can apply as a non-standard applicant to UNSW/WSU/JMP/JCU. Once you get to the penultimate year of your degree, you can sit GAMSAT and try through the graduate entry pathway. This is what I'd recommend you do to maximise your chances of entry while setting yourself up for an alternative career in the meantime.

I personally got into medicine via graduate entry and am more than happy to discuss that pathway in more detail if you have questions or would like advice.

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll just focus on dental interviews at the moment - idk I might start liking it. Also, I'll be praying for JCU and any other borderline interview. Will decide what to do in Jan. I think my atar already guarantees me a place at UMelb scholars pathway thingy so that'll be my plan z.

 

[Crow]

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll just focus on dental interviews at the moment - idk I might start liking it. Also, I'll be praying for JCU and any other borderline interview. Will decide what to do in Jan. I think my atar already guarantees me a place at UMelb scholars pathway thingy so that'll be my plan z.

Obviously completely up to you, but if you have no interest in becoming a dentist, I'm not sure if enrolling in a dentistry degree on the chance that you "might start liking it" is a good idea. The ATAR does guarantee you a spot at UniMelb if you meet the hurdle requirements, but it's a full fee paying position, which will cost about 300k at UniMelb - are you in the position to afford that even though you can't pay for Bond?

Sorry to play the Devil's advocate - it's just important to think ahead with these things first.

 

[dotwingz]

Agreed with Crow, don’t do dentistry just because you can. There’s a difference between wanting Medicine more than Dentistry and picking Dentistry, and only wanting Medicine but enrolling in Dentistry because the powers that be decided that applicants should be assessed using the same aptitude test...

FEE-HELP does apply to bond aswell, the benefit of the Melbourne Chancellors Scholars is that you have 3 years to get into somewhere else before you have to fork over the big bucks, but on the flip side there is a chance you might fail the interview in the 3rd year

 

[saba5678]

FEE-HELP applies to both - but you can loan a maximum of 150k and you have to pay the rest up front. So, you would need 150k for UniMelb and a little over 250k for Bond.

Then maybe add a defence scholarship in? haha idk what i'm doing

 

[Cal]

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll just focus on dental interviews at the moment - idk I might start liking it. Also, I'll be praying for JCU and any other borderline interview. Will decide what to do in Jan. I think my atar already guarantees me a place at UMelb scholars pathway thingy so that'll be my plan z.

Please don't go into dentistry unless you have a passion for it/have interest in it. It will A) take a spot from someone who actually has a passion for it, but more importantly it will hurt you. You really have to want to look in someones mouth for the rest of your life, and if you aren't sure about that, it could take a really dark toll on your mental health. I would really suggest having a look into other profession pathways before you dive into something as comittal as dentistry.

 

[Crow]

You really have to want to look in someones mouth for the rest of your life

Spoiler: OFF-TOPIC

If I say this is my main motivation in my dentistry interview, do you think I'll get in?

 

[threefivetwo]

Hi, I'm a bit unsure as to what to do. I took a gap year after year 12 to improve my ucat (which I did) but unfortunately not enough. I applied to all medicine unis and 2 dental unis (UoAdel & UQ). My chances of receiving an interview for Med seem difficult according to the mods but I have received an interview at UoAdel dent. I only really want to do med so I'm wary of entering a dental degree, should I receive an offer. I don't currently have the money for Bond uni so what are my best options and am I too late to apply? Should I just focus on post-grad or maybe start uni and do non-standard undergrad? Which uni will give me the greatest chance of admission into med (as in through any subquotas or whatever)? Thanks

In addition to what everyone else has said, I'd definitely think about giving the UCAT a shot again, while thinking about how you're going to balance preparation with the first-year of your uni degree and work, etc (time to make a strategy!). It's certainly disheartening to fail again after preparing so hard, but it will undoubtedly give you more insight into where to improve and the process in general.

I'd also take this time to re-examine your motivations for pursuing Medicine. That can give you renewed vigour as well as help you select an alternative career that partially / perhaps entirely fulfils the benefits of a career in Medicine.

 

[saba5678]

If i recall the defense scholarship will pay the HELP part of your fees... whether this means you can max out $150k on ADF then add another $150k on HELP im not sure

Actually i found this brochure that said which means you wont be able to increase your HELP limit with the ADF

https://www.defencejobs.gov.au/-/media/DFR/Files/Defence-University-Sponsorship-Brochure.pdf

thx. well yolo ig

 

[JoeJoeBinks9]

Hi, just looking for some advice on where to go from here, I didn't get a UQ interview invite and probably won't get interview invites from the other unis I applied to (UCAT of 2960) so I just missed out pretty much which sucks. I'm thinking now my plan is to try graduate-entry at UQ, but I'd just like to know what my options would be with the intent of still doing medicine and preferably at UQ. My ATAR will probably be high 98 low 99. Also, I know there is a lot of talk about how doing biomedical science is a bad idea, what should I consider when deciding my degree?

 

[Flameeeeee]

especially seeing as the cutoffs this year seem to have increased significantly across the board.

Hey Crow, have you seen this trend with only interstate cutoffs or do you reckon that the cutoffs in general will increase?

 

[Crow]

Hey Crow, have you seen this trend with only interstate cutoffs or do you reckon that the cutoffs in general will increase?

It generally has a bigger impact on interstate applicants at each university, yes. Given the preferential entry schemes, applicants from QLD and NSW appear to be lost significantly affected as these are the only states without unis that have in-state graduate preferencing.

 

[Destinygirl8]

It generally has a bigger impact on interstate applicants at each university, yes. Given the preferential entry schemes, applicants from QLD and NSW appear to be lost significantly affected as these are the only states without unis that have in-state graduate preferencing.

I thought UoN and UNSW have preferential entry schemes for their graduates.

 

[Crow]

I thought UoN and UNSW have preferential entry schemes for their graduates.

These don’t benefit school-leaver applicants (JMP’s is only for those who have undertaken one of their undergraduate degrees), and UNSW’s is a negligible “advantage” in my opinion. You need an insanely high GPA and UCAT just to get an interview through the lateral entry scheme, in which case you’d be getting interviews elsewhere other than through the lateral entry scheme anyways. It also has such a minimal number of positions available relative to the number of people studying their med sci degree.

 

[botselenium]

UoN does as of this year, and UNSW's lateral entry scheme accepts anywhere between 0 and 10 students into their Medicine program every year. Yes, that's right - in some years they end up choosing 0 Med Sci students to laterally transfer in...

 

[FlabsMcAbs]

Hi, just looking for some advice on where to go from here, I didn't get a UQ interview invite and probably won't get interview invites from the other unis I applied to (UCAT of 2960) so I just missed out pretty much which sucks. I'm thinking now my plan is to try graduate-entry at UQ, but I'd just like to know what my options would be with the intent of still doing medicine and preferably at UQ. My ATAR will probably be high 98 low 99. Also, I know there is a lot of talk about how doing biomedical science is a bad idea, what should I consider when deciding my degree?

I am in an extremely similar position with a ucat of 2950, and was also looking for advice, if i retake the ucat next year while doing a uni course will they use my ATAR or GPA? and is this undergraduate entry?, also what unis will accept this pathway?

 

[FlabsMcAbs]

This is undergrad entry! It depends on the university you apply for. WSU and JMP will take the higher of either that meets their academic criteria, while UNSW will combine your ATAR and GPA (caveat, you need a high ATAR to be competitive). Most universities accept that pathway, but some (i.e. Adelaide) limit non-standard applicant entry to students doing a course at their university.

Would you happen to know if UQ does this pathway? I cant seem to find it on their site only provisional and graduate.

 

[dotwingz]

UQ does not do undergraduate medicine, nor do they let non year 12 students apply to their provisional entry

 

[Crow]

what should I consider when deciding my degree?

1. What do you see yourself doing and being happy in if you never get into medicine/dentistry? 2. What pathway (degree or otherwise) will allow you to get to this point? What are the employability prospects in this field? Those are the key ones I'd consider if I were in that position.

ETA: If you are hoping to get into UQ via graduate entry, make sure you look at the prerequisite subject requirements and ensure you can tick these off one way or another in the degree you choose. This might mean doing single-enrollment additional subjects as electives that aren't a core component of your degree program - so you don't necessarily need to enrol in a health science degree to tick them off.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

This is undergrad entry! It depends on the university you apply for. WSU and JMP will take the higher of either that meets their academic criteria, while UNSW will combine your ATAR and GPA (caveat, you need a high ATAR to be competitive). Most universities accept that pathway, but some (i.e. Adelaide) limit non-standard applicant entry to students doing a course at their university.

Unfortunately, most unis don’t accept this pathway. The only ones that do are JPM, JMP, JCU, UNSW, and Bond.

UQ, Griffith, USyd, Monash, UMelb, UTas, Flinders, and UWA don’t accept that pathway, and Curtin* and UAdel only do for their own students.

*Curtin open it up to students from other unis with completed degrees.

ETA: also, I don’t recall JMP still using ATAR beyond about 0.75 FTE? Is that new?