General Medicine Entry Discussion and Advice Requests

[JL538]

Hi guys, I was wondering what the comparison/ratio between UCAT and ATAR percentiles are? Like for example, would the difference between 95th to 90th percentile in ucat be the same as the difference between a 99 to 98.5 ATAR? So basically each ucat percent is equal to 0.1 atar? Sorry if that's confusing, and also IDK if this is the right place

 

[ucatboy]

Hi guys, I was wondering what the comparison/ratio between UCAT and ATAR percentiles are? Like for example, would the difference between 95th to 90th percentile in ucat be the same as the difference between a 99 to 98.5 ATAR? So basically each ucat percent is equal to 0.1 atar? Sorry if that's confusing, and also IDK if this is the right place

I don't think the two metrics are directly comparible, not only because there is not a strong correlation (there would be a weak one definitely) between ATAR and UCAT scores, but also because only ~14,000 students sit the UCAT every year, while ~100,000 students get an ATAR. How can we know which of the 100,000 high school leavers sit the UCAT - is it the top 14%? (Unlikely) Top 20%? Top 30%?

That being said, I remember A1 used to say for universities like UNSW and Monash that for medicine admissions, 0.1 ATAR roughly translates to 1%ile. So if a student received an interview invite with 99.0 + 95%ile, you would expect someone with 98.6 + 99%ile to also be invited. There may be some truth in that.

 

[JL538]

I don't think the two metrics are directly comparible, not only because there is not a strong correlation (there would be a weak one definitely) between ATAR and UCAT scores, but also because only ~14,000 students sit the UCAT every year, while ~100,000 students get an ATAR. How can we know which of the 100,000 high school leavers sit the UCAT - is it the top 14%? (Unlikely) Top 20%? Top 30%?

That being said, I remember A1 used to say for universities like UNSW and Monash that for medicine admissions, 0.1 ATAR roughly translates to 1%ile. So if a student received an interview invite with 99.0 + 95%ile, you would expect someone with 98.6 + 99%ile to also be invited. There may be some truth in that.

Do you know (or can roughly estimate) what the avg UCAT is for Monash? Since they only list ATARs (99.35) but not UCAT. From what I've heard 90+ percentile is what you need for med so maybe 92/3 would be avg?

 

[ucatboy]

Do you know (or can roughly estimate) what the avg UCAT is for Monash? Since they only list ATARs (99.35) but not UCAT. From what I've heard 90+ percentile is what you need for med so maybe 92/3 would be avg?

Depends if you're an interstate or in-state applicant. Monash has also changed things up this year so I don't know whether previous years' data will be fully applicable to this year.

In terms of Victorian applicants, it wasn't unheard of to receive an interview invite with a low-mid 80s UCAT percentile provided you had a 99 ATAR. So I agree with you, 92-93%ile sounds about right as the mean (with lows in the 80s and highs as 99).

As for interstate applicants, Monash made a change last year that turned ATAR into a hurdle (a high one at that, my guess is 99.50), which resulted in UCAT scores rising to ~96%ile. I would estimate the mean to be 98th.

 

[A1]

only ~14,000 students sit the UCAT every year, while ~100,000 students get an ATAR.

ATAR is ranked based on the cohort's headcount when they started Y7, so it's out of ~300,000 and each 0.1 ATAR bracket has ~300 students. Assuming roughly half of the high ATARs are interested in medicine whereas almost all UCAT takers are, this gives us 0.1 ATAR = 1%ile UCAT = ~140 students.

 

[ucatboy]

ATAR is ranked based on the cohort's headcount when they started Y7, so it's out of ~300,000 and each 0.1 ATAR bracket has ~300 students. Assuming roughly half of the high ATARs are interested in medicine whereas almost all UCAT takers are, this gives us 0.1 ATAR = 1%ile UCAT = ~140 students.

150,000 students are interested in medicine?

 

[A1]

150,000 students are interested in medicine?

There aren't 150,000 students a year *with high ATARs*

Anyway, what I meant is among those who apply to a med school, the number in each 0.1 ATAR bracket is roughly the same as in 1%ile UCAT.

 

[JL538]

Hey guys, so I'm in a bit of a weird predicament - I did Chem and Methods last year and kinda forgot most of the stuff during this year lol - also I've never taken Bio - so I was wondering for med/dent/biomed - is it worth to do some light revision now during the holidays when I'm free for those 3 subjects?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hey guys, so I'm in a bit of a weird predicament - I did Chem and Methods last year and kinda forgot most of the stuff during this year lol - also I've never taken Bio - so I was wondering for med/dent/biomed - is it worth to do some light revision now during the holidays when I'm free for those 3 subjects?

Nope! I did med from a non-science background and didn't revise anything! I'm not having any issues whatsoever and it had been over a decade since I did year 12 Chem and I never did year 12 Bio. I did a bridging Chem course to be eligible for UTAS, but I did this 2 years before starting Med and this didn't matter at all. Even when there are pre-reqs, you are taught what you need to know.

ETA: You're not at all in a weird predicament, btw. What you're describing is pretty standard.

 

[strawberry1061]

Hi guys, received my ATAR the other day and have no idea what to do.

My atar was 99.35, UCAT was 89th percentile.

Undergraduate med is probably impossible, so what's the next best pathway?

 

[Crow]

Hi guys, received my ATAR the other day and have no idea what to do.

My atar was 99.35, UCAT was 89th percentile.

Undergraduate med is probably impossible, so what's the next best pathway?

Start a tertiary degree that will allow you to follow your back-up plan (one that sets you up for a career that you’ll be satisfied in if you never get into medicine), sit UCAT and apply as a non-standard to JMP/WSU/UNSW/JCU each year of the degree. In the penultimate year and final year of the degree, sit GAMSAT too and apply to graduate entry unis (and once you’ve completed your degree, Curtin) in addition to the non-standard-accepting unis.

 

[miamed]

Hello everyone, anyone know what the range of ATARs were that were successful in obtaining an interview for double degree USYD Med? Is it really all 99.95 students?

 

[1c29x]

Hello everyone, anyone know what the range of ATARs were that were successful in obtaining an interview for double degree USYD Med? Is it really all 99.95 students?

Yep, that's always been the case excluding EAS applicants. Pretty sure they are able to get an interview with a lower ATAR (>99.5 I've heard).

 

[ucatboy]

Hello everyone, anyone know what the range of ATARs were that were successful in obtaining an interview for double degree USYD Med? Is it really all 99.95 students?

99.95 only, 99.50+ if you qualify for E12 (and I hear that the number of 99.50 students qualifying for E12 routinely exceeds the number of interview spots offered to them, so 99.50 might not actually be enough). Yep it's real, a couple of my friends with 99.90 raw didn't receive a peep from USyd last year.

 

[miamed]

Oh I see, thank you both! Would you know how many interviewees there are each year for local NSW only?

 

[A1]

Oh I see, thank you both! Would you know how many interviewees there are each year for local NSW only?

Other than E12s the sole criteria for interview selection is 99.95, so the number depends on how many 99.95s apply. We've heard it's around 50-60, and my guess is 30-35 NSW, 25-30 other states.

Btw NSW has around 48 99.95s a year, but not all are crazy enough to do medicine

 

[LeSpicyGinger]

Other than E12s the sole criteria for interview selection is 99.95, so the number depends on how many 99.95s apply. We've heard it's around 50-60, and my guess is 30-35 NSW, 25-30 other states.

Btw NSW has around 48 99.95s a year, but not all are crazy enough to do medicine

I can corroborate that for this year. In my USYD Zoom interview they put us into a group of around 55 people including both SA and NSW applicants.

 

[miamed]

Which medical schools have second round interviews? UQ?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Which medical schools have second round interviews? UQ?

Also JCU, JPM (already sent), Monash, and sometimes UAdel.

 

[Endgame.]

Also JCU, JPM (already sent), Monash, and sometimes UAdel.

Also UNSW & WSU for some states not NSW.