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General Medicine Entry Discussion and Advice Requests

N

nb

Guest
Some gap year students have, but i never saw mine and ended up recieving a BDS offer.

As a side note, why do you have Adelaide BMP preferenced above Adelaide CSP?
Oh thats just random cus I didnt get adelaide interview invite so I just changed it to the bottom as it doesn't matter.
 

JL538

Monash University - BMedSc/MD I
I've kept hearing that standards are rising this year for med school (think I saw it for the Griffith courses) - is that because interviews are online so unis can afford to interview more people so its more competitive?
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
I've kept hearing that standards are rising this year for med school (think I saw it for the Griffith courses) - is that because interviews are online so unis can afford to interview more people so its more competitive?

Griffith’s requirements will rise from last year due to the changed sized of the Qld cohort and their accidental over-offering.
 

dotwingz

Google Enthusiast
Moderator
Also

- more people sat the ucat this year and the averages went up
- unsw moved to a system more friendly to non standards
- uq changed their selection criteria to include interviews
- adelaide restricted 50% of interviews to SA school leavers
- more people fit eas eligibility due to the nature of this year
- iirc the introduction of wsu/csu jpm reduced the amount of nonrural non-gws places
- many universities moving to online unproctored exams & opt in ungraded passes have brought up non standard gpa's

So theres been quite a bit of changed that have 'displaced' the high atar/ucat students, and have such increased the criteria across the board.
 

JL538

Monash University - BMedSc/MD I
Also

- more people sat the ucat this year and the averages went up
- unsw moved to a system more friendly to non standards
- uq changed their selection criteria to include interviews
- adelaide restricted 50% of interviews to SA school leavers
- more people fit eas eligibility due to the nature of this year
- iirc the introduction of wsu/csu jpm reduced the amount of nonrural non-gws places
- many universities moving to online unproctored exams & opt in ungraded passes have brought up non standard gpa's

So theres been quite a bit of changed that have 'displaced' the high atar/ucat students, and have such increased the criteria across the board.
Oh jeez, any rough predictions on the level of impact this will have for Monash? Like increasing median ATAR by 0.1 or 0.15 overall?
 

ucatboy

final year eek
Valued Member
Oh jeez, any rough predictions on the level of impact this will have for Monash? Like increasing median ATAR by 0.1 or 0.15 overall?
You're asking us to make predictions out of thin air, none of us have access to each admissions centre's data on EAS applications or non-standard applicant GPAs. Just focus on things that are within your control such as doing your best in the interview if you received an invite. If I told you the median ATAR went up by 2, would you immediately give up on the spot?
 

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Well, the changed size of the Qld cohort affects all unis. But the over-offering was just Griffith.
Hi LMG, how much over over-offering did they do? do u think they could keep the 'over-offering going ' for the same reasons ( whatever reasons for last year)?
 

Crow

Staff | Junior Doctor
Moderator
Hi LMG, how much over over-offering did they do? do u think they could keep the 'over-offering going ' for the same reasons ( whatever reasons for last year)?
We don’t know what their reasons were and would have no feasible way of knowing what their plans are for this year. Maybe they over-estimated the number of offers that would be declined and won’t do it again this year, or maybe they deliberately over-offered to increase the size of the med sci student cohort which in turn makes the uni more money. Who knows.
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
We don’t know what their reasons were and would have no feasible way of knowing what their plans are for this year. Maybe they over-estimated the number of offers that would be declined and won’t do it again this year, or maybe they deliberately over-offered to increase the size of the med sci student cohort which in turn makes the uni more money. Who knows.

Maybe it was a mistake. It wouldn't be the first time!! It won't be the last!
 

fluffyboy

BMS/MD I
Hi,

I'm looking for some advice as to what I should do this year. I scored a 43 in the IB (99.55), so I'm wondering whether or not I should retake exams in the May session in the hopes of a 45 (99.95) (also, IB takes your best result). Problem is they have a different weighting cause some components of the exams were cancelled, and the part of my grade that is pulling me down is my IA (which I don't really want to redo since I spent so much time on my current IAs and they still managed to do badly, so I don't think redoing them with this short a time frame is wise). Another problem could be the new conversion to ATAR, and I don't know if sitting exams in the May session will allow me to keep the current conversion rate or put me under the new scheme which is riskier and harder to get high 99s in since it adds decimal places to your diploma score based on your average performance within each band of your subject results.

I accepted an offer at USYD for Commerce/Engineering, so I'm thinking of entering as non-standard might be better than taking a GAP year to resist both IB and UCAT, but I know this cuts me off from quite a few Unis.

I'm also still going to apply for Bond but it's so expensive and I don't want to put that kind of strain on my father (even though he said he'd gladly pay for it). So another question is, if I get into Bond, should I take it and resit the UCAT and then apply non-standard? If so, how hard is it to maintain a GPA above 6.5 in a med course (specifically bond)?

Thank you!
 
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Crow

Staff | Junior Doctor
Moderator
Hi,

I'm looking for some advice as to what I should do this year. I scored a 43 in the IB (99.55), so I'm wondering whether or not I should retake exams in the May session in the hopes of a 45 (99.95) (also, IB takes your best result). Problem is they have a different weighting cause some components of the exams were cancelled, and the part of my grade that is pulling me down is my IA (which I don't really want to redo since I spent so much time on my current IAs and they still managed to do badly, so I don't think redoing them with this short a time frame is wise). Another problem could be the new conversion to ATAR, and I don't know if sitting exams in the May session will allow me to keep the current conversion rate or put me under the new scheme which is riskier and harder to get high 99s in since it adds decimal places to your diploma score based on your average performance within each band of your subject results.

I accepted an offer at USYD for Commerce/Engineering, so I'm thinking of entering as non-standard might be better than taking a GAP year to resist both IB and UCAT, but I know this cuts me off from quite a few Unis.

I'm also still going to apply for Bond but it's so expensive and I don't want to put that kind of strain on my father (even though he said he'd gladly pay for it). So another question is, if I get into Bond, should I take it and resit the UCAT and then apply non-standard? If so, how hard is it to maintain a GPA above 6.5 in a med course (specifically bond)?

Thank you!
It sounds pretty clear that re-sitting the IB wouldn’t be worth it - the part that you need to improve is the part you already dedicated “so much time” to. You shouldn’t really expect a different result if you re-do it again, in my opinion, and non-standard entry is probably a smarter way to go.

Yes, you can resit UCAT and apply as a non-standard even if you’re a Bond student, however (from memory, you will need to independently fact check this) UNSW won’t accept applications from those who have been enrolled in a medical degree so you’d be left with JMP, JCU and JPM until you’d completed a degree.
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
It sounds pretty clear that re-sitting the IB wouldn’t be worth it - the part that you need to improve is the part you already dedicated “so much time” to. You shouldn’t really expect a different result if you re-do it again, in my opinion, and non-standard entry is probably a smarter way to go.

Yes, you can resit UCAT and apply as a non-standard even if you’re a Bond student, however (from memory, you will need to independently fact check this) UNSW won’t accept applications from those who have been enrolled in a medical degree so you’d be left with JMP, JCU and JPM until you’d completed a degree.

Historically, WSU didn’t accept those who’d started an Australian medical degree elsewhere, but it would be worth double-checking the JPM policy. I remember looking into this a few years ago, actually, and JMP was the only option at the time (would need an update for accuracy but just as a guide).

ETA: yep, WSU still explicitly stating they don’t accept applications from those who’ve started a degree elsewhere. You have to go via the (very rarely successful) transfer pathway: Doctor of Medicine Applicants / Western Sydney University
 
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chinaski

Regular Member
I'm also still going to apply for Bond but it's so expensive and I don't want to put that kind of strain on my father (even though he said he'd gladly pay for it).
So why apply in the first place? Seems like a recipe for unhappiness if you get a place and then having to deal with not wanting to have your father pay for it.
 

Some guy

Member
Agree with Chinaski. If your family can't really afford a full degree at Bond (nothing wrong with that, mine certainly couldn't) then starting a degree there seems a bad idea. You may not be able to afford to finish it, you're very unlikely to get a transfer to any other medical school and the non-standard unis don't generally take new domestic applicants who've already started med studies.

Nor will it give you a head start on studies relative to what you could get in other degrees, as first year med doesn't presuppose much scientific knowledge.

As a random person's advice I'd consider the Commerce/Engineering option, aim for a good GPA and then apply as a non-standard next year if you still want to change. Scoring the requisite GPA seems easier than resitting the IB with the hope of better marks in an area you already tried really hard in. And if you still don't get a medicine spot you're also on the path to an alternative highly valued qualification and career.
 

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Rei

Member
Also i feel like in general, resitting Highschool subjects generally are not a good idea. You have already worked on it for a whole year. To be honest, just move on and let us hope for the best in the future :)
 

saba5678

Member
Have I done something wrong here? I didn't get an offer for Monash Biomed. I got UMelb Biomed about a month ago and accepted the offer. Does that mean accepting an offer makes you ineligible for other offers? Thanks guys

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