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UoA Graduate Category Chat/Enquiry

frootloop

Doctor
Moderator
Stuart, rustyedges, Rob, or frootloop might have more specific feedback for you.
I've never sat a med school entry interview in my life haha.

Mdku22
About all I can add is that, as far as I know, most schools interview at about 3:1. So you'd need to be at 66th %ile of interview score or better to get in.
They've said you were 'right on the mean', which theoretically means exactly 50th %ile, but they probably said that to everyone from 45-55th haha.

So assuming that school does interview at 3:1, and your interview scores were bang-on 50th %ile, you only missed out by ~16 %iles. And I would assume that in med interviews everyone other than the top and bottom 10-15% are fairly closely matched in terms of interview-measured aptitude*. So you're probably not actually that far away from the entry mark in real terms.

Not sure if that helps at all, but my input was asked for :p


*I may be wrong on that - schools using interview scores as the ultimate selection criterion may have some way of better differentiating candidates at and around the selection cut-off. I'd be skeptical if so - to claim that would be to claim that doing so would improve the cohort.

My understanding of the present evidence behind the predictive value of interviews is that it's far from sufficient for claims of that kind of detail. If they could come up with a selection interview which reliably predicted better doctors (or even med school grades) at the 66th %ile of candidates than at the 55th... That'd be hella impressive.

Tbh think of it like getting 75-80th %ile in UMAT. Highly unlikely that those with 90th %ile would really make better doctors than you, it's just where the line happens to fall for a competitive course.
 

mic788

Lurker
I was wondering if someone here might be able to answer this.. for the requirement of a 6.0 GPA across your degree, does anyone know if this counts your honours year? And is this counting all your papers or just your best 120 points?

I got my BSc from Otago last year and am doing honours this year, but my cumulative BSc GPA was only 5.9 (I did absolutely rubbish in first year....). My second year GPA was 8.1 , third year was 8.4 and i'm on par to get somewhere in the early-mid 8's this year, which would bump my overall GPA over 6.0. So I was hoping if my GPA including my honours is above the threshold they would let me apply? I have sent them a few e-mails but nobody is responding :(
 

kei

UoA BSc (Biomed), MBChB II
I was wondering if someone here might be able to answer this.. for the requirement of a 6.0 GPA across your degree, does anyone know if this counts your honours year? And is this counting all your papers or just your best 120 points?

I got my BSc from Otago last year and am doing honours this year, but my cumulative BSc GPA was only 5.9 (I did absolutely rubbish in first year....). My second year GPA was 8.1 , third year was 8.4 and i'm on par to get somewhere in the early-mid 8's this year, which would bump my overall GPA over 6.0. So I was hoping if my GPA including my honours is above the threshold they would let me apply? I have sent them a few e-mails but nobody is responding :(
Hi mic788,
From my understanding, they take your best 3 years of full time study for your overall GPA calculation (which means your last two years of your degree + honours year) but I think you'll have to wait for the university's reply just to be 100% sure! Also keep in mind that the interview cut-off has been 6.5 from 2015-2017 (and 7.25 for 2018 entry! :confused:) so getting an overall 6.0 GPA may not get you an interview. So fingers crossed they take into account your best 3 years of study instead of your degree GPA!
 

Lost Soul

Member
Hello, I'm not sure if this is the right thread, but here goes.

I was wondering if anyone has gotten in through Graduate entry, with no MAPAS or RAS, with a GPA of 7.5 from the latest 2 years.
I think I might end up with 7.5 or 7.65 (anywhere in between) and I'm not sure if I should register for UMAT - throw away another $260 for a chance I won't have?
I also hear that it's getting harder and harder to get in, which terrifies me even more. I'm thinking of doing Honours instead to try and raise my GPA but I don't know how post grad programmes are graded?
Thanks in advance, guys.

P.S. I've read a few "MedSci 203 is hard" posts, but when I took it I had an amazing time because the lecturer was awesome (Graeme Finlay ftw). I highly recommend it if you're good at memorising details.
 

kei

UoA BSc (Biomed), MBChB II
Hello, I'm not sure if this is the right thread, but here goes.

I was wondering if anyone has gotten in through Graduate entry, with no MAPAS or RAS, with a GPA of 7.5 from the latest 2 years.
I think I might end up with 7.5 or 7.65 (anywhere in between) and I'm not sure if I should register for UMAT - throw away another $260 for a chance I won't have?
I also hear that it's getting harder and harder to get in, which terrifies me even more. I'm thinking of doing Honours instead to try and raise my GPA but I don't know how post grad programmes are graded?
Thanks in advance, guys.

P.S. I've read a few "MedSci 203 is hard" posts, but when I took it I had an amazing time because the lecturer was awesome (Graeme Finlay ftw). I highly recommend it if you're good at memorising details.
Hello! If you look here, the lowest GPA that got in (general entry) for 2017 entry is 7.375, and for 2018 entry its 7.633. I have no idea if our cohort will have really high GPAs like last year’s cohort, or be like the cohorts in the years before that... But in MY opinion, I think you should do that honours year to bump up your GPA.. especially if it’s your second time applying for med. I don’t know how postgrad programmes are graded either, but all the people I know who’s done honours increased their GPA by a lot so you should give it a shot! :)
 
Hey guys just wanted to get some opinions as to whether I should bother applying for Auckland Medicine this year. My average GPA for my last two years equate to 7.15 which, from what I've gathered so far is quite low. My concern is it won't be high enough for an interview so even if I sit UMAT this year, my score would be redundant. My degree is a health professional degree so no hounors year is offered either. I've scrolled through previous year GPAs on the site but I'm not sure if the numbers which are posted are for MAPAs or Rural entrance or general entrance.
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Hey guys just wanted to get some opinions as to whether I should bother applying for Auckland Medicine this year. My average GPA for my last two years equate to 7.15 which, from what I've gathered so far is quite low. My concern is it won't be high enough for an interview so even if I sit UMAT this year, my score would be redundant. My degree is a health professional degree so no hounors year is offered either. I've scrolled through previous year GPAs on the site but I'm not sure if the numbers which are posted are for MAPAs or Rural entrance or general entrance.

Have you looked at this? I tried to make sure MAPAS/rural was indicated where known.

NZ Med and Dent Place Offers 2018 - Collated Data
 

Lost Soul

Member
Hello! If you look here, the lowest GPA that got in (general entry) for 2017 entry is 7.375, and for 2018 entry its 7.633. I have no idea if our cohort will have really high GPAs like last year’s cohort, or be like the cohorts in the years before that... But in MY opinion, I think you should do that honours year to bump up your GPA.. especially if it’s your second time applying for med. I don’t know how postgrad programmes are graded either, but all the people I know who’s done honours increased their GPA by a lot so you should give it a shot! :)
There is a lot of information about entry to Auckland medical school that people have applied for under the official information act. This will answer your question.

MBChB Graduate entry information - a Official Information Act request to University of Auckland

Thank you guys so much for this useful information.

I'm so anxious. I'm trying to decide if it's worth sitting the UMAT this year. Absolutely terrified at how this would go... The number of seats available to graduates is so small too. I wonder how the lowest cut off for successful applicants was 7.633 - I keep thinking everyone other than me is doing hella well, like getting 8.75 and stuff haha...

Thank you.

EDIT: Hey, are you sure that page is reliable though? I didn't know they would release information like that.
 
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Stuart

Administrator
Emeritus Staff
Hi,

I think the information is fine. It's consistent with our information also, if I remember correctly.

Do you qualify for any of the sub-categories?

In any case, I think your academic score is not quite competitive enough. You may not even get an interview. Those people who get in with less 8.0 would have had excellent UMAT/interview scores. By excellent, I mean at the very top end.

I think your next move would depend on your future plans and aspirations, but I hope you have some backup plans laid out. After all, it's a very competitive course and nothing is guaranteed, unfortunately.

If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask. I am happy to help where possible.
 

Lost Soul

Member
Hi,

I think the information is fine. It's consistent with our information also, if I remember correctly.

Do you qualify for any of the sub-categories?

In any case, I think your academic score is not quite competitive enough. You may not even get an interview. Those people who get in with less 8.0 would have had excellent UMAT/interview scores. By excellent, I mean at the very top end.

I think your next move would depend on your future plans and aspirations, but I hope you have some backup plans laid out. After all, it's a very competitive course and nothing is guaranteed, unfortunately.

If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask. I am happy to help where possible.

Hi Stuart,

I heard that the Physiology courses were revamped to allow students to do better last year, I don't know how true that is. But is that the reason why the GPA was so high last year? The jump from 6.5 to 7.25 is a bit huge!

Also...I guess you're right. Maybe I should just do Honours first...

Thanks!
 

Stuart

Administrator
Emeritus Staff
Hi Stuart,

I heard that the Physiology courses were revamped to allow students to do better last year, I don't know how true that is. But is that the reason why the GPA was so high last year? The jump from 6.5 to 7.25 is a bit huge!

Also...I guess you're right. Maybe I should just do Honours first...

Thanks!

Hi Lost Soul,

I think the revamp would have had a negligible effect on the cut-off. A lot of factors contribute to the final cut-off as well as the random variation. I wouldn't think too much abut that.

I don't know your story or background, but by this time, you should ideally be working towards your career. Sure, you can still aim for medicine and what not, but it shouldn't deviate you too much from working on your life. On that note, I wouldn't recommend undertaking honours unless you see it as an effective/valuable experience for yourself. After all, I think people should focus on dreams and let grades follow. Although, I understand that it's easy enough for me to say these things, but in fact things are a lot harder in reality.

Good luck with you decisions and, again, I am happy to answer any further questions.
 

molive

Member
Hi Lost Soul - I have a couple of things to add that may clear up some confusion for you.

1) There are no set number of seats reserved for graduates at Auckland. They have a vague percentage about how many graduates make up a class but it's not like you're only competing with other graduate students for a spot. If they think you deserve a place they will give you one and it's kind of that simple. It actually works that way for the entry schemes as well. This year there were more MAPAS students under the scheme allowed entry than there were seats. So don't think you shouldn't apply because there aren't many graduate seats therefore your chances are lower. I'm 2nd year and there are a LOT of graduates, I would even say close to a 50/50 split (don't quote me on that, that's just my observation).

2) With that GPA I think it is very likely you would get an interview. The uni assumes you will get an A+ for any courses you haven't completed yet, so use your current GPA plus A+s (9s) for any courses you haven't completed to get your interview GPA that the uni will use. The interview cutoff GPAs on the official information act requests are also based on the A+ assumption, meaning a lot of people who get interviews will actually be lower than this 'cutoff'. You're currently higher than most cutoffs and from the way you're talking it doesn't sound like you've assumed A+s for all your current papers. So I actually think you have a great shot at an interview, provided your UMAT is decent. I hope this makes sense!

3) Agree with Stuart that you shouldn't do more years just to get into medicine, but if you are planning on doing an honours year and you haven't applied to medicine yet, I think you should do the UMAT and apply. You have 2 chances and if you apply this year and don't get in, you've only lost $260, no time. It was a lot of money for me too when I did it but it's just money. You don't want to look at the next round of information act requests next year and see your GPA would have been good enough if you tried.

4) I think the reason for the jump in GPA for all cohorts last year has to do with Australia being a less viable option for Kiwis wanting to do medicine now, also the increase in graduate students overall I believe is a result of that.

This has probably confused you more about your life but I don't want to sit back and let you miss the UMAT registration without giving you as much information as I can. Let me know if you have any questions and good luck with your choice :)
 

Stuart

Administrator
Emeritus Staff
Hi,

Thank you for bringing in more perspectives, molive.

However, I would like comment on a number of things.

Firstly, I think your wording seems to make the the limited number of intakes appear more flexible than (I think) it is. The numbers are regulated and the two school work together to meet the regulations. For example, from 2004 to 2007, Otago took 190 students while Auckland took 135. They each increased the intakes by 20 in 2008 and etc in the subsequent years. So, there maybe a few students give and take depending on the situations, but I would not go as far as "if they think you deserve a place they will give you one and it's kind of that simple". There are limits and it's not about whether they think you deserve to be a medical student. It's more about whether you deserve more than others. It's a competition. I would struggle to say something like that to my friends who missed out despite >8.0 and above average interview. I think more people deserve it than the system can handle.

Secondly, I think the FY-Graduate ratio is something like 2.3.

Thirdly, I am not sure why one's chance of getting an interview is conditional on UMAT performance. <So I actually think you have a great shot at an interview, provided your UMAT is decent.>

Lastly, the Australian doors (potentially) closing would have had an impact, but given that most people apply everywhere possible, I wouldn't think it would have made such an impact overall.
 

molive

Member
Hey Stuart,

I apologise, I think I've miscommunicated my thoughts here. There are absolutely many people who deserve a spot and have missed out due to limitations. However I also think the university has flexibility that they don't necessarily advertise. For example, for the 2018 intake there were 63 MAPAS seats available but they actually filled 65 which is unprecedented and also was never mentioned to be a possibility. My point is only that a borderline GPA based on previous information should not discourage someone from applying because some flexibility clearly exists within the overall 279 allotted spaces.

And again, my apologies, you are correct in that UMAT does not determine interview placing. So an even better chance for people like Lost Soul to gain an interview offer :)
 

Verdigris

baby doctor
Silliest Member 2019
2) With that GPA I think it is very likely you would get an interview. The uni assumes you will get an A+ for any courses you haven't completed yet, so use your current GPA plus A+s (9s) for any courses you haven't completed to get your interview GPA that the uni will use. The interview cutoff GPAs on the official information act requests are also based on the A+ assumption, meaning a lot of people who get interviews will actually be lower than this 'cutoff'. You're currently higher than most cutoffs and from the way you're talking it doesn't sound like you've assumed A+s for all your current papers. So I actually think you have a great shot at an interview, provided your UMAT is decent. I hope this makes sense!

omgggg thank you so much for posting this. I had no idea that that is how it works!!
 

Samthecat

Lurker
Hey guys!
I'm currently doing 2nd year biomed at uoa and I know that this semester went real bad and I'm seriously worried about GPA right now... but I'm definitely not giving up! Instead its motivated me to do better so hope everyone else is having a healthy mentality!
So I just had a couple of questions and forgive me if they have already been discussed (I've read through most of the necessary threads (I think)), but still a bit confused and would love some clarification.

1. So which GPAs do they look at overall? Do they even look at first year for UOA because I thought they didn't. (P.s I did HSFY at uoo last year)
And by the 2 best years (which are weighted equally), do they look at them seperately? So say you get a GPA of 7 in 2nd year but a 9 in 3rd year, what happens? And Otago grad entry that weights it 0.5, 1, 1.5, as well please...

2. I read that the 2018 interview cut off was 7.25 last year, when are the interviews? Because if it only includes GPA of 2nd year, then obviously the interview would be declined...

3. And lastly, if I did my honours, are we allowed to apply for grad entry before and see the results, and then do honours to apply again the year after?

Thank you sooooooo much!
 

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selo

Lurker
Hi, Im currently studying health science first year at the Universty of Otago and would like to transfer to the Universty of Auckland into the bachelor of biomed second year at auckland mainly to finish the degree and apply for medicine afterwards. In this case do i transfer credit from health science first year from otago or do i apply normally to gain entry into second year bachelor of biomed. It says on the UoA website that i shouldnt apply for transfer credit if im wanting to apply for medicine afterwards. What should i do? How do i apply then? On what base to gain entry? Is it through my gpa of my first year at otago or something else? Stuart HELP!!
 

selo

Lurker
Hey guys!
I'm currently doing 2nd year biomed at uoa and I know that this semester went real bad and I'm seriously worried about GPA right now... but I'm definitely not giving up! Instead its motivated me to do better so hope everyone else is having a healthy mentality!
So I just had a couple of questions and forgive me if they have already been discussed (I've read through most of the necessary threads (I think)), but still a bit confused and would love some clarification.

1. So which GPAs do they look at overall? Do they even look at first year for UOA because I thought they didn't. (P.s I did HSFY at uoo last year)
And by the 2 best years (which are weighted equally), do they look at them seperately? So say you get a GPA of 7 in 2nd year but a 9 in 3rd year, what happens? And Otago grad entry that weights it 0.5, 1, 1.5, as well please...

2. I read that the 2018 interview cut off was 7.25 last year, when are the interviews? Because if it only includes GPA of 2nd year, then obviously the interview would be declined...

3. And lastly, if I did my honours, are we allowed to apply for grad entry before and see the results, and then do honours to apply again the year after?

Thank you sooooooo much!
how did you transfer from uoo to uoa? did you transfer credit or did you apply normally?
 
Hi everyone, I need some advice - so I have just found out recently from my grandmother that her father was of pacific islander origin. I got intrigued and got my DNA tested, and surely enough, turns out I'm apparently 30% pacific islander. I've always thought of myself as filipino, with mixed spanish and chinese origin; so this was a bit of a surprise. So my question is - just from this, should I apply under the MAPAS category or not? I feel like I am taking advantage of the scheme just because my great grandfather is PI. Would applying for medicine under MAPAS a right thing to do here?
Yes, you should use any resource that helps! Also if you did go that way make sure you actually keep using mapas and engaging in the program.
 

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