Graduate Entry Medicine Advice Requests

[theskyisblue]

As per mentioned above the only University which outrighhtly accepts only their own graduates is Monash. Other universities have bonuses for their own students, or quotas, but there is nothing like you describe.

With the entry process becoming increasingly competitive I'd be aiming for a GAMSAT score of ~70+ with a GPA of 6.7+. Obviously there's some give or take depending on which score is higher. Luckily most unis use a weighted GPA system so if you improve your scores over the next two years you can balance our your GPA.

Is your degree 3 or 4 years? If it's the latter your first year won't count in your GPA calculation anyway, and it will be years 2, 3 and the 1st semester of your 4th year.

Hi Crow
Jumping on this threat for postgraduate med at ND. Do you know if completing their graduate diploma with a 7 gpa would overcome the gpa from an undergraduate degree OR do they leave it up to gemsas to do the gpa calculations? That being taking the graduate diploma year and the last two years of the undergraduate?
also would you know of anyone who has gone down this path and been successful? and could this grad diploma be used for other unis? Thanks!!!

 

[Crow]

Hi Crow
Jumping on this threat for postgraduate med at ND. Do you know if completing their graduate diploma with a 7 gpa would overcome the gpa from an undergraduate degree OR do they leave it up to gemsas to do the gpa calculations? That being taking the graduate diploma year and the last two years of the undergraduate?
also would you know of anyone who has gone down this path and been successful? and could this grad diploma be used for other unis? Thanks!!!

I’m sure the answer is in the GEMSAS guide (take a read if you haven’t already) but as a rule GEMSAS will always do GPA calculations, with universities having the ability to overrule GEMSAS’s calculation for individual students if necessary. But no, the GPA for one year of a graduate diploma would only count for one year’s worth of GPA calculations from my understanding. I don’t know anyone who has gone down that path - ultimately it’s only going to render a very small advantage, as you’ll need an excellent portfolio and interview score to land an offer there regardless.

Good luck nonetheless

 

[theskyisblue]

I’m sure the answer is in the GEMSAS guide (take a read if you haven’t already) but as a rule GEMSAS will always do GPA calculations, with universities having the ability to overrule GEMSAS’s calculation for individual students if necessary. But no, the GPA for one year of a graduate diploma would only count for one year’s worth of GPA calculations from my understanding. I don’t know anyone who has gone down that path - ultimately it’s only going to render a very small advantage, as you’ll need an excellent portfolio and interview score to land an offer there regardless.

Good luck nonetheless

Hi Crow can I ask if you’ve come across anyone using PASSGAMSAT with Dr Tom and what the feedback is?
also any feedback onMETC gamsat preparations materials?There are so many organisations offering gamsat helpit is confusing who to chose.

 

[Crow]

Hi Crow can I ask if you’ve come across anyone using PASSGAMSAT with Dr Tom and what the feedback is?
also any feedback onMETC gamsat preparations materials?There are so many organisations offering gamsat helpit is confusing who to chose.

I will say that GAMSAT is very much a reasoning-based test, and that most commercial companies will have most of their resources dedicated to hard science content and (in my opinion) poorer quality practice questions than what the real test will have to offer. There are so many great resources online available for free, and I don’t think commercial preparation is necessary to do well (and I certainly don’t believe paying upwards of $3000 should EVER be necessary) - stick to the Acer resources, look on PagingDr and practice writing essays and having them critiqued. Personally I found Des O’Neill useful for preparation as an adjunct to the Acer test papers (which I saved until close to the lead up to the test), but they were mainly useful for getting timing right rather than practicing GAMSAT-style questions, which, from what I’ve seen, most prep company material no longer accurately reflects (for some it never did).

TLDR; I personally don’t think it’s worth investing much money (if at all) in prep company material, and particularly those who have their staff call you and attempt to guilt trip you non-stop in attempt to gain your business (if they have your number) are ones that I’d steer clear of.

 

[AJ]

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if anybody on this forum would be willing to offer some guidance for writing up the Notre Dame portfolio. I have read through countless threads but would love some more personal advice. Please personal message me and we can go from there. Your time and help would be really appreciated.

Regards

 

[Pickleman248]

I just have a question about postgraduate medicine and the Gemas GPA calculation. Do they just look at your GPA or do they also look at your individual subject scores? As in if I get all HDs and get a 7 GPA at ANU is that what they use or if I just scraped by HDs by getting 80% would they take that into consideration? Just wondering because I’ve been averaging 90-95% in exams and I’m worried that might affect my Gemas GPA.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

I just have a question about postgraduate medicine and the Gemas GPA calculation. Do they just look at your GPA or do they also look at your individual subject scores? As in if I get all HDs and get a 7 GPA at ANU is that what they use or if I just scraped by HDs by getting 80% would they take that into consideration? Just wondering because I’ve been averaging 90-95% in exams and I’m worried that might affect my Gemas GPA.

Your question is a bit confusing because your GPA is comprised of your individual subject scores (on a 4, 5, 6, 7, etc basis), added up, and then averaged.

For the within unit assessments that combine to equal your overall unit result, you can get overall 80 or you can get 99 in a particular unit and it'll still be a 7 for GPA calculation purposes. Those individual assessment results won't be looked at by GEMSAS.

 

[Perplex]

I just have a question about postgraduate medicine and the Gemas GPA calculation. Do they just look at your GPA or do they also look at your individual subject scores? As in if I get all HDs and get a 7 GPA at ANU is that what they use or if I just scraped by HDs by getting 80% would they take that into consideration? Just wondering because I’ve been averaging 90-95% in exams and I’m worried that might affect my Gemas GPA.

It varies on the university, but yes, as LMG! mentioned they don't look at the number itself. Generally speaking, you will be awarded 7.0 GPA points for a subject if you get >80. However, some universities, for the intent and purposes of GPA calculation regards >85 as a HD and will award 80-85, between 6.5-6.75 GPA points from my memory.
Most schools generally regards >80 as a HD though so you should be okay for most schools. For specifics I'd consult the GEMSAS guide, USyd admission guide and the Flinders guide. Each uni has their own system so unfortunately we can't advise of any blanket rules!

 

[Pickleman248]

It varies on the university, but yes, as LMG! mentioned they don't look at the number itself. Generally speaking, you will be awarded 7.0 GPA points for a subject if you get >80. However, at universities, for the intent and purposes of GPA calculation regards >85 as a HD and will award 80-85, between 6.5-6.75 GPA points from my memory.
Most schools generally regards >80 as a HD though so you should be okay for most schools. For specifics I'd consult the GEMSAS guide, USyd admission guide and the Flinders guide. Each uni has their own system so unfortunately we can't advise of any blanket rules!

Fair enough thank you so much for the help.

 

[Pickleman248]

Your question is a bit confusing because your GPA is comprised of your individual subject scores (on a 4, 5, 6, 7, etc basis), added up, and then averaged.

For the within unit assessments that combine to equal your overall unit result, you can get overall 80 or you can get 99 in a particular unit and it'll still be a 7 for GPA calculation purposes. Those individual assessment results won't be looked at by GEMSAS.

So if I get a 7 GPA for my entire undergraduate course, chances are I’ll get a 7 GPA by GEMAS calculations?

 

[Perplex]

So if I get a 7 GPA for my entire undergraduate course, chances are I’ll get a 7 GPA by GEMAS calculations?

Yes more than likely. It depends on the institution you're considering applying to. Where were you looking at applying to?

 

[Pickleman248]

Yes more than likely. It depends on the institution you're considering applying to. Where were you looking at applying to?

Okay thanks, that’s good to hear. Well I’d prefer ANU so I wouldn’t have to move but I’d also like Melbourne. Anything but that I’ll take what I get.

 

[Perplex]

Here is the method for GPA calculation, straight from the GEMSAS guide. ANU falls under the "B" category which, from the looks of it, means that they award anything between 80-85 6.75 points and anything >85, 7 points. Melbourne seems to award anything >80, 7 points.
Feel free to refer to this document on how to calculate your own GPA: http://gemsas.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/How-to-calculate-your-GPA_v3.pdf

Also, once GEMSAS applications have been submitted, I believe there is a window of time in which you can email GEMSAS and ask them to provide you with your GPA for each uni you have applied to. I'm not sure when this exactly occurs so best to ask GEMSAS themselves.

 

[Goldilocks]

Hello everyone!

Just for a bit of background...I'm a first year psychology student. I want to take the GAMSAT next year but have no idea where to start with preparation. I did Year 12 Biology and Chemistry (not physics). I love the sciences but I would say my strengths are in humanities (definitely not maths).

So my questions to you guys are...
- How does someone not in a pure sciencey degree start preparing for the GAMSAT? (psychology is definitely scientific in terms of statistics and analysing but I'll be missing out on the biology/physics/chemistry aspects that nursing/pharmacy/biomed kids get)
- What prep materials/companies would you recommend?
- I'm very keen to stay here on the Gold Coast, so does anyone know the minimum GPA/GAMSAT for Griffith? Does anyone know the uni's weightings? I understand I may have to move but this is just my first preference. I already know I can't go to UQ because I cannot satisfy their new subject pre-reqs in my degree.

Thank you so much for your help!!

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hello everyone!

Just for a bit of background...I'm a first year psychology student. I want to take the GAMSAT next year but have no idea where to start with preparation. I did Year 12 Biology and Chemistry (not physics). I love the sciences but I would say my strengths are in humanities (definitely not maths).

So my questions to you guys are...
- How does someone not in a pure sciencey degree start preparing for the GAMSAT? (psychology is definitely scientific in terms of statistics and analysing but I'll be missing out on the biology/physics/chemistry aspects that nursing/pharmacy/biomed kids get)
- What prep materials/companies would you recommend?
- I'm very keen to stay here on the Gold Coast, so does anyone know the minimum GPA/GAMSAT for Griffith? Does anyone know the uni's weightings? I understand I may have to move but this is just my first preference. I already know I can't go to UQ because I cannot satisfy their new subject pre-reqs in my degree.

Thank you so much for your help!!

Your best bet for getting updated GPA/GAMSAT combo info for each Uni (except UQ who traditionally publish it) is Paging Dr, a site dedicated to graduate entry Medicine and with archives that include this kind of thing. That said, we also have Crow here who may be able to help you (current Griffith grad med student).

ETA: Paging Dr also have threads dedicated to the other questions you've asked. I'm not meaning to brush you off, it's just that we really are dedicated to undergrad entry med courses here at MSO and so don't have the archives and active current threads on these topics that Paging Dr does.

 

[Crow]

I'm very keen to stay here on the Gold Coast, so does anyone know the minimum GPA/GAMSAT for Griffith? Does anyone know the uni's weightings? I understand I may have to move but this is just my first preference. I already know I can't go to UQ because I cannot satisfy their new subject pre-reqs in my degree.

Definitely recommend visiting PD, as there are plentiful answers to all of your questions on there

As for Griffith - to land an interview, you’ll roughly need a minimum combo score of 1.63-1.65 if things stay the same as they’ve been in the past few years. Combo = GAMSAT/100 + GPA/7

 

[Pickleman248]

Here is the method for GPA calculation, straight from the GEMSAS guide. ANU falls under the "B" category which, from the looks of it, means that they award anything between 80-85 6.75 points and anything >85, 7 points. Melbourne seems to award anything >80, 7 points.
Feel free to refer to this document on how to calculate your own GPA: http://gemsas.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/How-to-calculate-your-GPA_v3.pdf

Also, once GEMSAS applications have been submitted, I believe there is a window of time in which you can email GEMSAS and ask them to provide you with your GPA for each uni you have applied to. I'm not sure when this exactly occurs so best to ask GEMSAS themselves.

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Thank you for this. Absolute legend.

 

[AJ]

I am guessing in this regard that depending on the universities marking system above 80 will be considered a 7 gpa while in others that range 80-85 will vary from 6.75-7 I.e at 80-6.75, at 81-6.80 etc?

 

[Crow]

I am guessing in this regard that depending on the universities marking system above 80 will be considered a 7 gpa while in others that range 80-85 will vary from 6.75-7 I.e at 80-6.75, at 81-6.80 etc?

Correct - it depends whether the university records the numerical mark (0-100) or just the overall grade (HD, D, C etc) on the transcript.

 

[Corrie]

Hi guys. New to the forum so thanks for having me! I have been thinking about applying for a Doctor of Medicine at some Australian Universities. My GPA for my undergrad was not great (5.8). With that in mind, is it even worth studying for and sitting the GAMSAT in September? Or would it be more sensible to try and increase my GPA with, say, an honours year first before even attempting? Thanks for your advice!