[Grad] Graduate Medicine FAQ and Quick Questions

[unknownuser123]

My mate asked me a Q i couldnt completely answer and hope some1 can help him out. He is finishing up 2nd yr end of this yr, but has hated his degree, as a result his marks have been not great (4.8ish GPA pretty much all passes and low credits). I think even if he gets straight HDs in 3rd yr it will only bump him up to 5.4 maybe, and honours would be tough considering he hates the course and its difficult. Do you think its wise for him to’restart’ another degree from first year, or will his previously bad GPA effect his entry to med? Also, he is considering going from Go8 (USYd) to lesser ranked uni (CSU or MAQU) - will this effect his marks in any way? Whats everyones thoughts?

 

[Crow]

Do you think its wise for him to’restart’ another degree from first year, or will his previously bad GPA effect his entry to med?

What is his degree, and how many years is it? If it’s only a 3 year degree then I’d say it’s probably unwise to abandon it at this stage - particularly if it’s going to be able to provide him with employment once he graduates. Probably best to finish it up and (if possible) try and take courses that will be able to be credited towards a subsequent degree.

Has your friend sat GAMSAT yet? If they achieve highly enough, they could aim for entry into USyd or UQ which both only use GPA as a hurdle requirement (though, they’d have to lift their GPA next year to actually meet these hurdles) - but in saying that they would need to achieve above the 90th %ile in GAMSAT to receive an interview at either uni.

ETA: He could also sit UCAT and apply as a non-standard to the JMP (and possibly WSU if he increases his GPA above the hurdle requirement) to increase his chances.

Also, he is considering going from Go8 (USYd) to lesser ranked uni (CSU or MAQU) - will this effect his marks in any way?

Are you saying he’s considering moving from USyd to a different uni to finish his degree? This is a contentious topic, but some people do have the opinion that if you have less “competition” in your degree then it will be easier for you to score highly - I think this would depend on the circumstances and the degree they are doing, etc.

If you mean he is considering applying to study medicine at non-Go8 unis as well, certainly applying widely will give the best chance to gain entry into medicine (particularly with a low GPA).

 

[unknownuser123]

Hi Crow, he is doing a BSc (Adv.) at USYD, and is doing all advanced (and very difficult) courses to do well in. Some of the courses have very high fail rates (Advanced Physics, Maths etc), and the content is overall very difficult.... not a very wise move now that he is considering medicine / dentistry. He is looking to go to a lesser ranked uni for less competition, not sure if that hypothesis is legit tho. I told him i dont think theres any point studying for gamsat since his gpa would be simply too low, even for the hurdle uni's, getting a 5.5 would be very good in the course he is doing, so even a 5.5 is unlikely. Whats your suggestions?

 

[Crow]

Hi Crow, he is doing a BSc (Adv.) at USYD, and is doing all advanced (and very difficult) courses to do well in. Some of the courses have very high fail rates (Advanced Physics, Maths etc), and the content is overall very difficult.... not a very wise move now that he is considering medicine / dentistry. He is looking to go to a lesser ranked uni for less competition, not sure if that hypothesis is legit tho. I told him i dont think theres any point studying for gamsat since his gpa would be simply too low, even for the hurdle uni's, getting a 5.5 would be very good in the course he is doing, so even a 5.5 is unlikely. Whats your suggestions?

To be honest, I'm not sure what a BSc with majors in Physics/Maths can lead to employment wise (I'm guessing not a lot?) as it's not my field, but I still think abandoning a degree that's 2/3 complete probably isn't the best idea. Having a complete degree at least provides the opportunity to apply to some postgraduate programs that aren't accessible without an undergraduate degree - even if the degree itself doesn't lead to employment. Perhaps LMG!, pi or chinaski will have a different viewpoint though.

The USyd and UQ hurdles are 5.0, by the way, not 5.5 - and for UQ that's a GEMSAS GPA, which will likely be higher for your friend than the GPA on their transcript.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

To be honest, I'm not sure what a BSc with majors in Physics/Maths can lead to employment wise (I'm guessing not a lot?) as it's not my field, but I still think abandoning a degree that's 2/3 complete probably isn't the best idea. Having a complete degree at least provides the opportunity to apply to some postgraduate programs that aren't accessible without an undergraduate degree - even if the degree itself doesn't lead to employment. Perhaps LMG!, pi or chinaski will have a different viewpoint though.

The USyd and UQ hurdles are 5.0, by the way, not 5.5 - and for UQ that's a GEMSAS GPA, which will likely be higher for your friend than the GPA on their transcript.

Not to mention, JMP GPA requirement is “close to credit average” I believe, and could be as low as 4.80. JMP would be worth looking into for your mate.

Is a BSc(Ad.) 3 or 4 years? If it’s 3, I’d finish it, if it’s four, I’d consider scrapping it* and starting over. At this point, a new bachelor degree would only be one extra year, and on the way your mate could continue to apply to JMP, WSU etc.

*unless a look at the GEMSAS GPA weighting was favourable.

 

[Stefan357]

Can someone please list all of the post grad medical schools in new south Wales? And if known, the number of spots available for each post grad school.

 

[A1]

Can someone please list all of the post grad medical schools in new south Wales? And if known, the number of spots available for each post grad school.

USyd, UNDS, UoW, Macquarie (full-fee places only), ANU (sort of in NSW); info and numbers in this doc
> https://gemsas.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2019-Medicine-GEMSAS-Admissions-Guide-v1.4.pdf

Also, being a graduate you can still apply to WSU, JMP, and UNSW if you had a decent ATAR.

 

[Stefan357]

USyd, UNDS, UoW, Macquarie (full-fee places only), ANU (sort of in NSW); info and numbers in this doc
> https://gemsas.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2019-Medicine-GEMSAS-Admissions-Guide-v1.4.pdf

Also, being a graduate you can still apply to WSU, JMP, and UNSW if you had a decent ATAR.

Thanks a lot. Also, why is USYD not placed in the document for GEMSAS consortium ?

 

[Q3]

Thanks a lot. Also, why is USYD not placed in the document for GEMSAS consortium ?

USYD is not a GEMSAS uni. Stefan357 You still do GAMSAT, it just means that your GPA is different because USYD uses unweighted GPAs and uses the UAC method. It also means that you sit the USYD interview instead of a GEMSAS interview.

 

[Stefan357]

USYD is not a GEMSAS uni.

But you still do Gamsat for it ??

 

[Crow]

But you still do Gamsat for it ??

All graduate entry schools require GAMSAT unless you get in via a direct/guaranteed entry pathway. Please do your basic research before continuing to post, a quick search on the USyd website would’ve given this answer.

 

[A1]

But you still do Gamsat for it ??

GAMSAT is the test (yes you need it for USyd). GEMSAS is the consortium of 9 schools, you submit one application and you get at most one interview one place offer out of them.

Flinders & Usyd take in your application independently. USyd grad intake is around 160, requires GPA 5 as a hurdle then GAMSAT I think around 68-69 to get an interview. Potentially you can get a USyd place offer in addition to one from GEMSAS.

 

[Crow]

About graduate entry into medicine at USyd (or other universities); how much exactly are each of the components weighed, as in GPA, GAMSAT and interview? Are GAMSAT scores used only as a hurdle to decide who gets an interview, meaning an applicant with an extremely high GAMSAT score would be on a level playing field as someone who just scraped above the cut off?

At USyd GPA is currently only used as a hurdle (5.0) - interview invites are based entirely from the average GAMSAT score, and then place offers are made from 50/50 interview/GAMSAT.

As for the other schools, different universities use different selection criteria. I suggest you take a read of the GEMSAS guide and/or the Flinders and Monash admissions guides if those schools will be applicable to you.

As a general rule, having a higher GAMSAT/GPA combo is going to make you more competitive, but from next year every graduate entry medical school will be running interviews, meaning a high combo won’t be enough to guarantee anyone a place at a grad entry school. We’ve also seen applicants in the past with GPAs of 7 and GAMSATs above 80 who still missed out on a place offer at their chosen uni; this highlights the importance of the interview.

 

[Smelly Boy]

About graduate entry into medicine at USyd (or other universities); how much exactly are each of the components weighed, as in GPA, GAMSAT and interview? Are GAMSAT scores used only as a hurdle to decide who gets an interview, meaning an applicant with an extremely high GAMSAT score would be on a level playing field as someone who just scraped above the cut off?

For example, would an applicant with 7.0 GPA and a superb GAMSAT score be at a significant advantage to someone who just scraped above the cutoffs, meaning they wouldn't have to perform as well in the interview, kind of like how a high school leaver with 99.95 ATAR and 100 UMAT wouldn't have to perform as well in the interview component to be accepted, compared to someone who just made the cutoffs?

GPA is used as a hurdle

GAMSAT is used to see who gets the interview

GAMSAT & interview score is combined to see who gets a spot (you can see this in the USYD med info thingy they publish every year). It’s not stated how much % GAMSAT score is used to get the final place offer but I think I saw Crow post somewhere that it’s 50:50 (or maybe I was dreaming this )

 

[CardiacSurgeon]

Hello guys,

I currently live in Adelaide and am thinking of taking the graduate pathway to Medicine as my UMAT has been very low (31 percentile) and I cant see myself improving to like 85+%ile for the UCAT (which I think it the sort of scores Unis look for). My ATAR (raw) has been 98.15 and the adjusted score was 99.80.


I just wanted to ask, which course(s) at UNI would be the best in terms of medicine graduate entry and preparation for GAMSAT (like the section 3 of Gamsat)?


Also, lets say I can do very well in GAMSAT and get a good GPA, is the interview very challenging and if anyone has been through it in SA, could you please let me know how it was?

Thank you very much!

 

[Perplex]

Hello guys,

I currently live in Adelaide and am thinking of taking the graduate pathway to Medicine as my UMAT has been very low (31 percentile) and I cant see myself improving to like 85+%ile for the UCAT (which I think it the sort of scores Unis look for). My ATAR (raw) has been 98.15 and the adjusted score was 99.80.


I just wanted to ask, which course(s) at UNI would be the best in terms of medicine graduate entry and preparation for GAMSAT (like the section 3 of Gamsat)?


Also, lets say I can do very well in GAMSAT and get a good GPA, is the interview very challenging and if anyone has been through it in SA, could you please let me know how it was?

Thank you very much!

The course that is best for medicine entry is the course that will provide you with a viable career pathway in the circumstance that you do not get into medicine. No university course is going to prepare you for the GAMSAT. If uni directly prepared you what would be the point of having it and not just having a GPA system?
The GAMSAT tests cognitive skills you gain throughout life and thus is difficult to learn in the uni context. In saying that Section III requires some basic science knowledge and thus some first year units in biology, chemistry and physics may provide some benefit.

Yes the interview is challenging, even more so if you want to stay in SA. You only really have Flinders in SA and they have a large preference for their own students and some categories. Non-Flinders degree holders (who are also not rural) typically require a 76+ GAMSAT (~99 percentile from memory).

 

[Yamster]

Hi CardiacSurgeon, I'm just interested to know how come your religion only allows you to become a cardiothoracic surgeon? What happens if you choose another career path or don't get into med, let alone that speciality? Let us know and we can hopefully tailor some advice for you!

 

[Monica-Rose]

Hi what schools are my best bet I'm struggling to determine my preferences appropriately. My GAMSAT is 67 and my GPA 6.5! I'm in sydney and study at USYD right now, but would travel interstate. I'm thinking Notre Dame, ANU, Griffith but not sure about the rest!

 

[Crow]

Hi what schools are my best bet I'm struggling to determine my preferences appropriately. My GAMSAT is 67 and my GPA 6.5! I'm in sydney and study at USYD right now, but would travel interstate. I'm thinking Notre Dame, ANU, Griffith but not sure about the rest!

Is the 6.5 a GEMSAS calculated GPA or just the GPA on your transcript? (Keeping in mind that your GEMSAS GPA will be different for each university you apply to): If it’s your GEMSAS GPA and you’re a domestic non-rural student then you won’t be receiving an interview at any non-portfolio school with those scores, unfortunately. The one exception might be Deakin if you qualify for any Deakin bonuses to inflate your selection rank I.e. for past study completed at Deakin, financial disadvantage, Geelong residency, healthcare work experience or regular full-time work experience.

I’d say your best bet will be to resit GAMSAT in March and aim for higher than a 67 (and particularly, aim for an average GAMSAT score of 68+ to be competitive for USyd) and then work on your portfolio and aim for Wollongong, UNDS and UNDF.

If you’re a rural applicant, then you can disregard the above as you’ll be competitive for every graduate entry school excluding Monash (unless you did your degree at Monash).

 

[Monica-Rose]

My Gemsas GPA is more around 6.7 at this stage. Notre Dame which is a portfolio uni is my first preference. And as with bonuses I can get 2% for financial disdadvantage. Also at melbpurne my GAMSAT is 68 because of how they weight it. Does this make any difference.