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[Undergrad] High School Discussion Thread
- Thread starter IntoTheFire
- Start date
L
Logic
Guest
Undergraduate programs you don’t require a bachelors degree to apply whereas you are required to have a bachelors degree before you can do a graduate medical degree (hence the name graduate).
These questions really are far too premature. You have a year to do your own research on these topics. And for graduate entry, you have years.
misteragha
Member
i had latin4h, maths 4h, chemistry, physics and biology (these subjects 2h a week).
I live in Belgium where Latin is a common subject, don't know if it is available in your study program?
I live in Belgium where Latin is a common subject, don't know if it is available in your study program?
Each Australian state has its own education authority which sets the final high school exams for that state, so it would vary. E.g. Latin is offered at two levels in the NSW HSC (Latin Continuers and Latin Extension), but I'm not sure if it is offered in Western Australia's WACE.
E_N
Member
Hi there,
I am a Year 10 student deciding on subject selections for my senior years in 2021 and 2022. I'll be going through the ATAR system, and am having difficulty deciding what subjects I should choose for my future years. I am keen on studying medicine at university post-graduation from high school, but this plan is not set-in-stone yet and I would still like to keep options open in case I decide to do something else (such as engineering which is my backup option). At my school you are able to choose six subjects which you will undertake over the course of the two years. I have listed my queries below:
(Wasn't sure if this was the right thread to post in, sorry!)
I am a Year 10 student deciding on subject selections for my senior years in 2021 and 2022. I'll be going through the ATAR system, and am having difficulty deciding what subjects I should choose for my future years. I am keen on studying medicine at university post-graduation from high school, but this plan is not set-in-stone yet and I would still like to keep options open in case I decide to do something else (such as engineering which is my backup option). At my school you are able to choose six subjects which you will undertake over the course of the two years. I have listed my queries below:
- I have chosen five subjects so far (English (compulsory), Mathematical Methods, Physics, Chemistry, Specialist Mathematics) and am having difficulty choosing between Psychology and Biology as my final subject. As I understand, most universities only require chemistry and a mathematics subject as prerequisites - and since I am keen on keeping my options open, I was dubious as to whether Biology would be necessary for me. The Psychology course at my school is also really good and hence I am keen on doing that instead of Biology. What do you think about this choice?
- Through this preparation for subject selections in Year 10, I came across the term 'inter-subject scaling', which has confused me quite a fair bit. My understanding is that certain subjects will be scaled up/down based on the performance of the students undertaking that subject. Thus, my question is: should you choose certain subjects which scale up to help increase your ATAR ranking? If so, which subjects in particular have scaled well historically? I am a straight-A student, and do all-round well in most subjects so it is not much of an issue moving to a more 'difficult' subject if there is a reward of a higher ATAR ranking.
(Wasn't sure if this was the right thread to post in, sorry!)
It likely won’t have a major impact regardless of what you pick. Just choose the subject you’re more interested in. I don’t know anything about the Victorian/WA systems but I’d imagine Biology probably scales a little better than Psychology.
threefivetwo
less gooo
Hi! I was a Year 12 student in NSW last year at a competitive selective (specialist) school so can give you some advice, most of which you didn’t ask for:
- Never pick your subjects based solely on scaling. If you are interested in the subject, you will be more likely to be motivated to study it and do well. I don’t remember a single person who chose subjects based on scaling etc. and it worked out well for their ATAR. I’d say go for Psychology - sounds like you’re interested in it! I wish we had that subject over in NSW.
- The workload from Year 10 to Year 12 differs dramatically. You may do well now, but this doesn’t mean that your prowess will carry over to Year 12, particularly with subjects like English where markers look for different things. I’d still expect that you would do well in your senior years, but moving into them, think seriously about how you can maintain work ethic, study smarter, recognise burnout / fatigue / stress, and maintain good mental health (i.e. regular exercise, breathing exercises)
These seem like superfluous things to think about at this stage, but I saw far too many students in my grade pursuing Medicine break down and burn out from the high workload. It was not uncommon to see people crying after trials or the day after their UCAT if they didn’t do well. - As I didn’t get into Medicine the first time, I’m currently taking Biomedical Engineering (first year student here) as a backup course while I reapply. If the course is similar in VIC, it’s a good choice as a backup - in first year, the physics is similar in difficulty to your VCEs and the maths harder but not too difficult, with other subjects basically being WAM boosters (easy subjects for boosting your uni mark). If you do it carefully, you can rearrange the order of your courses in first year to what’s preferable for you - for example, I dropped to two courses instead of the usual three this semester in order to focus on the UCAT. You should be wary about employment prospects for biomedical engineers in Australia. But all of this is far beyond the scope of your subject selections - just some useful information for you.
LeSpicyGinger
Flinders MD III
Yo, I thought I'd add my 2 cents. The way you call your maths could be a SACE thing as well as I have taken Maths Methods and Specialist. If you are doing SACE, I have heard that Psychology generally scales worse than your mathematics and chemistry however I hear Bio is similar so its not really much of a choice. I personally went with the balance of subjects that would scale the highest from what I'd heard and what I enjoyed most during year 10 (+ English but I've come to appreciate it now).
I would seriously consider taking a tertiary scholarship course or VET course to boost your ATAR if you're doing SACE. Certain VET courses remove a subject for consideration from your SACE aggregate, essentially giving you full marks (talk to your school coordinator). Alternatively if you want to work for it, Adelaide University's Head Start Scholarship has favourable conversions to ATAR. High distinction for 2 semesters gives you a full marks for the subject as well. That being said, I'm not sure how it works in other states so you need to research this one.
Edit: Both scale up in SACE. bio was 19/20 last year in SACE aggregate if I remember but it does vary year on year
Last edited:
Didn't see this thread earlier. Thought I'd add some Victorian insight on top of the great advice given above.
If Medicine and engineering are your interests, you won't need biology. I think something you also need to have a look at is how dense your subjects are. If you are anything like me, English will genuinely drain almost 30% of your time in year 12. Past that, specialist, chemistry and methods are also very time intensive subjects. I would definitely advise against taking on another subject such as biology if you don't need it as it also happens to be one of the most laborious subjects on offer. Psychology isn't too much better but it is much more manageable from what i've heard from peers.
Also, are you taking a 3/4 in year 11? Taking one or two 3/4s in year 11 really help in decreasing the workload in year 12. Doing either biology or psychology as a 3/4 in year 11 is very common and you might want to look into that if you are allowed to. I know some schools don't allow it.
Yes, there is scaling that occurs on each subject. This scaling is based not on how difficult that subject is, but how the individuals WITHIN that subject do in all their other subjects. Based on this the subject is scaled up or down. For example, a subject like Latin is offered only in a select few high performing schools and therefore the students that take it also happen to do well in their other subjects leading to crazy scaling.
I take a bit of a controversial approach to this and actually think scaling should be a consideration if the subject scales very poorly and you're looking for a higher ATAR. Sure, it is true if you get a straight 50 scaling won't matter at all, but I know individuals who put a significant amount of effort into a subject such as food-tech only to have their decent score dropped by up to 10 points. If the subject only scales between 2-4 either way I would not worry about it and this is the case with biology and pscyhology.
A scaling report is published every year by the VTAC and the 2019 can be found on the link below.
In 2019, getting a 40 in psychology yielded you a 39 scaled while getting a 45 kept you a 45.
Meanwhile, getting a 40 in Biology yielded you a 41 scored while getting a 45 yielded you a scaled 46.
This scaling is completely negligible in my opinion and absolutely shouldn't be a factor in your decision making.
Hey, I am a year 10 student who has just finished their year 10 work experience in a dental clinic. I would really appreciate if you guys could share your work experiences in the hospital during your highschool years, specifically what tasks you were allowed to do?
I am unsure if it is worth to try and find work experience in a hospital next year? I have heard from friends who have undergone work experience in a hospital and said it was just doing paperwork for the clerk and that there was really nothing interesting such as being able to go on ward rounds or shadowing doctors? Can someone please confirm this!!
I am unsure if it is worth to try and find work experience in a hospital next year? I have heard from friends who have undergone work experience in a hospital and said it was just doing paperwork for the clerk and that there was really nothing interesting such as being able to go on ward rounds or shadowing doctors? Can someone please confirm this!!
𝘒𝘺𝘶𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 ❤︎
Lurker
At the start of the year I dropped maths, I did it as soon as I got the chance and now I regret it because I didn’t realise it was a prerequisite for medicine.
Im taking English Advanced, Arabic Continuers, French Beginner, Chemistry, Biology and PDHPE.
Is there still a chance for me to pursue medicine right after high school? I’m currently a year 11 HSC student and I’ll be in year 12 in about a month.
Someone please give me some advice
Im taking English Advanced, Arabic Continuers, French Beginner, Chemistry, Biology and PDHPE.
Is there still a chance for me to pursue medicine right after high school? I’m currently a year 11 HSC student and I’ll be in year 12 in about a month.
Someone please give me some advice
First of all welcome to MSO.
I recommend you make yourself familiar with the medicine entrance subforum as a whole. It will answer your question in the other thread about what schools need what atar requirements, etc. There is a table of contents which will make it easier Medicine Entrance - TABLE OF CONTENTS
I also highly recommend looking at this table here. JCU is the only school that requires maths, and given you do Chemistry makes you eligble for every other school.
We also have collected a bunch of data from people on here who have been accepted and you'll see that some dont have 99+ ATARs, especially at hurdle schools like UON and WSU
I recommend you make yourself familiar with the medicine entrance subforum as a whole. It will answer your question in the other thread about what schools need what atar requirements, etc. There is a table of contents which will make it easier Medicine Entrance - TABLE OF CONTENTS
I also highly recommend looking at this table here. JCU is the only school that requires maths, and given you do Chemistry makes you eligble for every other school.
[Undergrad] - (2023 Updated) Med schools Selection Criteria Y12s & Non-standards
Hi - Welcome to MSO. Join us and post up your questions you'll get lots more useful tips than just from this table. __________________________________________________________ Hope this helps sort out the different requirements to get an undergrad/provisional Medicine place in Aus. For dentistry...
medstudentsonline.com.au
We also have collected a bunch of data from people on here who have been accepted and you'll see that some dont have 99+ ATARs, especially at hurdle schools like UON and WSU
Aus Med and Dent Place Offers 2020 - Collated Data
Last updated 15/03/2020 at 1600. James Cook University - Medicine Phone call offers released 09/01/2020 OP: 1, local ATAR: 99.60, interstate, CSP ATAR: 99.50, CSP ATAR: 99.20, interstate ATAR: 99.10, interstate ATAR: 98.95, CSP ATAR: 98.10, interstate GPA: 7.00, CSP, hoping to defer to finish...
medstudentsonline.com.au
Eleanor Rigby
Regular Member
Why do I feel like I have accidentally wandered into the 'Bored of Studies' forum?