• Welcome to MSO!
    We are an online community for current and prospective medical, dental and allied health students and early career professionals from Australia and New Zealand.

    Please read: About MSO | Annual Welcome and Important Information | MSO Rules

    Quick Links To Forums
    Tests/Interviews: UCAT | GAMSAT | Interviews
    Entrance Discussion: Graduate Medicine | Undergraduate Medicine | Dentistry

  • Register with us

    Please consider registering on MSO. Benefits of registering are:
    • Able to post and participate in the forum
    • After 10 posts: Private Message Other Users
    • After 25 posts: Access to the Chatbox
    • After 100 posts: Custom user titles and Ad-free experience

    If you would like to get involved with MSO or have ideas, suggestions, comments, criticisms or other feedback please Contact Us

[Undergrad] High School Discussion Thread

rzrkei58 said:
SORRY TO BOTHER YOU AGAIN, but would it be a better decision for me to switch to general maths or further maths in place of methods? possibly even physics? I'm not exactly confident enough that I would be able to achieve a good ATAR with my current math skills ...
Click to expand...
Look at the end of the day it's your choice. But even though I was crap at maths myself - I still did methods and not further because that would shut me out of so many courses. Technically it is not required for medicine but you are putting all your eggs into one basket - if you fail to get in, you'll be severely limited in uni course options. I have no clue about physics as I didn't do it, but from my basic (and potentially wrong understanding) it would be quite hard and require a good understanding of math (equivalent to methods and spesh level). Maybe someone else who did it can chime in.

Some things to consider:
1. Advice from careers advisor, teachers and family.

2. What are you planning on doing other than med as a backup if you don't get in - does that course need methods/physics/spesh?

3. How many subjects are you doing? In my case, I was able to do 8 subjects as I was in an accelerated program that allowed me to do VCE over 3 instead of 2 years. If this is the case - you could do something similar to what I did - do methods and get above the required score for most courses (35 and over should be fine) - then, if you do not get an amazing study score, it will not be included in calculations for ATAR (only top 6 subjects get used).

4. Honestly though, even if you are doing 6 subjects and you do badly in methods - methods will be in ur bottom 2 which contributes 10% - as long as you perform well in your other subjects - I don't think it is a big deal - you might lose 0.1 ATAR at most?? - provided you don't do absolutely terrible (thus the aforementioned 35 and above) - I have someone at my school who got a high 99s ATAR doing not methods but further (which has terrible scalling in comparison as you would know) - and got a below 40 score for further - this goes to show how 1 bad subject literally does not impact your ATAR much and you can still perform well provided your other subjects are good

Hopefully this helps :)
 
Last edited:
jdog said:
Look at the end of the day it's your choice. But even though I was crap at maths myself - I still did methods and not further because that would shut me out off so many courses. Technically it is not required for medicine but you are putting all your eggs into one basket - if you fail to get in, you'll be severely limited in uni course options. I have no clue about physics as I didn't do it, but from my basic (and potentially wrong understanding) it would be quite hard and require a good understanding of math (equivalent to methods and spesh level). Maybe someone else who did it can chime in.

Some things to consider:
1. Advice from careers advisor, teachers and family.

2. What are you planning on doing other than med as a backup if you don't get in - does that course need methods/physics/spesh?

3. How many subjects are you doing? In my case, I was able to do 8 subjects as I was in an accelerated program that allowed me to do VCE over 3 instead of 2 years. If this is the case - you could do something similar to what I did - do methods and get above the required score for most courses (35 and over should be fine) - then, if you do not get an amazing study score, it will not be included in calculations for ATAR (only top 6 subjects get used).

4. Honestly though, even if you are doing 6 subjects and you do badly in methods - methods will be in ur bottom 2 which contributes 10% - as long as you perform well in your other subjects - I don't think it is a big deal - you might lose 0.1 ATAR at most?? - provided you don't do absolutely terrible (thus the aforementioned 35 and above) - I have someone at my school who got a high 99s ATAR doing not methods but further (which has terrible scalling in comparison as you would know) - and got a below 40 score for further - this goes to show how 1 bad subject literally does not impact your ATAR much and you can still perform well provided your other subjects are good

Hopefully this helps :)
Click to expand...
Ahhh I haven't really put much thought into other backup courses, so I'll be sure to talk to my careers advisor as soon as we go back to school! Again, thank you so much for all your help!!!! :D
 
Hey all - so this is my first time actually posting a question on here. Longtime lurker though.
I’m going into Year 12 (WA) this year and I’ve been doing some deeper research into med than ever before and my question was...is the predicted ATAR prior to the interview offer taken from my Year 11 results (which aren’t amazing but decent as I had a lot going on) or can it be taken from schoolwork during Year 12? Is there a way to still get an offer for interview after results day or an alternate method? The UWA website isn’t as clear as I want it to be on that or I’m not looking in the right spot? I go to a Broadway school if it makes a difference
 
haileyc said:
Hey all - so this is my first time actually posting a question on here. Longtime lurker though.
I’m going into Year 12 (WA) this year and I’ve been doing some deeper research into med than ever before and my question was...is the predicted ATAR prior to the interview offer taken from my Year 11 results (which aren’t amazing but decent as I had a lot going on) or can it be taken from schoolwork during Year 12? Is there a way to still get an offer for interview after results day or an alternate method? The UWA website isn’t as clear as I want it to be on that or I’m not looking in the right spot? I go to a Broadway school if it makes a difference
Click to expand...
You will submit a TISC application for UWA & Curtin Medicine in August, which then asks you to request your school to provide a predicted ATAR. By that stage it's most likely your school will ignore your Y11 and only predict from your Y12 progress.
 
A1 said:
You will submit a TISC application for UWA & Curtin Medicine in August, which then asks you to request your school to provide a predicted ATAR. By that stage it's most likely your school will ignore your Y11 and only predict from your Y12 progress.
Click to expand...
That’s good to know 😅 I got scared there for a sec that I was already knocked out of the race before I could even start.
 
Hi.
I am a year 12 student (graduating 2021) interested in an undergraduate medicine degree.

I was just wondering what ATAR and UCAT will get me into med in both NSW and interstate. Could youse please list what ATAR// UCAT would comfortably get me an offer for interview for each university. Anything helps, thank you.
 
dhwanishk said:
Hi.
I am a year 12 student (graduating 2021) interested in an undergraduate medicine degree.

I was just wondering what ATAR and UCAT will get me into med in both NSW and interstate. Could youse please list what ATAR// UCAT would comfortably get me an offer for interview for each university. Anything helps, thank you.
Click to expand...
Welcome to MSO!
I suggest you look at this thread; A1's table summarises the exact information you're looking for. Note that it's relevant to 2021 admission.
(2020 Updated) Med schools Selection Criteria Y12s & Non-standards
 
dhwanishk said:
Saw this list but what I'm wondering is what is a competitive ATAR// UCAT for the universities (as it does not list this for UNSW, WSU for example).
Click to expand...
Have a look at the following:

2020 Entry:
Interview Data: 2020 Entry Interview Invites - Collated (DATA ONLY)
Offer Data: Aus Med and Dent Place Offers 2020 - Collated Data
2021 Entry:
Interview Data: 2021 Entry Interview Invite DATA COLLECTION
Offer Data: Aus Med and Dent Place Offers 2021 Entry - Collated Data
 
rzrkei58 said:
thank you so much for the resources and advice!



SORRY TO BOTHER YOU AGAIN, but would it be a better decision for me to switch to general maths or further maths in place of methods? possibly even physics? I'm not exactly confident enough that I would be able to achieve a good ATAR with my current math skills ...
Click to expand...
Maths and science can usually be developed through tutoring, practice and gradually evolving the understanding of the formulae/principles. Strategies to improve well in subjects that will be moderated to a high derived ATAR will serve you well.
Others will comment. I’m too old for this thread! (I did economics, calculus, applied maths, English lit, physics and chemistry ...)
 
Hey guys, I am in year 11 right now and graduating in 2022. Just wanting to ask should I start preparing for the ucat now? And what ways/resources should I look at when studying and preparing for the exam. Aiming for a score ~3000+ it's gonna be hard and I am willing to put in the effort, Just don't know where to start.
 
MystK said:
Hey guys, I am in year 11 right now and graduating in 2022. Just wanting to ask should I start preparing for the ucat now? And what ways/resources should I look at when studying and preparing for the exam. Aiming for a score ~3000+ it's gonna be hard and I am willing to put in the effort, Just don't know where to start.
Click to expand...

Nope, definitely not. Concentrate on year 11, sports/other hobbies, friends/family, work, have a great (hopefully non-COVID interrupted!!) year, and then start thinking about UCAT in about 12 months! There are plenty of free resources out there when it is time, and you can also take part in the UCAT related threads we have here.

But don't start yet! Enjoy the rest of your school holidays! Happy new year!
 
Might be a stupid question... but

What factors go into a med application? Is it just UCAT and ATAR or is there more that will affect whether or not I will get an interview?
 
dhwanishk said:
Might be a stupid question... but

What factors go into a med application? Is it just UCAT and ATAR or is there more that will affect whether or not I will get an interview?
Click to expand...

Depends on the uni you’re applying to and their specifications for that year. It will definitely be important to check and be thorough when the time comes.
 
LMG! said:
Depends on the uni you’re applying to and their specifications for that year. It will definitely be important to check and be thorough when the time comes.
Click to expand...
Oh okay thanks. Do you know off the top of your head what other factors they consider?
 
dhwanishk said:
Might be a stupid question... but

What factors go into a med application? Is it just UCAT and ATAR or is there more that will affect whether or not I will get an interview?
Click to expand...
It is dependent upon the university.

You should proactively familiarise yourself with the requirements for each university you are applying for. The universities don't generally accomodate 'applicant error'. However, a consistently high UCAT AND predicted ATAR for the universities which weigh in on these would be advantageous.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top