HSFY 2019

[newbiehere]

I'm gonna put together some resources on my aforementioned blog over the next few weeks if you wanna check it out

Yikesss thank you!! What is ur blog btw? I wanna check it out

 

[123123]

Yikesss thank you!! What is ur blog btw? I wanna check it out

HSFY Blog

I write this blog to give people insight into what the health science first year pamphlet doesn't tell you. From academics to residential life I am planning on using this platform to share knowledge and reassure those who want to know more or considering the trek down to Dunedin.

hsfyblog.blogspot.com

Gonna have a lot more stuff up there over the next few weeks, feel free to share it amongst your friends etc

 

[newbiehere]

Also does anyone know any HSFY tutor (especially physics tutor) that I can contact during the holidays?

 

[Bootleg]

I see! Does anyone know where to get resources for HSFY because I am doing it next year. I want to prepare for it seeing that everything seems super competitive.

I highly recommended you dont prepare for HSFY over your holidays period. I recommended you enjoy your holiday. HSFY is a very intensive year, if you prepare early you will get confused with the content and you will stress yourself out. Try and rest over the break, finishing NCEA level 3 is already tiring enough.

 

[newbiehere]

I highly not recommended prepare over your holidays period. I recommended you enjoy your holiday. HSFY is a very intensive year, if you prepare early you will get confused with the content and you will stress yourself out. Try and rest over the break, finishing NCEA level 3 is already tiring enough.

My mates and NCEA tutor told me to start doing physics & chemistry during the holidays as I have heard it has a high failure rate. I actually do not mind studying because it's pretty much what I do on a daily basis anyway.

 

[Bootleg]

My mates and NCEA tutor told me to start doing physics & chemistry during the holidays as I have heard it has a high failure rate. I actually do not mind studying because it's pretty much what I do on a daily basis anyway.

I dont know where they are getting the stats from, but that may not be true. HSFY (this year) has cut down on alot of content, even the director of HSFY himself said that the new course is designed so that students are able to enjoy more free time to themselves.

 

[ls12345]

My mates and NCEA tutor told me to start doing physics & chemistry during the holidays as I have heard it has a high failure rate. I actually do not mind studying because it's pretty much what I do on a daily basis anyway.

Have you done those two subjects at school? If you kinda have the basics from school (not essential but preferable), and work hard throughout the course (ask for help if u need it when u need it- even straight after the lecture, don't leave to last minute, go to labs, tuts in halls etc) you should be just fine. Rumor is chem did use to have a high failure rate but that has definitely improved over the years, plus is very dependent on the cohort rather than the course itself in my opinion

 

[newbiehere]

Have you done those two subjects at school? If you kinda have the basics from school (not essential but preferable), and work hard throughout the course (ask for help if u need it when u need it- even straight after the lecture, don't leave to last minute, go to labs, tuts in halls etc) you should be just fine. Rumor is chem did use to have a high failure rate but that has definitely improved over the years, plus is very dependent on the cohort rather than the course itself in my opinion

Yeah I did scholarship for those two subjects (here is hoping I get them!)

 

[ls12345]

Yeah I did scholarship for those two subjects (here is hoping I get them!)

Seems like you have well over the background you need, relax over the holidays so you have the energy to go hard at it during the year, good luck btw!!

 

[Sungsikyung]

I personally studied for health science two months before health science actually started. I think it was worth it. Therefore I definitely recommend studying for it in the holidays and getting into the habit of studying.

 

[Boeing7478]

Personally, I don’t think you should worry too much about studying content, but rather figuring out and testing your optimal study method. If you already have a tried and tested study method that works for you, just relax and chill for the holidays.

 

[Cathay]

Yeah I did scholarship for those two subjects (here is hoping I get them!)

Then you don't need to do any studying before HSFY, let alone get tutoring. Seriously.

Just thought I should mention the age-old MSO advice (that has been around for about 10 years, that I've been telling people for 8 years) you do not need to study in the holidays. Take it from an old health sci here... I tried to read HSFY material, I even bought old HSFY notes off TradeMe; the textbooks etc were too dense to really make sense of (let alone remember), and the notes I looked at maybe once the entire time. Do not bother studying the stuff beforehand - you won't have the lectures and lab classes to help contextualize it, and you'll only stress out and burn out by trying. Enjoy your holidays, and do teenager stuff - you're only young once, treasure it!

 

[Austerus]

Small update on the UCAT threshold Found out about the weird "688 maximum" and graduate threshold. I'm not sure that deciles work in the way the admissions office thinks they do though lol

 

[Stuart]

Small update on the UCAT threshold Found out about the weird "688 maximum" and graduate threshold. I'm not sure that deciles work in the way the admissions office thinks they do though lol

Hi,

I don't think they understand the concept of decile well. Anyway, we know the correct range now, so that's great. Thank you for your work.

 

[cereal]

Small update on the UCAT threshold Found out about the weird "688 maximum" and graduate threshold. I'm not sure that deciles work in the way the admissions office thinks they do though lol

They sent me a similar email this morning. While I appreciate the very low threshold in SJT it seems very pointless, don't you think? The amount of people under 495 will be like 5% of the cohort. The people who did reallyyy well in the UCAT have no reward, and I'm saying this as someone who didn't have particularly high UCAT results.

 

[Stuart]

They sent me a similar email this morning. While I appreciate the very low threshold in SJT it seems very pointless, don't you think? The amount of people under 495 will be like 5% of the cohort. The people who did reallyyy well in the UCAT have no reward, and I'm saying this as someone who didn't have particularly high UCAT results.

Hi,

The likely explanation is that getting high UCAT does not mean you will be better. If you meet a certain threshold, it's anyone's game. It's not pointless. It will be pointless if they made you compete when they believe there is little correlation between high UCAT scores and your performance as a professional later on.

 

[Austerus]

They sent me a similar email this morning. While I appreciate the very low threshold in SJT it seems very pointless, don't you think? The amount of people under 495 will be like 5% of the cohort. The people who did reallyyy well in the UCAT have no reward, and I'm saying this as someone who didn't have particularly high UCAT results.

I agree with this, if the UMAT was historically used as another way to seperate the cohort, the UCAT does not seem to have achieved this in any way, as you would have to have completely bombed the test to not meet threshold. With thresholds that low would grade average alone not be sufficient? Paying $300 or however much it was and stressing about it for months only for it to have such little contribution to your entry feels pretty bad, especially when we were told by the department that there would be a threshold score PER section not in only 2 of the 5 sections. I hope it is better communicated in future years how small the thresholds are and what sections will be used so that students can prepare and allocate their time effectively when also dealing with HSFY study. There is no reason the department shouldn't be able to release the thresholds ahead of time if they are using percentile based thresholds (e.g they could tell students they have to be above the 20th percentile for SJT).

 

[Stuart]

Hi there,

Yes, there is a reason why they can't have a fixed threshold. They have a fixed number of places. The threshold will move to accommodate it and they will be able keep a fixed amout of pool to consider for admissions. There may be other reasons, too.

 

[Austerus]

Hi there,

Yes, there is a reason why they can't have a fixed threshold. They have a fixed number of places. The threshold will move to accommodate it and they will be able keep a fixed amout of pool to consider for admissions. There may be other reasons, too.

Yeah that makes sense, but the "fixed amount of pool to consider for admissions" is still pretty much the entire cohort. I just wish that it is better communicated in the future.

 

[Stuart]

Yeah that makes sense, but the "fixed amount of pool to consider for admissions" is still pretty much the entire cohort. I just wish that it is better communicated in the future.

Hi there,

I agree with your sentiment about communications. They did announce more sections would be used. Unfortunately, you will come across more of these "miscommunications" as you go on. They kind of have the power, so all you can do is try your best and hope for the best.

As for low thresholds, some people do get weeded out. So, it's not completely a fraud.