Definitely not. The interview is very important. We routinely see people with 99.95 not even get an interview let alone an automatic offer.
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JCU JCU Medicine: General Entry Discussion
- Thread starter PBL
- Start date
From my saying we don't know the relative weightings between ATAR and interview, how can you conclude the interview is only an add-on?
Who knows it could be 25% [ATAR x Rurality index] + 75% [Interview].
I think this old formula no longer applies to JCU, especially given there were significant changes once they removed the written application. I have it on pretty good authority this year that rural and non-rural are treated in entirely separate "buckets" to process for interview selection (probably quotas set aside but unclear). Unfortunately I still don't know how they decide what metro people to choose beyond that given the obvious supply demand mismatch for metro interviews unless they're examining other aspects of the application without written statements. But they've assured me it's not simply "ATAR" and that they "read every application". So it's honestly a mystery, but there is a process there... I just hope they don't default to ATAR-only which will be IMO a detriment to JCU.
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A1 adds: Just to clarify, it seems you talk about interview selection here^ whereas we were about place offers.
Stapedius responds: yes, my bad. I think I read a previous message which I meant to respond to where we were talking about interviews. I only thought to clarify the point about interview entry as I know there has been a sentiment that it's a score based on a complex formula of ATAR and rurality, where I think that is no longer the case. As I said, I believe they're moving in the direction of capping interviews based purely on rural and non-rural quotas. Not that that really changes much ultimately for applicants... but just thought I'd mention it as I had that told to me from someone central to the MBBS admissions process.
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gdxcvlbinug
Member
Read the PAA form ??
But yea I get what you guys are trying to say, there's more complexity and luck involved than people know of. Just really wish they hadn't taken out the majority of the application process this year, feels more ingenuine, especially considering many students that apply for med at the uni want to feel connected towards the practical/clinical aspects of med.
I completely agree, and have expressed strong dissatisfaction to the removal of the written application for this very reason. I do not accept the justification of Chat GPT triggering the death of the written application - I can assure you people lying on their applications by using Chat GPT are the same people who were lying on their applications prior to Chat GPT. You would hope that the reviewers of applications would have read enough applications to weed out the insincere ones... and even if a few slipped through the idea is the interview is the better filter yet. As we've discussed at length, there's no perfect admissions process but I actually quite liked JCU being a bit different from everyone else and having the written application, even though it had its flaws. I'm really worried about this change moving forward... particularly for the large amount of candidates in metro and outer metro who may haven't gotten >90% percentile on the UCAT but are still fantastic candidates for Medicine, but excluded from a significant number of medical schools and now potentially JCU just due to that crazy supply-demand curve.Read the PAA form ??
But yea I get what you guys are trying to say, there's more complexity and luck involved than people know of. Just really wish they hadn't taken out the majority of the application process this year, feels more ingenuine, especially considering many students that apply for med at the uni want to feel connected towards the practical/clinical aspects of med.
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I think simplest way forward is JCU does a HSFY. Students will be offered a place based on (1) their preferences med/dent/vet/nursing/physio etc (2) HSFY marks and (3) interview. HSFY + 5-year Med keeps it to the same 6 years.
If they like to do JCU med/dent they can at least invest a year studying at JCU.
I think that's a good idea. I think it was already common knowledge they did do this, but that does remind me the other thing I should mention is I have been told explicitly that JCU does allocate a ?small number of spots each year to people who do biomed at JCU and then apply after 1-2 years (or after completion... but by that point it's 3+6 years at uni which is a pretty big commitment). So it probably does already exist this way (to an extent), just not advertised as openly like UNSW etc.
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Hi Stapedius,
Just out of curiosity, does the 'small number of allocation spots for JCU biomed' apply for students only or JCU staff as well? I have been a staff at JCU for over 6 years. Wondering if that will have any weightage.
Nibbathehibba
Lurker
Hi,
Just a question out of curiosity. I have autism, and growing up I was surrounded by psychiatrists and health professionals to help me integrate into society. This is a very big reason for why I want to do med, however I am unsure of whether I should include this when speaking in my interview. I'm afraid that the interviewer will see this as a weakness, or as an undesired quality for a doctor. Should I include this or not?
Thanks
Just a question out of curiosity. I have autism, and growing up I was surrounded by psychiatrists and health professionals to help me integrate into society. This is a very big reason for why I want to do med, however I am unsure of whether I should include this when speaking in my interview. I'm afraid that the interviewer will see this as a weakness, or as an undesired quality for a doctor. Should I include this or not?
Thanks
You could see it as a weakness OR you could see it as a strength of yours - the choice is yours!
JFB
Member
The interviewers I know don't consider a trait or a quirk or any other thing you are born with as a weakness. The reality is, the interview, aside from checking boxes with your answer to why medicine or why you want to study there, is an interpersonal tool; medicine is a deeply interpersonal profession. The entire interview is designed, regardless of MMI or panel or questionnaire, to test your interpersonal qualities.
4 or 5 years in study is more than enough to teach almost anyone almost anything, and it's also long enough to ensure you've picked reliable, safe practitioners. But they need to know that you want to deal with people, think about people, interact and communicate with people, and that you have your own mental tools to evaluate, interpret, and produce communication. They don't really care what you would do if there was an angry patient demanding meds. They will teach you what to do. But they want to know who you are thinking about, and what you want for everyone involved.
And being a good practitioner doesn't depend on having the traits of the 50th percentile. At the end of the day, they need people who are intimately aware of autism, it's the most effective means of making change. The interviewers these days don't look at the qualities of different people as obstacles to practice, they overwhelmingly know that they need to test for the very particular qualities they've set out, because those other differences create a practitioner capable of unique capabilities. It sounds cliché but it's honestly true. Don't include your weakness, you have the opportunity to be a practitioner with insight into a major health priority of the country. Take that opportunity seriously, and the strengths behind it will show themselves.
Keep in mind that the previously noted "formula" has almost certainly changed.
The weighting of individual components is no longer common knowledge amongst the interviewers, or at least hasn't been communicated to me in the last few years of being an interviewer.
The weighting of individual components is no longer common knowledge amongst the interviewers, or at least hasn't been communicated to me in the last few years of being an interviewer.
Hot_Procedure_3
Lurker
Do we know what time? Like what time was it last year?
Hard
Griffith BMedSci/MD I
According to last year Invites I believe it was around 5:30 pm AEST, but don't quote me on that.
I went through the interview invite records and found that people received it around 5:26pm.
Where on the application portal?
![[MedStudentsOnline.com.au] JCU Medicine: General Entry Discussion](https://data.medstudentsonline.com.au/attachments/5/5272-dcf8a1203d2b5b73bba4facacbfa6dd7.jpg?hash=_UjleHdwIf "[MedStudentsOnline.com.au] JCU Medicine: General Entry Discussion")
Also received interview offer, surprised as I applied as non-standard (6.89 GPA) but forgot to submit my rural documentation and therefore would’ve been classified as non-rural. I did have rural schools down in my education background on my application, do they take this into account or was GPA simply high enough as a non-standard, non-rural applicant?
Are you in Year 12?
I can only see my application when I do that
