JCU JCU Medicine: Interview Discussion

[DrDrLMG!]

Unfortunately - not very helpful- she called back and said thats the best they can do. They can access results only up to that point.
This is so unfair :
- Predicted ATAR used for interview invites
-Actual ATAR for admission offers

And yet , IB students lose out on second round invites just because their results are later.
How is this fair if the predicted score is way out of whack.
And our school does not even tell us what the predicted score is.. so how in the world will we know ?
Can I complain about this anywhere.. Will anyone listen?

The only probable recourse is to explain the situation to your school and ensure they understand the importance of accurately estimating (or leaning towards over-estimating) your predicted score to ensure you are not disadvantaged. I doubt JCU will be changing anything as this has been their process for some time, with this issue coming up every year. They do not have a shortage of applicants.

 

[MedBrun]

Anyone got any information on the questions and topics in the JCU Interview, from like 2015-2016 onwards or anything relevant for that matter. I saw the 1st post and that was very insightful but was looking to see if there was anything else that I should know for this year's interviews particularly anything from last year? Any help would be much appreciated. BTW so excited to have received an interview and keen to hopefully get in. Thanks for all your help.

 

[MedBrun]

Anyone got any information on the questions and topics in the JCU Interview, from like 2015-2016 onwards or anything relevant for that matter. I saw the 1st post and that was very insightful but was looking to see if there was anything else that I should know for this year's interviews particularly anything from last year? Any help would be much appreciated. BTW so excited to have received an interview and keen to hopefully get in. Thanks for all your help.

 

[Benjamin]

Anyone got any information on the questions and topics in the JCU Interview, from like 2015-2016 onwards or anything relevant for that matter. I saw the 1st post and that was very insightful but was looking to see if there was anything else that I should know for this year's interviews particularly anything from last year? Any help would be much appreciated. BTW so excited to have received an interview and keen to hopefully get in. Thanks for all your help.

I'm currently flying back from Namibia so have got (very) sparse internet.

I have a few PM's from people who shared their interview experiences last year with me.

I will update it in the next 48 hours - on a plane for the next 16 and then back at work shortly after so won't be able to get to it until then. I will post in this thread & update the first post as well.

 

[MedBrun]

I'm currently flying back from Namibia so have got (very) sparse internet.

I have a few PM's from people who shared their interview experiences last year with me.

I will update it in the next 48 hours - on a plane for the next 16 and then back at work shortly after so won't be able to get to it until then. I will post in this thread & update the first post as well.

Thanks Ben that would be awesome!

 

[Canuckoz01]

The only probable recourse is to explain the situation to your school and ensure they understand the importance of accurately estimating (or leaning towards over-estimating) your predicted score to ensure you are not disadvantaged. I doubt JCU will be changing anything as this has been their process for some time, with this issue coming up every year. They do not have a shortage of applicants.

Thanks !.. Do you think the school will revise the prediction? No harm in trying I guess

 

[docs mother]

Hi Ben,

Looking forward to any information you may have on interview questions from last year. Also does anyone know if it is too late to organise on campus accomodation at Townsville, as I have just received an offer for interview, just in case I get in?

Anyone else here a rural school leaver with an uncertain ATAR prediction? If so any info on say whether I get a 91, does JCU actually count that as a 96, as rural students get 5 ATAR points on top of initial mark?

 

[lucky888]

Look forward to your information Ben. Thanks in advance.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hi Ben,

Looking forward to any information you may have on interview questions from last year. Also does anyone know if it is too late to organise on campus accomodation at Townsville, as I have just received an offer for interview, just in case I get in?

Anyone else here a rural school leaver with an uncertain ATAR prediction? If so any info on say whether I get a 91, does JCU actually count that as a 96, as rural students get 5 ATAR points on top of initial mark?

Look forward to your information Ben. Thanks in advance.

Ben is not currently available, and regardless would not have access to the content of questions used during JCU interviews last year.

ETA: apparently Ben has some second hand information he may be able to share. He remains currently unavailable however, and will no doubt check in when he can.

 

[Kinetica]

I wonder how many 2nd round offer interviews are made for non-school leavers?

 

[Austin]

I wonder how many 2nd round offer interviews are made for non-school leavers?

I am not 100% sure but I think generally non-school leavers are interviewed in the second round. The exact number is unknown, I am assuming they over offer interviews in anticipation of the number of people that will decline their interview offer. According to 2018, only 28 people who were non-school leavers received offers.

 

[1234med]

Does anyone remember if JCU has interviews on the weekends?

I want to change my time but I can't without cancelling my current time first.

 

[Crow]

Hi everyone, I've just added the questions I was asked in my JCU interview last year at the bottom of the first post in this thread. My memory was a little hazy when I recorded these so they may not be the exact, word-for-word questions that I was asked. I did have an extra scenario question which I wrote down, but it makes little sense to me when I re-read it now, so hopefully someone else reported the same question to Ben and he can add it in.

I'm sure Ben has more questions to add.

If anyone has questions about the interview process, I'll do my best to answer - but my recollection of the interview is somewhat distant now! My experience pretty much matches up with Ben's.

 

[Benjamin]

Have updated the initial post with additional questions and a further reflection. The questions I have added under the 2017 header are new questions that were not explicitly mentioned in the initial write-up, however they continue to reflect the same themes as I originally had posted.

The format for the JCU interview remains largely unchanged over the last 7 years as far as I can tell - there is typically three interviewers that consist of an academic staff member (usually a Dr), a community member & a healthcare worker.They ask a series of opening questions followed by scenarios and a debate where you pick from three given topics.

The initial questions are typically generic interview questions that give you an opportunity to express how much you have actually thought about the course, profession & also working in rural areas. They will be aimed at assessing why you want to do medicine, whether you actually know what this entails & how you plan to get through the situations you will genuinely face when living in a rural area while on placement.

Scenarios are fairly broad but again continue to reflect the same issues that JCU holds dear - dealing with groups of people in disagreement especially about cultural situations, dealing with lack of access to health care in rural areas, dealing with relatively clear-cut ethical situations. The way that these scenarios often catch people out is that they ask a direct question at the end but actually want you to explore the entire situation - e.g. "which flag would you choose" versus "explain how you would approach". My suggestion would be to view these scenarios as always needing to address that direct question but to do so while explaining the entire situation from your perspective.

Debating topics prove hard to predict each year as it varies considerably with regard to what JCU wants to debate about. In saying that, there is a very small chance that you would get three topics that you know absolutely nothing about. Similarly, keep in mind that JCU does not want to actually assess your knowledge of the situation but rather how you interpret information & how you can present it. They want to watch you work through a discussion & (usually) deal with a bit of counter-discussion/debate. As such, expect your ideas to be slightly challenged and like all good debaters it is best to bring up the issues yourself rather than have them brought up to you if you can manage it.

I hope this thread still remains valuable - please let me know if there is anything else specific that you think could be added to it & please send me PM's of your interview questions after you have completed it. I will keep them anonymous & also will not post/tell anyone the questions until after the 1st and 2nd round interviews have been conducted.

Best of luck.

 

[wendywellington]

My son got offers at WSU, UTAS, UNSW, UADEL, UQ, Monash and JMP after switching preferences but not JCU. His UMAT and Year 12 result were excellent. And, he did well at interviews and MMIs as made evident by the offers. He thought JCU went just as well in the interview. However, did not get in (and he is a Queenslander). JCU has some interview members on the panel that only stay for one session (morning or afternoon). So different people can potentially run different interview panels every day...It appears to be a less than standardised and quite varied interview process, in comparison to all the others he did. Not knocking JCU, excellent uni and excellent course, but my point being, don't get to worried about the process or planning as sometimes it is totally out of your control....

 

[tod]

Hi just wanted to know if I did the nonstandard interview on the last day I would be at some disadvantage compared to someone who does it before that last date? eg. do you think they would already have a cohort of students they would have chosen before the 6th interview.

Thanks

 

[A1]

Hi just wanted to know if I did the nonstandard interview on the last day I would be at some disadvantage compared to someone who does it before that last date? eg. do you think they would already have a cohort of students they would have chosen before the 6th interview.

On this matter we should have more faith in the Admissions team than that. They do not select as they go along but wait until after the 4th Jan 2nd-round interviews then compile all results (ATAR/GPA + Interview + Rurality) for the final ranking. Place offers are not decided until mid January.

 

[Brian5555555555]

Anyone in JCU med currently, are there many non-rural, interstate students with a 98 atar? Been offered an interview but not confident my atar will be good enough when it comes down to final rankings and being offered a place

 

[A1]

Anyone in JCU med currently, are there many non-rural, interstate students with a 98 atar? Been offered an interview but not confident my atar will be good enough when it comes down to final rankings and being offered a place

Last year 10 non-rural people posted their JCU invites on MSO : six 99s three 98s one 97.
There were 9 posted place offers all were 99s (but not conclusive there were no 98s in general).

2017 was better news, 15 posted offers with ten 99s, three 98s, two 6.5s

> 2018 Entry Interview Invites - Collated
> Aus Med and Dent Place Offers 2018 - Collated Data
> Med Place Offers 2017 - Collated Data by LMG

 

[Crow]

Anyone in JCU med currently, are there many non-rural, interstate students with a 98 atar? Been offered an interview but not confident my atar will be good enough when it comes down to final rankings and being offered a place

Adding to what A1 has said, once you start university your ATAR becomes irrelevant - it won’t be a topic of discussion that comes up very often at uni (and I’d definitely advise against asking people what ATAR they received at uni!), so other than the data provided on MSO, you may find it tough to get the answers you’re after. Definitely have a crack at the interview if you’re in the position to do so, though - you wouldn’t have been invited to interview if you didn’t have a shot at a place offer! Good luck