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JCU JCU Medicine 'marvelous' interview guide

N

nb

Guest
Here is my not so detailed guide to how to kill the JCU interview as requested by A1 and several others who have DM’d me on MSO. Thought I’d post it here to help everyone and so no one is disadvantaged. :lol:

Ever since my post on the offers page where I highlighted how the dean of Medicine at JCU described my interview as ‘marvelous’, people have started to think 1. I bribed the interviewers, or 2. I’m insane at talking to people and am an extrovert (let me assure you I am an introvert and one of the most awkward people you will ever meet LOL). This is also why I will be using the word 'marvelous' repeatedly now, in the most 'uncocky' manner I can :)

Although I did get offers for Monash and Flinders (no interview), I do think my JCU interview was by far the one I was most comfortable in and hence am sharing this guide and not a Monash guide.

To be more serious, I do think that obviously I would have ticked several boxes that JCU was looking for in this admission cycle for them to give me the final offer and such a 'marvelous' score on the interview. I’m going to break this up into 2 parts:

  • The written application.
  • The interview.
The written application.

Now to get the interview, you need an outstanding written application to put you in the top 800 or so people out of the 2000-3000 people JCU interview (I do not know exact figures). Tips that I’d give for the written application:

  • Be as authentic as possible – Believe me, they can sniff out if you are trying to bs your way through and it will be extremely visible even if you do get the interview and you lack authenticity, as was confirmed by several of my friends not getting the interview after lying in their written application. Be yourself. Even if being yourself is similar to someone else being themselves, it’ll do you much better than faking your volunteer experience or how much you ADORE RURAL MEDICINE . Please be genuine…
  • Close your eyes and try and think of the very start when you were born (although you probs do not remember it). Point is, try and track your journey of life, and where in your life there were certain stages that sparked your interest to study medicine, specifically rural/tropical Medicine. Write these down. Whether that be when you visited a rural area and saw the shortage of doctors/scarce medical facilities, or whether you went into a hospital with a family member and were touched by the care the team of health care professionals provided there. Whatever the reason, it will be YOUR reason and no one else’s.
  • If you are reading this at the start of year 12, then try get some volunteer experience in your local community. For me, I did it at my local tennis club, which aligned with my own passion for Tennis and sports. I also went to Bendigo (rural area in Victoria) for a Tennis tournament and experienced the rural environment there. I shadowed my uncle there who is a rural doctor. You see how everything is smoothly aligned? You need to do this. Obviously, you can’t use what I used. Have your own story, but make sure its smooth and that its constructed in a way to appeal to JCU’s rural focus. Now, would I have included that example if I went to a metro area to play my Tennis tournament? Nope, because it would not have added any weight to my application.
The interview

Firstly, congratulations! You have made it past the first stage. You have differentiated yourself from the thousands of applicants who apply each year and YOUR written application was appealing for JCU, so well done!

Just as a overview, the JCU interview is a panel interview (well it is at the time I am writing this in 2021 February, may change in the future who knows), with about 3 panel interviewers, asking questions about your interest in rural medicine/teamwork/volunteer experience, followed by a debate section. I’d recommend checking out Benjamin’s thorough post regarding specific questions for the interview (which were surprisingly pretty similar to the questions I got last year).

Here is his post


Things I did and tips I’d give for the interview:

  • I talked a lot for practice. By a lot I mean A LOT. I was talking to everyone… My parents, friends other fellow interviewees in a discord channel, pretty much every couple days for hours on end doing practice questions and receiving feedback. A lot of people just go over questions in their head, which is not enough. You NEED to vocalise your thoughts, so they come out smoother on the interview day. Get a interview partner (or group like I did), and consistently practice, ask for feedback and try and improve. I’d recommend doing about 2-3 weeks of solid practice. Now I’m not saying come in with a script, as you’ll definitely be seen as rehearsed and lacking authenticity, but rather come in with a general idea of what to say, and HOW to say it smoothly and concisely. Also, just start talking to more people. Whether that be at school, or family events and what not. Be more vocal, it will help with the debate section of the interview which requires quite a lot of improvising on the spot as the topics they throw at you can be quite random.
  • (Content removed)
  • Lastly, the interview is VERY relaxed. This was not just my experience but also my friends’ who had differnte interviewers. They were so informal and just friendly, so there is no need for you to talk extremely professionally and second guess every word that comes out of your mouth. I know this is hard to see now, but just have some fun in the process, it will really help your performance on the day.
I wish everyone the very best of luck for their JCU interviews in 2021 (and the future), and please PM me if you have any other specific queries regarding this process. Thank you for listening to my TED talk, I'm OUT PEACE!

~the 'marvelous' nb

PS. MONASH MED 4 LYF
 
Last edited by a moderator:

2xq

Allied Health Member
Here is my not so detailed guide to how to kill the JCU interview as requested by A1 and several others who have DM’d me on MSO. Thought I’d post it here to help everyone and so no one is disadvantaged. :lol:

Ever since my post on the offers page where I highlighted how the dean of Medicine at JCU described my interview as ‘marvelous’, people have started to think 1. I bribed the interviewers, or 2. I’m insane at talking to people and am an extrovert (let me assure you I am an introvert and one of the most awkward people you will ever meet LOL). This is also why I will be using the word 'marvelous' repeatedly now, in the most 'uncocky' manner I can :)

Although I did get offers for Monash and Flinders (no interview), I do think my JCU interview was by far the one I was most comfortable in and hence am sharing this guide and not a Monash guide.

To be more serious, I do think that obviously I would have ticked several boxes that JCU was looking for in this admission cycle for them to give me the final offer and such a 'marvelous' score on the interview. I’m going to break this up into 2 parts:

  • The written application.
  • The interview.
The written application.

Now to get the interview, you need an outstanding written application to put you in the top 800 or so people out of the 2000-3000 people JCU interview (I do not know exact figures). Tips that I’d give for the written application:

  • Be as authentic as possible – Believe me, they can sniff out if you are trying to bs your way through and it will be extremely visible even if you do get the interview and you lack authenticity, as was confirmed by several of my friends not getting the interview after lying in their written application. Be yourself. Even if being yourself is similar to someone else being themselves, it’ll do you much better than faking your volunteer experience or how much you ADORE RURAL MEDICINE . Please be genuine…
  • Close your eyes and try and think of the very start when you were born (although you probs do not remember it). Point is, try and track your journey of life, and where in your life there were certain stages that sparked your interest to study medicine, specifically rural/tropical Medicine. Write these down. Whether that be when you visited a rural area and saw the shortage of doctors/scarce medical facilities, or whether you went into a hospital with a family member and were touched by the care the team of health care professionals provided there. Whatever the reason, it will be YOUR reason and no one else’s.
  • If you are reading this at the start of year 12, then try get some volunteer experience in your local community. For me, I did it at my local tennis club, which aligned with my own passion for Tennis and sports. I also went to Bendigo (rural area in Victoria) for a Tennis tournament and experienced the rural environment there. I shadowed my uncle there who is a rural doctor. You see how everything is smoothly aligned? You need to do this. Obviously, you can’t use what I used. Have your own story, but make sure its smooth and that its constructed in a way to appeal to JCU’s rural focus. Now, would I have included that example if I went to a metro area to play my Tennis tournament? Nope, because it would not have added any weight to my application.
The interview

Firstly, congratulations! You have made it past the first stage. You have differentiated yourself from the thousands of applicants who apply each year and YOUR written application was appealing for JCU, so well done!

Just as a overview, the JCU interview is a panel interview (well it is at the time I am writing this in 2021 February, may change in the future who knows), with about 3 panel interviewers, asking questions about your interest in rural medicine/teamwork/volunteer experience, followed by a debate section. I’d recommend checking out Benjamin’s thorough post regarding specific questions for the interview (which were surprisingly pretty similar to the questions I got last year).

Here is his post


Things I did and tips I’d give for the interview:

  • I talked a lot for practice. By a lot I mean A LOT. I was talking to everyone… My parents, friends other fellow interviewees in a discord channel, pretty much every couple days for hours on end doing practice questions and receiving feedback. A lot of people just go over questions in their head, which is not enough. You NEED to vocalise your thoughts, so they come out smoother on the interview day. Get a interview partner (or group like I did), and consistently practice, ask for feedback and try and improve. I’d recommend doing about 2-3 weeks of solid practice. Now I’m not saying come in with a script, as you’ll definitely be seen as rehearsed and lacking authenticity, but rather come in with a general idea of what to say, and HOW to say it smoothly and concisely. Also, just start talking to more people. Whether that be at school, or family events and what not. Be more vocal, it will help with the debate section of the interview which requires quite a lot of improvising on the spot as the topics they throw at you can be quite random.
  • (content removed)

  • Lastly, the interview is VERY relaxed. This was not just my experience but also my friends’ who had differnte interviewers. They were so informal and just friendly, so there is no need for you to talk extremely professionally and second guess every word that comes out of your mouth. I know this is hard to see now, but just have some fun in the process, it will really help your performance on the day.
I wish everyone the very best of luck for their JCU interviews in 2021 (and the future), and please PM me if you have any other specific queries regarding this process. Thank you for listening to my TED talk, I'm OUT PEACE!

~the 'marvelous' nb

PS. MONASH MED 4 LYF
"Marvelous" post nb 😂😂😂
 
Last edited by a moderator:
how important do you think your atar is in securing an offer? i already had my interview before my atar and got a 97.85 as a non rural standard student, what are my chances ?
 

SLP

Bond MD I
This was written by Nonstandard983 on the general entry page for JCU:

Last year according to MSO collated offer data the lowest score for a non-rural applicant was 99+ (99.15 from memory you would have to check)

this doesn’t mean that you couldn’t possibly get an offer however you would likely need one of the top interviews plus a really good application (if this is considered for offer rounds I’m not 100% up on JCUs selection data but I do know they don’t normally offer interviews if it’s impossible to receive a place the only time this would happen is if your ATAR was significantly lower than your predicted)


As mentioned before, it's really hard to dictate exactly how JCU splits the weightings between application, ATAR/GPA and interview performance when giving out offers.
 

Crow

Staff | Junior Doctor
Moderator
Unless it’s changed this year, JCU has not previously included application score in the rankings for place offers, only interview/ATAR/rurality.
 

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Unless it’s changed this year, JCU has not previously included application score in the rankings for place offers, only interview/ATAR/rurality.
by rurality do they mean how rural a student is or how likely a student will work in a rural setting ?
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
by rurality do they mean how rural a student is or how likely a student will work in a rural setting ?
A bespoke combination of factors is the generally held belief. The content of your written application could well contribute to this, tbh, as there’s no exact guide. But your rural background would also be included.
 

Nonstandard983

UoN JMP II
MSOer of the Year 2021
Unless it’s changed this year, JCU has not previously included application score in the rankings for place offers, only interview/ATAR/rurality.
Sorry that was my mistake that was what I meant to write a few to many sneaky Christmas beers may have done me in there
 
Hey, I was wondering how you are finding the campus life/social atmosphere of JCU? Can't seem to find much about that around... If there is a thread already, please let me know! :)
 

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