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JCU JCU Medicine: Non-Standard Entry

whatup245

Member
does the EAS for QTAC play any part for JCU med and dent admissions/applications? I think I'm eligible but I'm not sure if its worth filling out and finding the right documents etc if it has no bearing.
 

Crow

Staff | Junior Doctor
Moderator
does the EAS for QTAC play any part for JCU med and dent admissions/applications? I think I'm eligible but I'm not sure if its worth filling out and finding the right documents etc if it has no bearing.
No, JCU med/dent/vet all don't consider EAS.
 
Hey fellas!

I am currently finalizing my 2021 medicine non-standard application. I received an interview in 2018 but did not progress further. I am currently studying an MBBS degree in the United Kingdom (I am an Australian citizen and graduated from a non-rural school in Queensland) and my university does not provide results in the traditional GPA format, rather I just received a raw percentage grade that I have been advised is not comparable to a GPA due to the nature of my course. Could anyone provide me with an insight as to how I will be ranked and compared to other non-standard applicants? Will the fact that I am currently studying medicine be considered by the admissions board when I am ranked academically?
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Hey fellas!

I am currently finalizing my 2021 medicine non-standard application. I received an interview in 2018 but did not progress further. I am currently studying an MBBS degree in the United Kingdom (I am an Australian citizen and graduated from a non-rural school in Queensland) and my university does not provide results in the traditional GPA format, rather I just received a raw percentage grade that I have been advised is not comparable to a GPA due to the nature of my course. Could anyone provide me with an insight as to how I will be ranked and compared to other non-standard applicants? Will the fact that I am currently studying medicine be considered by the admissions board when I am ranked academically?

Some (most?) universities in Australia do not consider applications from those who have already started a medicine degree elsewhere. I actually have no idea if this extends to:
A. JCU specifically
B. International courses
Have you confirmed that you’re definitely eligible?

If you are eligible then, no, the type of degree you’re studying is not considered and you’ll be in the same pool as Science, Law, Teaching, Arts students, etc.

QTAC will figure out how to convert your GPA. I think you can request a copy of the conversion, but there may be a fee involved (I have vague memories of this, but I’m not 100% sure).

A1 adds for general info:
UNSW has now clarified on its website students of Australian med schools are not eligible to apply. I hope this means the same for other schools having this rule.
 
Some (most?) universities in Australia do not consider applications from those who have already started a medicine degree elsewhere. I actually have no idea if this extends to:
A. JCU specifically
B. International courses
Have you confirmed that you’re definitely eligible?

If you are eligible then, no, the type of degree you’re studying is not considered and you’ll be in the same pool as Science, Law, Teaching, Arts students, etc.

QTAC will figure out how to convert your GPA. I think you can request a copy of the conversion, but there may be a fee involved (I have vague memories of this, but I’m not 100% sure).

A1 adds for general info:
UNSW has now clarified on its website students of Australian med schools are not eligible to apply. I hope this means the same for other schools having this rule.
Yes I have confirmed with JCU that I am still eligible for the course.
 

yeetnees

JCU MBBS I
Hey guys! Just regarding the section on the application form that asks about highest level of education. I have completed 3.5 years of my degree and have deferred Sem 2 of 4th year. I was advised by JCU to tick 'currently studying a tertiary degree' which I have done. I am a bit confused however about the 'how many years will you have completed by the end of 2020' bit. In this case it would be 3.5 but do I just list 3? Sorry to be pedantic!
 

Crow

Staff | Junior Doctor
Moderator
Hey guys! Just regarding the section on the application form that asks about highest level of education. I have completed 3.5 years of my degree and have deferred Sem 2 of 4th year. I was advised by JCU to tick 'currently studying a tertiary degree' which I have done. I am a bit confused however about the 'how many years will you have completed by the end of 2020' bit. In this case it would be 3.5 but do I just list 3? Sorry to be pedantic!
It’s really not going to matter. If you’ve completed 3.5 then list 3.5.
 

yeetnees

JCU MBBS I
It’s really not going to matter. If you’ve completed 3.5 then list 3.5.

Thanks so much Crow! Deferring has made things a bit tricky I swear! Last question hopefully, I've listed my degree down and put No for the completion box, when asked about 'Year Completed OR Last Year of Enrolment', is that basically when my degree finishes aka 2022 or simply 2020 being the most recent year completed?

Side note, thank you SO much for taking the time out to help all of us on here.
 

Crow

Staff | Junior Doctor
Moderator
Actually dacryocystitis I've looked at the form and I would put 2020, not 2022. Apologies! Let me know you've seen this and I'll delete my other post afterwards.
 

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Arunesh

Member
Hi,
So first post here!
I'm a non-standard rural student applying for JCU. With a GPA of about 6.75, coupled with a decent application, would I be a shot? Just heard so many stories of the lack of spots in non standard
 

yeetnees

JCU MBBS I
Actually dacryocystitis I've looked at the form and I would put 2020, not 2022. Apologies! Let me know you've seen this and I'll delete my other post afterwards.
Gotcha Crow! Also, am applying with a 6.66 gpa as a non-rural (3 years bachelor + 0.5 year Masters degree), wondering if this is even competitive? Do they take into consideration which degree you are doing (e.g. arts vs health science) and how many years have been attempted when looking at your gpa? Would seem pretty odd to compare 1 year of study to 4 years of a harder degree.
 
Last edited:

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Hi,
So first post here!
I'm a non-standard rural student applying for JCU. With a GPA of about 6.75, coupled with a decent application, would I be a shot? Just heard so many stories of the lack of spots in non standard

6.75 is competitive for a non-rural applicant, but the written application is by far the biggest factor. You will just have to wait and see.

Gotcha Crow! Also, am applying with a 6.66 gpa as a non-rural (3 years bachelor + 0.5 year Masters degree), wondering if this is even competitive? Do they take into consideration which degree you are doing (e.g. arts vs health science) and how many years have been attempted when looking at your gpa? Would seem pretty odd to compare 1 year of study to 4 years of a harder degree.

See above re. GPA and 'what are my chances'. Some universities take into account how many years you've done, some do not. I don't think we have any indication that JCU do once you've reached 1FTE. The type of degree you're doing isn't a factor. As for "harder degree", I'm not even going to go there.
 

yeetnees

JCU MBBS I
6.75 is competitive for a non-rural applicant, but the written application is by far the biggest factor. You will just have to wait and see.



See above re. GPA and 'what are my chances'. Some universities take into account how many years you've done, some do not. I don't think we have any indication that JCU do once you've reached 1FTE. The type of degree you're doing isn't a factor. As for "harder degree", I'm not even going to go there.
Hi LMG! Thanks for the reply! Meant no offence/malicious intent re 'harder degree' was more so coming from the perspective that a friend of mine is applying as well having been through a mechanical engineering degree with a high fail rate vs my degree which is pretty chill in comparison so was trying to gauge fairness :)
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Hi LMG! Thanks for the reply! Meant no offence/malicious intent re 'harder degree' was more so coming from the perspective that a friend of mine is applying as well having been through a mechanical engineering degree with a high fail rate vs my degree which is pretty chill in comparison so was trying to gauge fairness :)

In that case, it’s probably useful for you (and others, no doubt, particularly ahead of interviews where you definitely don’t want to be misunderstood) to reflect on the way you worded your question and provided examples: ie. you may have meant mech eng vs your degree, but the example you provided was arts vs health science, and your later use of “harder degree”, which is actually pretty meaningless (one person’s harder, heavy reliance on creativity or essay writing for example, is another person’s bread and butter). Just something to think about...
 

yeetnees

JCU MBBS I
In that case, it’s probably useful for you (and others, no doubt, particularly ahead of interviews where you definitely don’t want to be misunderstood) to reflect on the way you worded your question and provided examples: ie. you may have meant mech eng vs your degree, but the example you provided was arts vs health science, and your later use of “harder degree”, which is actually pretty meaningless (one person’s harder, heavy reliance on creativity or essay writing for example, is another person’s bread and butter). Just something to think about...
100% agree with you there when you put it that way! Apologies and meant no disrespect. Will definitely need to work on that moving forwards! Thank you for pointing that out so kindly and gently 😁
 
Hi guys, I have a question about non-standard entry.

So the situation as it stands is:
- Did Year 12 NSW HSC last year.
- I am in my 1st year of university (UNSW). We have a trimester system and are currently in trimester #3.
- In term 1, I was enrolled in Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) / Bachelor of Science
- In term 2, I transferred into Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) / Bachelor of Science (Computer Science). This is actually different degree even though it looks like I'm still studying an Engineering & Science double degree. The program code is different and on my academic transcript it also shows that I am in a different program.
- Currently we are in term 3, and I am still enrolled in Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) / Bachelor of Science (Computer Science).
- I want to apply to JCU for non standard medicine entry and I have read that on their website they will use the most recent course GPA.
- By the end of the year, I will have completed 1 year of university study. It's just that 1/3 of that year is in one degree (old program) while 2/3 of the year is in my current degree (current program). This means I will have done 2 classes in my old degree and 6 classes in my current degree. 8 classes (48 UoC in UNSW-speech) is considered as 1 FTE.
- After talking to QTAC, I understand that JCU converts everyone's GPA's into ATAR-like selection ranks so that they can differentiate between someone who has had a 7.0 GPA after 1 year vs someone who got a single HD in one term of university and then stopped studying so that their GPA wouldn't drop. The GPA to selection rank table used is (I think) identical to the one published by QUT here: Higher education study.
- I understand that if you have < 1 year of FTE study, then the conversion from GPA to selection rank is very poor. If they choose to do this, this will basically render me uncompetitive for non-standard JCU medicine entry. Of course, I still plan on submitting a written application.
- So my question is: Does anyone know whether I have "studied for 1 year" of university and whether they will use 1+ FTE table (see link above) or will they convert my GPA poorly? Let me know if you need any more information from me or if you want me to clarify anything from this post.

I understand if you are unable to answer if you do not have enough information regarding their procedures. However, all and any help will be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance :)
 

A1

Rookie Doc
Moderator
Hi guys, I have a question about non-standard entry.

So the situation as it stands is:
- Did Year 12 NSW HSC last year.
- I am in my 1st year of university (UNSW). We have a trimester system and are currently in trimester #3.
- In term 1, I was enrolled in Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) / Bachelor of Science
- In term 2, I transferred into Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) / Bachelor of Science (Computer Science). This is actually different degree even though it looks like I'm still studying an Engineering & Science double degree. The program code is different and on my academic transcript it also shows that I am in a different program.
- Currently we are in term 3, and I am still enrolled in Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) / Bachelor of Science (Computer Science).
- I want to apply to JCU for non standard medicine entry and I have read that on their website they will use the most recent course GPA.
- By the end of the year, I will have completed 1 year of university study. It's just that 1/3 of that year is in one degree (old program) while 2/3 of the year is in my current degree (current program). This means I will have done 2 classes in my old degree and 6 classes in my current degree. 8 classes (48 UoC in UNSW-speech) is considered as 1 FTE.
- After talking to QTAC, I understand that JCU converts everyone's GPA's into ATAR-like selection ranks so that they can differentiate between someone who has had a 7.0 GPA after 1 year vs someone who got a single HD in one term of university and then stopped studying so that their GPA wouldn't drop. The GPA to selection rank table used is (I think) identical to the one published by QUT here: Higher education study.
- I understand that if you have < 1 year of FTE study, then the conversion from GPA to selection rank is very poor. If they choose to do this, this will basically render me uncompetitive for non-standard JCU medicine entry. Of course, I still plan on submitting a written application.
- So my question is: Does anyone know whether I have "studied for 1 year" of university and whether they will use 1+ FTE table (see link above) or will they convert my GPA poorly? Let me know if you need any more information from me or if you want me to clarify anything from this post.

I understand if you are unable to answer if you do not have enough information regarding their procedures. However, all and any help will be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance :)

My understanding is the unis consider your most recent study program/degree by itself, provided it meets the required study load (one full semester for JCU). So on surface they will use your most recent two trimesters which unfortunately is less than 1 FTE.

But were you allowed to transfer the 1st trimester's units into the 2nd degree program? If you were I think you have good reasons to argue it does have 1+ FTE.
 

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Hi A1 . Yup, thanks to the way I structured my classes I have managed to transfer my 1st trimester's units into my current degree with no problems. So on my transcript it says that I will have done 48 UoC in my current degree by the end of the year. This is UNSW-speech for having done 8 classes.

Another question I have is: Will QTAC include these 2 classes when calculating my study load (assuming they do this prior to selecting which table to use for GPA to selection rank conversion)?

If they do then I'll have done 8 classes which is 1 year FTE, but if they don't count those 2 classes then I'll only have done 6 classes in my most recent degree which is 0.75 year FTE.

Have I screwed myself over by switching degrees? Thank you for any replies :)
 

A1

Rookie Doc
Moderator
Another question I have is: Will QTAC include these 2 classes when calculating my study load (assuming they do this prior to selecting which table to use for GPA to selection rank conversion)?

Logically QTAC should include these two units to make it 1 FTE but we can't be sure. I suggest you call QTAC around end of October ask what Rank they have calculated for you. If it looks like they use the 0.75 FTE conversion then point out with supporting document your transcript says 48 UoC in the current (most recent) program by end of year.
 

Gemsik121

Member
Hi everyone, I am currently in the second year of my undergrad and applied to JCU MBBS as a non-school, non-rural applicant. Just emailed JCU staff from student service who said ''the GPA you have most recently received, so if you have completed study in 2020 and received a GPA< this will be used''. So to clarify I called them and the same staff member said only my 2020, semester 1 GPA will be used rather than my whole academic transcript. This seems to contradict what most people have said on this forum and also talking with QTAC team who sends the whole GPA to the uni. Does this mean the uni then looks at our most recent GPA rather than previous years of tertiary study?

I know I should trust what the uni is saying but it seems conflicting information to what I was originally led to believe.
 

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