Non-standard Medicine Entry

[A1]

This would mean I've done exactly 75% of my recommended first year units. I think USyd still regards 18/24 units a full time load, but I wouldn't want to jeopardise my chances at JMP etc.

Every uni regards 75% study load as being a full-time student, but in academic sense it does not give you 1 full-time equiv FTE year.

Having less than 1 FTE doesn't matter much for WSU & JMP if your ATAR is already above their hurdle (since WSU is either GPA or ATAR and JMP uses ATAR if <1 FTE). However it will severely impact your chances at UNSW & JCU since <1 FTE converts to a very poor Selection rank.

 

[2xq]

Hi, I intend to start a BPsych at USyd while studying for the UCAT. Would it make more sense to take on 18 units of uni work instead of 24 units this year while I attempt the UCAT? This would mean I've done exactly 75% of my recommended first year units. I think USyd still regards 18/24 units a full time load, but I wouldn't want to jeopardise my chances at JMP etc.

FYI USYD is 48 Credit Points for 1 FTE.

 

[mammamia]

deleted

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hi, I'm a non-standard and I accepted my offer for dentistry. Is there anyway I can defer my previous study? How do I go about doing this to keep all my previous courses valid but avoid fees etc?

Yes, you can defer your current degree to do first year Dent in most cases. You’ll need to contact your uni to confirm whether they specifically allow it and what the deferral process is.

 

[Abhi20]

At JCU, yes (but apparently it’s rare to have them approved). At the other three, no. Bond is also available to you and is also a no.

It’s therefore advisable not to do Med Sci as it confers no benefit and isn’t a particularly useful degree, long term, unless you’re keen on a PhD at some point. Have you had a think about other possibilities? Or are you set on Med Sci?

Hey sorry, I forgot to mention the Med Sci is at USC but I want to try for WSU or JMP because they're closer to home (and frankly is going to take a shorter time to complete). I figured it was worth a shot because if I don't get it then I could just finish at USC and Griffith. What is the selection for JMP, WSU and UNSW? would the course still be six years at UNSW or could my credit from UNSW save me a year? what about JCU?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hey sorry, I forgot to mention the Med Sci is at USC but I want to try for WSU or JMP because they're closer to home (and frankly is going to take a shorter time to complete). I figured it was worth a shot because if I don't get it then I could just finish at USC and Griffith. What is the selection for JMP, WSU and UNSW? would the course still be six years at UNSW or could my credit from UNSW save me a year? what about JCU?

As I already mentioned, no, you can’t get credit at UNSW and you’ll start from scratch. JCU have offered credit in the past but they’ve cracked down on it recently and someone in the know said chances are very slim these days so expect to start from scratch there too. As both are 6 year degrees, you won’t save any time by moving after 1 year at USC.

Check out the Selection Criteria table for entry requirements. That information is reported widely here already (and at the individual uni webpages).

 

[Abhi20]

As I already mentioned, no, you can’t get credit at UNSW and you’ll start from scratch. JCU have offered credit in the past but they’ve cracked down on it recently and someone in the know said chances are very slim these days so expect to start from scratch there too. As both are 6 year degrees, you won’t save any time by moving after 1 year at USC.

Check out the Selection Criteria table for entry requirements. That information is reported widely here already (and at the individual uni webpages).

But if I get into JMP or WSU it would be six years, right? how do both of these consider ATARs and GPA?

 

[Some guy]

WSU and JMP are five-year degrees. They have a range of methods for considering GPA/ATAR, for example WSU has different GPA thresholds for medicine depending on length of previous study and whether you completed a previous degree. There's some info on other MSO threads but best to also check the uni websites for the year you're looking to apply as criteria can change.

Neither JMP or WSU give credit for previous study or have any prerequisite subjects.

 

[Blobblab]

hey everyone, I graduated last year with a 96.95 ATAR and 71st percentile UCAT score (a really shocking score as I was quite good during practice) I was wondering if there's any point in taking a gap year to try and get into medicine due to my low ATAR. I don't have any special considerations either. If I take a gap year, study for UCAT, and get a good result (let's say 90th+ percentile), do I have a solid chance of getting into medicine at any universities across Australia, if so which ones (Curtin would be a dream as its so convenient for me)?

I currently have offers to study Law at UWA and engineering at UNSW and I don't want to start university and also study for UCAT/take graduate entry route, so if I accept any of these offers, I would no longer try to pursue medicine.

 

[ucatboy]

hey everyone, I graduated last year with a 96.95 ATAR and 71st percentile UCAT score (a really shocking score as I was quite good during practice) I was wondering if there's any point in taking a gap year to try and get into medicine due to my low ATAR. I don't have any special considerations either. If I take a gap year, study for UCAT, and get a good result (let's say 90th+ percentile), do I have a solid chance of getting into medicine at any universities across Australia, if so which ones (Curtin would be a dream as its so convenient for me)?

I currently have offers to study Law at UWA and engineering at UNSW and I don't want to start university and also study for UCAT/take graduate entry route, so if I accept any of these offers, I would no longer try to pursue medicine.

Being brutally honest, a 96.95 ATAR would render you uncompetitive for the vast majority of universities, at least those which factor ATAR into their final weighting - those unis generally require 98+ for a chance and 99+ for a good chance. That leaves the unis which only treat ATAR as a hurdle i.e. if you meet the ATAR requirement, all is good and they don't look at it anymore. That sounds like a good thing in theory but what it does is shift all of the focus onto your UCAT and interview - two very unpredictable things.

JMP only stipulates an ATAR hurdle of ~94, but you MUST have a UCAT score of 92%ile+ to be invited to attend an interview, and final place offers (1:3 place offer-to-interview ratio) are based entirely on interview performance.

JPM also employs a similar ATAR hurdle of ~95, but you need a VR score of ~700+ and an overall percentile in the 90s to be invited to attend an interview. From there, place offers will be 25% UCAT and 75% interview.

Your best bet is to start uni to get a 6.5+ GPA (which usually converts favourably into a 99.50 ATAR) as JMP and JPM remain open for non-standard entry (you won't be limited anymore than you already are), and you might even get a shot at UNSW which also takes non-standards. Starting uni might seem like a daunting thing but I would argue that the looser structure of uni offers more flexibility than high school with regard to preparing for the UCAT provided you manage your time well and keep on top of things.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Being brutally honest, a 96.95 ATAR would render you uncompetitive for the vast majority of universities, at least those which factor ATAR into their final weighting - those unis generally require 98+ for a chance and 99+ for a good chance. That leaves the unis which only treat ATAR as a hurdle i.e. if you meet the ATAR requirement, all is good and they don't look at it anymore. That sounds like a good thing in theory but what it does is shift all of the focus onto your UCAT and interview - two very unpredictable things.

JMP only stipulates an ATAR hurdle of ~94, but you MUST have a UCAT score of 92%ile+ to be invited to attend an interview, and final place offers (1:3 place offer-to-interview ratio) are based entirely on interview performance.

JPM also employs a similar ATAR hurdle of ~95, but you need a VR score of ~700+ and an overall percentile in the 90s to be invited to attend an interview. From there, place offers will be 25% UCAT and 75% interview.

Your best bet is to start uni to get a 6.5+ GPA (which usually converts favourably into a 99.50 ATAR) as JMP and JPM remain open for non-standard entry (you won't be limited anymore than you already are), and you might even get a shot at UNSW which also takes non-standards. Starting uni might seem like a daunting thing but I would argue that the looser structure of uni offers more flexibility than high school with regard to preparing for the UCAT provided you manage your time well and keep on top of things.

I completely agree with the above. Also, if Curtin is your goal, you may want to consider starting a degree there as you can apply as a course switcher prior to finishing the degree (as well as at other non-standard unis). If you study at UWA or UNSW, Curtin will only be an option once you’ve completed the degree.

 

[Blobblab]

Being brutally honest, a 96.95 ATAR would render you uncompetitive for the vast majority of universities, at least those which factor ATAR into their final weighting - those unis generally require 98+ for a chance and 99+ for a good chance. That leaves the unis which only treat ATAR as a hurdle i.e. if you meet the ATAR requirement, all is good and they don't look at it anymore. That sounds like a good thing in theory but what it does is shift all of the focus onto your UCAT and interview - two very unpredictable things.

JMP only stipulates an ATAR hurdle of ~94, but you MUST have a UCAT score of 92%ile+ to be invited to attend an interview, and final place offers (1:3 place offer-to-interview ratio) are based entirely on interview performance.

JPM also employs a similar ATAR hurdle of ~95, but you need a VR score of ~700+ and an overall percentile in the 90s to be invited to attend an interview. From there, place offers will be 25% UCAT and 75% interview.

Your best bet is to start uni to get a 6.5+ GPA (which usually converts favourably into a 99.50 ATAR) as JMP and JPM remain open for non-standard entry (you won't be limited anymore than you already are), and you might even get a shot at UNSW which also takes non-standards. Starting uni might seem like a daunting thing but I would argue that the looser structure of uni offers more flexibility than high school with regard to preparing for the UCAT provided you manage your time well and keep on top of things.

Thanks for putting time into that detailed response! This is quite a subjective question, but compared to actually getting a 99.50 ATAR, how hard is it to get a 6.5+ GPA because for me a 99.50 ATAR seems very out of reach? (If what course you choose makes a difference, let's assume engineering at UNSW)

 

[dotwingz]

One thing that separates school and uni is that results on a GPA are not on a sliding scale like they are with the ATAR. You get in the top band of achievement, and that’s it.

So to get a 7.0 GPA, you could get 85% in all your subjects, but to get a 99.95 you would need a ~97% in all of them (at least the ones i did)

This imo, makes it *way* easier to get a top GPA than it is easier to get a top ATAR.

Not to mention that a degree at uni is typically more specialised to your interests than school, especially with things like compulsory english which is often a major road block.

I know plenty of people with ATAR’s lower than yours, who have perfect/near perfect GPA’s in subjects that are often considered hard (engineering, hard sciences, etc) a 6.5+ is definitely achievable from someone who got the top 97% of their cohort (96.95 - which is a fascinatingly high ATAR, for pretty much everything but med and dent)

 

[Abhi20]

Hi so just to confirm UNSW takes 50/50 atar and GPA, right?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hi so just to confirm UNSW takes 50/50 atar and GPA, right?

Nope, there’s plenty of discussion on this already (and it’s detailed on their website), but UNSW now take a ‘best of’ approach.

 

[2xq]

Nope, there’s plenty of discussion on this already (and it’s detailed on their website), but UNSW now take a ‘best of’ approach.

*provided that both your ATAR and GPA are above threshold.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

*provided that both your ATAR and GPA are above threshold.

And the threshold isn’t pre-determined so it seems it’s possible to be interviewed but then not eligible for a place in the end, regardless of interview performance.

 

[namashivaya]

Sorry, I searched through this, but I still could not find the information.
I finished HSC in 2020 and want to try medicine as non-standard in WSU. I have joined science degree in USNW.
The requirement in WSU for non-standard entry is:
"1 semester or more but less than 1 year undergraduate (4-7 units) GPA = 6.1
1 year or more but uncompleted undergraduate (8-23 units) GPA = 5.9" (as listed on site Course (westernsydney.edu.au) ).

I am planning to do 1 year of Computer Science at UNSW and not completing the undergraduate degree, but will be completing 48 UoC if I do this. However, this will result in more than 23 units which is what I need to be eligible for the second option of the academic threshold. Can someone tell me which academic threshold I am eligible for? And is there a difference between UNSW UoC and WSU units?

Sorry forgot to add this in the last post, but does WSU also do a "best of" ATAR and GPA (my atar was higher than the GWS Academic Threshold)?

Thanks

 

[A1]

1 year or more but uncompleted undergraduate (8-23 units)

The units in this line^ mean courses, most commonly 4 per semester.
The UoC is a different type of units, it's commonly 6 per standard-size course so 24 UoC per semester, 48 per year.

does WSU also do a "best of" ATAR and GPA

Yes it's best of for undergrad students. Once you have completed a degree it's GPA only.

 

[Blobblab]

So I decided to do engineering at Curtin after the above advice, but since I did not take mathematics methods, I need to do multidisciplinary science for one semester THEN switch to engineering. Since I'm going to attempt to course switch into medicine at Curtin and apply as a non-standard at other unis, how will this affect me?