Non-standard Medicine Entry

[JeydinNewWon]

hi !! im a current year 12 student and i was wondering if going into medsci for lateral entry into medicine is worth it. im aiming for unsw med but i just want to have a back up just in case. i am slightly interested in med sci but I heard that only a small cohort of medsci students get offered a position into unsw med as well.

No, it's a big trap for many people.

Red flags for this pathway
- For the Lateral Entry Scheme only up to 10 are allowed to join. That's quite the long shot.
- Medical Science doesn't really have good career opportunities after graduating especially after failing to get into Medicine, which is much more common than the <10 entry spots via Lateral Entry Scheme. You'll be stuck with a nearly useless degree.
- Cohort is very competitive as most people would be doing it to enter medicine. As such, it is a breeding ground for negative competition and overall toxicity. Subjective, but it does play a factor into uni life with tutorials and classes and such.
- You can literally study any other degree that has better career prospects and continually re-apply each year to UNSW Medicine and (hopefully) get better at the UCAT each year with more experience.
- A lot of Postgrad med unis don't require MedSci/BiomedSci/etc as an Undergraduate degree. It's very common for Postgrad med students to be from a wide range of backgrounds. You should be more worried about the GAMSAT at that point.

For reference, I highly recommend reading this thread!

 

[gudgie]

Although the UNSW website says a WAM above 70 or equivalent is required to be considered for the interview, what's a good competitive WAM? I thought it would be between 88-90+ perhaps? I had a look through the offers and invites list from last year but I couldn't find a lot of posts with WAM included in them.
For reference, I'll be going into 2 FTE when I apply and I'm currently sitting at a 6.3 GPA OR 84.5 wam

 

[A1]

Although the UNSW website says a WAM above 70 or equivalent is required to be considered for the interview, what's a good competitive WAM? I thought it would be between 88-90+ perhaps? I had a look through the offers and invites list from last year but I couldn't find a lot of posts with WAM included in them.
For reference, I'll be going into 2 FTE when I apply and I'm currently sitting at a 6.3 GPA OR 84.5 wam

I didn't follow UNSW 2022 intake, the previous year lowest ATAR getting an offer was 99.50 = GPA 6.5+

There's no direct relationship between WAM and GPA. An 86 WAM being 86+86 = 7.0 GPA, yet 86 WAM being 88+84 = 6.5 GPA. For Med via UAC application it's the GPA that matters.

 

[gudgie]

I didn't follow UNSW 2022 intake, the previous year lowest ATAR getting an offer was 99.50 = GPA 6.5+

There's no direct relationship between WAM and GPA. An 86 WAM being 86+86 = 7.0 GPA, yet 86 WAM being 88+84 = 6.5 GPA. For Med via UAC application it's the GPA that matter

Apologies but what do you mean by 88+84 why are there two values? Also does UNSW still take GPA despite saying they take WAM?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Apologies but what do you mean by 88+84 why are there two values? Also does UNSW still take GPA despite saying they take WAM?

Say you study 2 units, 1 you score WAM 88, the other, WAM 84 (overall WAM 86). Your GPA for 1 is 7, and for 2 is 6, creating an overall GPA of 6.5 (7+6, then divided by 2). Alternatively, if your scores are 86 for unit 1 and 86 for unit 2 (overall WAM also 86), that’s GPA (7 + 7)/2 = 7. This basic example illustrates how WAM doesn’t = GPA and can’t be directly translated.

And yes, UNSW (via UAC) use GPA.

 

[A1]

what do you mean by 88+84 why are there two values?

Adding to LMG's reply, yes they are simplistic examples to show same WAMs can have different GPAs. The example uses two units but it's the same effect when applied to more units.

Also does UNSW still take GPA despite saying they take WAM?

For internal purposes UNSW uses WAM. Med application is via UAC, who calculates GPA converts to a Selection rank (ATAR equivalent) for UNSW Med.

 

[JeydinNewWon]

Although the UNSW website says a WAM above 70 or equivalent is required to be considered for the interview, what's a good competitive WAM? I thought it would be between 88-90+ perhaps? I had a look through the offers and invites list from last year but I couldn't find a lot of posts with WAM included in them.
For reference, I'll be going into 2 FTE when I apply and I'm currently sitting at a 6.3 GPA OR 84.5 wam

We don’t use WAM because although UNSW is a WAM based system, the converter to an ATAR-equivalent is done via UAC, which uses GPA. A1 made a post about it in 2018, but there has been questions in regards to its validity as of today.

 

[laik]

Just to check, doing a degree will still allow me to apply for the non-standard pathway into med (through the UCAT)? Also are there any prerequisite subjects I need to do? Finally, does doing a double degree have any impact on the way my GPA is calculated?

 

[2xq]

Just to check, doing a law/science degree will still allow me to apply for the non-standard pathway into med (through the UCAT)?

yes

Also are there any prerequisite subjects I need to do?

check the prereq with each uni. the subjects u take in high school or uni may cover them however, only you would know if you meet the prereq or not.

Finally, does doing a double degree have any impact on the way my GPA is calculated?

no

 

[vehura]

Hi! I'm in my first year of a Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) at Monash Uni and looking to re-do the UCAT this year to try for non-standard entry. My ATAR was 99.10.

Just a couple of questions:
Physio is one integrated unit and they calculate on a HD - P scale, is this equivalent to a WAM? How does this convert to UNSW's GPA scale?
Does the honours qualification add anything to my GPA/WAM?
Also, can I still apply for EAS even though I am a non-school leaver?

Thank you very much!

 

[JeydinNewWon]

Hi! I'm in my first year of a Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) at Monash Uni and looking to re-do the UCAT this year to try for non-standard entry. My ATAR was 99.10.

Just a couple of questions:
Physio is one integrated unit and they calculate on a HD - P scale, is this equivalent to a WAM? How does this convert to UNSW's GPA scale?
Does the honours qualification add anything to my GPA/WAM?
Also, can I still apply for EAS even though I am a non-school leaver?

Thank you very much!

- I would assume that they take whatever grades (HD to P) and convert that to a GPA. You should just check how they calculate a GPA in general by looking it up online. Then that GPA gets converted to an ATAR-equivalent selection rank.

- Unsure about this! Would wait for someone else to reply to that.

- Yes, you can apply for EAS via SCATS at UNSW. They are particularly stiff when it comes to applications though, and only truly exceptional cases are taken iirc.

 

[A1]

Physio is one integrated unit and they calculate on a HD - P scale, is this equivalent to a WAM? How does this convert to UNSW's GPA scale?

GPA is Grade Point Average i.e. the average of your units' grade points (HD 7, D 6, Cr 5 ...). For one integrated unit its GP is the GPA.
(WAM is average of your marks, mathematically different to how GPA is calculated)

Does the honours qualification add anything to my GPA/WAM?

Being in 1st or 2nd year the (Honours) in the degree's title makes no difference to your GPA/Selection rank.

Once you've done/completed the Honours year it's complicated - whether the Hons is imbedded or a standalone year, whether the applying-to school considers 1-year standalone by itself or the full 4-year imbedded or the most recent 3 study years etc. Best to leave it until then.

 

[Teri]

Can someone please explain the process of applying to medicine as a non-standard applicant? When should we be doing our ucat? when do we apply for medicine on uac? Is it later or earlier than HSC students? please provide specific dates if you have them

 

[A1]

Can someone please explain the process of applying to medicine as a non-standard applicant? When should we be doing our ucat? when do we apply for medicine on uac? Is it later or earlier than HSC students? please provide specific dates if you have them

Non-standard applicants do practically the same as HSC students.

UCAT registration > Booking a Test | UCAT Consortium

Applications will be to the TAC in each state - 1 UAC application for UNSW/JPM/JMP/CSU Dent, 1 QTAC application for JCU/UQ Dent/Griffith Dent etc. Applications open early August to late September. Also note that some schools require a direct/supplement application to them after the TAC application. Good luck.

 

[Kman3142]

Hello everyone! I’m currently a student doing the bachelors of science at unimelb and am looking to apply for non-standard entry into these universities:

JMP
WSU
UNSW
JCU
BOND

I received an atar of 98.65 in 2021 and was wondering whether it would be worth doing two part-time semesters of easy subjects or only one part-time semester of easy subjects to maximise my chances of having a high gpa. However, some unis may require me to do one full semester of subjects so I don’t know how that would work in the long run. Also, could someone confirm that I can still apply to the schools that I have listed above as a non-standard entry applicant. I am retaking the ucat and hoping for a 95+ UCAT. Thanks!

 

[A1]

Hello everyone! I’m currently a student doing the bachelors of science at unimelb and am looking to apply for non-standard entry into these universities:

JMP
WSU
UNSW
JCU
BOND

I received an atar of 98.65 in 2021 and was wondering whether it would be worth doing two part-time semesters of easy subjects or only one part-time semester of easy subjects to maximise my chances of having a high gpa. However, some unis may require me to do one full semester of subjects so I don’t know how that would work in the long run. Also, could someone confirm that I can still apply to the schools that I have listed above as a non-standard entry applicant. I am retaking the ucat and hoping for a 95+ UCAT. Thanks!

Interestingly these 5 schools all do differently so I will list one by one.

- With less than 1 FTE (8 subjects) JMP will use your ATAR which meets the 94.3 hurdle
- Bond will also use your ATAR, not a hurdle but 98.65 should get an invite for the psychometric test
- WSU uses best of ATAR or GPA, since your ATAR meets the 95.5 hurdle it doesn't matter what GPA or which one is used

- UNSW uses best of but as a competitive score, not a hurdle. GPA of less than 1 FTE is useless so your ATAR is best, but is too low unless you had EAS. To have any UNSW chance you need to complete 8 subjects with 6.5+ GPA.

- JCU uses your ATAR if you've done total *less than* 1 semester (4 subjects), otherwise same as UNSW.

 

[Kman3142]

Thanks for this. Could you possibly leave links for where you found these pieces of info? Also, from your response, should I aim to do 1 full time year to allow myself to get into UNSW and JCU? Or is it just for UNSW?

 

[A1]

Thanks for this. Could you possibly leave links for where you found these pieces of info?

The info comes from years of MSO's research & discussion. You can find from the schools' websites but it won't be in this summarised form. For example for JMP
> Academic eligibility
"Your university study will be used to assess your academic eligibility if you will have completed at least one year full-time in a program of study ... In this case, you will not be considered based on your Year 12 ATAR."

You need to interpret that to mean if you have done less than 1 FTE JMP will use your ATAR instead.

from your response, should I aim to do 1 full time year to allow myself to get into UNSW and JCU? Or is it just for UNSW?

You will need to do 1 FTE with 6.5+ GPA to have a chance at UNSW, otherwise less than 1 FTE will convert to less than your 98.65 ATAR which itself is not enough.

For JCU in particular, you should either do less than 4 subjects (to use your ATAR) or do 1 FTE. Between 4 to 7 subjects you're in no-man's land with practically zero chance.

 

[john2001]

Hey guys, I'm currently a UoN student doing a double degree in business/commerce, with a gpa of 5.5 and hoping for a 3000+ UCAT score. Realistically, what UCAT score will i have to get to be considered for JMP? I know my gpa is a little on the lower end but the JMP document said only a credit average was required. Hoping you guys can help!

 

[dotwingz]

JMP is only an academic hurdle, if you're pass the ~4.9ish or whatever 'close to credit average' is exactly then they won't need your GPA any further. All applicants who pass the hurdle are offered an interview based off their UCAT.

Look in the collated interview threads from last year to see what UCAT was required.