Non-standard Medicine Entry

[DrDrLMG!]

Hi,
I'm a year 12 student, who desperately want to get into med however I'm worried that my ATAR and UCAT might not be high enough for me to get straight into medicine (as I moved to Australia from a non-English speaking background)

I did attend the Gateway Program of UNSW and got advices to do other degree such as Bachelor of medical science then later resist the UCAT and apply into Doctor of medicine.

I also heard that you need to be the top of your class in order to do this pathways, can someone please explain this pathway in more detailed and whether I should study this course or should I study Bachelor of Science, sit the Gamsat and apply to post-grad medicine instead.

Thank you so much in advanced

Common pitfalls to avoid for year 12 school leavers and other medicine applicants

Alternate title: "Ways to screw yourself over as a medical school applicant that you didn't know about" Hi everyone, As I suspect my activity on the site is likely to decrease a whole lot starting next year, I thought I would put together a whole lot of what I believe are a lot of important...

medstudentsonline.com.au

 

[Louise1720]

Common pitfalls to avoid for year 12 school leavers and other medicine applicants

Alternate title: "Ways to screw yourself over as a medical school applicant that you didn't know about" Hi everyone, As I suspect my activity on the site is likely to decrease a whole lot starting next year, I thought I would put together a whole lot of what I believe are a lot of important...

medstudentsonline.com.au

Thank for the helpful link, but what about the assured pathway of bachelor of biomedical science of University of Notre Dame?

 

[imnobody]

Hey guys, I've just completed the UCAT in the last few days and I got a 3060, which I'm guessing is a 91-93%ile mark. My individual scores for each section were VR: 680, DM:700, QR:800, AR:880. This is my 3rd attempt and finally getting a 90th %ile mark so I'm very proud of my effort. However, I applied last year with a 2800 UCAT (obvs rejected), and in the email it said the cut off mark was a 3100 for applicants. I was quite hopeful to achieve that mark at least, but unfortunately fell just a bit short which is stressing me out a bit. I'm currently studying a Bachelor of Business/Bachelor of Commerce (yes I hate it dw ahaah), and I have a 6.0 GPA, so I don't think the GPA is an issue. What do you guys think are my chances are for JMP or anywhere in Australia with my current marks. Thanks for any help guys!!

If you are GWS, i think u should have a chance at WSU - I had a friend that got a offer last year at WSU with a ucat of 3060 and VR of 700 that was GWS

 

[Louise1720]

Hi,
Afer reading the common pitfall posts and given that my ATAR and UCAT will not be high enough to get me straight into med. I'm think of doing either the new UNSW pharmarcy course Bachelor of Phameutical Medicine/Master of Pharmacy or Nursing which I'm interested in both. However, I'm still very keen on doing med. My option to get into med at the moment is:
a. Getting into either nursing or pharmarcy
Sit the UCAT again and try to apply for non-standard
b. Post-grad med
But my question is:

1. Whether I should choose Nursing over Pharmacy given the employability for nurse atm if med isn't work out for me
2. If I study for the pharmacy couse of UNSW, will I able to apply for Non-Standard pathway into med if I resit the UCAT and maintain my GPA
3. Should I just sit the Gamsat and apply for post-grad instead?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks!!

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hi,
Afer reading the common pitfall posts and given that my ATAR and UCAT will not be high enough to get me straight into med. I'm think of doing either the new UNSW pharmarcy course Bachelor of Phameutical Medicine/Master of Pharmacy or Nursing which I'm interested in both. However, I'm still very keen on doing med. My option to get into med at the moment is:
a. Getting into either nursing or pharmarcy
Sit the UCAT again and try to apply for non-standard
b. Post-grad med
But my question is:

1. Whether I should choose Nursing over Pharmacy given the employability for nurse atm if med isn't work out for me
2. If I study for the pharmacy couse of UNSW, will I able to apply for Non-Standard pathway into med if I resit the UCAT and maintain my GPA
3. Should I just sit the Gamsat and apply for post-grad instead?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks!!

1. Would you rather be a nurse or a pharmacist if Med doesn’t happen?
2. Yes, definitely (assuming you ATAR is above the hurdle)
3. No, you can’t do this until you’re about to graduate so, if Med is the goal, then you should try non-standard entry every year of your undergrad, and then GAMSAT and non-standard entry if you get to the point of a completed degree. It’s not a one or the other situation.

 

[Louise1720]

1. Would you rather be a nurse or a pharmacist if Med doesn’t happen?
2. Yes, definitely (assuming you ATAR is above the hurdle)
3. No, you can’t do this until you’re about to graduate so, if Med is the goal, then you should try non-standard entry every year of your undergrad, and then GAMSAT and non-standard entry if you get to the point of a completed degree. It’s not a one or the other situation.

Thank you for the reply!
If I study the UNSW pharmacy course, will the my ATAR be a problem as I heard that UNSW take both ATAR and GAP in consideration or should I apply for other like WSU as that take GAP and UCAT.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Thank you for the reply!
If I study the UNSW pharmacy course, will the my ATAR be a problem as I heard that UNSW take both ATAR and GAP in consideration or should I apply for other like WSU as that take GAP and UCAT.

It’s GPA (grade point average).
WSU and UNSW will both use the best of but UNSW require that you’ve at least met their hurdle with the score not being used (I think it’s 96.00 from memory).

Ie. you could have a 7.00 GPA, but if your ATAR back in the day was 95.5, you’ll never be eligible for UNSW (under their current criteria).

JMP and JPM don’t have this requirement.

 

[Louise1720]

It’s GPA (grade point average).
WSU and UNSW will both use the best of but UNSW require that you’ve at least met their hurdle with the score not being used (I think it’s 96.00 from memory).

Ie. you could have a 7.00 GPA, but if your ATAR back in the day was 95.5, you’ll never be eligible for UNSW (under their current criteria).

JMP and JPM don’t have this requirement.

Okay, thank you I will try my best in my HSC then just in case

 

[PRE0004]

Hello,
My friend is currently in 1st year of her undergraduate degree at Monash University and in her 1st semester she got 7/7 GPA (i.e. all High Distinctions) and is currently in her 2nd semester. She sat the UCAT recently and got a score of 3210 (VR-720, DM-710, QR-900, AR-880) (and she got like 643 in SJT) She is interested in Med and would like to know her chances of getting into Med. Would you be able to provide some insight?
I remember seeing that the only unis that accept non-school leavers are UNSW, WSU, JMP, JCU and Bond Uni. Since, she's not rural/ regional and since she doesn't want to do full fee (cos she's not from a high socioeconomic background), that will cross out Bond and JCU, right?

btw. She's a Victorian student but is happy to move interstate.
Thanks in advance

Also, for VCE she got 98.45. Will this allow her to apply to additional Unis (eg. Monash University)?

 

[A1]

My friend is currently in 1st year of her undergraduate degree at Monash University and in her 1st semester she got 7/7 GPA (i.e. all High Distinctions) and is currently in her 2nd semester. She sat the UCAT recently and got a score of 3210 (VR-720, DM-710, QR-900, AR-880) (and she got like 643 in SJT) She is interested in Med and would like to know her chances of getting into Med. Would you be able to provide some insight?
I remember seeing that the only unis that accept non-school leavers are UNSW, WSU, JMP, JCU and Bond Uni. Since, she's not rural/ regional and since she doesn't want to do full fee (cos she's not from a high socioeconomic background), that will cross out Bond and JCU, right?

btw. She's a Victorian student but is happy to move interstate.

With ATAR >96 and GPA 7 + 3210 UCAT she will definitely get a UNSW interview (place offer chance 60-70%) and JMP (offer chance 25-35%).

WSU is unlikely since 720VR isn't enough to bring her formula score to 810+ for non-NSW. JCU is application dependent so don't write it off yet despite being non-rural.

Also, for VCE she got 98.45. Will this allow her to apply to additional Unis (eg. Monash University)?

No other unis including Monash since she is 1st year undergrad, no longer a school leaver to be eligible.

 

[last resort]

Is it possible for me to write the SAT and use that to apply to UNSW, i’m a current uni student in Australia (VIC) so i’m trying to open my options as much as possible given my ATAR isn’t competitive.

With ATAR >96 and GPA 7 + 3210 UCAT she will definitely get a UNSW interview

I just got some very interesting news. I called UNSW and they confirmed that after 0.75 FTE they will now only use either ATAR or GPA depending on what is better.

 

[PRE0004]

With ATAR >96 and GPA 7 + 3210 UCAT she will definitely get a UNSW interview (place offer chance 60-70%) and JMP (offer chance 25-35%).

WSU is unlikely since 720VR isn't enough to bring her formula score to 810+ for non-NSW. JCU is application dependent so don't write it off yet despite being non-rural.


No other unis including Monash since she is 1st year undergrad, no longer a school leaver to be eligible.

Hello A1, thanks so much for that. She was also saying that she can also get into UTAS possibly, but I thought it was only for their own students. Would you (or others in the forum) be able to clarify that?

 

[ZH1]

If you are GWS, i think u should have a chance at WSU - I had a friend that got a offer last year at WSU with a ucat of 3060 and VR of 700 that was GWS

That's right.

 

[MT-100F]

Hey, just had a question regarding WSU entry for non-standard applicants. On the WSU website for general applicants for medicine, it states that:

"Applicants with current or previous university study:

Applicants with current or previous university study will be assessed on their GPA."

From what I've read on the MSO forum, only 1 of either your GPA or your ATAR needs to satisfy the academic threshold. However, the statement above seems to indicate that WSU looks only at your GPA. I would just like to clarify this. Apologies for asking a potentially repetitive question.

 

[fatedaniels]

Hi guys,
I'm now starting study for a new degree in semester 2. I've had a long history of many incomplete university degrees that I've discontinued, where health issues got in the way. Well, I'm trying again this semester for a new degree at USYD and wanted to apply to study medicine next year. I'm applying to WSU only (as after this semester I would only have 4 units completed, and don't have a competitive ATAR). I just wanted to make sure there were no stipulations in doing units I've previously failed in prior courses, and that a full 24 credit points (4 units) was equivuilant to the 40 credit points (4 units, 10 credit points each) they calculate at WSU. I heard through a friend that OLE (open learning environment units that are available at USYD) wouldn't be counted by UAC (I'm unsure the vailidity of this) and just wanted to be extra careful with how I'm going about things.
Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[A1]

Hi guys,
I'm now starting study for a new degree in semester 2. I've had a long history of many incomplete university degrees that I've discontinued, where health issues got in the way. Well, I'm trying again this semester for a new degree at USYD and wanted to apply to study medicine next year. I'm applying to WSU only (as after this semester I would only have 4 units completed, and don't have a competitive ATAR). I just wanted to make sure there were no stipulations in doing units I've previously failed in prior courses, and that a full 24 credit points (4 units) was equivuilant to the 40 credit points (4 units, 10 credit points each) they calculate at WSU. I heard through a friend that OLE (open learning environment units that are available at USYD) wouldn't be counted by UAC (I'm unsure the vailidity of this) and just wanted to be extra careful with how I'm going about things.
Thanks in advance for any help.

It's unclear you meant applying for medicine next year as 2024 intake, or apply in 2024 for 2025 intake.

If the former have you sat or registered for UCAT this year? You should call UAC directly to get their answer on OLE units.

If the latter you will have this semester plus the whole of next year to complete up to 12 units, to get around the OLE.

 

[A1]

From what I've read on the MSO forum, only 1 of either your GPA or your ATAR needs to satisfy the academic threshold. However, the statement above seems to indicate that WSU looks only at your GPA. I would just like to clarify this. Apologies for asking a potentially repetitive question.

3+ years ago WSU used to say on its website either ATAR or GPA whichever is more advantageous for you. That clause disappeared when WSU "modernised" the website but they subsequently confirmed it's still applicable.

 

[pkmg395u]

I just got some very interesting news. I called UNSW and they confirmed that after 0.75 FTE they will now only use either ATAR or GPA depending on what is better.

Does that mean you don't have to meet the 91 ATAR Requirement and solely use your GPA if you have done more than 0.75 FTE? What is an equivalent GPA of 91?

 

[MT-100F]

3+ years ago WSU used to say on its website either ATAR or GPA whichever is more advantageous for you. That clause disappeared when WSU "modernised" the website but they subsequently confirmed it's still applicable.

Thank you so much for the reply. Just one more question, I am currently studying interstate at UQ but would like to apply under GWS. While my home address falls under Greater Western Sydney catchment, one of the three addresses supplied to UQ does not.

i.e. UQ requires you to give them an address each for: Permanent address, Postal Address and Semester address (three in total). Here, my permanent and postal addresses are still based in NSW while my semester address is under Queensland for the purpose of concession travel fairs.

Considering that I applied to UAC using my NSW address, I was wondering whether this discrepancy would cause my GWS application to be ineligible. Will WSU or UAC potentially cross reference the information given to them on your application with any information you supply to your institution.

Thank you so much for all the work and time you put into this forum

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hello A1, thanks so much for that. She was also saying that she can also get into UTAS possibly, but I thought it was only for their own students. Would you (or others in the forum) be able to clarify that?

UTAS accept uni students from other states, but they now require a completed degree and GAMSAT, not UCAT. This info is available on their website which is by far the best place to clarify…