Non-standard Medicine Entry

[A1]

Hello A1,
Can you explain the likelihood of a 99.70 (+ EAS on top of of this approved for UNSW) with a 2340 (92nd% flat) getting an interview then offer for UNSW med?
Much appreciated )

Ignore what I had written earlier since at the time I thought 2340 would be ~95%ile. Turns out it's only 92%ile.

I think 99.70 + 92%ile won't be enough, but if EAS boosts to 99.95 UNSW interview is likely.

This combo is on the low side so you need a strong interview to balance up. I'd say in the top 20-30% of the interview scores.

 

[Adriann05:)]

Ignore what I had written earlier since at the time I thought 2340 would be ~95%ile. Turns out it's only 92%ile.

I think 99.70 + 92%ile won't be enough, but if EAS boosts to 99.95 UNSW interview is likely.

This combo is on the low side so you need a strong interview to balance up. I'd say in the top 20-30% of the interview scores.

That’s quite reassuring. I’m hopeful that the EAS does.

I’m quite worried I’d get stitched up by like half a percentile, so what’s the actual process here?

 

[JScr1vv]

Hello,
I always like hearing the numbers and so I'm just letting people know that I've gotten an interview offer as of this morning:

ATAR-98.30 (2023)
Took a Gap year

WAM-95 (7.0GPA)
UCAT-2380

Not rural or interstate - metro sydney applicant

I'm surprised at the UNSW interview offer given my low UCAT but hey I'll take it. I think they do value non-school leavers more as we have more life experience so thats my only explanation.

Good luck to anyone else with an interview, please reach out to me for some mutual interview prep via discord this weekend if you would like.

__________
A1 adds: Can you please post this invite in the Data collection thread, like this one thanks
> 2026 Entry Interview Invites DATA COLLECTION

 

[JFB]

Also take where you're living into consideration too. WSU is closer to the city, so access to food, fun, entertainment, people etc are all there.
CSU is in the country with tons of sheep, cows, sunsets and exactly one maccas, one oporto, one KFC, two woolies, one coles, one kmart, one dominos and basically very little else. Little-ish, friendly country town.

To be completely honest Orange is a huge country town by country town standards. It's small by city standards. It genuinely has every major retailer and actually two coles and maccas, a big W, and a JB; and the hospital is huge for a city of it's size. It's a major referral for the smaller hospitals around and has a ramsay day hospital. It's honestly a town with a lot more going for it's size than some of the under-serviced towns around the country.

Thought it definitely has tons of sheep, cows, and sunsets. Especially if you live on campus, on the hill facing away from town.

 

[AnubisHorus&Ra]

To be completely honest Orange is a huge country town by country town standards. It's small by city standards. It genuinely has every major retailer and actually two coles and maccas, a big W, and a JB; and the hospital is huge for a city of it's size. It's a major referral for the smaller hospitals around and has a ramsay day hospital. It's honestly a town with a lot more going for it's size than some of the under-serviced towns around the country.

Thought it definitely has tons of sheep, cows, and sunsets. Especially if you live on campus, on the hill facing away from town.

Objectively, against other smaller towns yeah, it's reasonably large. I'm comparing it against Western Sydney becuase the question was WSU vs CSU. Regardless of objectivity, my personal opinion is that it still feels small when I'm on the ground there.

 

[sigasigmaboy]

Hi guys I know there is a thread on this already but I'm still really stuck. I want to do postgraduate Dentistry at Usyd (im NSW), but my atar was bad so I need to choose a course that I can get a good gpa in to get dentistry. I have the following options, B vision sci (unsw), where I don't get confirmed admission to the masters program, and the degree is hard, b sci (unsw, usyd), where the job oportuntities are poor and are very research based (which I dont want), b Pharma (which is apparently really hard and very chem heavy which I am bad at and I think I will struggle in, but a strong job after uni), or b commerce/science (which is good for jobs I think but everyone has a commerce degree and I have to do internships which take time away from gamsat study but no relevance to health (also have to do elective courses to satisfy UQ req). which one should I choose if my whole goal is to get postgrad dent.

 

[AnubisHorus&Ra]

Heyo,
1. Why post-grad? You've just graduated highschool I'm assuming, you're won't be eligible for post grade for a minimum of 3 years. Try for undergrad + UCAT first while you're simultaneously studying. If you make it in, your path will be quicker.
2. If you're as desperate as I was, which was very, you'll have a better chance if you apply all over the country rather than just Usyd (which, if you're prepared to go to UQ, why not?)
3. Your chosen degree doesn't need to have anything to do with health (with the exception of CSU's lateral transfer), so commerce is a good option. If you don't meet prereqs, you can take bridging courses.
4. Read through the commot pitfalls for school leavers in my signature. You have a roughly 5-15% chance of admission of med/dent, pick a backup degree you can make a career out of. e.g. science = med wannabes + high achievers + 0 job market vs vision science = high achievers + p's get degrees mix + decent job market. Either way, you'll need to be aiming for at least a 6.25GPA+ closer to 6.5 or 6.75
5. At the end of the day, you should be picking something that suits you and your career goals. No one on here is going to, or should be giving you, a direct answer becuase what you'll do well in is determined by the amount of effort you put in and your strengths and weaknesses.

 

[Jartonius]

Hi,
I'm going into my first year of university this year at UNSW, studying engineering but I'm interested in transferring into Medicine at WSU after my first year.
Questions:
1. Are the requirements greater now that I'm transferring in?
2. Am I competing with the same pool of people fresh out of high school?
3. Is it still based off of ATAR, UCAT and interview or is WAM factored in as well? If WAM is factored, do they account for harder courses like engineering?
4. If I managed an atar of 99.05, what level of interview and UCAT (and WAM is required) would I require to have a good chance of being offered an interview?
Thanks

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hi,
I'm going into my first year of university this year at UNSW, studying engineering but I'm interested in transferring into Medicine at WSU after my first year.
Questions:
1. Are the requirements greater now that I'm transferring in?
2. Am I competing with the same pool of people fresh out of high school?
3. Is it still based off of ATAR, UCAT and interview or is WAM factored in as well? If WAM is factored, do they account for harder courses like engineering?
4. If I managed an atar of 99.05, what level of interview and UCAT (and WAM is required) would I require to have a good chance of being offered an interview?
Thanks

WSU is splitting from CSU for next year so we don’t know for sure what (if any) impact this will have on their selection processes. The below is based on current criteria and is subject to change (often without notice).

1. No
2. Yes
3. Yes, kind of. They use best of between ATAR and GPA (not WAM). Your 99.05 ATAR meets the hurdle, so you could fail engineering units and still be eligible. No universities account for “harder” courses because that’s entirely subjective.
4. ATAR is a hurdle so it doesn’t affect what UCAT score or interview performance you need. Check out interview invite threads for a guide as to UCAT requirements but they’re fairly high unless you’re rural or from GWS.

 

[JFB]

Hi,
I'm going into my first year of university this year at UNSW, studying engineering but I'm interested in transferring into Medicine at WSU after my first year.
Questions:
1. Are the requirements greater now that I'm transferring in?
2. Am I competing with the same pool of people fresh out of high school?
3. Is it still based off of ATAR, UCAT and interview or is WAM factored in as well? If WAM is factored, do they account for harder courses like engineering?
4. If I managed an atar of 99.05, what level of interview and UCAT (and WAM is required) would I require to have a good chance of being offered an interview?
Thanks

1. You will be using your ATAR or GPA for application. WSU uses a minimum grade threshold for interviews, your ranking for a spot does not take into account your grade. You will need a tough 6.4 GPA for a spot as a non-GWS with only 1 semester on record. But at WSU ATAR doesn’t expire until you finish your degree so you should have sufficient for an interview, as it is above threshold.
2. You will be competing for general admission spots with all general applicants.
3. Interview spots are hurdled by ATAR or GPA (GPA exclusively if you have finished a degree) and compete based on UCAT. Your actual offer will be based on interview performance (75%) and UCAT (25%) so it does not matter once you have an interview.
4. You will still need a competitive UCAT so I would be practicing that to no end. Active practice, review what you need to change and improve timing and accuracy. Don’t get stuck passively just doing practice tests. The best practice for interviews is the uncomfortable practice with people going through the motions of pretending you’re interviewing.

WSU is splitting from CSU for next year

they are actually already split, the new cohorts are split

 

[movpin]

they are actually already split, the new cohorts are split

Do you know if CSU Med offers have already come out? I think I saw someone saying they got an offer for this year but I thought they would also come out tomorrow.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Do you know if CSU Med offers have already come out? I think I saw someone saying they got an offer for this year but I thought they would also come out tomorrow.

as far as i know, CSU Med offers come out at the same time as the other Jan Round 1 unis. Are you sure you didn't see someone with a CSU Dent offer?

 

[iloveeggs]

hi i have a question. i'm going into unsw optom this year and intending to get into med as a non-std applicant. i was given 3 choices for maths: maths1301, math1131 and math1141. which one is objectively more beneficial to take? i hear 1031 is easier to do well in but i'm worried it has some downsides to it that i'm overlooking. i keep hearing stuff abt 1141's scaling or smth being good but i'm wondering if the scaling will actually make up for the fact that it's harder

 

[mikewitt]

hi i have a question. i'm going into unsw optom this year and intending to get into med as a non-std applicant. i was given 3 choices for maths: maths1301, math1131 and math1141. which one is objectively more beneficial to take? i hear 1031 is easier to do well in but i'm worried it has some downsides to it that i'm overlooking. i keep hearing stuff abt 1141's scaling or smth being good but i'm wondering if the scaling will actually make up for the fact that it's harder

hi i have a question. i'm going into unsw optom this year and intending to get into med as a non-std applicant. i was given 3 choices for maths: maths1301, math1131 and math1141. which one is objectively more beneficial to take? i hear 1031 is easier to do well in but i'm worried it has some downsides to it that i'm overlooking. i keep hearing stuff abt 1141's scaling or smth being good but i'm wondering if the scaling will actually make up for the fact that it's harder

take the EASIEST maths course maths1301. You need the highest WAM possible. The scaling will not make up for the harder exam unless you pour time and effort into the course and are naturally

hi i have a question. i'm going into unsw optom this year and intending to get into med as a non-std applicant. i was given 3 choices for maths: maths1301, math1131 and math1141. which one is objectively more beneficial to take? i hear 1031 is easier to do well in but i'm worried it has some downsides to it that i'm overlooking. i keep hearing stuff abt 1141's scaling or smth being good but i'm wondering if the scaling will actually make up for the fact that it's harder

Take maths1301 for the better WAM. There are no benefits to taking a harder course.

Most optom students will take 1301.
1141 will not scale well unless you a) pour time and effort into keeping up with the course and preparing well for the exam b) are naturally fantastic at maths. The content at the beginning is easy, comparative to 3U and 4U maths, but most people naturally fall behind during the final weeks which teaches the most difficult topics. To put things into perspective, 1141 is the maths that engineering students are required to take.

- optom student who took 1131 which is the lowest mark in their entire academic transcript

 

[JFB]

Take maths1301 for the better WAM. There are no benefits to taking a harder course.

Most optom students will take 1301.
1141 will not scale well unless you a) pour time and effort into keeping up with the course and preparing well for the exam

Study 1301 like you are taking 1141 basically

 

[iloveeggs]

take the EASIEST maths course maths1301. You need the highest WAM possible. The scaling will not make up for the harder exam unless you pour time and effort into the course and are naturally

Take maths1301 for the better WAM. There are no benefits to taking a harder course.

Most optom students will take 1301.
1141 will not scale well unless you a) pour time and effort into keeping up with the course and preparing well for the exam b) are naturally fantastic at maths. The content at the beginning is easy, comparative to 3U and 4U maths, but most people naturally fall behind during the final weeks which teaches the most difficult topics. To put things into perspective, 1141 is the maths that engineering students are required to take.

- optom student who took 1131 which is the lowest mark in their entire academic transcript

thanks for responding! ive been getting really conflicting responses from people though, ive only talked to one other optom student who said the same thing but a lot of other people were telling me "if you want to do well in 1031 you need to put almost the same amount of effort as 1141 or 1131 even if theyre harder so might as well do the harder ones which scale better".

my main priority is maximising WAM/GPA. but im getting confused by a lot of ppl telling me there is a minimal difference in the amt of effort

 

[fuzzymonkey456]

for non std entry for unsw med does gateway still apply? i got an atar below their min 96 atar but i was a gateway applicant in y12 and the min atar was 91. i want to retry this year with gpa but i was told i need to now meet the 96 min atar not the 91 one because gateway doesnt apply to me anymore. is that actually true?

 

[sigasigmaboy]

hi there, if I accept a med offer interstate can I still apply to unsw and wsu as a non standard applicant and will this disadvantage me? thanks

im a cqu med student who has provisional entry into UQ's Doctor of Medicine.

https://www.cqu.edu.au/courses/cm17/bachelor-of-medical-science-pathway-to-medicine?audience=DOMESTIC

___________
A1 replies: You'd be considered the same as other non-med applicants, since doing CQU provisional you are formally not a med student yet.

 

[irenebaik]

Hello! I'm going to commence my 2nd year of Uni this year. Im planning on transferring to UQ and apparently my GPA will reset when I begin studying. I was wondering if this becomes a problem when applying as a non-standard applicant to medicine? Also, there is a possibility that I will not be able to get all my first year credit/units transferred, would this also be another issue for my GPA when applying???

 

[melanie_o]

I know this has already probalbly been addressed alot but anyway, here is my context:
- Going into 1st year of Uni at a regional university - Going to take the UCAT again this year
- MM2 Rural Classification (from NSW)
- Basically a rural non-standard applicant

UNSW is out of the question since my ATAR was just under the 91 threshold for Wagga Wagga/Port Maquarie.

If I do get into medicine some time in the future I intend to practice rurally as a GP rural generalist. I would prefer to study medicine in an end-to-end rural program as opposed to a metropolitan area

I'm just wondering, what UCAT percentile as a rural applicant is a 'good shot' for the following programs for an interview and potential offer (I don't mind if I get CSP or Bonded) (assuming my GPA is 6.7+):

- WSU/CSU ( I would prefer CSU and I am aware that they weigh VR highly)
- JMP (Preferably UNE)

Also, I don't know if this is relevant but I'm studying a languages degree (with electives in bio and chem) - Is that something med school's look down upon since I'm not taking a straight science degree?

Thank you very much