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Non-standard Medicine Entry

Abhi20

Member
Hi, a quick question, if I get into UNSW or JCU will I start at the beginning of the 6-year program or can I get into the second year (currently studying medical science) I'm sorry if this was answered elsewhere but please answer it again. Thankyou
 

garmonbozia

Membered Value
Valued Member
Hi, a quick question, if I get into UNSW or JCU will I start at the beginning of the 6-year program or can I get into the second year (currently studying medical science) I'm sorry if this was answered elsewhere but please answer it again. Thankyou
Everyone starts from year 1. The only exception is if you are transferring from one medical program to another (which is only permitted under extraordinary circumstances and is not the case here).
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Hi, a quick question, if I get into UNSW or JCU will I start at the beginning of the 6-year program or can I get into the second year (currently studying medical science) I'm sorry if this was answered elsewhere but please answer it again. Thankyou

JCU have (or, at least, have historically had) a pathway available in their MBBS where you can apply for course credit (RPL). It used to be fairly straightforward to have this recognised, but is much less so now. If you were successful at JCU you could give it a try but, at best, it would lighten your year 1 load, you definitely wouldn’t be accepted directly into year 2. JCU is the only non-standard uni with this option in place.
 

dotwingz

Google Enthusiast
Moderator
Sorry I meant only Lateral entry applicants.

Here’s the info guide

Looking at it, it seems like after they complete their BMedSci they have to do an independent honours and then they get entry into year 4 of the med program. Although i’m a bit confused because I thought 4th year UNSW was the research year?
 

A1

Rookie Doc
Moderator

sunnyrain

Regular Member
Hey everyone.
I'm so sorry if this has been mentioned before but I just wanted to confirm this. When converting a numerical mark to a value on the 1-7 scale, is your GPA based off the uni (their grading system) you come from or the uni you are applying to? For e.g, I'm from UniMelb where a 80+ is considered a HD and thus a 7 but let's say that I am applying to a uni where a 85+ is considered a HD (and thus a 7) instead. And let's say I have an 80 %, would that be a 7 (based off the uni I'm coming from) or a 6 ( based off the uni I'm applying to, not my own)?
I hope this makes sense.
 

DrDrLMG!

Resident Medical Officer
Administrator
Hey everyone.
I'm so sorry if this has been mentioned before but I just wanted to confirm this. When converting a numerical mark to a value on the 1-7 scale, is your GPA based off the uni (their grading system) you come from or the uni you are applying to? For e.g, I'm from UniMelb where a 80+ is considered a HD and thus a 7 but let's say that I am applying to a uni where a 85+ is considered a HD (and thus a 7) instead. And let's say I have an 80 %, would that be a 7 (based off the uni I'm coming from) or a 6 ( based off the uni I'm applying to, not my own)?
I hope this makes sense.

I think it depends what is written on your transcript. If it says HD then it’s a 7, regardless of whether it’s 81 or 91. But if the number is there, that may not be the case. I know A1 has answered this before (probably multiple times, tbh), have you tried the search function?
 

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sunnyrain

Regular Member
Ohh okay, that makes sense.
Yeah, from what I looked at in previous forum posts including A1's, I think they just look at your letter grades (HD D etc) and assign a number accordingly.
Thank you!
 

A1

Rookie Doc
Moderator
But if the number is there, that may not be the case.
For the TACs/undergrad schools the letter grades take precedence over the marks, so a HD is worth 7 whether or not it also shows 81 or 86 marks. I don't think there exist any uni transcipts without letter grades to ask what if.

Otoh Gemsas uses marks before letter grades. On Gemsas scale an 81 Distinction from WSU/JCU will get 7 the same as an 81 HD from UMelb. They will only use the letter grades if marks are not shown, like from UQ. Example: a UQ Distinction can be anywhere between 75 & 84 which is 6.5-7.0 on Gemsas scale, so it gets the midpoint 6.75.
 

Don Carlo

Member
I was won
If the exempted unit is not counted you will have completed only 0.875 FTE year

- JMP: Less than 1 FTE is not considered as non-standard, it'll count on your ATAR being better than the 94.3 hurdle
- WSU: If your ATAR is 95.5+ you will be eligible regardless of your GPA; otherwise you need GPA 6.5 instead of 6.1 for 1+ FTE
- UNSW: Your GPA will be converted to an ATAR equivalent then combined with your actual ATAR. Problem with less than 1 FTE is GPA will be converted to a much lower value versus 1+ FTE.
- JCU: No idea, sorry.
Sorry I just wanted to double, double confirm what you said!
Okay so I'm a first year uni student planning to change my degree for semester 2 (so I haven't completed sem 1 and when I do change my degree in semester 2, so in july, I would only have 1 sem counted).

Hence, for JMP and WSU does that mean my Atar would be considered if I still apply this year?
 

dotwingz

Google Enthusiast
Moderator
Are you going to get any credit for the courses you did in sem 1? I believe your EFTSL is based off the amount of courses on your transcript. Luckily both WSU and JMP are hurdle schools so beyond meeting the minimum requirements, academic results dont matter

For WSU - you have met the ATAR hurdle anyways so your university grades are irrelevant
For JMP - if you dont have 8 courses by the end of 2nd semester on your transcript your ATAR will be used (which is good cause yours meets the hurdle)
 
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Don Carlo

Member
Are you going to get any credit for the courses you did in sem 1? I believe your EFSTL is based off the amount of courses on your transcript. Luckily both WSU and JMP are hurdle schools so beyond meeting the minimum requirements, academic results dont matter

For WSU - you have met the ATAR hurdle anyways so your university grades are irrelevant
For JMP - if you dont have 8 courses by the end of 2nd semester on your transcript your ATAR will be used (which is good cause yours meets the hurdle)
Nup I won't get any credit if I drop current degree now.
Based on what I've read on this forum, my ATAR is higher than the minimum requirement for both uni's... but does that mean I would be considered as a school-leaver?
(Anyways at least I've got a shot this year at applying for med :yay:Thank you :) )
 

dotwingz

Google Enthusiast
Moderator
School leavers are generally defined as people completing a Year 12 program the time of their application.

But JMP and WSU dont discrimnate against non school leavers so it doesnt even matter
 

Has13

Lurker
Alright, I just need a second on this:

So I'm in my Second Year of the current degree (B Vis Sci/ M Clinc Optom) and I'm trying to transfer into med. Pretty much, atar was trash cause of schooling (95). And current WAM we looking at is 80. What med school would I be able to apply to and do I (hahha) hold any chance into getting into med. I am thinking of sitting the gamsat, so that way I can fix up my WAM. But I will give a shot of the UCAT this year. So what percentile should I be aiming for, for the UCAT. And similarly, for the GAMSAT? Ok, I do agree that I was lazy and that I shouldve put more work into Uni but man after HSC havent been motivated enough. Anyhow, what should I primarily improve, for me to kinda guarantee myself an interview. Should I be focusing more on UCAT/GAMSAT or fixing up my WAM (both obviously).
 

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Don Carlo

Member
Alright, I just need a second on this:

So I'm in my Second Year of the current degree (B Vis Sci/ M Clinc Optom) and I'm trying to transfer into med. Pretty much, atar was trash cause of schooling (95). And current WAM we looking at is 80. What med school would I be able to apply to and do I (hahha) hold any chance into getting into med. I am thinking of sitting the gamsat, so that way I can fix up my WAM. But I will give a shot of the UCAT this year. So what percentile should I be aiming for, for the UCAT. And similarly, for the GAMSAT? Ok, I do agree that I was lazy and that I shouldve put more work into Uni but man after HSC havent been motivated enough. Anyhow, what should I primarily improve, for me to kinda guarantee myself an interview. Should I be focusing more on UCAT/GAMSAT or fixing up my WAM (both obviously).
Hmmm Im not the best person for this but if you want an idea on what scores you need for UCAT and GAMSAT (not sure what WAM is), you should look at the offer page and interview page on MSO to have a look at the scores people got for the UCAT and GAMSAT.

Well, from my limited experience in medical applications, I think you can start sitting for the GAMSAT in your last year of uni studies. I am not sure how long your degree is but that could give you an indication on what you need to focus on.
You can sit the UCAT every year, you can sit it this year if you want (check the official UCAT edu page, registrations close May 17th).

And man ATAR 95 is amazing! You should be proud of yourself :) Everyone's felt unmotivated in their life so you shouldn't blame yourself -it's a common thing.
 

Don Carlo

Member
Also, if you want to optimise your chances of getting into med school, it should be noted that there aren't much universities (I presume) that take in non-standards who have only sat the UCAT. I am pretty sure it's only JMP, WSU and UNSW (there are others I think but I am pretty sure they are only for students who are already in that uni which may be you! We'll see what others say :) )

Not sure about GAMSAT tho!

There is also JCU and Bond which don't require UCAT or GAMSAT! You can look around MSO for more info about them as well
 

dotwingz

Google Enthusiast
Moderator
The thread Don Carlo is referencing is in my signature under the collated admissions scores

You will need to convert your WAM into a GPA... its pretty easy to do just look it up on google. You will be competitive at most non standards with a ~95ish percentile with a good VR score

Ideally you would have a high GPA and high UCAT. Non standard uni's are pretty friendly on GPA terms bar UNSW, but graduate entry schools generally are pretty heavy on GPA requirements so if you have to choose one or the other that GPA is probably best. The collated entry criteria is also in my signature, although it hasnt been updated for this year yet

You can sit GAMSAT in your penultimate year (second to last)
 

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