Otago HSFY chat - archive

[the_international]

Thanks patkirtan for confirming.

Papermoth, i know people from st margs, yes their tutorials have tony, yes hes great but tbh alot of people dont even find the tutorials really that helpful.. youll need to self study either way. Having said that st margs is still awesome, ive heard some other halls are quite distracting.
you wont be disadvantaged by not having tutorials, i also know people in flats who are doing just fine without them

 

[patkirtan]

Arrgh no way! Most important factor for me is gender specific areas actually It would take something short of a miracle to sway me, so I have like zero options! (I recon I could make them swanky halls easy too... which adds major insult to injury).

Do you recon you could get by on medico tutorials? I mean isn't everybody working hard either way? Like how much of an advantage are they really? If I invest in those bloody expensive text books that should suffice, right?

*Question overload my bad!

Haha, so naive (i'm sorry, but you'll understand when you come here next year)

Most important method of studying is lecture resources. Textbooks are usually useless but sometimes really useful if you don't understand the lecturers method of teaching.

You want to live in an environment where you can make the most of the opportunities available to be ahead of the competition. Everyone works hard but the people around you make a difference.:bored:

If you don't like a highly studious environment, i'd recommend Carrington. Hayward is fine as well. But you'll need to work hard next year.

 

[papermoth]

Naive, hypersensitive, paranoid all choice words to decide me atm :]

OK so hard work is a given- I could be anywhere but you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be working hard (no one hold this against me come this time next year mmkay).

So I'm sticking to Hayward.

OK another inquiry (bare with me in my fragile state peeps :])

Is it true Cambridge has an advantage over NCEA lv 3?

 

[patkirtan]

Naive, hypersensitive, paranoid all choice words to decide me atm :]

OK so hard work is a given- I could be anywhere but you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be working hard (no one hold this against me come this time next year mmkay).

So I'm sticking to Hayward.

OK another inquiry (bare with me in my fragile state peeps :])

Is it true Cambridge has an advantage over NCEA lv 3?

That is debatable. My Lab Partner did Cambridge, he said he only had an advantage with Chem. It's a fresh start next year. You'll be fine. Don't worry.

Okay, cool. See you next year at Hayward then.

 

[papermoth]

Oh sweet, I actually happen to really like chemistry so wouldn't mind putting in the hard yards there.

See you then... I'll probably (as in certainly) be the first to start crying or spontaneously combust, so I'll be standing out- easy.

 

[skyglow1]

The tutorials are given by past Healthsci students who are either in Med or Dent. They are usually good. Hayward provides tutorials for all HSFY papers because 70 percent of the residents are doing healthsci related courses.

If tutorials are one of your most important factors in choosing a hall, by going to Hayward you will be severely disadvantaged. St Margs offers much better tutorials. The Cells and Biochem tutorials offered at St Margs are by one of our lecturers (according to a friend). Tony Zaharic https://biochem.otago.ac.nz/tony-zaharic/ <-- this guy is basically incharge of Biochem OMFG.

If you really want to come to Hayward, you better make sure you work hard because it is a severely disadvantaged hall in terms of Academics. Last year only 3 people from Hayward got into Med. One Pharmacy and 1 Physio.

St Margs and Carrington just spew out Med students (n).

I'd like to point out something here for all those prospective healthsci students thinking about which hall to apply to. Although it may be true that Carrington and St Margs consistently produce a large number of med students compared to other halls, as you will learn in Epi this correlation does not imply causation. If anything, it is more likely that the sort of student that these halls get applications for and accept are more likely to get into medicine.

Sure, tutorials held by Tony Zaharic and what not may be of a slight advantage (although even on that point, the most capable students seem to prefer to spend time doing their own study rather than sitting through a basic tutorial) but really what hall you are at will not significantly impact on your chances of getting into med in my experience/opinion. I feel that the idea that you're disadvantaging yourself by going to a hall that's not Carrignton/St Margs is total rubbish. If you have what it takes to get into med, then you will get in no matter what hall you are at pretty much. Going to St Margs/Carrington does not mean you can slack off because you have godly tutors. You will have to work your arse off to get into med whichever hall you are at. You should choose a hall for different reasons such as location, how the rooms are etc. I have a feeling the other 2nd/3rd years have the same opinion.

Naive, hypersensitive, paranoid all choice words to decide me atm :]

OK so hard work is a given- I could be anywhere but you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be working hard (no one hold this against me come this time next year mmkay).

So I'm sticking to Hayward.

OK another inquiry (bare with me in my fragile state peeps :])

Is it true Cambridge has an advantage over NCEA lv 3?

There are a lot of factors at play - you definitely can't say that every Cambridge student has an advantage over every NCEA student because that's FAR from the truth. It depends on how much the student applied themselves at high school, what subjects they took etc etc. Personally I found that the subjects I did in Cambridge prepared me well for HSFY. That being said, if I had done NCEA and worked as hard at it as I did in Cambridge, I would not have felt worried or disadvantaged at all coming into HSFY, so don't worry about it.

 

[greenglacier]

Just posting to reinforce everything that skyglow has said, because I agree completely.

It is possible that the hall you are at, and whether you did NCEA or cambridge has some influence over your HSFY grades, but I fully believe that it is at most a minor influence. The bottom line is that it doesn't matter what your background is, you will need to work hard to get into med. Ultimately the biggest determinants (in fact, everything else is negligable in comparison) are who you are as a person (which is something you can't control) and how hard/efficiently you work (which you can control).

Just make sure you work hard next year. Nothing else really matters, and there isn't much you can do right now.

 

[papermoth]

Thanks skyglow1 (everyone for that matter),

That has actually gone a along way to calm my nerves. At the end of the day it's just a room I guess. After hearing a lot of St.mags this and that one is given to worry though.

Again thank you!

 

[jay]

Does anyone stay for a second year at Carrington?
I'd like to stay two years - but I don't want to be the only second year!

When do you start looking for flats? Cos have you found flatmates after only a few months at Carrington - or are you still getting to know people?

 

[greenglacier]

Does anyone stay for a second year at Carrington?
I'd like to stay two years - but I don't want to be the only second year!

When do you start looking for flats? Cos have you found flatmates after only a few months at Carrington - or are you still getting to know people?

Yeah, people stay for a second year at Carrington - about 3-4 as house tutors, 3 as student exec members, and another 5-10 as regular residents. There's definitely nothing stopping you staying at Carrington for 2 years.

People generally look for flats around halfway through the year and generally sign their leases a few weeks into second semester. Most people work out who they want to flat with just before the mid-year break.

 

[skyglow1]

Does anyone stay for a second year at Carrington?
I'd like to stay two years - but I don't want to be the only second year!

When do you start looking for flats? Cos have you found flatmates after only a few months at Carrington - or are you still getting to know people?

Another option is to stay at a Studio where you pay for your own room and cook for yourself etc. You share the kitchen and bathroom facilities, furniture is included, and often power and internet are included too. It is obviously more expensive than a flat, but the quality of the accommodation is high, and it is a good option if you don't feel comfortable having to rely on others for doing cooking duties etc.

 

[ChickenPie]

I would say a lot of Carrington and St Marg's success is just a "snowball effect" - every year more and more motivated/successful people apply to those halls.

These people would probably have a great chance at getting into med wherever they go- they just chose those halls because of the reputation.

On staying a second year, you might find you don't want to- a lot of people start off the year wanting to stay, and then get excited about flatting or whatever. I WOULD NOT worry about what you're doing in 2012 by any means at this stage!

It's more the environment that's important in a hall than anything academic- it all adds up. Don't worry about having to study so much it ruins your social life- you've got to try really hard NOT to have a GREAT TIME in ANY HALL.

 

[patkirtan]

Wow, i love how health science exams are so spread apart this semester.
Lectures cease 15th of October

HUBS192 Human body systems 2 Friday 22-Oct-2010 9:30
BIOC192 Foundations of biochem Wednesday 27-Oct-2010 9:30
HEAL192 Foundations of epidemiol Friday 29-Oct-2010 9:30
MAOR102 Maori society Tuesday 2-Nov-2010 9:30

3 days for Maori is crazy!!! :blink:

Any tips how to split my time 2nd/3rd years? How much of it should i be spending on Biochem and Epi?

 

[ChickenPie]

Wow, i love how health science exams are so spread apart this semester.
Lectures cease 15th of October

HUBS192 Human body systems 2 Friday 22-Oct-2010 9:30
BIOC192 Foundations of biochem Wednesday 27-Oct-2010 9:30
HEAL192 Foundations of epidemiol Friday 29-Oct-2010 9:30
MAOR102 Maori society Tuesday 2-Nov-2010 9:30

3 days for Maori is crazy!!! :blink:

Any tips how to split my time 2nd/3rd years? How much of it should i be spending on Biochem and Epi?

Bro just cram the day before you'll be all goodz.

 

[patkirtan]

Bro just cram the day before you'll be all goodz.

Lol!! Cramming is bad =/ I almost always forget EVERYTHING i learnt after the exams.

I just want opinions. I Don't want to end up saying what I said last semester "I should have [insert mistake here]" ><"

 

[luysion]

lol @ troll on MSO...

yeah that exam timetable is much better than last sem's, 3 days should be enough to memorise the maori long essay

 

[squigglypencil]

Lol, exams went.... hmmm okay. Physics just tore me apart, but hopefully my 8th paper can help me lift my average up >.> Man so many people dropped out of HSFY from my hall ><" I wonder how many people are left this semester?

UMAT results will be surprising. I'm sure for me it'll go to either extremes ... hoping it won't be like 0-20... that means everyones smarter than me haha

Sorry for taking so long to reply! Good luck with your 8th paper... which one are you taking any way? Which hall are you at? A few dropped out of my hall, but quite a few got some amazing marks too.

Er... not really looking forward to UMAT results to be honest... D: I'll be able to knwo whether I get in or not once I get them.

 

[patkirtan]

Sorry for taking so long to reply! Good luck with your 8th paper... which one are you taking any way? Which hall are you at? A few dropped out of my hall, but quite a few got some amazing marks too.

Er... not really looking forward to UMAT results to be honest... D: I'll be able to knwo whether I get in or not once I get them.

I'm at Hayward, only one person got all A+'s in my Hall, he's got an average of 96 :S. Everyone else is clumped up together with A's and A-'s.

I'm taking Maori, i'm hoping it'll bump up my average abit =)

Ah, don't worry... i'm sure i did amazingly SHIT at Umat. The day at umat was just so =.=" arh.... everything from the cold room, the feedback from the microphone that old lady didn't turn off for the whole 3 hours and the distracting old people walking around the test looking at my test just put me off.

Everyone keeps saying it's not the end of the world when Umat comes out, so yah focus on UNI GRADES....that's all we can do =)

 

[ChickenPie]

Actually yeah, if SASOL is still around, sorry for judging you for complaining that UMAT is cold- it definitely was! I had gloves and shit on.

As others will say, UMAT doesn't mean squat really unless you get a reallly low mark. I'm pretty sure it went well for me, here's to hoping anyway.

 

[squigglypencil]

I'm at Hayward, only one person got all A+'s in my Hall, he's got an average of 96 :S. Everyone else is clumped up together with A's and A-'s.

I'm taking Maori, i'm hoping it'll bump up my average abit =)

Ah, don't worry... i'm sure i did amazingly SHIT at Umat. The day at umat was just so =.=" arh.... everything from the cold room, the feedback from the microphone that old lady didn't turn off for the whole 3 hours and the distracting old people walking around the test looking at my test just put me off.

Everyone keeps saying it's not the end of the world when Umat comes out, so yah focus on UNI GRADES....that's all we can do =)

Oh wow, good on that person in your hall. I'm sure a lot more people will be able to up their gpa this semester because everyone seems a lot more onto things now. Maori is quite a good paper to take, I heard. Have you finished your essay?

lol, a few of my friends had the same problem. Yes, I agree, focus on uni grades.......... (n). I should probably go back to studying for epi, URGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck guys for the test if I don't come on before then.