Otago HSFY chat - archive

[papermoth]

90 percent vs 98 percent is a huge difference, but they are both A+'s.

Oh. I was under the impression A+= 98% or higher 0.o Ha ha.

That makes sense. So so the term tests before the final count for anything?

 

[patkirtan]

Oh. I was under the impression A+= 98% or higher 0.o Ha ha.

That makes sense. So so the term tests before the final count for anything?

yup, each terms test is graded as a portion of your final mark.

Our Epidemiology terms test was worth 15 percent of our final mark.

 

[patkirtan]

Wow, i just checked the Health Science admissions website and it said that 300 people will be interviewed for a place in dentistry!!! THAT'S HEAPS!!! I wonder if i'll get one :unsure:

 

[skyglow1]

It means standing out enough to get a place in the course is quite a task. I feel that entry to Dent is much harder than entry to Med in Otago.

 

[patkirtan]

It means standing out enough to get a place in the course is quite a task. I feel that entry to Dent is much harder than entry to Med in Otago.

Yeah, that sucks.

Nah, med is more appealing =) But would be nice to get an interview to get some experience I've never had an interview in my life. Would be interesting.

 

[ChickenPie]

Interviews are better than exams- you don't have to study (yy)

so going to get ****ed by BIOC. totally going to be my 8th paper.

 

[greenglacier]

so going to get ****ed by BIOC. totally going to be my 8th paper.

Don't forget the wonderful SCALING! I reckon BIOC had a similar raw mark distribution to epi last year - the reason you don't hear about BIOC as notoriously difficult though is because of the scaling.


With regard to med vs. dent, every clue does point to the interview being a pass/fail thing... so it's most likely a case of if you can pass the interview the academic threshold is definitely lower, but if you don't pass the interview then you are never getting in (even if your marks/UMAT are good enough for med). Hence, the difficultly of med vs. dent admission definitely depends on whether you can perform decently (but not necessarily amazingly) in the interview.

 

[patkirtan]

Don't forget the wonderful SCALING! I reckon BIOC had a similar raw mark distribution to epi last year - the reason you don't hear about BIOC as notoriously difficult though is because of the scaling.


With regard to med vs. dent, every clue does point to the interview being a pass/fail thing... so it's most likely a case of if you can pass the interview the academic threshold is definitely lower, but if you don't pass the interview then you are never getting in (even if your marks/UMAT are good enough for med). Hence, the difficultly of med vs. dent admission definitely depends on whether you can perform decently (but not necessarily amazingly) in the interview.

Just curious, is there a reason why dentistry has separated from Medicine and requires it's own degree?

 

[gtr8]

Umat threshold for a dent interview in 2009 S1 48 S2 47 S3 48, these where calculated from friends that were borderline that managed to get an interview compared to those that didn't. This certainly doesn't seem strikingly high considering its the top 250 from all admissions category. I tend to think that the capable students who don't doubt their ability of getting in are likely to apply into just med. In my hall last year the overwhelming majority wanted med and dent was a second option to some of these people (obviously i cant speak for other halls). Would be curious to see what other people think.

 

[the_international]

Umat threshold for a dent interview in 2009 S1 48 S2 47 S3 48, these where calculated from friends that were borderline that managed to get an interview compared to those that didn't. This certainly doesn't seem strikingly high considering its the top 250 from all admissions category. I tend to think that the capable students who don't doubt their ability of getting in are likely to apply into just med. In my hall last year the overwhelming majority wanted med and dent was a second option to some of these people (obviously i cant speak for other halls). Would be curious to see what other people think.

Are those percentiles or raw scores?

 

[gtr8]

These are raw scores

 

[patkirtan]

Seems like in order to get into Dentistry, you need to have raw scores close to 50 for each section?? Is this the first year they are interviewing 300 people ?

 

[the_international]

These are raw scores

Oh cool, wow thats pretty interesting, their criteria must change ALOT every year or the stories about those getting under 60%percentile not getting an interview are just rumours.
I assume their GPA was high A-A+?

btw for HSFY's
what is a poor iodine source : oysters,seaweed,bread or rock salt? lol

 

[patkirtan]

Oh cool, wow thats pretty interesting, their criteria must change ALOT every year or the stories about those getting under 60%percentile not getting an interview are just rumours.
I assume their GPA was high A-A+?

I thought they base the rankings for interview purely on your UMAT. Apparently they rank you from 1-1000 and then choose the top 300 people for an interview. We'll probably get an idea of how this works in 3 weeks.



EDIT: Rock salt? or was this a trick question?

 

[gtr8]

They rank all applicants in all three sections and choose the top 300 from each of the section, if your umat is above the threshold for every section you get an interview if not than you dont, last year they picked 250 so an extra 50 would mean the threshold is likely to be lower. From here the interview is pass/ fail. If you pass they rank you on GPA. My mate got inn off the wait list with 80% if i remember correctly. Im pretty sure this is how it works according to admissions. I think rock salt is correct!

 

[the_international]

I thought they base the rankings for interview purely on your UMAT. Apparently they rank you from 1-1000 and then choose the top 300 people for an interview. We'll probably get an idea of how this works in 3 weeks.



EDIT: Rock salt? or was this a trick question?

Haha, nah I put rock salt, hope it wasnt a trick question.. people put bread though with the idea that bread needed to be fortified in order for it to provide iodine supplement; but then again organic bread doesnt need to be iodised so I put rock salt. Didn't like the 2 vitamin questions!

 

[patkirtan]

Haha, nah I put rock salt, hope it wasnt a trick question.. people put bread though with the idea that bread needed to be fortified in order for it to provide iodine supplement; but then again organic bread doesnt need to be iodised so I put rock salt. Didn't like the 2 vitamin questions!

Man, i'm really really really tired of HSFY. I wish the next 7 weeks go by smoothly. I wanna go home and sleep without worrying 'bout the future, eat when I feel like, do absolutely nothing for days without feeling guilty

 

[the_international]

Yeah, we've nearly done all our internals now, epi in 2 weeks and then hubs.. then finals again. That didn't even seem that long I swear second sem is incredibly short

 

[patkirtan]

Yeah, we've nearly done all our internals now, epi in 2 weeks and then hubs.. then finals again. That didn't even seem that long I swear second sem is incredibly short

7 weeks to go!!!! Although the finals are almost 3 weeks after HUBS, this will give us plenty of time to study for finals. I wish our labs finished earlier!!!!

 

[groovejet]

Hey guys

Sorry if this has been asked before, but im currently completing my HSFY 2011 enrolment form online and it asks you to select the papers that you'll be doing next year. I've entered the 7 compulsory papers but I dont know if im meant to also select the optional 8th paper now, or if i should do that in semester two? Keeping in mind that i don't know whether i want to take an 8th paper...but i'm worried that if i don't select it now i wont be able to at another time...

Any help would be most appreciated .x