Otago HSFY chat - archive

[ukuting]

Well I guess we all have to be positive then!!!

Omg can I please have a copy of epi 2009???
please please please thanks~~

 

[Busquets]

Toroa college

Hi I have recently been offered a place from Toroa residential college even though it was not of my three preference choice
my choices were
St. Margarets
City College
University College

So I was contemplating on whether I should reject the offer and wait for other offers to come or should just accept the offer, because the FAQ pamphlet said that you might end up not getting anymore offer and have to flat : (

isn't Toroa college one of the 'lowly ranked', unpopular college out of all?

even though a lot would deny such speculation and say there are all of 'high standards' and make no substantial difference to student living..

It's just that I don't really know much about this collge, unlike other popular ones,


I will be studying HSFY next year, and could anyone please give any information about Toroa college? (atmosphere, people.. ) I really did not hear a lot about this one.
any information would be appreciated. thanks.

 

[patkirtan]

Hi I have recently been offered a place from Toroa residential college even though it was not of my three preference choice
my choices were
St. Margarets
City College
University College

So I was contemplating on whether I should reject the offer and wait for other offers to come or should just accept the offer, because the FAQ pamphlet said that you might end up not getting anymore offer and have to flat : (

isn't Toroa college one of the 'lowly ranked', unpopular college out of all?

even though a lot would deny such speculation and say there are all of 'high standards' and make no substantial difference to student living..

It's just that I don't really know much about this collge, unlike other popular ones,


I will be studying HSFY next year, and could anyone please give any information about Toroa college? (atmosphere, people.. ) I really did not hear a lot about this one.
any information would be appreciated. thanks.

It's really close to St Davids = where you'll have most of your lectures, to all the labs, if you have any night labs then you won't have to walk home for long in the cold (yy). It's got a 24/7 Shop downstairs, so if you'r hungry, you don't have to walk far to get some food. The cheapest residential college [not because of standards, because they don't provide meals]
You live in small flats with a few other people, there is a kitchen, a lounge etc.

 

[patkirtan]

OK, so it sounds like they are going to repeat questions from 2009 in this year's exam... interesting. I was talking to Janine about it earlier this year and she said that they had initially intended to do so (hence the embargo) but on hearing that there had been 23 downloads she said "but I suppose we can't do that now".

At this stage then it sounds like I won't be sharing the exam with anyone, unless you can get word from Janine that it's alright.

It does sound at the least like this years exam is going to be very similar to last years, so some general points that anyone who sat the exam last year would be able to tell you:

Last years exam was very different to any of the past exams, and compared to 2008 had a far greater emphasis on actual epidemiology (interpreting studies) than on public health. The reason why the 2008 exam is predominantly public health stuff is because that year the (33%) terms test was entirely epidemiology.

The basic structure was 6 sections:

Section 1 - MCQs, mainly on epidemiology (basic concepts of interpreting studies such as calculating various measures, choosing the best study design for a given question, interpreting stuff). Mostly straightforward but with a couple of nasty questions that really made you think. 36 marks. Not too dissimilar in style to the 2008 MCQs (but I reckon easier overall).
Section 2 - about 50 marks. Basically a load of short answer questions that seemed to be randomly selected from across the whole course. A real mix of everything. (So, much like the short answer component of the 2008 exam, but shorter, and it felt like a greater proportion of the mark had been allocated to epidemiology as opposed to public health).
Sections 3-5 - about 15-20 marks each. Each of these sections consisted of a half-page long description of a study and then a few questions relating to it.
Section 6 - the pre-released question.


On another matter, you'll have all by now received an email asking you to participate in a study on UMAT. I would strongly encourage everyone to fill out the associated survey. It will only take 5 minutes, but if the response rate is sufficiently high then the university will be able to produce a study with a very robust method that aims to determine whether you can prepare for the UMAT. As far as I'm aware nothing of this nature has occurred before and I for one would be very keen to see the findings!

All they did was change 'cervical cancer' to HIV in this years pre-released question.

 

[gtr8]

With regards to the waiting list it really varies from year to year. I was told by the admissions that for 2008 HSFY there where 14 people who chose dent over med Im not sure whether she was implying that there where 14 people who got off the waiting list or 14 who accepted dent. I definitely know this year that not everyone one the waiting list got an offer. In my opinion if you are on the waiting list the best thing to do would be to think you are not in med and plan out your courses for next year. There will be no point worrying as the waiting list offers come our really late i.e. January 21st.

 

[Ramza]

Hi I have recently been offered a place from Toroa residential college even though it was not of my three preference choice
my choices were
St. Margarets
City College
University College

So I was contemplating on whether I should reject the offer and wait for other offers to come or should just accept the offer, because the FAQ pamphlet said that you might end up not getting anymore offer and have to flat : (

isn't Toroa college one of the 'lowly ranked', unpopular college out of all?

even though a lot would deny such speculation and say there are all of 'high standards' and make no substantial difference to student living..

It's just that I don't really know much about this collge, unlike other popular ones,


I will be studying HSFY next year, and could anyone please give any information about Toroa college? (atmosphere, people.. ) I really did not hear a lot about this one.
any information would be appreciated. thanks.

IN MY OPINION: it does not matter which hall you get into really, just how you work. I went to St margarets last year and dropped out around the start of this year and ditched hostel life for flatting. I was even returning next year until i decided to flat again.

Anywhere is good, as long as you make friends with people and get to know the place. Thats what a hall is for i think, yes at st margarets there is ALOT of 'smart people' and we did get some of the best tutors but its not always the case. All the halls in my eyes are a place for you to familiarize, be it toroa, carrington, studholm or el nido

No matter where you go it won't make a difference I think, The Toroa atmosphere prove of value to you or it may not but as long as you can work hard and have fun

Just find a group of friends and WORK your butts off.

I wish i worked harder. . . . gaahhh

 

[Ramza]

With regards to the waiting list it really varies from year to year. I was told by the admissions that for 2008 HSFY there where 14 people who chose dent over med Im not sure whether she was implying that there where 14 people who got off the waiting list or 14 who accepted dent. I definitely know this year that not everyone one the waiting list got an offer. In my opinion if you are on the waiting list the best thing to do would be to think you are not in med and plan out your courses for next year. There will be no point worrying as the waiting list offers come our really late i.e. January 21st.

Yeah you can never tell what happens in the end i guess? right!, but yeah all i know for a fact is that all people on the waitinglist in 2008 were taken in.

It would be wise though to think of an alternative as gtr8 suggested, but who knows. Just keep motiviated and stay focussed till the end.

 

[Ben]

2011 HSFY should be sweet, been studying at Foundation Studies all year so I'm pretty keen to start already.

I was accepted into Aquanas for 2010 but got persuaded to go flatting instead, didn't apply for 2011 hostels, going to continue flatting. ^_^

 

[the_international]

hey did anyone get thrown off last year by the HUBS written questions ; like on the fetal circulation? or did you guys play it smart and revise all the GLM questions? man so lucky i saw previous exams this time

 

[Ramza]

hey did anyone get thrown off last year by the HUBS written questions ; like on the fetal circulation? or did you guys play it smart and revise all the GLM questions? man so lucky i saw previous exams this time

not so much i found the MCQ trickier. I liked SAQ because it was predominantly about 1 module and everything else kind of integrated with it e.g what happens to the bladder in a pregnant women or something like that. . . but repro was my fav and i'm just glad they gave that.

 

[patkirtan]

not so much i found the MCQ trickier. I liked SAQ because it was predominantly about 1 module and everything else kind of integrated with it e.g what happens to the bladder in a pregnant women or something like that. . . but repro was my fav and i'm just glad they gave that.

I'm soo gonna get owned for Hubs.
At this stage i'm just cramming for any possible mini-essay questions. Sigh.:cry:

 

[greenglacier]

It was strange because personally last year I found the SAQ section of the HUBS exam the hardest (which was the exact opposite of what I had expected!).

The MCQs were definitely easier than the second terms test (so don't worry about that).

Anyway, good luck for tomorrow everyone!

 

[skyglow1]

Good luck everyone....healthsci nearly over! And so is ELM

 

[4everAlone]

Good luck all you guys!!

 

[the_international]

you 2 biomed

 

[greenglacier]

Good luck everyone....healthsci nearly over! And so is ELM

Yikes... you're almost one of the big kids skyglow!

 

[skyglow1]

Yikes... you're almost one of the big kids skyglow!

Yeah I know...scary ><!

 

[the_international]

hubs was alright, lol cant believe they repeated so many questions in the short answer haha. Didnt like the cardio essay question though
​

 

[Ramza]

Yeah I know...scary ><!

where will you be going next year sky glow?? will you be staying in dunedin??? or movin off??

@ international dw bro you'll be fine! just be glad that in a few says you'll have finished HSFY. ITs an achievement itself!!

 

[the_international]

thanks ramza, ill get back to u on that postgrad thing by the way after the test (im not 3rd year but i know people doing it this year and they are going for med)
not sure if im ready for epi next week