Otago HSFY chat - archive

[Cathay]

hey does anybody know when the offers of place are sent out for otago? I can't seem to find it on their website anywhere :/

I presume you mean for HSFY, in which case that would be after New Years. I know that I got an email on the 12th of January (of 2011) saying that I had a place in HSFY and I had until the 24th of January to confirm my attendance. It can be done online.

 

[Crucible]

Out of curiosity, how long did it take you guys to adjust to the Uni System from NCEA- if there was a big difference at all? (I wouldn't know since I'm the 1st one going to Uni in my family)

 

[greenglacier]

Hard to say how long. There is a difference, but I didn't think it was too dramatic.

What I can say is that you'll adjust more easily if you get a good idea in advance of what it's like - that's where this forum can be very useful.

 

[Nimbus2000]

Books!

hey guys just wondering, can someone please please post up the list of textbooks, as in with the exact names (or are they just called what the papers are called)? PLEASE? I need to sort out my finances for next year, so i need to work out the MAXIMUM I might have to pay, just to cover my ass. Or does anybody want to just make it easier for me and make a guesstimate? I'll probably be buying a lot of second-hand stuff anyway, and from reading the forums, I know that some textbooks are useless, but just want to make sure all areas are covered!

 

[mighty]

[MENTION=12155]DreamNimbus108[/MENTION]: dude, there's already information on what textbooks you should get. Search around MSO, and even on gg's blog which you linked a couple of posts up (Achieving Success in Otago HSFY: Textbooks)

Maybe try out these threads too:
https://www.medstudentsonline.com.au/f115/hsfy-advice-mso-members-19379/
https://www.medstudentsonline.com.au/f115/otago-hsfy-chat-archive-8278/index335.html#post172054

Use the search bar if you want more opinions.

 

[Nimbus2000]

hmmm yea, i've looked already - all of them refer to the textbooks as the "HUBS textbook" or "PHSI textbook", but no actual names :/ I did a search just now and came up with nothing or only references like HUBS textbook etc.

 

[mighty]

Ninja edit: nevermind, I'm wrong!

At absolute, absolute maximum you'll need $1000 for textbooks, though I daresay you'll end up spending a lot less than that. Most textbooks are probably in the $50-200 range.

 

[Nimbus2000]

[OFFTOPIC]I swear I saw that one :S forgot to mention it lol, sorry for wasting your time! :/ but thanks, I appreciate it! [/OFFTOPIC]

 

[Cathay]

Here's the book list from the University Book Shop: https://books.unibooks.co.nz/2011 Health Sciences.pdf

It's from 2011, but with a fair few fresh books, I don't expect any changes for 2012. Note that these are prices for brand new textbooks, which may not be the best use of your money as there isn't much by way of advantages from getting brand new as opposed to a good condition second hand.

EDIT: The absolute max you will spend is $710.04, and that is if you buy all the books brand new (don't worry about the MasteringBiology access packs, they're only relevant if you buy second hand books but want the online bits and pieces that you won't really need), but of course you won't buy the BIOC book because you've read MSO and know that it's useless - I didn't open it once in all of BIOC.

 

[Nimbus2000]

thank you!!!

 

[frootloop]

You've "looked already"???



At absolute, absolute maximum you'll need $1000 for textbooks, though I daresay you'll end up spending a lot less than that. Most textbooks are probably in the $100-200 range.

Erm, just to point out, that quote you've got in that post is about med textbooks, not the HSFY ones

 

[Nimbus2000]

Good luck guys!

If you're not to stressed/ freaking out - what's the access kit business associated with the CELS textbook? what is it, and is it necessary?

 

[aaa24]

Methinks late night on the 22nd for some reason...

 

[marsupial]

Good luck guys!

If you're not to stressed/ freaking out - what's the access kit business associated with the CELS textbook? what is it, and is it necessary?

Not necessary IMO. Everything you need in terms of study resources is provided to you. Not everything in the textbook is relevant, therefore not everything in the 'access kit' is relevant either. It would be a waste of time trying to sift through it to try and find what would be relevant when you are already well equipped with the slides and blackboard resources.

EDIT: I'm thinking and HOPING that it's at 12pm on the 22nd so that in the best scenario, this leaves time for celebration

 

[Cathay]

Good luck guys!

If you're not to stressed/ freaking out - what's the access kit business associated with the CELS textbook? what is it, and is it necessary?

It gives you access to some online resources on the topic. I do believe CELS staff have, in 2011, set some quizzes there, but I didn't do any, and IMO it was not necessary.

The CELS textbook is not one that matches the contents of the course very well in the first place, so you'll find that some of the readings don't necessarily align with the Lecture Objectives (to be provided to you in lecture handouts, don't worry, you'll get these at the first lecture, which is a housekeeping one). By that I mean as marsupial said, it's not all relevant (actually, pretty much half the book is irrelevant, and the relevant parts often go deeper than CELS needs us to go), so the access kit isn't all that relevant, either.

Yes, there are some interesting animations (which some lecturers like to play in the lecture) but it's a supplementary thing, rather than a necessity. And yes, the CELS staff have put up quizzes on the Mastering Biology place, but again, they're more as a supplement than something you're expected to go and do - it's certainly not worth any marks.

 

[Hari]

Though its probably written somewhere, I just want to clarify a few things.

1. So when you guys give your umat grades as 70,60,50 etc thats basically for each section your score/total questions correct?

2. Essentially if you want any chance of meeting the threshold the best thing to aim for is >80 for each paper yes? Plusa umat total score of 20 more (basically 60 above for each section)?

Best wishes, hope you all get into your desired course.

Lastly just confirming, rural is basically 40k and below right?

 

[greenglacier]

[MENTION=9869]Hari[/MENTION], your post is now here (in case you got lost).


1. The UMAT grades people are talking about are their raw scores. Scores are scaled by some unknown method though, so no one knows how many questions they actually got right.

2. Have a read around the site (and the articles) to find out about the grades you need to get into med. You want an average much higher than 80%, so getting even close to 70% is not good at all. An overall UMAT of 60 would be good, but you can go a bit lower.

For rural, how about you check out the website: Application for Admission to Health Sciences Professional Programmes, Division of Health Sciences, University of Otago

 

[frootloop]

Though its probably written somewhere, I just want to clarify a few things.

1. So when you guys give your umat grades as 70,60,50 etc thats basically for each section your score/total questions correct?

2. Essentially if you want any chance of meeting the threshold the best thing to aim for is >80 for each paper yes? Plusa umat total score of 20 more (basically 60 above for each section)?

Best wishes, hope you all get into your desired course.

Lastly just confirming, rural is basically 40k and below right?

1) Those are the raw scores. Total questions correct+ACER's magic box-->Raw scores (nobody really knows how they're calculated, they're just given to you on your results sheet).

2) It's pretty hard to know where a realistic target is for you until you've started the year. But >80 is too low a goal if you're going for medicine, straight up. And you can't really 'aim' for a UMAT score, you just go in, sit the test, and hope like h*ll you got lucky. Personally, I was aiming for ~90% in every paper, but to be honest, my (and most people's) 'aim' was to get 100% in any given test. A difficult aim to accomplish, but perfectionism and HSFY do rather go hand in hand...
As for rurality, I have no idea, but the Otago admissions page probably will. Failing that, ringing them would give you a definitive answer. If you are classed as rural then the rank score you require to gain entry will almost certainly be lower, but probably not to the extent where 80% would get you in... But I really don't know when it comes to ROMPE, in all honesty.
Also, this was kind of not the right thread for this, so I've moved these two posts to the HSFY 2012 thread
Edit: Damn, gg beat me to it.

 

[Cathay]

Though its probably written somewhere, I just want to clarify a few things.

1. So when you guys give your umat grades as 70,60,50 etc thats basically for each section your score/total questions correct?

2. Essentially if you want any chance of meeting the threshold the best thing to aim for is >80 for each paper yes? Plusa umat total score of 20 more (basically 60 above for each section)?

Best wishes, hope you all get into your desired course.

Lastly just confirming, rural is basically 40k and below right?

1, The raw section score is provided by ACER and is calculated by them as a measure of your performance, comparable to not only your year's UMAT cohort, but also to every other year's cohort. The way they calculate it is not revealed to candidates (us), so it's a bit of a mystery.

2, In actuality, you'll find that 60-60-60 is a fairly difficult target, and most people have wide differences between sections. Also, you'll want >90 to have a decent shot at med, an 85% average needs to be supplemented by a very high (99-100th percentile) UMAT to get in. It's far easier to get >90 in HSFY than it is to try and get that kind of UMAT.

3, Read the website: here.

 

[Nimbus2000]

Not necessary IMO. Everything you need in terms of study resources is provided to you. Not everything in the textbook is relevant, therefore not everything in the 'access kit' is relevant either. It would be a waste of time trying to sift through it to try and find what would be relevant when you are already well equipped with the slides and blackboard resources.

EDIT: I'm thinking and HOPING that it's at 12pm on the 22nd so that in the best scenario, this leaves time for celebration

It gives you access to some online resources on the topic. I do believe CELS staff have, in 2011, set some quizzes there, but I didn't do any, and IMO it was not necessary.

The CELS textbook is not one that matches the contents of the course very well in the first place, so you'll find that some of the readings don't necessarily align with the Lecture Objectives (to be provided to you in lecture handouts, don't worry, you'll get these at the first lecture, which is a housekeeping one). By that I mean as marsupial said, it's not all relevant (actually, pretty much half the book is irrelevant, and the relevant parts often go deeper than CELS needs us to go), so the access kit isn't all that relevant, either.

Yes, there are some interesting animations (which some lecturers like to play in the lecture) but it's a supplementary thing, rather than a necessity. And yes, the CELS staff have put up quizzes on the Mastering Biology place, but again, they're more as a supplement than something you're expected to go and do - it's certainly not worth any marks.

thank you! good luck