A low 90s percentile score with a good VR will be enough likely. On the collated interview page you can see the equation we think it is.
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Quick Questions 2021/2022
- Thread starter David3sber
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garywinthorpe
Lurker
Hi so I graduated high school in 2020 and got through to the interview stage at Bond University but unfortunately didn't get an offer when they were released a few days ago. So now I am left wondering if I should a) start Biomed and hope to get a good enough GPA to get an offer or b) take a gap year and work so that I can retain my ATAR and undergraduate status enter the medical application for Bond again next year as an undergrad and hope that this time I make it past the final hurdle. Given 1300 students applied and I got down to the last 250 I feel that I will have a reasonable chance to get over the final hurdle in my second attempt however I would love some advice from you guys on what you think I should do.
garywinthorpe
Lurker
my ATAR was 97.55 and required atar for Bond this year to apply was 96
IMO, and as great an ATAR as this is, it's not high enough to put your life on hold for a year in order to save it for undergrad admission as you're only really eligible for a very few unis with this ATAR (all of which will also accept non-standard GPA applications). Your best bet would be to start a degree and use your GPA to improve your non-standard chances at the universities that weight it (JCU and UNSW - and UTAS soon, which your current ATAR would leave you ineligible for), and also to apply to non-standard GPA-hurdle universities (Bond, WSU/CSU, and JMP). You would increase your chances by applying widely with a GPA compared to sitting on your ATAR and really only being in contention for Bond, WSU/CSU, and JMP. You're also then one year closer to being eligible for graduate entry universities which make up ~half of all medicine places in the country.
Others may have different advice, but starting a uni degree in an area of interest/alternative career pathway and using that to apply for non-standard and then graduate entry medicine (if necessary) would be my suggestion.
Yeah I agree with LMG.
I would think you’re actually better off doing an extra year of studying from a competitiveness point of view because you can potentially raise your academic rank for UNSW and UTAS entry and you wouldn’t make yourself any less eligible for other unis in the first place (ie the only unis that wouldn’t take non standards, wouldn’t take you on a gap year anyways - except for maybe JCU cause they aren’t so friendly to non standards)
Also, i seem to recall that because the dates overlap or something Bond only lets you sit the psychometric test once every 2 years. Meaning that as long as you keep up a better than average/good GPA youre psychometric results from this year should get you automatic interview for bond based on this years psychometric results.
There’s a lot to be said about doing Biomed as an alternative, and as someone who does do it in conjunction with something else as part of my provisional degree. It doesn’t really help at all for entry - ever. It may have some effect for GAMSAT study, but it’s honestly minimal. I genuinely believe that the degrees are work intensive and might actually disadvantage you from entry. I would seriously consider something else, especially something you see yourself long term in.
I would think you’re actually better off doing an extra year of studying from a competitiveness point of view because you can potentially raise your academic rank for UNSW and UTAS entry and you wouldn’t make yourself any less eligible for other unis in the first place (ie the only unis that wouldn’t take non standards, wouldn’t take you on a gap year anyways - except for maybe JCU cause they aren’t so friendly to non standards)
Also, i seem to recall that because the dates overlap or something Bond only lets you sit the psychometric test once every 2 years. Meaning that as long as you keep up a better than average/good GPA youre psychometric results from this year should get you automatic interview for bond based on this years psychometric results.
There’s a lot to be said about doing Biomed as an alternative, and as someone who does do it in conjunction with something else as part of my provisional degree. It doesn’t really help at all for entry - ever. It may have some effect for GAMSAT study, but it’s honestly minimal. I genuinely believe that the degrees are work intensive and might actually disadvantage you from entry. I would seriously consider something else, especially something you see yourself long term in.
Hi
I think the main problem with this strategy is to assume that you will get a bond interview next year. This year 300 people were interviewed because of the possibility of a September cohort and you made the top 300 , now next year this might not be the case and perhaps only 250 will be invited. As you don't know your psychometric results you cannot assume you'll get straight to the interview especially since you cannot take the psychometric in the past 2 years from now on . It's possible no one from this year makes it next year if the next candidate group is stronger so this is a bad approach for that reason .
Also the ATAR fluctuation whilst unlikely to change , can potentially increase and as your ATAR is close to borderline this could put you at risk (This is highly unlikely though) .
It is therefore better that you do 1 year of an undergraduate , your ATAR is not that strong enough for a gap year. It would have difficulty getting a JCU interview , UNSW interview (Basically impossible with anything below 99 for non-rural) . Now that being said the main advantage of a gap year is you are still considered a school leaver meaning you could apply to UQ and other schools which only allow school leavers if you get a high enough UCAT but again a very risky strategy. I would not advise doing Biomed unless your very very keen on doing medicine.
Biomed does not have the best prospects and you need the GAMSAT too if you try pathways after graduation. That is a very long route and a very unpredictable route which requires an immense dedication to medicine. I personally would not recommend doing Biomed. I would recommend another employable degree which means even if you take the GAMSAT you didn't have to waste 2/3 years due to it. You could do other allied health degrees etc or something completely outside of health such as computer science or economics.
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UTAS example: Your path to 2022
Early *conditional offers for Med at UTAS are generally late November, much later than July as for the SRS. There's no way offers will come out before UCAT percentiles at the very least, and I've never seen them earlier than November.
*conditional in that they depend on you achieving a minimum ATAR to 'keep' the offer. If you don't, the offer is retracted.
Can you apply for an early offer even though you already graduated and have an Atar?
Disclaimer: UTAS specific information.
You don't have to apply for an early offer for Medicine, you just either get one or you don't from my experience. I got my offer on the 5th of December when I applied having done nothing to suggest I was applying for an early offer (this was early as the official first offer round was approx. 19th of Dec after ATAR release). As far as I can tell, it's not a formal process for Medicine. As the link says, Medicine (and Paramedicine) works differently.
The key difference for someone with an existing ATAR or completed degree that receives an early offer (and assuming they haven't started but not completed a uni degree) is that their offer is not conditional as the Uni already know their ATAR/GPA. So my early offer was not conditional as I had a completed degree and the Uni didn't have to wait for my second semester results to come in to determine my GPA for eligibility. Other people receiving offers at the same time did receive conditional offers as the Uni waited for the ATAR and GPA to be finalised. They then got an email in Jan confirming their offer (or retracting it in one case that I'm aware of where that person didn't go on to meet requirements).
ETA: early offers for UTAS Med are almost strictly limited to rural and/or local applicants in my experience. I've never seen a non-rural interstate applicant get an early offer and I've been hanging out here since 2016.
Wise and benevolent professionals and students,
I hope that it is not a breach of this site's rules if a member of the Australian public might ask a question from and suitable to the nature of these times. If I err in doing so, I hope that a moderator will delete this post; I will immediately get the message and not post another.
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Kind regards,
Jesse
I hope that it is not a breach of this site's rules if a member of the Australian public might ask a question from and suitable to the nature of these times. If I err in doing so, I hope that a moderator will delete this post; I will immediately get the message and not post another.
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Kind regards,
Jesse
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Hello,
I am in my final year of a science degree, which I have been awarded 96 credit points towards from study at a previous university. Last year I failed 3 subjects however, the university had a policy that no failed subjects that semester would count towards your GPA due to Covid19. At the end of this year, I will have completed my degree (48 credit points in total at my current university). I am tracking to get a GPA of 6.5 (which is just based on my last 8 subjects and does not include those 3 failed subjects). But I am wondering if Charles Sturt, UNE/UON, WSU and JCU would count those 3 failed subjects towards my GPA?
I am in my final year of a science degree, which I have been awarded 96 credit points towards from study at a previous university. Last year I failed 3 subjects however, the university had a policy that no failed subjects that semester would count towards your GPA due to Covid19. At the end of this year, I will have completed my degree (48 credit points in total at my current university). I am tracking to get a GPA of 6.5 (which is just based on my last 8 subjects and does not include those 3 failed subjects). But I am wondering if Charles Sturt, UNE/UON, WSU and JCU would count those 3 failed subjects towards my GPA?
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Are those subjects, and the marks you received for them, on your academic transcript?
Yes, they will read Fail - Not Contributing to GPA
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