Quick Questions Thread #2: 2018-2019

[Ruffle]

When is QTAC application close? I know UAC is 28/09/18 and MD of UNSW and WSU is close on 30/09/18. How about MD of UQ?

Key dates & fees - QTAC 27th of September.

 

[Woo18]

A1 did you notice the rural MD score cutoff in UQ was 123 with a S1 of 41 for 2018 entrants



Yea we knew about this, that's an incredible 10ish %ile.

============

Was the UMAT in 2017 that difficult that it dropped by a significant amount?



I don't think so. Doesn't matter how difficult the scores are scaled/adjusted such that 50 section & 150 overall are at ~50%ile. It could be the combined effect of higher rural intakes at the other med schools and for some reason not as many rural students got over the ATAR 97 UQ hurdle.

I was talking to Med Admissions at UQ on Friday and mentioned this as we are Rural(RA5) and was told that this was very unusual and was not expected to happen again as this came about from the rural sub quota avenue and a number of EAS points and they are expecting it to be back up to around 155-160 mark with S1 of 55 and above. They also had a few less Rural applicants than normal but mainly came about from the points and not as many bonded applicants also.

 

[A1]

... and they are expecting it to be back up to around 155-160 mark with S1 of 55 and above.

Thanks for the info. Just to clarify in general these two requirements^ are not together. The S1 is not required of every applicant, only when you are right on the Overall score cutoff to tiebreak with others on the same Overall score.

 

[lilzab]

Hi, first time user of MSO (and am I relatively new reader too), sorry if these questions (which are scattered throughout this long winded post... oops) have been asked many times :/ I'm from VIC.

I decided to plan towards doing undergrad medicine next year (yr 12 this year) and did the UMAT but didn't do so great (med was never a lifelong dream of mine so I guess I approached the UMAT too lightly; oh well). JCU and Bond aren't quite realistic for me (money/location etc), is Griffith my only option for a solid undergrad pathway? (Correct me if I'm wrong, which I could well be; do they offer a 2 year undergrad with a provisional spot in MD for the following 4 years?)

Otherwise, I've been looking at plan Bs and personally the last thing I want to do is waste my time. Until recently I was totally caught up in the whole Biomed/Sci undergrad (3 yr) then postgrad medicine pathway because of the way that it's portrayed by universities but am I right in gathering that really, unless you have an ATAR >99.9 which gets you the Melbourne $300k spot or in the top 50 Monash students, your chances aren't any better than coming from any other degree? If that's right, then I think I might look at Physio as this was my interest outside of medicine.
Excuse my lack of knowledge but would this mean I'd do the degree, do the GAMSAT in the last 2 years and then, if successful, apply for med at UniMelb or Deakin (or Monash if I do physio there)? Am I eligible for the UMAT while doing physio?

Hopefully someone can make sense out of these questions and provide any answers And please let me know if this plan sounds feasible or if there is anything I'm missing out on... I am quite overwhelmed with the process!
Thanks!!

 

[Skarzin]

Hey there and welcome

Ill try to answer your queries as best as possible but if theres anyone else, please feel free to add in anything.

1. "is Griffith my only option for a solid undergrad pathway?" Possibly, depending on how you went in your UMAT (whether you did alright but maybe not enough or if you bombed it completely). This is a good thread to use to see the different prerequisites for different universities and the different scores you are expected. [Undergrad] - (2018 Updated) Med schools Selection Criteria Y12s & Non-standards

2. "am I right in gathering that really, unless you have an ATAR >99.9 which gets you the Melbourne $300k spot or in the top 50 Monash students, your chances aren't any better than coming from any other degree?" Homestly, this pathway is very risky and I would definitely not try to make it a main focussed pathway as the risks of not getting into Melb med are quite high. I recommend you talk to Perplex about it and maybe he/she can give you a bit more information, and my knowledge of Uni of Melb is very limited.

3. "would this mean I'd do the degree, do the GAMSAT in the last 2 years and then, if successful, apply for med at UniMelb or Deakin (or Monash if I do physio there)?" I think you can do that for Deakin, however for Monash, just like Uni of Melb its risky- only 25 positions from pharm/physio and two other courses (cant remember).

Good luck

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hi, first time user of MSO (and am I relatively new reader too), sorry if these questions (which are scattered throughout this long winded post... oops) have been asked many times :/ I'm from VIC.

I decided to plan towards doing undergrad medicine next year (yr 12 this year) and did the UMAT but didn't do so great (med was never a lifelong dream of mine so I guess I approached the UMAT too lightly; oh well). JCU and Bond aren't quite realistic for me (money/location etc), is Griffith my only option for a solid undergrad pathway? (Correct me if I'm wrong, which I could well be; do they offer a 2 year undergrad with a provisional spot in MD for the following 4 years?)

Otherwise, I've been looking at plan Bs and personally the last thing I want to do is waste my time. Until recently I was totally caught up in the whole Biomed/Sci undergrad (3 yr) then postgrad medicine pathway because of the way that it's portrayed by universities but am I right in gathering that really, unless you have an ATAR >99.9 which gets you the Melbourne $300k spot or in the top 50 Monash students, your chances aren't any better than coming from any other degree? If that's right, then I think I might look at Physio as this was my interest outside of medicine.
Excuse my lack of knowledge but would this mean I'd do the degree, do the GAMSAT in the last 2 years and then, if successful, apply for med at UniMelb or Deakin (or Monash if I do physio there)? Am I eligible for the UMAT while doing physio?

Hopefully someone can make sense out of these questions and provide any answers And please let me know if this plan sounds feasible or if there is anything I'm missing out on... I am quite overwhelmed with the process!
Thanks!!

You are pretty much exactly on track with your understanding of the system, both logistically and philosophically.

If you didn't obtain a decent UMAT and aren't rural, then yep, Griffith (plus Bond and JCU) is your best bet. For this you'll need an ATAR in the high 99.00s. Last year, the new Sunshine Coast course had people with ATARs as 'low' as 99.35, but we suspect that this was partly created by a lack of knowledge about this pathway, so it will probably rise a bit this year to be closer to the 99.70/75 required for Gold Coast and Nathan. If you completely smash it out of the park, then a 99.95 will also get you a USyd interview for provisional Med with no UMAT requirement.

Physio is a great back up plan degree, and a much 'safer' (employment-wise) option than Bio Med or Med Res. You can definitely access all of the post grad Med places with a physio degree, and yes you can continue to sit UMAT and try for non-standard entry to UNSW, WSU, and/or JMP along the way if you want to.

When you say your UMAT wasn't "so great", what did you manage? I only ask because, if you're thinking along the lines of a super high ATAR, then an application to UTAS might be worth a shot (it's free) because it's the only way to be considered for their version of provisional Med. Their guaranteed entry pathway isn't something you can directly apply to, but it's offered by invitation in January to select candidates who end up missing Med. Like I said, it's free so worth a shot as a(nother) back up plan.

With regard to Monash, I know Skarzin mentioned it's risky, but I think I disagree? If you do physio then it's a career degree with a likely job at the end of it so you can't really lose, and not only that, you open up those extra 25 Monash Med places to yourself and can still use your physio studies as the basis for GEMSAS applications elsewhere (and USyd etc), as well as still doing UMAT if you want to for non-standard Med. If physio is your backup plan, then doing it at Monash seems sensible, tbh (unless I'm missing something completely about this pathway!).

 

[Skarzin]

With regard to Monash, I know Skarzin mentioned it's risky, but I think I disagree? If you do physio then it's a career degree with a likely job at the end of it so you can't really lose, and not only that, you open up those extra 25 Monash Med places to yourself and can still use your physio studies as the basis for GEMSAS applications elsewhere (and USyd etc), as well as still doing UMAT if you want to for non-standard Med. If physio is your backup plan, then doing it at Monash seems sensible, tbh (unless I'm missing something completely about this pathway!).

I apologise for the misunderstanding. What I meant to say was that it was risky to get into med via the physio pathway but yes, as LMG has pointed out, even if you are unable to get into the med course, physiotherapy is a very strong career line.

 

[Crow]

Hi, first time user of MSO (and am I relatively new reader too), sorry if these questions (which are scattered throughout this long winded post... oops) have been asked many times :/ I'm from VIC.
I decided to plan towards doing undergrad medicine next year (yr 12 this year) and did the UMAT but didn't do so great (med was never a lifelong dream of mine so I guess I approached the UMAT too lightly; oh well). JCU and Bond aren't quite realistic for me (money/location etc), is Griffith my only option for a solid undergrad pathway? (Correct me if I'm wrong, which I could well be; do they offer a 2 year undergrad with a provisional spot in MD for the following 4 years?)

Hi lilzab, welcome to MSO! Based on your situation it is good to see you've come to this site

If your ATAR is in the high 99s, then yes you'd be eligible for a place in one of Griffith's direct entry programs. These are offered at 3 different locations; Gold Coast, Nathan and the Sunshine Coast. If you gain a place in the provisional cohort for medical science at Gold Coast or Nathan (you'll need a 99.75 ATAR for Nathan and probably a 99.8 for Gold Coast for a first round offer, or at the lowest a 99.65 if you're lucky for a second round offer) then you'll do 2 years of medical science at either of these campuses, with direct entry into the 4 year MD, which you'll complete on the Gold Coast campus. If you get into the USC provisional program (last year required a 99.35 ATAR, but we are expecting that to increase significantly this year) then you'll need to do a 3 year bachelor of Biomedical Science, followed by a 4 year MD to be completed on the Sunshine Coast.

Your other undergraduate option is Flinders (located in Adelaide), where you need an ATAR of at least 99.85 - UMAT is only counted as 10%. You may be eligible for certain bonus points to elevate your ATAR to the necessary requirement there, depending on which school you go to.

Other than these two, you're looking at graduate entry medicine. Can I ask why JCU isn't an option for you but Griffith is? JCU is only an extra ~hour of flying from Victoria from the Gold Coast, and Townsville is actually cheaper when you consider the cost of living etc.

Otherwise, I've been looking at plan Bs and personally the last thing I want to do is waste my time. Until recently I was totally caught up in the whole Biomed/Sci undergrad (3 yr) then postgrad medicine pathway because of the way that it's portrayed by universities but am I right in gathering that really, unless you have an ATAR >99.9 which gets you the Melbourne $300k spot or in the top 50 Monash students, your chances aren't any better than coming from any other degree? If that's right, then I think I might look at Physio as this was my interest outside of medicine.

Biomed/Science just isn't worth your time no matter where you go in my opinion, so it is nice to see you've got a much better back-up plan for an alternative career! The UniMelb "guaranteed" pathway actually only guarantees you an interview, rather than a place in the course. The odds of getting into Monash through the biomed pathway are less than 1/8, which is not worth investing 3 years of your life into when there is very limited employment prospects at the end of it! Physio, on the other hand, is an excellent back up career and if you can see yourself working as a physio further down the line, then you should definitely go for that.

ETA: For completeness sake, I'll add that Flinders University has a system where they have separate sub-quotas for postgraduate entry into the MD, for students that have studied at that university. If you were to do your undergraduate degree there, you'd find it easier (not easy by any means, however) to gain entry into medicine than other postgraduate universities.

Excuse my lack of knowledge but would this mean I'd do the degree, do the GAMSAT in the last 2 years and then, if successful, apply for med at UniMelb or Deakin (or Monash if I do physio there)? Am I eligible for the UMAT while doing physio?

This is correct, your GAMSAT score is only eligible for two years so there is really only a point in sitting it in the penultimate or final year of your degree (or after finishing your degree). You are welcome to continue sitting the UMAT throughout each year of your degree as well, but you can only use this to apply for unis that accept non-standard applicants, in this case being WSU, JMP, UNSW and Curtin (once you've completed your degree).

You may find, however, that in four years time your options open up and you can consider applying for medicine at other postgraduate universities interstate. By only applying to Melbourne, Monash and Deakin (Melbourne arguably being the most competitive postgraduate course to gain entry to in the country and Deakin also becoming very competitive because they award their applicants significant bonus points for financial disadvantage, prior work experience and Geelong residency) you are limiting your chances of gaining entry into medicine.

Wishing you the very best of luck!

 

[walks787]

I was talking to Med Admissions at UQ on Friday and mentioned this as we are Rural(RA5) and was told that this was very unusual and was not expected to happen again as this came about from the rural sub quota avenue and a number of EAS points and they are expecting it to be back up to around 155-160 mark with S1 of 55 and above. They also had a few less Rural applicants than normal but mainly came about from the points and not as many bonded applicants also.

I hope it stays below 157

 

[lilzab]

Hi lilzab, welcome to MSO! Based on your situation it is good to see you've come to this site

If your ATAR is in the high 99s, then yes you'd be eligible for a place in one of Griffith's direct entry programs. These are offered at 3 different locations; Gold Coast, Nathan and the Sunshine Coast. If you gain a place in the provisional cohort for medical science at Gold Coast or Nathan (you'll need a 99.75 ATAR for Nathan and probably a 99.8 for Gold Coast for a first round offer, or at the lowest a 99.65 if you're lucky for a second round offer) then you'll do 2 years of medical science at either of these campuses, with direct entry into the 4 year MD, which you'll complete on the Gold Coast campus. If you get into the USC provisional program (last year required a 99.35 ATAR, but we are expecting that to increase significantly this year) then you'll need to do a 3 year bachelor of Biomedical Science, followed by a 4 year MD to be completed on the Sunshine Coast.

Your other undergraduate option is Flinders (located in Adelaide), where you need an ATAR of at least 99.85 - UMAT is only counted as 10%. You may be eligible for certain bonus points to elevate your ATAR to the necessary requirement there, depending on which school you go to.

Other than these two, you're looking at graduate entry medicine. Can I ask why JCU isn't an option for you but Griffith is? JCU is only an extra ~hour of flying from Victoria from the Gold Coast, and Townsville is actually cheaper when you consider the cost of living etc.

Biomed/Science just isn't worth your time no matter where you go in my opinion, so it is nice to see you've got a much better back-up plan for an alternative career! The UniMelb "guaranteed" pathway actually only guarantees you an interview, rather than a place in the course. The odds of getting into Monash through the biomed pathway are less than 1/8, which is not worth investing 3 years of your life into when there is very limited employment prospects at the end of it! Physio, on the other hand, is an excellent back up career and if you can see yourself working as a physio further down the line, then you should definitely go for that.

ETA: For completeness sake, I'll add that Flinders University has a system where they have separate sub-quotas for postgraduate entry into the MD, for students that have studied at that university. If you were to do your undergraduate degree there, you'd find it easier (not easy by any means, however) to gain entry into medicine than other postgraduate universities.

This is correct, your GAMSAT score is only eligible for two years so there is really only a point in sitting it in the penultimate or final year of your degree (or after finishing your degree). You are welcome to continue sitting the UMAT throughout each year of your degree as well, but you can only use this to apply for unis that accept non-standard applicants, in this case being WSU, JMP, UNSW and Curtin (once you've completed your degree).

You may find, however, that in four years time your options open up and you can consider applying for medicine at other postgraduate universities interstate. By only applying to Melbourne, Monash and Deakin (Melbourne arguably being the most competitive postgraduate course to gain entry to in the country and Deakin also becoming very competitive because they award their applicants significant bonus points for financial disadvantage, prior work experience and Geelong residency) you are limiting your chances of gaining entry into medicine.

Wishing you the very best of luck!

Thank you so much for the comprehensive response! It's exactly what I needed As for JCU, I'm just far more familiar with Brisbane/Gold Coast than Townsville and have family not far from the more southern part of QLD, and wanted to be realistic as I'm someone who would find it hard living away from home :/ Will still probably put it as a preference though.

And you may have no idea about this, but if you could give me any two cents that would be great; would the possibility of a post grad med spot (~25 places among multiple undergrad courses) be enough of a justification to put Monash about La Trobe in terms of physio? I haven't got a massive preference for one or the other as it is but I've heard good things about LTU (on that note; if anyone has any reasoning for one course being better than the other I'd love to hear it). Is the extra med pathway through Monash's physio a realistic enough pathway to put it above LTU?

Thanks again!

 

[Skarzin]

Thank you so much for the comprehensive response! It's exactly what I needed As for JCU, I'm just far more familiar with Brisbane/Gold Coast than Townsville and have family not far from the more southern part of QLD, and wanted to be realistic as I'm someone who would find it hard living away from home :/ Will still probably put it as a preference though.

And you may have no idea about this, but if you could give me any two sense that would be great; would the possibility of a post grad med spot (~25 places among multiple undergrad courses) be enough of a justification to put Monash about La Trobe in terms of physio? I haven't got a massive preference for one or the other as it is but I've heard good things about LTU (on that note; if anyone has any reasoning for one course being better than the other I'd love to hear it). Is the extra med pathway through Monash's physio a realistic enough pathway to put it above LTU?

Thanks again!

Realistically no, its not worth it putting Monash over LTU because of the 25 spots. But from what I heard, Monash physio is pretty good compared to LTU, (but thats just me being a little biased as well ). In the end, its your choice on whether you want LTU or monash, but i'd go for monash.

 

[Crow]

Thank you so much for the comprehensive response! It's exactly what I needed As for JCU, I'm just far more familiar with Brisbane/Gold Coast than Townsville and have family not far from the more southern part of QLD, and wanted to be realistic as I'm someone who would find it hard living away from home :/ Will still probably put it as a preference though.

Fair enough, having a good support network around you is definitely important! For JCU (if you aren't already aware) it's important to point out that you need to submit a written application and this counts very significantly in determining whether or not you receive an interview - so if you are still considering applying then you need to have that written and sent off by the end of this month in addition to listing is as part of your QTAC preferences. You really need to be doing that ASAP if you want it to be at a high enough standard to receive an interview.

Definitely meant two cents* haha

In the bottom left of any post you've made is an "Edit" button - you can use this whenever you want to change or add something to your posts rather than making a new post.

 

[L2568]

Key dates & fees - QTAC 27th of September.

from your link that shows

27th of Sept is for 4 October 2018 offer

7 December 2018 is for 20 December 2018 offer

14 December 2018 is for 16 January 2019 and 25 January 2019

Is this correct?

 

[walks787]

from your link that shows

27th of Sept is for 4 October 2018 offer

7 December 2018 is for 20 December 2018 offer

14 December 2018 is for 16 January 2019 and 25 January 2019

Is this correct?

Hang on so do I need my rural confirmation documents in by the 27th of September?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

would the possibility of a post grad med spot (~25 places among multiple undergrad courses) be enough of a justification to put Monash about La Trobe in terms of physio? I haven't got a massive preference for one or the other as it is but I've heard good things about LTU (on that note; if anyone has any reasoning for one course being better than the other I'd love to hear it). Is the extra med pathway through Monash's physio a realistic enough pathway to put it above LTU?

Realistically no, its not worth it putting Monash over LTU because of the 25 spots. But from what I heard, Monash physio is pretty good compared to LTU, (but thats just me being a little biased as well ). In the end, its your choice on whether you want LTU or monash, but i'd go for monash.

Again, I kinda disagree

If there is literally nothing else between the options (financially, location, course-content, personal preference, etc) then 25 spots is 25 spots, and certainly better than 0 spots

(lilzab)

 

[lilzab]

Realistically no, its not worth it putting Monash over LTU because of the 25 spots. But from what I heard, Monash physio is pretty good compared to LTU, (but thats just me being a little biased as well ). In the end, its your choice on whether you want LTU or monash, but i'd go for monash.

Thanks for the advice. Do you know much about the physio course - hours/intensity, how bad the drive is from the suburbs to Frankston /) ? (Or is there a better place to ask these questions?)

 

[cook]

Just wondering, which medical school/s is highest in terms of the "prestige" scale?

 

[Logic]

Just wondering, which medical school/s is highest in terms of the "prestige" scale?

Prestige is not important within medicine, all medical programs are accredited and all will allow you to become a doctor. After you graduate, where you graduated from will not affect your career prospects.

 

[cook]

another question XD : I have heard of people getting multiple offers for medicine in the same state? How can this be the case? If you get your first preference, how can you get offers for courses which were lower on your preferences list?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

another question XD : I have heard of people getting multiple offers for medicine in the same state? How can this be the case? If you get your first preference, how can you get offers for courses which were lower on your preferences list?

I got offers for both WSU and JMP because WSU do rural offers in Dec and JMP do them in Jan and I switched my preferences between the dates/lock out times. Others have done this for JMP first round, then WSU second round in UAC.

For QTAC, people know they qualified for multiple offers (but I don't think actually received multiple offers) by putting UQ or Griffith first, but getting a congratulatory phone call (but no formal offer in the end) from JCU.

There may be other instances.