Rural Eligibility and General Discussion

[jampa123]

I guess for rurals its more so how many interstates are applying to your home state. I think the breakdown of the rural spots is like ≈120 NSW, ≈70 Vic, ≈40 SA, and ≈50 Qld. In this breakdown i feel like there is obviously a bias for students to want to study in their home states, which obviously makes sense, why would someone in SA choose a UNSW offer over a UAdel offer? (I'm sure some do, but its so few that we can kinda rule them out anyway). But with that said, i feel like a lot of Qld students prefer coming down to NSW (maybe this hypothesis is wrong, but the overwhelming majority on MSO from QLD seem to want to).

If we just throw out some numbers, with the assumption that most students would prefer a place in their states, of the 180 or so applicants who interview at UNSW lets say, that could be broken down to ≈50 from vic, 70 NSW, 30 Qld, and 20 SA and maybe like 10 WA. (again, these arent actual stats, or meant to be accurate representations, but just used to illustrate my point).

Of these, a significant portion of 'best'/'highest ranked' Vic students are going to get Monash offers (because it prefs their states' students, and so cutting the best 40 rural Vic students out from the pot, who im assuming want to go to monash over unsw, and itd be kinda silly not to imo). Similarly, a fair few of the best S/A rurals will get Adelaide (Cutting out the top 15 SA students). So i guess in this case for a NSW rural looking for UNSW, its more so they are now competing against a fair few less than those 180 people being interviewed.. just from that above, it becomes more so competing against 125. Idk if this was expressed too well but it makes sense to me lol

I thought of the same thing and came to around 125 too ahaha crazy. I also considered the UTAS and NT applicants.

 

[Nonstandard983]

I guess for rurals its more so how many interstates are applying to your home state. I think the breakdown of the rural spots is like ≈120 NSW, ≈70 Vic, ≈40 SA, and ≈50 Qld. In this breakdown i feel like there is obviously a bias for students to want to study in their home states, which obviously makes sense, why would someone in SA choose a UNSW offer over a UAdel offer? (I'm sure some do, but its so few that we can kinda rule them out anyway). But with that said, i feel like a lot of Qld students prefer coming down to NSW (maybe this hypothesis is wrong, but the overwhelming majority on MSO from QLD seem to want to).

If we just throw out some numbers, with the assumption that most students would prefer a place in their states, of the 180 or so applicants who interview at UNSW lets say, that could be broken down to ≈50 from vic, 70 NSW, 30 Qld, and 20 SA and maybe like 10 WA. (again, these arent actual stats, or meant to be accurate representations, but just used to illustrate my point).

Of these, a significant portion of 'best'/'highest ranked' Vic students are going to get Monash offers (because it prefs their states' students, and so cutting the best 40 rural Vic students out from the pot, who im assuming want to go to monash over unsw, and itd be kinda silly not to imo). Similarly, a fair few of the best S/A rurals will get Adelaide (Cutting out the top 15 SA students). So i guess in this case for a NSW rural looking for UNSW, its more so they are now competing against a fair few less than those 180 people being interviewed.. just from that above, it becomes more so competing against 125. Idk if this was expressed too well but it makes sense to me lol

I think your logic works I'm just not sure on the numbers when it comes to interstate applicants and would love to see if you had any data on that? Also any rural nonstandard applicant pretty much has to go to NSW unless they wanna live in Townsville or can afford ridiculous bond tuition.

 

[jampa123]

I think your logic works I'm just not sure on the numbers when it comes to interstate applicants and would love to see if you had any data on that? Also any rural nonstandard applicant pretty much has to go to NSW unless they wanna live in Townsville or can afford ridiculous bond tuition.

Thats true, but alot of non standards also have the gamsat pathway in mind.

 

[Nonstandard983]

Thats true, but alot of non standards also have the gamsat pathway in mind.

And a lot also don't... I don't think without numbers we can't really quantify what we are talking about here unless we have a state by state breakdown of applicants to NSW universities and if they're a standard or non-standard applicant.

 

[AM74]

I guess for rurals its more so how many interstates are applying to your home state. I think the breakdown of the rural spots is like ≈120 NSW, ≈70 Vic, ≈40 SA, and ≈50 Qld. In this breakdown i feel like there is obviously a bias for students to want to study in their home states, which obviously makes sense, why would someone in SA choose a UNSW offer over a UAdel offer? (I'm sure some do, but its so few that we can kinda rule them out anyway). But with that said, i feel like a lot of Qld students prefer coming down to NSW (maybe this hypothesis is wrong, but the overwhelming majority on MSO from QLD seem to want to).

If we just throw out some numbers, with the assumption that most students would prefer a place in their states, of the 180 or so applicants who interview at UNSW lets say, that could be broken down to ≈50 from vic, 70 NSW, 30 Qld, and 20 SA and maybe like 10 WA. (again, these arent actual stats, or meant to be accurate representations, but just used to illustrate my point).

Of these, a significant portion of 'best'/'highest ranked' Vic students are going to get Monash offers (because it prefs their states' students, and so cutting the best 40 rural Vic students out from the pot, who im assuming want to go to monash over unsw, and itd be kinda silly not to imo). Similarly, a fair few of the best S/A rurals will get Adelaide (Cutting out the top 15 SA students). So i guess in this case for a NSW rural looking for UNSW, its more so they are now competing against a fair few less than those 180 people being interviewed.. just from that above, it becomes more so competing against 125. Idk if this was expressed too well but it makes sense to me lol

The problem for rural Qlders they only really have 3 home state course options
UQ which is not direct entry
Griffith which is 99.75 ATAR
JCU which is a solid 15 hour drive from the capital city.
If you are rural south west it’s much closer to go to UNE or UON than JCU.

 

[marie104]

The problem for rural Qlders they only really have 3 home state course options
UQ which is not direct entry
Griffith which is 99.75 ATAR
JCU which is a solid 15 hour drive from the capital city.
If you are rural south west it’s much closer to go to UNE or UON than JCU.

absolute facts

 

[Lawso]

The problem for rural Qlders they only really have 3 home state course options
UQ which is not direct entry
Griffith which is 99.75 ATAR
JCU which is a solid 15 hour drive from the capital city.
If you are rural south west it’s much closer to go to UNE or UON than JCU.

So in short, the majority of JMP, WSU/CSU and UNSW seats (total of ≈ 130) are contested by Qld and NSW peeps. Thats also reflected in the peoples preferences here on MSO it seems too.

 

[ttttttttttt]

Hey guys!

Anyone know when round 1 offers for rural JMP/JPM non standards are going to be released? I saw 26/01 for "Jan round 1 ATAR based offers" but couldn't seem to find them on UAC page.

 

[Nonstandard983]

Hey guys!

Anyone know when round 1 offers for rural JMP/JPM non standards are going to be released? I saw 26/01 for "Jan round 1 ATAR based offers" but couldn't seem to find them on UAC page.

They will most likely all be released on the 26th of Jan, They need peoples ATAR to finalise the lists of who they plan to offer/not offer places too

 

[tyrion_lannistr]

Hi mods LMG! A1

I believe this Q/scenario has been asked previously yet left unanswered. It is a bit of a gray area.

Please correct if my information is incorrect, but currently for rural entry scheme, most unis have the following rule for eligiblity for med/dent

provide a statement from a rural community leader verifying that you have resided in a rural/remote location for at least five years consecutively or ten years cumulatively

Does this 5 year consecutively include those who have resided in a shared uni accomodation that is located in a rural / remote area?

E.g. Person A studies bachelor of X. Bachelor of X is full-time and in-person for 5 years only. Bachelor of X is in a rural area, because bachelor of X of offered by a rural university. The rural university, that offers bachelor of X, also offers shared dormitory accomodation. Person A relocates and has lived in this shared dormitory accomodation for the duration of 5 years (without a gap year). Person A's address is therefore the rural uni's address i.e. the shared dormitory on-campus. The addresss is something like Building A Dorm 1, 123 Example Street, Example Suburb, NSW/QLD/VIC

Caveat: Person A's home address is technically still Brisbane City (RA1), but lives the majority of year in on-campus accom for the 5 year duration.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hi mods LMG! A1

I believe this Q/scenario has been asked previously yet left unanswered. It is a bit of a gray area.

Please correct if my information is incorrect, but currently for rural entry scheme, most unis have the following rule for eligiblity for med/dent


Does this 5 year consecutively include those who have resided in a shared uni accomodation that is located in a rural / remote area?

E.g. Person A studies bachelor of X. Bachelor of X is full-time and in-person for 5 years only. Bachelor of X is in a rural area, because bachelor of X of offered by a rural university. The rural university, that offers bachelor of X, also offers shared dormitory accomodation. Person A relocates and has lived in this shared dormitory accomodation for the duration of 5 years (without a gap year). Person A's address is therefore the rural uni's address i.e. the shared dormitory on-campus. The addresss is something like Building A Dorm 1, 123 Example Street, Example Suburb, NSW/QLD/VIC

Caveat: Person A's home address is technically still Brisbane City (RA1), but lives the majority of year in on-campus accom for the 5 year duration.

This will almost entirely depend on what information the Uni have. If your address on your application and listed in your rural declaration is your RA1 location, that won’t be classed as rural. If you put your rural address in your application, then I’d imagine that would be fine. The uni can’t judge what they don’t know, though, so it’ll all depend on how you declare your address.

 

[tyrion_lannistr]

This will almost entirely depend on what information the Uni have. If your address on your application and listed in your rural declaration is your RA1 location, that won’t be classed as rural. If you put your rural address in your application, then I’d imagine that would be fine. The uni can’t judge what they don’t know, though, so it’ll all depend on how you declare your address.

Crow
This makes sense, but the question is more-so whether med schools actually accept the "shared- uni accom / dormitories / uni-style" living-type accomodation as part of their 5 year rural conseq scheme. Because many of these types of accmodations only have rent agreements from Feb - Nov in many cases. It makes sense to me that it is acceptable, but I not sure the answer officially

 

[tyrion_lannistr]

LMG! *

 

[marie104]

Crow
This makes sense, but the question is more-so whether med schools actually accept the "shared- uni accom / dormitories / uni-style" living-type accomodation as part of their 5 year rural conseq scheme. Because many of these types of accmodations only have rent agreements from Feb - Nov in many cases. It makes sense to me that it is acceptable, but I not sure the answer officially

if it's interrupted accommodation wouldn't you have to fulfil 10 years? like 5 years is for when it's consecutive or am I dumb

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Crow
This makes sense, but the question is more-so whether med schools actually accept the "shared- uni accom / dormitories / uni-style" living-type accomodation as part of their 5 year rural conseq scheme. Because many of these types of accmodations only have rent agreements from Feb - Nov in many cases. It makes sense to me that it is acceptable, but I not sure the answer officially

The only way to get an official answer is to ask the relevant unis specifically, which is what I’d be doing.

 

[Nonstandard983]

if it's interrupted accommodation wouldn't you have to fulfil 10 years? like 5 years is for when it's consecutive or am I dumb

Depends how long you stay at the university I imagine, if person A goes home for a month over summer break one could argue this is the same as a holiday especially if they have a drivers license, car registration ect in the host universities state.

Like LMG said previously this I would imagine would depend more on what you declare to the university and I wouldn’t think someone is making an unethical decision by declaring their address for those five years as the university campus accomodation if they spend 80% of their year there and only go home on holidays this would demonstrate their ability to live in a regional community albeit while they are studying.

 

[Abashar26]

Hi guys, I am a RA 2 NSW student and got an ATAR of 96.10 from the 2021 HSC. My UCAT score is in the 77th percentile. I went through a few interviews in December which I called into based on my UCAT score since the ATAR wasn't out til last week for us. So far I have not received a single med offer for which I'm thinking I messed up the interviews since I barely had any prep.
Preparing for the worst I was thinking if I don't get an offer this year to take a gap year and try and get a better UCAT score and prepare for interviews to maximise my chances. What are your views on that? Or is taking a different pathway a better idea?
Thanks

 

[Crow]

Hi guys, I am a RA 2 NSW student and got an ATAR of 96.10 from the 2021 HSC. My UCAT score is in the 77th percentile. I went through a few interviews in December which I called into based on my UCAT score since the ATAR wasn't out til last week for us. So far I have not received a single med offer for which I'm thinking I messed up the interviews since I barely had any prep.
Preparing for the worst I was thinking if I don't get an offer this year to take a gap year and try and get a better UCAT score and prepare for interviews to maximise my chances. What are your views on that? Or is taking a different pathway a better idea?
Thanks

Sorry to hear you haven’t received a place offer.

Which universities are you applying to? All of the NSW undergraduate entry medical schools accept applications for non-standard entry - meaning you can apply to each of these while also working towards an alternative back up career, if your back up career involves studying at university.

If you plan to take a gap year, it should not solely be for the purpose of re-attempting UCAT, but to work on other aspects of life e.g. work, travel etc.

Taking a whole year off solely to attempt to improve your score in a 2 hour exam is not advisable.

 

[Abashar26]

Sorry to hear you haven’t received a place offer.

Which universities are you applying to? All of the NSW undergraduate entry medical schools accept applications for non-standard entry - meaning you can apply to each of these while also working towards an alternative back up career, if your back up career involves studying at university.

If you plan to take a gap year, it should not solely be for the purpose of re-attempting UCAT, but to work on other aspects of life e.g. work, travel etc.

Taking a whole year off solely to attempt to improve your score in a 2 hour exam is not advisable.

Thanks for replying I appreciate it.
I applied to UNSW, WSU/CSU, JMP, Adelaide, UTAS and Flinders.
With the gap year I am confident I can perform much better in both UCAT and interviews with months of preparation as last year with the HSC I only gave about a week or two for each.
I was also looking to work it out and be eligible as independent for youth allowance which will really take the stress for accommodation off my parents.

 

[Scrivo_72]

Thanks for replying I appreciate it.
I applied to UNSW, WSU/CSU, JMP, Adelaide, UTAS and Flinders.
With the gap year I am confident I can perform much better in both UCAT and interviews with months of preparation as last year with the HSC I only gave about a week or two for each.
I was also looking to work it out and be eligible as independent for youth allowance which will really take the stress for accommodation off my parents.

Hey Abashar26 i took a gap year last year and it was definitely worth it. Info about me i was a rural applicant RA2 97.55 and 86%ile and got offers from monash, unsw and flinders.

There are a couple things that i did that made the gap year experience much more bearable and enjoyable to some degree. So you defo want to go in with a solid plan, so my plan was to grind for the ucat and also get volunteering and work experience. Initially, i was doing volunteering solely for the reason for interviews, however, i realised when it came to interviews that it doesn't help much with most interviews (id say UNSW it helped the most but Monash i didnt include one anecdote of volutneering or work experience). So if i was to go back and do it again id choose less volunteering positions but specifically focus on ones that put you in a new environment, build communication skills and also provide you with leadership opportunities.

Initially i literally looked for experiences that would make my JCU written application look good, so i searched up all these random rural health opportunities, like teaching first aid in rural australia and also working for NRHA. However, after sitting the JCU interview i realised that these experiences didnt do anything in teh interview but only helped for the written application ahhaha, which was a yikes.

For UCAT prep in the gap year defo focus hard on that and do heaps of mocks, but since you did well on your ucat last year im sure youll smash it again this year. You may also want to resit a couple subjects to get your atar up. Now some stuff that may boost your atar without resitting subjects is to apply for financial disadvantage through VTAC and UAC, i know that VTACs SEAS criteria is disadvantage from the last 3 months, so youll be able to claim SEAS for your youth allowance which should boost your atar quite well. For UAC i know its disadvantage in year 12 or year 11 so you might want to look to see if your parents have any financial disadvantage maybe family tax benefit which is what i got and gave me EAS for UNSW.

Now for interview prep, since you didnt do much last year which is fair cause you focused on your HSC, youll have heaps of time available to do so this year. I was absolutely trash at interviews initially and i cringe looking back at videos of myself responding to questions, but with time and getting feedback from others you improve heaps. Id recommend you join the interview undergraduate servers and also post grad interview servers. The interview undergraduate servers get active around the end of the year but the post grad start early cause there interviews can sometimes be as early as September so you can join in on them with their interview prep. However, keep in mind that the post grad interviews can be quite different to undergraduate in terms of the assumed knowledge, especially the detechnalisation and some of the big contentious issues. But i think its still helpful to sit in on there sessions and answer some stations. I bought various prep packages for interviews and id say that the most useful ones were the mock interviews, but i think if you apply to dentistry or something you can get some free mock interviews hahahah (jokign ofc, but could be an idea hahaha). However, the best interview prep was doing it with a group of people, because most gap year people have a lot of time on there hands they start interview prep quite early on the servers, around August, so surroudn yourself with some of those people and theyll help heaps, especially non rural kids and kids with quite different perspectives as itll be helpful to unpack scenarios. If you need any help with interview prep ill defo be active on the undergrad intervier discord server this year so you can send us a text, also if you dont have the discord i can send you the link.

Overall, i personally think that a gap year is a great idea if you use it well, yes its quite a lot of pressure to put on a 2 hour exam but i think id rather do that than go into an undergraduate degree and put a lot of pressure on the GAMSAT. If you do end up going on a gap year and you need any help with anything feel free to send us a message to my discord which is ruralpogchamp #6203. Wish you the best with everything and either way with persistance and consistency youll get in through either undergrad or post grad.

Cheers,
Flynn