UCAT Results Discussion 2019

[Crow]

Am I able to at least land an interview at one of these places?

I’d say it’s unfortunately unlikely - you shouldn’t get an interview at Monash or UWA, and Griffith, UTAS and UQ don’t interview at all. Curtin may be your best hope but I can’t see you getting an interview there due to your UCAT score. Best of luck regardless!

 

[TKAO]

Am I able to at least land an interview at one of these places?

I'd say Curtin is unlikely as well. From what I hear, someone in my school DIDN'T manage to get a Curtin interview offer with a 99.8 predicted and a 90th percentile UCAT, and the common concensus is that it is much easier to get a UWA interview than it is a Curtin one. Note that UWA interviews seem very easy for local WA applicants to get but not for interstates, whereas Curtin has very high cutoffs because it is thought that they have the same cutoffs for interstate and local applicants. What I'm trying to say is this: UWA's interview cutoffs, whatever they were for local applicants, can only go up. Curtin's is most likely to stay the same at the high point that it was set at for the local applicants. However, I don't think interviews at Curtin or UWA's second round has come out yet, so it is possible that cutoffs drop and interviews are sent out.

I’d say it’s unfortunately unlikely - you shouldn’t get an interview at Monash or UWA, and Griffith, UTAS and UQ don’t interview at all. Curtin may be your best hope but I can’t see you getting an interview there due to your UCAT score. Best of luck regardless!

What do you mean that UWA and Monash don't interview? They do have interviews. If you meant that they strongly favour local applicants and have very few interview slots for interstates then that is correct - but they do interview nonetheless.

 

[Deleted member 38656]

I'd say Curtin is unlikely as well. From what I hear, someone in my school DIDN'T manage to get a Curtin interview offer with a 99.8 predicted and a 90th percentile UCAT, and the common concensus is that it is much easier to get a UWA interview than it is a Curtin one. Note that UWA interviews seem very easy for local WA applicants to get but not for interstates, whereas Curtin has very high cutoffs because it is thought that they have the same cutoffs for interstate and local applicants. What I'm trying to say is this: UWA's interview cutoffs, whatever they were for local applicants, can only go up. Curtin's is most likely to stay the same at the high point that it was set at for the local applicants. However, I don't think interviews at Curtin or UWA's second round has come out yet, so it is possible that cutoffs drop and interviews are sent out.


What do you mean that UWA and Monash don't interview? They do have interviews. If you meant that they strongly favour local applicants and have very few interview slots for interstates then that is correct - but they do interview nonetheless.

Griffith, UTAS, and UQ do not interview. The person should not get an interview at Monash or UWA.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

What do you mean that UWA and Monash don't interview? They do have interviews. If you meant that they strongly favour local applicants and have very few interview slots for interstates then that is correct - but they do interview nonetheless.

No, Crow was saying the OP wouldn't get interviews at Monash or UWA.

 

[A1]

someone in my school DIDN'T manage to get a Curtin interview offer with a 99.8 predicted and a 90th percentile UCAT

How does Curtin work again? This GPA 5.8 + 91%ile got an interview and we know GPA 5.8 doesn't convert to anywhere near 99.8
> 2020 Entry Interview Invites - Collated (DATA ONLY)

 

[DrDrLMG!]

How does Curtin work again? This GPA 5.8 + 91%ile got an interview and we know GPA 5.8 doesn't convert to anywhere near 99.8
> 2020 Entry Interview Invites - Collated (DATA ONLY)

I think Curtin separate out non-standards and school leavers into different pools.

 

[Crow]

How does Curtin work again? This GPA 5.8 + 91%ile got an interview and we know GPA 5.8 doesn't convert to anywhere near 99.8
> 2020 Entry Interview Invites - Collated (DATA ONLY)

Not sure if those can be compared, though, because non-standards are in a completely different applicant pool to school-leavers - so the conversion isn’t really relevant.

 

[A1]

Not sure if those can be compared, though, because non-standards are in a completely different applicant pool to school-leavers - so the conversion isn’t really relevant.

I thought of that, but every time Lilysace talked to Curtin about their miscalculations they told her what ATAR her GPA was converted to. Even in the Curtin Guide they mention it

"Non-school Leavers: Graduates
Non-school leavers (graduates) are applicants from any university who hold a completed tertiary degree record .... (Completed) qualifications will be used to determine a notional ATAR. The academic requirement for nonschool leavers (graduates) is: A minimum notional ATAR of 92."

 

[$noopDodd]

I'd say Curtin is unlikely as well. From what I hear, someone in my school DIDN'T manage to get a Curtin interview offer with a 99.8 predicted and a 90th percentile UCAT, and the common concensus is that it is much easier to get a UWA interview than it is a Curtin one. Note that UWA interviews seem very easy for local WA applicants to get but not for interstates, whereas Curtin has very high cutoffs because it is thought that they have the same cutoffs for interstate and local applicants. What I'm trying to say is this: UWA's interview cutoffs, whatever they were for local applicants, can only go up. Curtin's is most likely to stay the same at the high point that it was set at for the local applicants. However, I don't think interviews at Curtin or UWA's second round has come out yet, so it is possible that cutoffs drop and interviews are sent out.


What do you mean that UWA and Monash don't interview? They do have interviews. If you meant that they strongly favour local applicants and have very few interview slots for interstates then that is correct - but they do interview nonetheless.

Just out of interest, in which year did the person at your school apply?

 

[Crow]

I thought of that, but every time Lilysace talked to Curtin about their miscalculations they told her what ATAR her GPA was converted to. Even in the Curtin Guide they mention it

"Non-school Leavers: Graduates
Non-school leavers (graduates) are applicants from any university who hold a completed tertiary degree record .... (Completed) qualifications will be used to determine a notional ATAR. The academic requirement for nonschool leavers (graduates) is: A minimum notional ATAR of 92."

Yeah, but that doesn’t mean those ATARs are compared to school-leaver applicants, just that they convert the GPA to an ATAR so that the same ranking formula can be used as the other applicants (look how that turned out in previous years though, LOL). I think all the wording on the Curtin site + guide strongly indicates it’s a separate quota.

 

[TKAO]

Just out of interest, in which year did the person at your school apply?

Same cohort as me. This year (or should I say last year). He did email curtin to ask why he didn't manage to get one, so it might be possible that it was just an error?

 

[REGULAR JOE]

I'd say Curtin is unlikely as well. From what I hear, someone in my school DIDN'T manage to get a Curtin interview offer with a 99.8 predicted and a 90th percentile UCAT, and the common concensus is that it is much easier to get a UWA interview than it is a Curtin one. Note that UWA interviews seem very easy for local WA applicants to get but not for interstates, whereas Curtin has very high cutoffs because it is thought that they have the same cutoffs for interstate and local applicants. What I'm trying to say is this: UWA's interview cutoffs, whatever they were for local applicants, can only go up. Curtin's is most likely to stay the same at the high point that it was set at for the local applicants. However, I don't think interviews at Curtin or UWA's second round has come out yet, so it is possible that cutoffs drop and interviews are sent out.


What do you mean that UWA and Monash don't interview? They do have interviews. If you meant that they strongly favour local applicants and have very few interview slots for interstates then that is correct - but they do interview nonetheless.

Was the interview rejection for the 99.80/90th person for 2020 admission or last year?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Was the interview rejection for the 99.80/90th person for 2020 admission or last year?

2020 admission.

 

[$noopDodd]

Same cohort as me. This year (or should I say last year). He did email curtin to ask why he didn't manage to get one, so it might be possible that it was just an error?

Doubt it's an error, I eventually didn't get an interview invite (99.90 adjusted by Curtin special consideration, 84 UCAT)
I am from VIC though so that could be why... also a mate at my school got one with a low 98s ATAR and a 95 UCAT

 

[Jenga118]

Maybe there's a greater importance on the UCAT than the weightings suggest?

 

[Eleanor Rigby]

Questions...
How much time per week should I practice on UCAT questions?
Should I be mindful when choosing test locations and dates?
Is the screen calculator useful?
A close friend of mine failed to secure a place this year so I think I should investigate this thoroughly.

 

[Cal]

Questions...
How much time per week should I practice on UCAT questions?
Should I be mindful when choosing test locations and dates?
Is the screen calculator useful?
A close friend of mine failed to secure a place this year so I think I should investigate this thoroughly.

Just a tip from me; do not choose an 8am timeslot when you have to travel an hour to get in , i think that might have hindered my performance.

 

[Eleanor Rigby]

Just a tip from me; do not choose an 8am timeslot when you have to travel an hour to get in , i think that might have hindered my performance.

Thank you, will take note on these morning timeslot.

 

[YeahTrueHey]

Just a tip from me; do not choose an 8am timeslot when you have to travel an hour to get in , i think that might have hindered my performance.

Do you know anything about the test centres in Brisbane?

 

[ucatboy]

Questions...
How much time per week should I practice on UCAT questions?
Should I be mindful when choosing test locations and dates?
Is the screen calculator useful?
A close friend of mine failed to secure a place this year so I think I should investigate this thoroughly.

1. Depends on your workload and how well you manage your time, but for a busy Year 12, 20-30 minutes a day or every two days won't hurt, although if you do a practice exam that's a two hour commitment which you might wanna reserve for the weekends.

2. If there are multiple testing locations available, choose either the closest one to your house or the one which you will experience the least traffic jams getting there. I specifically avoided the one in the city for this very reason. As for time of day, I recommend doing it in the morning where you're the most alert and awake but not too early that you might have trouble making it on time. 9-10 AM is good.

3. Yes, some questions such as calculating the percentage x is of y or the volume of a solid can be done much faster on a calculator than in your head. Don't be overly reliant on it though, and always run the numbers it returns through your head to check if it makes sense and you didn't type something wrong.