UMelb UMelb Medicine: Provisional Entry Questions and Discussion

[qwerty_pig06]

Hi, can anyone tell me how likely it is to get into Unimelb medicine post-grad after doing my undergrad in NZ? I know I have to sit the GAMSAT, but in terms of being someone from NZ, would I be at a disadvantage compared to all the biomed students at Unimelb or like would they rank me differently?

 

[Apue]

Hi, can anyone tell me how likely it is to get into Unimelb medicine post-grad after doing my undergrad in NZ? I know I have to sit the GAMSAT, but in terms of being someone from NZ, would I be at a disadvantage compared to all the biomed students at Unimelb or like would they rank me differently?

UniMelb is a part of GEMSAS and they don't differentiate NZ applicants. I don't think you can apply 'BMP' but you can apply for CSP and FFP.
Even the cut-off of FFP of UniMelb is very high as you can find in Reddit. The tuition fee is the highest among all medical schools, insanely 440K for 2026 entry.
I think most applicants who got FFP offers from UniMelb did very well in GAMSAT and GPA but did poorly on the MMI.
The CSP places of UniMelb is arguably the most competitive in Australia apart from Usyd (which requires very high S1 and S2). I estimate 30 places are taken by the chancellor scholarship students, so actual available places are less than the advertised 165 places.

MelbUni’s 99+ guarantee is a moderately bullshit program to convince higher scorers to do their undergrad degree at MelbUni. It works well for most graduate degrees, most of which aren’t hugely competitive anyway, but it does not in practice guarantee you an MD spot if you meet the WAM requirements.

The MMI requirement is designed to reject most people with the 99+ guarantee. If you do the math based on course enrolment numbers, the number of BBioMed students alone with 99+ ATARs is much higher than the number of places in the graduate medicine course. I’ve heard estimates that 67-75% of ppl with the 99+ guarantee get rejected. The only true guarantee is chancellor’s. Also note that the 99+ guarantee is for FFP, so you’d be paying $300k+ for your degree.

Jobs shouldn’t be an issue, as priority tier 1 for internships in Vic is domestic students who got their degree in Victoria, regardless of if they’re FFP or CSP.

I'd like to know where you obtain the actual information that 70% of students failed to get a FFP offer.
Or you just assumed most of the 99+ students can afford to pay 440K for the tuition fee.
If you're in year 12 now, then expect the tuition fee will be circa 550K when you enter the MD in year 2029.

In theory, yes, there should be much more 99+ students hoping the FFP in UniMelb than 115 places.
In reality, there are not many 99+ students pursuing the FFP path because of following reasons not from MMI failure.
1. Retaining WAM 75 can be challenging, particularly someone who took a hard course.
2. able to afford to pay 440K (280K after hecs) plus living cost.
3. Must have poor GAMSAT so the student cannot secure a MD place elsewhere.

With all 3 conditions are met, the actual number of 99+ students pursuing the FFP is not many.
Seriously, I wonder how many parents who can afford such high tuition fee, let alone high rent and living cost in Melbourne.
We consider UNDS FFP or Macquarie is a better option because these are cheaper and easier to get in.
My kid currently study in UniMelb for the FFP guarantee pathway as a *BackUp* but my kid got very high GAMSAT so we don't consider the FFP option anymore.
I think most 99+ ATAR students can achieve high GAMSAT although they might have poor UCAT.

 

[Crow]

he tuition fee is the highest among all medical schools, insanely 440K for 2026 entry.

This is insane "inflation" - the total course fee has increased by ~120k in just a few years, just for a 4-year degree. Almost on par with Bond now.

 

[Apue]

This is insane "inflation" - the total course fee has increased by ~120k in just a few years, just for a 4-year degree. Almost on par with Bond now.

Don’t forget it is a postgraduate course so the student must have spent 33K in HECS for the undergraduate course and it takes 7 years so there are another 2 years of 80k/yr income opportunity cost compared to Bond MD. The bond is a better option than the ffp in uniMelb.

 

[Crow]

Don’t forget it is a postgraduate course so the student must have spent 33K in HECS for the undergraduate course and it takes 7 years so there are another 2 years of 80k/yr income opportunity cost compared to Bond MD. The bond is a better option than the ffp in uniMelb.

Yes, that is true, but a decent portion (IIRC, it has historically been >50%, though happy to be corrected) of Bond students have at least some level of undergraduate non-medicine tertiary study already completed prior to entering the program.

Regardless, obtaining/fulfilling FFP medicine positions at these institutions is clearly limited to those who have a very decent amount of cash available to make it happen.

 

[Apue]

Yes, that is true, but a decent portion (IIRC, it has historically been >50%, though happy to be corrected) of Bond students have at least some level of undergraduate non-medicine tertiary study already completed prior to entering the program.

I was comparing the cost to be a doctor between Bond and UniMelb from the year 12's perspective.
The Bond allocated 20% of places for graduates.
I wasn't aware that some graduates apply for the Bond places for high school leavers.
It's a bit different story though, it's relatively easy to enter FFP DMD course of the Usyd or UniMelb with modest GAMSAT score.
And Usyd's GPA requirement is just 'Credit' average.
It's hard to imagine starting another undergraduate MD course after finished a Uni degree. :0

 

[medbuddy]

what is FFP DMD?

 

[Apue]

what is FFP DMD?

Full Fee Paying Dentistry.
It's roughly 75K per year for 4 years for Usyd.
The great thing of Usyd DMD is that they just require Credit average, no MMI. Just do well in S1 and S2.

 

[Arcadia]

Full Fee Paying Dentistry.
It's roughly 75K per year for 4 years for Usyd.
The great thing of Usyd DMD is that they just require Credit average, no MMI. Just do well in S1 and S2.

This is unimelb thread

 

[medbuddy]

hi
what undergraduate courses eligible for post grad MD?

 

[Apue]

hi
what undergraduate courses eligible for post grad MD?

You can take any course to apply the MD.
UQ requires 2 pre-requisite subjects in the undergraduate course but UniMelb and Usyd don't care at all.

 

[link1]

How likely is it to get in through the FFP pathway? im a bit worried about the interview section of it. For chancellors scholarships i'm aware rate of passing the interview is pretty good but im not sure about this pathway. And from previous posts is there a quota for these FFP spots?

 

[A1]

How likely is it to get in through the FFP pathway? im a bit worried about the interview section of it. For chancellors scholarships i'm aware rate of passing the interview is pretty good but im not sure about this pathway. And from previous posts is there a quota for these FFP spots?

There appears to be a quota of 105 FFP places for both domestic & int'l students. In most years they split 50/55 either way except 2025 intake was 65 domestic + 40 int'l.

So yes there is a quota but the split for domestic FFP is flexible. If too many in the 99+ pathway UMelb reduces the int'l places at a "loss" of ~$20k per student (the difference between domestic & int'l FFP fees).

 

[Apue]

How likely is it to get in through the FFP pathway? im a bit worried about the interview section of it. For chancellors scholarships i'm aware rate of passing the interview is pretty good but im not sure about this pathway. And from previous posts is there a quota for these FFP spots?

As A1 said there is roughly 105 spots for ffp.
Passing mmi is not difficult. Achieving over 75 is not that difficult, too.
The most challenging part is the tuition cost.
Interestingly, there seems no ffp offer made from gemsas according to reddit. So I suspect all the ffp places were exhausted for the guaranteed pathway.
My kid also received the ffp offer via the guaranteed pathway this year but we gave it up because we got offers from elsewhere.

 

[link1]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but what exactly is the difference between the chancellors scholarship and the ffp pathway other than the fact one obviously costs more. Their website doesn’t make it very clear.

 

[A1]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but what exactly is the difference between the chancellors scholarship and the ffp pathway other than the fact one obviously costs more. Their website doesn’t make it very clear.

Chancellors: 99.90+, 70+ WAM *every semester*, pass MMI in 3rd year for CSP MD, 3-year undergrad HECS waived + $10k/year (i think) undergrad scholarship.

FFP: 99.0+, 75+ WAM undergrad average, pass MMI in 3rd year for FFP MD. No HECS waive no scholarship.

 

[Arcadia]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but what exactly is the difference between the chancellors scholarship and the ffp pathway other than the fact one obviously costs more. Their website doesn’t make it very clear.

FFP cost is only just less than Bond :0
$440K vs Bond $470K

__________
A1 adds: This is unbelievable. Domestic FFP: Y1 95K , Y2 105K , Y3 115K , Y4 125K = Total $440K.
International FFP: Y1 123K , Y2 136K , Y3 149K , Y4 162K = Total $570K.

 

[link1]

As A1 said there is roughly 105 spots for ffp.
Passing mmi is not difficult. Achieving over 75 is not that difficult, too.
The most challenging part is the tuition cost.
Interestingly, there seems no ffp offer made from gemsas according to reddit. So I suspect all the ffp places were exhausted for the guaranteed pathway.
My kid also received the ffp offer via the guaranteed pathway this year but we gave it up because we got offers from elsewhere.

Hello do u mind me asking what degree your child did? I’m planning to do biomed but I’ve heard some things about the course being hard but 75 wam in this should be achievable?

 

[link1]

Also I am not sure if I should be concerned as I recently found out ffp students arnt guaranteed internships? Would I be able to get one in a metropolitan area still or more likely rural? Or what about interstate? Would Canberra, Sydney or Melbourne be ok?

 

[A1]

Also I am not sure if I should be concerned as I recently found out ffp students arnt guaranteed internships? Would I be able to get one in a metropolitan area still or more likely rural? Or what about interstate? Would Canberra, Sydney or Melbourne be ok?

In theory only CSP/BMP graduates are guaranteed an internship. In practice Intern recruitment in every state gives domestic FFP the same Priority Category 1 as CSP/BMP. Plus the fact each year 300-500 int'l FFP (who are lower Priority) also get internships so I see no risk for domestic FFP.

Since they are Cat 1 their chances of getting metro or an interstate city are exactly the same as for CSP/BMP.