UNSW UNSW Medicine: General Entry Questions and Discussion

[threefivetwo]

Hi - just did some sleuthing on the Wayback Machine. As recently as the 4th of November, the recent change from a 50:50 ATAR/GPA combo to 'best of' given you meet the cutoffs for both wasn't published.

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hi guys, I just read that UNSW is using the higher of your ATAR and university marks. My WAM at the end of 2020 is 88, yet I was rejected. Was this too low?

Not necessarily, what was your UCAT? Either of those could have been too low.

Or UNSW may have stuffed something up this year... (would not be unheard of).

 

[iedsb]

Hi - just did some sleuthing on the Wayback Machine. As recently as the 4th of November, the recent change from a 50:50 ATAR/GPA combo to 'best of' given you meet the cutoffs for both wasn't published.

Wow yea I saw that too. I think this is unfair; Honestly if I knew that they were going to end up changing the selection criteria to 'best of' of course I would have started a bachelor's degree instead of having to take a gap year (which I took in fear that the 50:50 will weigh the ATAR down). I wish they had let us know about this change at the beginning of the year at least

 

[botselenium]

Not necessarily, what was your UCAT? Either of those could have been too low.

Or UNSW may have stuffed something up this year... (would not be unheard of).

Thank you for your reply. My UCAT was 3130 (97th).

Is it possible they can rescind a rejection? Or is it final once they’ve sent them out. Also, UNSW is closed till 4th Jan as per their Christmas/New Year break.

 

[A1]

Wow I see, I also noticed on the site (I don't know whether I missed it before or its been updated) that they take the 'best' out of the GPA ATAR

See, not only my speculation was correct Unsw forgot the divide by 2, they forgot to put in ATAR for the high GPA too. So the high GPA alone counts

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Wow yea I saw that too. I think this is unfair; Honestly if I knew that they were going to end up changing the selection criteria to 'best of' of course I would have started a bachelor's degree instead of having to take a gap year (which I took in fear that the 50:50 will weigh the ATAR down). I wish they had let us know about this change at the beginning of the year at least

I understand your disappointment in the change (assuming it’s legit) for sure, but it’s not unfair if it has been applied to everyone.

However, it would be unfair (and possibly a mistake) if they applied different criteria to people in the same application category (ie. different UCAT or academic requirements based on something arbitrary they’ve not disclosed and we could spend all night guessing at).

Just to re-cap, are we currently under the impression that people with higher score combos have missed out despite being in the same category as those with lower score combos? Is an error of some kind looking likely?

 

[Flying Falcon]

The person on the phone said they had so many special considerations all considered 99.95 .. normal atars of 99.90 didn’t get invites. They should cap the number of special considerations

 

[hazell]

Just to re-cap, are we currently under the impression that people with higher score combos have missed out despite being in the same category as those with lower score combos? Is an error of some kind looking likely?

I think that's what is going on- some people with higher score combos missed out while others with lower score combos got invites. I personally think it's something got to do with EAS or possibly being from a gateway entry school.

I have a friend who recieved a 99.8/3120 who did not recieve an offer but another one who got 99.35/3120 did recieve one.

I received an ATAR of 99.90 and a UCAT of 3010 (94th percentile) and also got flat rejected. My friend with UCAT of 2930 and ATAR of 99.75 was accepted for an interview (we are both high school leavers). I've been told to email [email protected] when I called, so seeing how that goes.

 

[worldno9]

The person on the phone said they had so many special considerations all considered 99.95 .. normal atars of 99.90 didn’t get invites. They should cap the number of special considerations

by that logic all the interview invites so far have 99.95 atars, but they clearly don't

 

[chezpopcorn]

could it be a sliding scale?

 

[woodstock]

I'm sitting here with a 98.55 ATAR + 99% UCAT and I got an invite, so unless there's been an error somewhere it seems like the ATAR cutoff has dropped but the UCAT cutoff has rose considerably
From the looks of it most people here have a higher ATAR than me so I'm not entirely sure how i've managed to get one either

 

[hazell]

I'm sitting here with a 98.55 ATAR + 99% UCAT and I got an invite, so unless there's been an error somewhere it seems like the ATAR cutoff has dropped but the UCAT cutoff has rose considerably
From the looks of it most people here have a higher ATAR than me so I'm not entirely sure how i've managed to get one either

did you have EAS? I also got an invite but with a 97.85 atar but I believe my SCATS was accepted

 

[chezpopcorn]

I'm sitting here with a 98.55 ATAR + 99% UCAT and I got an invite, so unless there's been an error somewhere it seems like the ATAR cutoff has dropped but the UCAT cutoff has rose considerably
From the looks of it most people here have a higher ATAR than me so I'm not entirely sure how i've managed to get one either

I got a 98.85 but EAS which I suspect resulted in a 99.95 selection rank and 90th percentile, and saw someone else get 89th and EAS

Edit: and got an invite

 

[DrDrLMG!]

I think that's what is going on- some people with higher score combos missed out while others with lower score combos got invites. I personally think it's something got to do with EAS or possibly being from a gateway entry school.

If it’s to do with EAS or Gateway entry schools (do UNSW have this kind of scheme?), then that would indicate it’s not an error, yeah? It’s just a reflection of a factor we can’t quantify with any degree of certainty?

 

[woodstock]

did you have EAS? I also got an invite but with a 97.85 atar but I believe my SCATS was accepted

nope, I don't have any special considerations

 

[Flying Falcon]

by that logic all the interview invites so far have 99.95 atars, but they clearly don't

99.95 equivalent after special considerations

 

[hazell]

If it’s to do with EAS or Gateway entry schools (do UNSW have this kind of scheme?), then that would indicate it’s not an error, yeah? It’s just a reflection of a factor we can’t quantify with any degree of certainty?

yep UNSW has a gateway entry scheme for med- Special Entry Schemes | Medicine - UNSW Sydney (first one listed).
It just doesn't seem like an error to me- when we take into account the EAS boost, the new 'atar/gpa whichever is higher' rule, and also considering that there may possibly be a 98 ucat cut-off, it makes sense?

That's just what I think atm, it may not be correct but I just don't want my invite taken away haha

 

[dotwingz]

The person on the phone said they had so many special considerations all considered 99.95 .. normal atars of 99.90 didn’t get invites. They should cap the number of special considerations

Personally i think they should bar anyone who went to a selective school for entry... they make up way more of the higher end atars than any selection scheme would

 

[MHX]

See, not only my speculation was correct Unsw forgot the divide by 2, they forgot to put in ATAR for the high GPA too. So the high GPA alone counts

I don't think that's the issue. I have a friend who got 99.90 atar last year and a 7gpa this year with a 95 ucat and yet no invite...

 

[hmall11]

yep UNSW has a gateway entry scheme for med- Special Entry Schemes | Medicine - UNSW Sydney (first one listed).
It just doesn't seem like an error to me- when we take into account the EAS boost, the new 'atar/gpa whichever is higher' rule, and also considering that there may possibly be a 98 ucat cut-off, it makes sense?

That's just what I think atm, it may not be correct but I just don't want my invite taken away haha

I got no correspondence from my scats application, but even if it was accepted I still only got a ucat of 92. Is there a possibility of a mature aged student quota? Imposter syndrome so real rn