UNSW UNSW Medicine: General Entry Questions and Discussion

[DrDrLMG!]

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

Oh, I asked if it was looking like an error had been made and you replied that’s what it looked like, but then talked about EAS and Gateway, so I got a bit confused!!

I completely agree that the above could be an explanation. And is looking more likely than error. I’d imagine a lot more people qualified for EAS this year than in previous years.

Not to mention the switch to ATAR or GPA if that is legit.

 

[hazell]

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...

yeah that's why I think there's a UCAT cut-off, a high atar doesn't seem to make up for a UCAT below 98

 

[worldno9]

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

why do you think students who choose to go to selective schools should be outright denied the opportunity to do medicine tho

 

[dotwingz]

why do you think students who choose to go to selective schools should be outright denied the opportunity to do medicine tho

I was joking. I was simply pointing out how ludicrous it was for the other poster to suggest they close the entry schemes because it benefited a group other than them.

 

[yeezyboy]

yeah that's why I think there's a UCAT cut-off, a high atar doesn't seem to make up for a UCAT below 98

That 99.95 and 95%ile remember?

 

[hazell]

Oh, I asked if it was looking like an error had been made and you replied that’s what it looked like, but then talked about EAS and Gateway, so I got a bit confused!!

I completely agree that the above could be an explanation. And is looking more likely than error. I’d imagine a lot more people qualified for EAS this year than in previous years.

Not to mention the switch to ATAR or GPA if that is legit.

Oh sorry about that haha! But this is on the unsw med website:

"Once the applicant has met the minimum requirement, the "BEST OF" algorithm would apply and the qualification with a higher selection rank would be used as a final selection rank for medicine admissions purposes."- Selection For Interview | Medicine - UNSW Sydney

 

[hazell]

That 99.95 and 95%ile remember?

ahh damn, I have no idea now hahaha

 

[hmall11]

ahh damn, I have no idea now hahaha

So according to the website it’s best of, so that explains the non school leavers atars. My guess is it was an 80:20 ratio towards atar vs ucat this year or something like that

 

[A1]

My general observations so far:

- For non-standards it's best of ATAR/GPA, this explains a couple of 96/97 ATAR (but high enough GPAs) who got invites
- With SEAS/SCATS you can get an invite with substantially lower ATAR/UCAT
- Otherwise you need either 99.95 or UCAT 98/99, all other combos are not enough (the no-invite GPA7/95th has ATAR 99.90 & we believe 7 converts to 99.5 not 99.95)

Have I missed any?

 

[MHX]

My general observations so far:

- For non-standards it's best of ATAR/GPA, this explains a couple of 96/97 ATAR (but high enough GPAs) who got invites
- With SEAS/SCATS you can get an invite with substantially lower ATAR/UCAT
- Otherwise you need either 99.95 or UCAT 98/99, all other combos are not enough (the no-invite GPA7/95th has ATAR 99.90 & we believe 7 converts to 99.5 not 99.95)

Have I missed any?

Doesn't point 3 kind of contradict point 1. If a 7GPA converts to 99.5, and you need a 99.95 or UCAT 98/99, how can you ever get a high enough GPA to get an invite? I might be being dumb but I'm genuinely confused

 

[esselle]

How did people word their enquiries when emailing UNSW? Is it worth a shot?

 

[A1]

Doesn't point 3 kind of contradict point 1. If a 7GPA converts to 99.5, and you need a 99.95 or UCAT 98/99

I actually just had a thought about that too, and it doesn't contradict. Non-standards (without SCATS) will need UCAT 98/99 to get an interview, the same as almost all Y12s without SEAS.

You could argue that slightly advantages Y12s since they have an extra chance of being 99.95 + low UCAT. However if a non-standard had 99.95 it would override their GPA for the same "benefit".

EtA: UNSW has essentially turned ATAR into a pre-hurdle of 96 or 70 WAM. After that you get an interview if you meet either the ATAR/Rank cutoff (99.95 this year) and/or the UCAT cutoff (98%ile this year). Myself I'm not a fan of this method since a 96.1+98%ile gets an interview but a 99.8+97%ile won't.

 

[opodawg]

Found a very likely reason ATAR cutoffs for a lot of people are so low this year. EAS eligibility was extended this year for COVID and automatic applications were made to those with parents who were facing financial difficulty (JobKeeper/JobSeeker) during COVID. Someone I know who got an interview offer with a 98.xx ATAR found out that they had an EAS application automatically made in September that they didn't even check and received a successful EAS email this morning. Quite insane how the ATAR cutoff for those without the entry schemes is 99.95 – the amount of people with ATARS boosted to 99.95 must be crazy.

 

[LeSpicyGinger]

I actually just had a thought about that too, and it doesn't contradict. Non-standards (without SCATS) will need UCAT 98/99 to get an interview, the same as almost all Y12s without SEAS.

You could argue that slightly advantages Y12s since they have an extra chance of being 99.95 + low UCAT. However if a non-standard had 99.95 it would override their GPA for the same "benefit".

EtA: UNSW has essentially turned ATAR into a pre-hurdle of 96 or 70 WAM. After that you get an interview if you meet either the ATAR/Rank cutoff (99.95 this year) and/or the UCAT cutoff (98%ile this year). Myself I'm not a fan of this method since a 96.1+98%ile gets an interview but a 99.8+97%ile won't.

I don't have a UNSW invite with a raw ATAR of 99.95 and a UCAT of 86th percentile.

Edit: As a SA student, my round is in January... Don't mind me

 

[ultra908]

Found a very likely reason ATAR cutoffs for a lot of people are so low this year. EAS eligibility was extended this year for COVID and automatic applications were made to those with parents who were facing financial difficulty (JobKeeper/JobSeeker) during COVID. Someone I know who got an interview offer with a 98.xx ATAR found out that they had an EAS application automatically made in September that they didn't even check and received a successful EAS email this morning. Quite insane how the ATAR cutoff for those without the entry schemes is 99.95 – the amount of people with ATARS boosted to 99.95 must be crazy.

unsw doesnt consider the JobKeeper eas. i applied and was successful but in the email it says UNSW, USYD and WSU dont take this eas into consideration. Your friend likely lives in an area that makes them eligible for eas, that is applied automatically.

 

[Fannnnnnn666]

Does UNSW have a different interview cut-off for interstate students?

 

[iamnotlegendary]

How do you guys think these changes will affect the final offering of place offers?

 

[Sir]

I just got an interview!!! They said there was a technical error

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Does UNSW have a different interview cut-off for interstate students?

Not technically but it can (and typically does) change slightly due to updated knowledge of what it will take to land an offer. This is simply to prevent the interviewing of applicants who, based on updated data, actually now have no chance of an offer. And the offer cut offs are the same for interstate and local.

 

[iedsb]

I got the interview too!!! Technical error apparently I'm absolutely stoked