UNSW UNSW Medicine: General Entry Questions and Discussion

[threefivetwo]

I'm going to wait for a mod / someone more experienced to chime in (perhaps move this to the UNSW thread). I just saw this on the UNSW Medicine website:

Yes, we consider UAC EAS points for admission to the Medicine program. However, applicants need to meet the minimum selection criteria on their own merit (without EAS points). It's important to note the minimum selection criteria must be met before an EAS application is considered.

If I'm correct, regardless of whether you received EAS or any other 'bonus points', your ATAR would have been below the minimum selection criteria required, thus shouldn't have been eligible for an invite. If this is true, then many other applicants with an ATAR below the criteria (including me) would have applied for UNSW Medicine.

 

[neverthoughti]

I'm going to wait for a mod / someone more experienced to chime in (perhaps move this to the UNSW thread). I just saw this on the UNSW Medicine website:

If I'm correct, regardless of whether you received EAS or any other 'bonus points', your ATAR would have been below the minimum selection criteria required, thus shouldn't have been eligible for an invite. If this is true, then many other applicants with an ATAR below the criteria (including me) would have applied for UNSW Medicine.

yeah i definitely agree but I was looking at their website and before it used to be a combination of atar + gpa but now on their website they changed it.

"For applicants who have completed an equivalent of 0.75 FTE (full time equivalent) or more of tertiary study in a single degree, will be assessed for admission to medicine on either their tertiary study results OR their ATAR (or equivalent). "

 

[hazell]

yeah i definitely agree but I was looking at their website and before it used to be a combination of atar + gpa but now on their website they changed it.

"For applicants who have completed an equivalent of 0.75 FTE (full time equivalent) or more of tertiary study in a single degree, will be assessed for admission to medicine on either their tertiary study results OR their ATAR (or equivalent). "

ahh yes, you're right. I completely missed that, seems like they've made major changes to their selection criteria!

ETA: I take that back after a second look on the website

"For applicants who have completed an equivalent of 0.75 FTE (full time equivalent) or more of tertiary study in a single degree, will be assessed for admission to medicine on either their tertiary study results OR their ATAR (or equivalent). The following minimum criteria applies:

- Secondary school qualification component must reach 96.00 ATAR of equivalent AND

- Tertiary study component must reach WAM 70 or equivalent

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."

 

[threefivetwo]

yeah i definitely agree but I was looking at their website and before it used to be a combination of atar + gpa but now on their website they changed it.

"For applicants who have completed an equivalent of 0.75 FTE (full time equivalent) or more of tertiary study in a single degree, will be assessed for admission to medicine on either their tertiary study results OR their ATAR (or equivalent). "

Given that you meet the minimum criteria:

You still have to meet the cutoff for ATAR.

 

[woodstock]

Hi could someone please help me, I'm a little confused on how to order my preferences. Initially I only expected a WSU and JMP interview as I am a first year uni student + my atar was no where near high enough for UNSW. My preferences were therefore, WSU, JMP and then UNSW. I did not get a WSU interview (low VR, my ucat was 3070) , only a JMP and definitely did NOT expect a UNSW interview. However, somehow, today I was sent an email saying I do have an interview for UNSW and they accidentally sent me a rejection yesterday. (I genuinely don't know how my atar was around 95, gpa 6.5, ucat 3070). I still don't quite believe it, but being from sydney I would obviously rather be in Sydney than outside, so should I change my preferences to UNSW first and then JMP even though I feel a lot more confident with the JMP interview and my chances of getting in due to my low atar etc?

just to answer your initial question, place UNSW first and then JMP second. This way even if you don't make UNSW but you do make JMP, you'll still get a JMP offer. If you make UNSW then all good! On the other hand, if you do JMP first and then USNW second, and you get a JMP offer, you'll never know if you were going to receive a UNSW offer or not.

I suppose it gets a bit complicated because of UNSW's campus locations (Kensington, PMQ, Wagga Wagga), but IMO since PMQ, Wagga Wagga, and Newcastle are all outside of Sydney I'm assuming that it won't have as big as an impact for you? (ie if not Kensington then all the same?)

 

[Crow]

One could only assume the OP’s “around 95” ATAR was actually 96.0 or above. Or, UNSW didn’t adequately screen applicants - also a possibility.

 

[neverthoughti]

ahh yes, you're right. I completely missed that, seems like they've made major changes to their selection criteria!

ETA: I take that back after a second look on the website

"For applicants who have completed an equivalent of 0.75 FTE (full time equivalent) or more of tertiary study in a single degree, will be assessed for admission to medicine on either their tertiary study results OR their ATAR (or equivalent). The following minimum criteria applies:

- Secondary school qualification component must reach 96.00 ATAR of equivalent AND

- Tertiary study component must reach WAM 70 or equivalent

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."

yeahh i saw that too and now i'm so so confused and anxious! I'm going to call them on Monday and double check everything, but I'm so confused to how they sent a rejection, then double checked and sent me an interview offer like how would they get it wrong twice?

One could only assume the OP’s “around 95” ATAR was actually 96.0 or above. Or, UNSW didn’t adequately screen applicants - also a possibility.

nope definitely below 96

 

[hazell]

yeahh i saw that too and now i'm so so confused and anxious! I'm going to call them on Monday and double check everything, but I'm so confused to how they sent a rejection, then double checked and sent me an interview offer like how would they get it wrong twice?

Did you get an atar of 96 or above by any chance?

 

[neverthoughti]

Did you get an atar of 96 or above by any chance?

no 100000% below 96

 

[hazell]

nope definitely below 96

Ahh okay got it

yeahh i saw that too and now i'm so so confused and anxious! I'm going to call them on Monday and double check everything, but I'm so confused to how they sent a rejection, then double checked and sent me an interview offer like how would they get it wrong twice?

The meso office is open today I called earlier on in the day

 

[Crow]

It looks like UNSW just hasn’t screened applicants’ ATARs before sending interview invites out - either an oversight or they’re planning to do this at the place offer stage. Counterintuitive but a method employed by many of the unis.

 

[neverthoughti]

Ahh okay got it

The meso office is open today I called earlier on in the day

okay i'll give them a call!

 

[A1]

okay i'll give them a call!

I would keep quiet if I were you. The screening of ATAR/GPA would not be done manually by a person but by an automated script. If it let you into the interview round it might stay the same at the offer stage.

 

[canidoit?]

Question??? Can someone explain "BEST OF" algorithm mean?? how does it work exactly? After the interview - what are the weightings?....will it make a difference if I do a great or a not so great interview??? thanks in advance -

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Question??? Can someone explain "BEST OF" algorithm mean?? how does it work exactly? After the interview - what are the weightings?....will it make a difference if I do a great or a not so great interview??? thanks in advance -

We only learned about this today, really. None of us will be able to explain to you how it works “exactly”. UNSW will need to do that, though chances are they may not (or, at least, may not consistently explain it!!).

 

[threefivetwo]

Question??? Can someone explain "BEST OF" algorithm mean?? how does it work exactly? After the interview - what are the weightings?....will it make a difference if I do a great or a not so great interview??? thanks in advance -

The BEST OF algorithm applies for non-standard applicants. Given that you meet the minimum criteria (which doesn't seem to be enforced now, and I'm enquiring about this) of both a 96.00 ATAR and a 70 WAM, they will take the higher of both for consideration for admission into Medicine. For example, if your ATAR is 97 but you have a higher equivalent WAM/GPA, they'll take that into consideration to rank you amongst other candidates (from what I understand).

I'm unsure as to the weightings post-interview. But since admission into UNSW Medicine is already intensely competitive, you should be focusing on performing at your best in the interview in order to maximise your chances. It can be the difference between you making it or not.

 

[A1]

After the interview - what are the weightings?

Traditionally UNSW used equal weightings 33/33/33 but recently they've added a new clause like "high marks in one component doesn't compensate for low marks in another". I believe this clause is used to reject very poor interview marks regardless how good their ATAR+UCAT marks are (no need to reject poor ATAR/UCAT at this stage since they have been filtered out pre-interview), otherwise it's still 33/33/33.

 

[ThunderDragon]

Is there a reason why looking at some of the data, people with UCAT's in the 70s and 80s are getting interviews while people with high 90s UCATs and 98+ atars are sometimes getting rejected? I noticed most have EAS but surely it can't be that powerful???

 

[woodstock]

Is there a reason why looking at some of the data, people with UCAT's in the 70s and 80s are getting interviews while people with high 90s UCATs and 98+ atars are sometimes getting rejected? I noticed most have EAS but surely it can't be that powerful???

some of the rejections have been updated and been switched to invites because of an error on UNSW's side yesterday. Maybe some of the rejections you're seeing have been mistakes

 

[ThunderDragon]

some of the rejections have been updated and been switched to invites because of an error on UNSW's side yesterday. Maybe some of the rejections you're seeing have been mistakes

oh damn lot of unis this year are making errors. I guess its been a tough year so kind of understandable.