UQ UQ Medicine: Provisional Entry Questions and Discussion

[DrDrLMG!]

If 99.95 & 99.00 are both equated to Rank 99.0, wouldn't 98.95 be equated to Rank 98.0 thus a full 1.0 rank below a 99.0?

Good point! This would mean swathes of people on the same selection rank (surely only, say, 99.00, 98.00 and maybe 97.00 would be all that competitive?), and the more differentiated parts of the selection equation being UCAT and (depending on how it's scored) interview?

Otoh UQ could be tricky in that everyone will retain their ATAR decimals for competitiveness, except 99.0 is the ceiling for boosted ATARs. For example 96.6+2= 98.6, 97.6+2= 99.0, 99.6 remains 99.6 whether +2 or not (so retains their edge over low 99s)?

I'm not sure what I think about this.. If something is 'worth' two rank adjustments, and you're differentiating people down to the .xx, then it wouldn't seem right to cap achievement potential. It's like saying, "even if we took away all your financial disadvantage/gave you an inner city family and an inner city education, we don't think you'd be able to achieve more than 99.00, so we're capping it at that..." Makes a bit of a mockery of having the adjustment program in the first place.

 

[A1]

If something is 'worth' two rank adjustments, and you're differentiating people down to the .xx, then it wouldn't seem right to cap achievement potential.

I know, but my curiosity is how would we rationalise it against UQ's statement "If you already have an ATAR or selection rank of 99.00 or above, adjustments won't boost your rank"?

i.e. with no ceiling a 97.8 plus 2 is boosted to 99.8, yet a 99.1 plus 2 doesn't get a boost thus stays at 99.1, that would be quite irrational.

Maybe you think they will go with just Rank 97.0, 98.0, 99.0 ?

 

[nb]

I know, but my curiosity is how would we rationalise it against UQ's statement "If you already have an ATAR or selection rank of 99.00 or above, adjustments won't boost your rank"?

i.e. with no ceiling a 97.8 plus 2 is boosted to 99.8, yet a 99.1 plus 2 doesn't get a boost thus stays at 99.1, that would be quite irrational.

Maybe you think they will go with just Rank 97.0, 98.0, 99.0 ?

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that if one gets a 97.95 ATAR, and 2 bonus points, they will be boosted to 99.95, but considered no more competitive than someone who gets a 99 raw ATAR?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Maybe you think they will go with just Rank 97.0, 98.0, 99.0 ?

Yep, this exactly. I look forward to this interview/offer round so we can get our sleuthing on (if UQ don't confirm/deny beforehand).

 

[A1]

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that if one gets a 97.95 ATAR, and 2 bonus points, they will be boosted to 99.95, but considered no more competitive than someone who gets a 99 raw ATAR?

Bearing in mind this is all speculative, my answer depends on this case : say a 96.95 plus 2 becomes 98.95, will this be more competitive than a 98 raw?

If no it means everyone's ATAR, boosted or raw, is rounded *down* to the Rank 9x.0

If yes then by analogy a boosted 99.95 is more competitive than a 99.0 raw. The extension of this is a boosted 97.95+2= 99.95 is also more competitive than a 99.1+2 (because they say adjustments don't boost ATARs > 99.0), which would be weird

 

[Destinygirl8]

Yep, this exactly. I look forward to this interview/offer round so we can get our sleuthing on (if UQ don't confirm/deny beforehand).

Bearing in mind this is all speculative, my answer depends on this case : say a 96.95 plus 2 becomes 98.95, will this be more competitive than a 98 raw?

If no it means everyone's ATAR, boosted or raw, is rounded *down* to the Rank 9x.0

@A1 If yes then by analogy a boosted 99.95 is more competitive than a 99.0 raw. The extension of this is a boosted 97.95+2= 99.95 is also more competitive than a 99.1+2 (because they say adjustments don't boost ATARs > 99.0), which would be weird

Do you think it means the adjustments make it up to the max ATAR of 99 and that's why adjustments don't mane any difference to your ATAR if you have achieved 99?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Do you think it means the adjustments make it up to the max ATAR of 99 and that's why adjustments don't mane any difference to your ATAR if you have achieved 99?

We don’t know... that’s exactly what we are speculating on above...

 

[dotwingz]

https://future-students.uq.edu.au/sites/default/files/2020-06/international-baccalaureate-info-sheet.pdf

Considering IB students have their ATAR-equivalent rounded down to 99.00 I think it’s likely that a 99.95 and 99.00 are going to be seen as equivalent

Although it could be possible that the Med admissions faculty are given exception to this.

 

[nb]

https://future-students.uq.edu.au/sites/default/files/2020-06/international-baccalaureate-info-sheet.pdf

Considering IB students have their ATAR-equivalent rounded down to 99.00 I think it’s likely that a 99.95 and 99.00 are going to be seen as equivalent

Although it could be possible that the Med admissions faculty are given exception to this.

Hm, if this is the case, then place offers will pretty much be based on UCAT results and interview performance, seeing as the vast majority of applicants will probably have the same selection rank of 99 (whether that be raw or after subject bonuses).

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Hm, if this is the case, then place offers will pretty much be based on UCAT results and interview performance, seeing as the vast majority of applicants will probably have the same selection rank of 99 (whether that be raw or after subject bonuses).

I'm sure it's been quoted somewhere before, but I can't see it easily (and can't really justify a deeper search, lol!). What's the breakdown for offers, weighting-wise, of each of the three components? Is it 1/3 each, or is it lopsided (ie. 50%interview, 25%each ATAR and UCAT)? And when interview invites go out, are they going to be based on UCAT only? If so, then this could widen the playing field beyond those with 99.00 (given the 'minimum eligible ATAR' is 95.00). Don't get me wrong, I'd think it would be hard for someone with 95.00 to be competitive, but it could open the door for 98.00 and possibly even some 97.00 on the back of a killer interview.

 

[nb]

I'm sure it's been quoted somewhere before, but I can't see it easily (and can't really justify a deeper search, lol!). What's the breakdown for offers, weighting-wise, of each of the three components? Is it 1/3 each, or is it lopsided (ie. 50%interview, 25%each ATAR and UCAT)? And when interview invites go out, are they going to be based on UCAT only? If so, then this could widen the playing field beyond those with 99.00 (given the 'minimum eligible ATAR' is 95.00). Don't get me wrong, I'd think it would be hard for someone with 95.00 to be competitive, but it could open the door for 98.00 and possibly even some 97.00 on the back of a killer interview.

From what I recall its the same as graduate entry. So 50 interview 25 ATAR 25 UCAT. Interviews are given based solely off UCAT given that the 95 hurdle is met. I definitely do agree that UQ is transitioning away from weighing academic results as much (kinda like JMP), where someone with significantly lower academic results can still have a decent chance at getting a place offer.

 

[SmallBrain]

are uq and monash currently the only unis that does interviews before atar comes out (interview based soley on ucat)?

 

[A1]

are uq and monash currently the only unis that does interviews before atar comes out (interview based soley on ucat)?

Just about every med school will do (first round) interviews in Nov - early Dec before ATAR comes out. I think UNSW is the only one that does 1st round after ATAR.

 

[Tomato]

Where will the interviews be held?
Interviews for 2021 entry
Due to the restrictions in place to control the COVID-19 pandemic, the following cohort of applicants will complete their interviews for 2021 entry via videoconferencing:

• All international applicants for the graduate entry pathway
• All domestic applicants for the graduate entry pathway
• All UQ-Ochsner applicants
• All international applicants for the provisional entry pathway
• All domestic applicants for the provisional entry pathway

 

[Ted Hill]

Does anyone know the dates for UQ provisional entry interviews? Are interstate interviews at the same time as interviews for Queensland applicants or are they held in January like UNSW, Monash etc?

 

[sophkat]

Does anyone know the dates for UQ provisional entry interviews? Are interstate interviews at the same time as interviews for Queensland applicants or are they held in January like UNSW, Monash etc?

I rung them and they said invites should start going out towards the end of October for interviews at the end of November to mid December. They also indicated that they will be interviewing anywhere from 400 to 500 candidates for the 140 Provisional Entry places available.

 

[TKAO]

I rung them and they said invites should start going out towards the end of October for interviews at the end of November to mid December. They also indicated that they will be interviewing anywhere from 400 to 500 candidates for the 140 Provisional Entry places available.

seems about right ~3 people for every seat.

 

[SmallBrain]

So this has been very confusing. After contacting uq theyve said 2 adjustments are added to raw atar will take for example a 96.5 to 98.5. But they have also said someone already on a 99 won't get further adjustments. Does that mean once your rank (adjusted or raw) goes past 99, its automatically rounded down to rank 99, and as a result everyone at this level is considered equal?

 

[Crow]

So this has been very confusing. After contacting uq theyve said 2 adjustments are added to raw atar will take for example a 96.5 to 98.5. But they have also said someone already on a 99 won't get further adjustments. Does that mean once your rank (adjusted or raw) goes past 99, its automatically rounded down to rank 99, and as a result everyone at this level is considered equal?

I admit I'm not up to date with the whole "is 99.95 equivalent to 99 for UQ this year?" discussion, but prior to this year, a "rank" of 99 was the highest you could achieve for the purposes of entry into UQ medicine/dentistry. This means a 99.95 ATAR (adjusted or non-adjusted) would be equivalent to a 97.0 that got adjusted to a 99.0. Obviously things might be different now that selection is based on more than just the UCAT score.

For terminology's sake, "rank" is a term used by QTAC and a "rank" of 99 is the highest you can achieve. For highly competitive courses e.g. Griffith and UQ provisional entry medicine and dentistry, JCU medicine etc. - they either used an additional criterion (see written application / interview at JCU for example) or a "secondary differentiator" which distinguished applicants of 99 rank - for UQ dentistry this was UMAT/UCAT, for Griffith this was/is the actual ATAR.

That probably doesn't help you but just be wary of the term "rank" because it means something different with QTAC than it may do at non-QLD universities.

 

[dotwingz]

Tbh with you, the amount of contradictory information out there goes either way. It’s going to be impossible to find out until we see the admissions come through in January