So... to try and summarise...Hi @Tennille,
Thank you very much for reporting back with your reply. Much appreciated.
Also, it's very interesting to see that they seem to have moved the goal-posts AGAIN with regard to when the new 'BMedRes pathway only' for mature aged students kicks in. I really want to believe that 2019 is a solid answer (pleeeease!!), but I've seen it switch (sometimes weekly on the website) from 2018 to 2019 several times now.
[imagine strikethrough here!]Anyway, long story short: this reply seems pretty solid, so we can probably move forward with the understanding that we have one more year as non-standards to ace UMAT and give it a go. I'd think a %ile rank of 98 will be required for reasonable offer assurance, with some offers possibly going slightly lower than that, as was the case this year.[/imagined strikethrough] SEE EDIT BELOW.
I think we can also safely assume that rural status is of no real benefit to non-standard students as, despite the Rural Application Process office repeatedly indicating non-standards are eligible for consideration via this pathway, it does not appear a single non-standard student receive a RAP offer this year. But note: this is definitely an assumption! And I'll still be submitting an application regardless!
With regard to the 2020 rumour referenced above: I had it confirmed yesterday as "definitely not a rumour" from someone associated with UTAS (and a current RHH senior employee) so I'll report it here now, UTAS are planning a move to post-grad only entry as of 2020.
I have NO IDEA how this fits with the current changes and the introduction of the mandatory BMedRes enrollment for 2019. Unfortunately, I have no more details than the fact it's not a rumour. I don't know if they're going the GAMSAT route, or if they're going to provisional entry route, or if it will be some other process entirely but, just... FYI/watch this space, I guess.
ETA: To emphasise my skepticism above: the link provided in the email received by @Tennille that opens the M3N MBBS course information clearly indicates the BMedRes only route is now current. In fact, non-standard entry is not mentioned AT ALL...
1. There were 5000 applicants for places in 2017... or 3000
2. BMedRes is the only pathway for non-standard entry from 2018... or 2019
3. Rural status is a benefit for non-standards... or not.
The change to grad medicine is interesting.
Reading the tea leaves one might guess that BMedRes will be re cut a bit and become the mandatory first degree followed by four years of grad med. This is complete speculation.
As a complete tangent.... what about a petition for "Doctor of Medicine" to be renamed "Masters of Medicine"?