Following discussion with several people from UTAS MBBS (and related) administration, we have now been told several times that 2018 entry will be the same as 2017 entry for UTAS. Given this (and given how different 2017 was from previous years, not to mention confusing!) I thought I'd put together all the information we diligently gathered last year in the hopes that it may spare someone the confusion and heartache we all rode in 2016/17! To be honest, I very much doubt I have that kinda power, but let's give it a go, regardless
Clarifying Information
The below is for local, interstate, and rural school leavers, and non-standard applicants. If you are an indigenous applicant, please let me know and I'll see what I can find for you, but we have had no other MSO members identifying in this way recently with regard to UTAS applications, so we haven't gathered the same amount of information.
BMedRes Students
If you are a non-UTAS BMedRes student applying to UTAS MBBS, you're classed as a non-standard applicant. If you are a UTAS BMedRes(Hons) student applying to UTAS MBBS, you're classed as a non-standard applicant. If you are a current UTAS BMedRes student applying to UTAS MBBS, I'd advise you approach Adele Holloway for information.
Tasmanian School Leavers
ATAR 95+. Very generous (low) UMAT requirement (due to agreement between UTAS and state government). No specific UMAT section requirements. If you've lived in Tassie for 5+ years in a row, or 10+ years total (or other rural locations around Australia), you can also apply via the Rural Application Process.
Updated 04/10/17: Information from a 2017 entry applicant indicates that local school leavers (and presumably, therefore, all applicants) are subject to a minimum UMAT cut-off of 150/300. This person received an email from UTAS indicating that they had not been successful in their 2017 entry application (local school leaver who completed a RAP application) as they did not meet the 150/300 threshold for UMAT scores. Given UTAS have repeatedly indicated selection criteria will remain the same for 2018 entry, we can probably assume this will continue to be the case.
Interstate Non-Rural School Leavers
ATAR 95+, section 2 UMAT 60+. Given the very, very few positions on offer for this group of applicants, UMAT/ATAR combinations for successful applicants tend to be very high. I don't believe we had anyone reporting offers here at MSO last year with UMATs below 96th%ile (see edit note by
LMG! below). As indicated, you will also need to meet an additional UMAT hurdle, with a section two (
Understanding People) score above 60. Last year, a MSO member in this category with a UMAT of 100th%ile and an ATAR of 99.90 received a rejection email. Their section 2 score was 53. It's rumoured this additional hurdle is in place due to the fact that UTAS do not interview applicants.
Interstate Rural School Leavers
ATAR 95+. This was confirmed last year at MSO when multiple members in this category received
conditional offers based on their predicted ATARs. They were clearly instructed that their offers would only be confirmed once their actual ATARs were shown to be above 95.0, and this is exactly what went on to happen. UMAT requirements for this group are also generously low, and don't have individual section hurdles. The lowest successful UMAT score reported on MSO in 2016/17 was 58. Another student in this category has been confirmed to have achieved a UMAT of 55.
Students in this category should also apply via the Rural Application Process to maximise their options.
Non-Standard Applicants
GPA 6.0+ (most recent 3 semesters), section 2 UMAT 60+. From last year it quickly became apparent that once these two criteria were met, applicants were then ranked on their UMAT raw score/300. An applicant with a percentile rank of 99, and raw score of 204 received a very early offer, while an applicant with a percentile rank of 99, and a raw score of 203 did not. In subsequent rounds (that continued up until at least 3 days prior to the course starting), the raw score cut-off for 2017 non-standard entry dropped to 189 (96th%ile).
It does not appear (and this was reinforced
but not confirmed by someone from UTAS School of Medicine administration) that non-standard applicants are considered via the Rural Application Process. It may still prove wise to submit an application if you're eligible.
Local and interstate non-standard applicants are all in the same pool. There is no benefit to being Tasmanian/disadvantage to being from interstate within this application pathway.
Other Factors to Consider
Chemistry and English are pre-requisites. UTAS offer a Foundation Chemistry bridging course (free of charge and via summer school) if you completed high school Chemistry more than 5 years ago and did not study tertiary level Chemistry. If you've studied in English (ie. the information was taught in English) at any Australian educational institution (University, TAFE, etc), then you meet the English requirement, regardless of how long ago you completed high school English.
ATAR will be used proportionally for non-standard applicants who have not completed more than 3 semesters of tertiary level study. If you've done a single semester, then the ATAR cutoff is 95.0 and the GPA cut off is 6.0. If you've done 2 semesters, then the GPA cutoff remains the same, but the ATAR cutoff drops to 90.0.
This information is for 2018 entry only. We know that 2019 entry will look very different as UTAS moves towards eliminating the non-standard entry path altogether, instead wholly preferencing UTAS BMedRes students in the 'mature aged' category.
Offer Release Dates
- Interstate rural school leavers and first round non-standard offers were released in late November/early December, 2016.
- Local school leaver offers were released on the 19th of December, 2016.
- Interstate school leaver offers were released in early January, 2017.
- Other non-standard (and presumably other categories, just none were reported to MSO) offers were continually released up until late February, 2017.
There tend to be offer 'flurries' immediately following UAC, VTAC etc offer releases, with those awaiting 'home-state' offers rejecting UTAS offers and freeing up spaces for subsequent offers.
Applications open 'early August'. The UTAS website says they re-open on the 4th (today), but I've just checked and they're not open currently. Maybe later today or early next week. They close on the 30th of September, 2017.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask them below.
Edited by A1: Hope @LMG doesn't mind me changing the UMAT below 99th to 98th (
@Wendy and
@chocolateiscool got offers with 98th).
Edited by
LMG!: just found an offer in the offers only thread, non-rural interstate school leaver with ATAR 99.0+ and UMAT 96th%ile.
Honestly, I don’t really have a preference. I just want a uni to take me! But I would prefer a 5 year course (over a 6 year course) with as much clinical hands on time/placements as possible.
