[Undergrad] Discussion: Pros and Cons of Taking a Gap Year

[Jay.Aye]

Um I don't know if i'm even allowed to comment on a thread 7 years later but I think this is the right thread to ask.
If I were to take a gap year without repeating any year 12 subjects and sit the UCAT/UMAT, would I still be considered a school leaver when applying to universities? I know it sounds like a dumb question, i'm sorry, but I reallllly don't know a whole lot about how the Australian "education system" (idk what to call it) works, due to living overseas for the past 6 years.
On that note, if there is a beginner's guide or like a "....For Dummies" thread(s) for getting into medical schools in Australia, i'd love it if someone directed me to it =))

 

[Crow]

Um I don't know if i'm even allowed to comment on a thread 7 years later but I think this is the right thread to ask.
If I were to take a gap year without repeating any year 12 subjects and sit the UCAT/UMAT, would I still be considered a school leaver when applying to universities? I know it sounds like a dumb question, i'm sorry, but I reallllly don't know a whole lot about how the Australian "education system" (idk what to call it) works, due to living overseas for the past 6 years.
On that note, if there is a beginner's guide or like a "....For Dummies" thread(s) for getting into medical schools in Australia, i'd love it if someone directed me to it =))

[Undergrad] - (2023 Updated) Med schools Selection Criteria Y12s & Non-standards

Hi - Welcome to MSO. Join us and post up your questions you'll get lots more useful tips than just from this table. __________________________________________________________ Hope this helps sort out the different requirements to get an undergrad/provisional Medicine place in Aus. For dentistry...

medstudentsonline.com.au

Common pitfalls to avoid for year 12 school leavers and other medicine applicants

Alternate title: "Ways to screw yourself over as a medical school applicant that you didn't know about" Hi everyone, As I suspect my activity on the site is likely to decrease a whole lot starting next year, I thought I would put together a whole lot of what I believe are a lot of important...

medstudentsonline.com.au

These two links would be good reads to start with. Feel free to ask more questions after looking at those two

 

[A1]

If I were to take a gap year without repeating any year 12 subjects and sit the UCAT/UMAT, would I still be considered a school leaver when applying to universities?

Adding to Crow's reply, with a gap year you are eligible as school leaver applicant for all the med schools except UQ (in Y12 only) and USyd (year of ATAR only). You can remain eligible for UQ if you do/repeat 1 or 2 Y12 subjects during the gap year.

On that note, if there is a beginner's guide or like a "....For Dummies" thread(s) for getting into medical schools in Australia, i'd love it if someone directed me to it =))

The general process is sit UCAT in July then submit applications in Aug-Sept. One application per TAC (like UAC, QTAC, VTAC ...) for all med schools in that state. Note that some also require to follow with a direct application to the uni. Then PRAY for interview invitations around Oct-November. Best of luck.

 

[Jay.Aye]

[Undergrad] - (2023 Updated) Med schools Selection Criteria Y12s & Non-standards

Hi - Welcome to MSO. Join us and post up your questions you'll get lots more useful tips than just from this table. __________________________________________________________ Hope this helps sort out the different requirements to get an undergrad/provisional Medicine place in Aus. For dentistry...

medstudentsonline.com.au

Common pitfalls to avoid for year 12 school leavers and other medicine applicants

Alternate title: "Ways to screw yourself over as a medical school applicant that you didn't know about" Hi everyone, As I suspect my activity on the site is likely to decrease a whole lot starting next year, I thought I would put together a whole lot of what I believe are a lot of important...

medstudentsonline.com.au

These two links would be good reads to start with. Feel free to ask more questions after looking at those two

Thank you. I have actually checked out both (and even asked in the latter) but- especially in the first thread, I understand for the most part, but there is some terminology I don't understand so I still feel like i'm missing out on some info. Things like provisional, Chancellor's program, PQA, USC, EAS, OP1, LOTE, FTE, etc- I don't know what they mean within the realm of the "Australian education system".
I understand the table can't go into all the definitions and details, so i'm just going to have to dig deeper in my research.

 

[A1]

Thank you. I have actually checked out both (and even asked in the latter) but- especially in the first thread, I understand for the most part, but there is some terminology I don't understand so I still feel like i'm missing out on some info. Things like provisional, Chancellor's program, PQA, USC, EAS, OP1, LOTE, FTE, etc- I don't know what they mean within the realm of the "Australian education system".

Chancellor's is UMelb program for students with ATAR 99.90/.95 to enter a Bachelor degree there with an "assured" place in Medicine 3 years later provided they pass the interview conducted in 3rd year. Or ATAR 99.0+ for a Medicine place 3 years later but full-fee paying.

Provisional: there are 8 undergrad med schools (JCU JMP WSU UNSW Monash Adelaide UTas Curtin) where school leavers enter directly into 1st year of the Medicine program, whether MBBS or MedSc+MD combined. The rest are graduate med schools where students do a Bachelor degree there or elsewhere first then compete with GPA+GAMSAT for a place in the 4-year MD programs. Some of the graduate schools offer 30 to 70 percent of their MD places to school leavers; we call these Provisional since the school leavers receive the Med offers now but need to complete a Bachelor degree first before entering the MD program.

PQA: JMP's interview process comprises two parts - a Personal Quality Assessment PQA + the interview itself.

USC: Griffith Med offers around 60 provisional places shared between their Nathan and Gold Coast campuses. They recently added 20 more places at Sunshine Coast Uni. These 80 students complete their Bachelor degree at Nathan/GC/USC first then enter Griffith's MD program (together with ~120 new entrants via GPA+GAMSAT).

EAS: Equity Access Scheme giving special considerations or bonus points to disadvantaged students.

OP1: Qld's equivalent of ATAR 99.0+

LOTE: a Language other than English subject.

FTE: Full time equivalent eg. two years of half study load = 1 FTE year.

 

[L2pseudocode]

The general process is sit UCAT in July then submit applications in Aug-Sept. One application per TAC (like UAC, QTAC, VTAC ...) for all med schools in that state. Note that some also require to follow with a direct application to the uni. Then PRAY for interview invitations around Oct-November. Best of luck.

Does this mean I can only apply to one school per state? Surely not right?

 

[Crow]

Does this mean I can only apply to one school per state? Surely not right?

No. You get 6 preferences per TAC.

 

[Jay.Aye]

Chancellor's is UMelb program for students with ATAR 99.90/.95 to enter a Bachelor degree there with an "assured" place in Medicine 3 years later provided they pass the interview conducted in 3rd year. Or ATAR 99.0+ for a Medicine place 3 years later but full-fee paying.

Provisional: there are 8 undergrad med schools (JCU JMP WSU UNSW Monash Adelaide UTas Curtin) where school leavers enter directly into 1st year of the Medicine program, whether MBBS or MedSc+MD combined. The rest are graduate med schools where students do a Bachelor degree there or elsewhere first then compete with GPA+GAMSAT for a place in the 4-year MD programs. Some of the graduate schools offer 30 to 70 percent of their MD places to school leavers; we call these Provisional since the school leavers receive the Med offers now but need to complete a Bachelor degree first before entering the MD program.

PQA: JMP's interview process comprises two parts - a Personal Quality Assessment PQA + the interview itself.

USC: Griffith Med offers around 60 provisional places shared between their Nathan and Gold Coast campuses. They recently added 20 more places at Sunshine Coast Uni. These 80 students complete their Bachelor degree at Nathan/GC/USC first then enter Griffith's MD program (together with ~120 new entrants via GPA+GAMSAT).

EAS: Equity Access Scheme giving special considerations or bonus points to disadvantaged students.

OP1: Qld's equivalent of ATAR 99.0+

LOTE: a Language other than English subject.

FTE: Full time equivalent eg. two years of half study load = 1 FTE year.

Okay wow I wasn't expecting anyone to answer, and so clearly too! Thank you so much for taking the time. This so precious to me and I greatly appreciate it. Bless you!!!

 

[Ian Naga]

No. You get 6 preferences per TAC.

Not True for all TACs

QTAC = 6 Preferences
UAC = 5 Preferences
VTAC = 8 Preferences
SATAC = 6 Preferences
TISC = 6 Preferences
UTas = 5 Preferences

 

[Fay19]

Based on the interview invites so far this year, now I am pretty sure that I wouldn't get an invite with my 85% UCAT result. I read the beginning posts of the thread and that it's not advisable to take a gap year, but considering that I manage to get an ATAR above 98% and the fact that many universities have "easier pathway" for year 12 school leavers than non-standards( like UAdel), wouldn't be wise to take a gap year and prepare for UCAT and apply again next year? A good UCAT result can guarantee at least 4 interviews in medicine(UWS, JMP, UQ, UAdel).

Any thoughts?

Also if I accept an offer this year to a not medical degree and defer it for a year, will I still be considered as year 12 school leaver?

 

[A1]

Based on the interview invites so far this year, now I am pretty sure that I wouldn't get an invite with my 85% UCAT result. I read the beginning posts of the thread and that it's not advisable to take a gap year, but considering that I manage to get an ATAR above 98% and the fact that many universities have "easier pathway" for year 12 school leavers than non-standards( like UAdel), wouldn't be wise to take a gap year and prepare for UCAT and apply again next year? A good UCAT result can guarantee at least 4 interviews in medicine(UWS, JMP, UQ, UAdel).

Any thoughts?

Also if I accept an offer this year to a not medical degree and defer it for a year, will I still be considered as year 12 school leaver?

IMO a gap year for this purpose is only worthwhile if you have 99.5ish or better. A 98 doesn't give you much chance at Adelaide, Monash, UWA, Curtin to retain a leaver status for. With the other four schools JCU JMP WSU UNSW you can apply as a non-standard after starting uni.

Btw if you have not started uni after deferring an offer you are still school leaver.

 

[Crow]

+ You’ll be ineligible for UQ after you take a gap year, so that one is irrelevant.

 

[TKAO]

+ You’ll be ineligible for UQ after you take a gap year, so that one is irrelevant.

What about UTas?

 

[ponyswordz]

Based on the interview invites so far this year, now I am pretty sure that I wouldn't get an invite with my 85% UCAT result. I read the beginning posts of the thread and that it's not advisable to take a gap year, but considering that I manage to get an ATAR above 98% and the fact that many universities have "easier pathway" for year 12 school leavers than non-standards( like UAdel), wouldn't be wise to take a gap year and prepare for UCAT and apply again next year? A good UCAT result can guarantee at least 4 interviews in medicine(UWS, JMP, UQ, UAdel).

Any thoughts?

Also if I accept an offer this year to a not medical degree and defer it for a year, will I still be considered as year 12 school leaver?

Taking a gap year would open you up to the option of UAld (and possibly Monash -> not too sure about this one). However, with an atar of 98ish, you compromise your chances of gaining entrance into not only UAld (40% weighting on ATAR) and Monash (33% weighting on ATAR) but also your chances of getting into UNSW (33% weighting on ATAR). As such, starting a uni degree and getting a 6.5 GPA (2 HD's, 2 D's) can boost your atar by approximately 0.5ish points which makes a huge difference if you are trying out for UNSW medicine as a non-standard.

 

[ucatboy]

Based on the interview invites so far this year, now I am pretty sure that I wouldn't get an invite with my 85% UCAT result. I read the beginning posts of the thread and that it's not advisable to take a gap year, but considering that I manage to get an ATAR above 98% and the fact that many universities have "easier pathway" for year 12 school leavers than non-standards( like UAdel), wouldn't be wise to take a gap year and prepare for UCAT and apply again next year? A good UCAT result can guarantee at least 4 interviews in medicine(UWS, JMP, UQ, UAdel).

Any thoughts?

Also if I accept an offer this year to a not medical degree and defer it for a year, will I still be considered as year 12 school leaver?

A "guaranteed" interview offer will not necessarily lead to a "guaranteed" place offer (the one that truly matters).

• WSU is 75% interview and 25% UCAT, or so I'm led to believe. Due to the complicated weightings, a rule of thumb I've observed is that to score an interview offer you need a roughly 700+ VR score and 90+ percentile overall. Take it from me, a 700 VR score is wayy easier said than done. Interviews, by their very nature, are unpredictable, so I wouldn't put my money on them either.
• JMP is all interview, but it's like a 25% success rate or something, so you need to be in the top quarter of interview performers. Tough.
• UQ needs at least a 99 ATAR and ~96 percentile UCAT. Your 98.5 ATAR probably won't cut it and improving over 10 percentiles from 85 to 95, while possible, requires a certain element of luck - what if you have another bad performance? Plus, taking a gap year makes you ineligible in the first place.
• Adelaide, yes will give you an interview if you score a 90s UCAT percentile, but realistically, you're gonna need a high ATAR to back it up. I don't envision anyone getting an offer with 98.5 + 91/2%ile UCAT unless they completely change the interviewers' perspective of life in general.

Is there an option to repeat subjects to improve your ATAR in the HSC? That could be something to consider. If you do decide to take a gap year, fill it up with work experiences/new experiences in general so you gain an edge in your interviews. And don't neglect UCAT prep too!

 

[DrDrLMG!]

What about UTas?

If you mean does a gap year make you ineligible for UTas as an interstate school leaver, then no, it doesn't. But the OP's 98.00 ATAR basically would.

 

[TKAO]

If you mean does a gap year make you ineligible for UTas as an interstate school leaver, then no, it doesn't. But the OP's 98.00 ATAR basically would.

Just to double check, the only university that will disqualify from being a school leaver for taking a gap year is UQ?

 

[DrDrLMG!]

Just to double check, the only university that will disqualify from being a school leaver for taking a gap year is UQ?

Yep

 

[Fay19]

IMO a gap year for this purpose is only worthwhile if you have 99.5ish or better. A 98 doesn't give you much chance at Adelaide, Monash, UWA, Curtin to retain a leaver status for. With the other four schools JCU JMP WSU UNSW you can apply as a non-standard after starting uni.

Btw if you have not started uni after deferring an offer you are still school leaver.

Thanks A1.
I've applied for EAS and am hoping that my 98 goes up to a 99.5 selection rank, which was why I was thinking of taking the gap year. What do you reckon?

 

[Fay19]

+ You’ll be ineligible for UQ after you take a gap year, so that one is irrelevant.

Dammit!
Wait so how does UQ selection work for this year? (there's no interview, but its UCAT based (?), where does atar come into the picture)
I did Ext 2 maths so will that + EAS add bonus points to my atar, and give me a selection rank of 99.5+?