Hi guys! So I'm currently in year 12 and I really want to get into medicine. I'll be doing the UCAT exam, but I don't know how well I'll do. I think I can get around a 97-98 atar, if I don't get into med, I've got psych as a backup, and I'll be attempting postgrad med if my GPA is good enough afterwards. I don't mind going rural or interstate, what chance do I have in making it in either postgrad or undergrad? (if people are wondering why med, its because it's something I've always wanted to do but I know my chances are slim to none - I have seen doctors working and know it can be extremely difficult when working, but I've also been told it's rewarding - not monetarily)
Best Option Regarding Medicine for High School Student
Ltheangrywaffle on 21/01/2019 - 21:42
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Unfortunately I'm not from the greater western Sydney or from rural areas. I'm not a minority either. Just a regular kid from the suburbs in Sydney, so I'm pretty sure I don't qualify for any of those bonus point things. :( Life sucks being a second gen ethnic from Sydney, as if living in Campbelltown makes me more disadvantaged than living in the western suburbs, I go to the same school with kids who live there and I travel over an hour every day but I don't get that advantage. RIP.
I’d urge you to give the uni admissions departments a call anyway (and not solely rely on web sites).
I was very surprised at the low bar to gain extra “points” kids in my daughter’s year were qualifying for.
If you are relying on advice even a couple of years old, I think you need to re-check.There are also points available for extra curricular activities like representative sport or community work. It varies between different universities. One of the things I noticed at her selective school was the staff were really helping each kid identify what extra boost they could get when the started senior school, and giving them a plan.
I actually think it sucked as an education, but I think that approach is necessary to achieve stuff like medicine, where 100% of your competitors for limited spaces will be doing it.The kids who hunt down every extra percent are the ones who get in.
Have you seen the cohorts of interns coming out after graduating from Medicine? Either you're wrong about it being easier for caucasian Australians or the Chinese/Indian students are much better :-)
I agree with the demographics, and I think that is what led to the UMAT favouring native English speakers, to attempt to redress the balance. I haven’t sat it, but it has the stated purpose of evaluating soft skills, so I think it is reasonable to conclude it will favour native English speakers.
The cultural approach of recent immigrant families to academic success is obviously a very important driver in who is succeeding in medicine too.
I’m comfortable being treated by anybody with the right qualifications, but I don’t think it is a bad idea to test something other than maths and science ability when selecting future doctors.
Either you're wrong about it being easier for caucasian Australians or the Chinese/Indian students are much better :-)
Or both
Non-caucasians may be over represented based on national demographics but they're actually underrepresented based on qualified applicants.
There were 40,000+ applicants on my year (higher than average), there were only 5,000 or so applicants that met the minimum UMAT and "ATAR" to even be considered for an interview.
Of the qualified applicants, approximately 2/3 were non-europeans yet only about 1/2 interviewees were non-europeans. The class ended up consisting of 1/3 non-europeans.
Non-europeans were underrepresented the entire way through.
Disclaimer - I have assisted in the selection process (not in any executive position) and had informal chats with my ex-mentors who were on the selection panel for my intake year. I only did it for one year and am convinced the interview process is worthless, very open to exploitation and not transparent. I do not propose that all ethnicities need to be equally represented for the sake of equal representation but the subjective and whimsical nature of the interview should be removed.
I know someone who got into med (2018) and his atar was 96.5 and his UMAT was 85 at UTAS, and wasn't like from a disadvantaged school or rural or anything like that - definitely check out UTAS, they're pretty easy to get into in terms of med; most of their students are interstate students. all the best :)
Thanks really boosted my moral! Kinda feels good knowing someone can get in with those marks.
really boosted my moral! Kinda feels good knowing someone can get in with those marks.
Certainly, aim really high, as you are. An option for psychology (one I took personally) is bachelor of arts (psychology) and can be completed as a substitute for psychology (honors) .
There is no guarantee in either that you will get accepted into honors. It is based on average marks of 2nd and 3rd year combined, then they decide who to accept into 4th year (the honors year).
Bachelor of arts (psychology) only required about 70 points to get in.
Bachelor of psychology (honors) required about 98 to get in.
In every tutorial, there will be a few bach psych students and mostly bach of arts (psychology) students. You just have to make sure the electives you choose in bach of arts (psychology) are matching the requirements for psychology (honors) , so check on subject outline.
Bach of psychology (honors) in no way guarantees or even helps, with being accepted into the 4th year (honors). It is all based on your marks 2nd and 3rd year, regardless of whether you are enrolled as arts/psychology or psychology/honors.Please don't see this as a reason to slack off. Just an extra thing to help keep your mind at ease :)
Note, I enrolled a few years back, so things may have changed. Probably the same. So check with university, contact psychology faculty (which both psychology, and bach of arts psychology are both with psych faculty, nothing to do with arts faculty I discovered) . And ask uni psychology faculty to comfirm, as my info is a few years old (4 years ago)
If you are happy to go interstate, Adelaide Uni (a Go8 uni in Australia so it's regarded as prestigious) requires an ATAR of 90 for medicine
You will find it easier if you are a Caucasian Australian with English as your first language.
The UMAT test favours idiomatic English and there are other things that I am told are designed to make it a little easier for “white” kids to get through. This is second hand from my white daughter who went to a selective school heavily Chinese/Indian, but she repeated it as common knowledge amongst the many of her classmates aiming for medicine. She isn’t pursuing medicine, and told it to me as interesting stories, not as a stakeholder, so I don’t have any reason to think the people who recounted it to her didn’t also believe it…
The newish course at WSU also gives bonus points in certain circumstances (depending on you background, socioeconomics etc.) and I am advised Newcastle is also more achievable.
I think to maximise your chances you need to talk to either your school adviser, if they are knowledgeable, but also the admissions people at each uni.
I don’t think you can get into medicine without really working the system to maximise your ATAR and bonus points, and that takes phone calls and visits etc.