A few enquiries...about Med (1 Viewer)

[sm16]

Hi Everyone

I just wanted to ask you all current med students at UNSW a few questions. I’m currently in year 12 & am hoping to do med but a few things are worrying me!

Firstly, my school, I am currently in a public school and have heard a lot about people from selective/private/ catholic being given first preference whether our UAI’s are pretty similar! Is this realli an issue or just a rumor….???

Secondly, the umat is freakin the crap outta me…..wat exactly is the lowest score u shud get in order to still make it to med…considering one’s UAI will be supposedly good!??? Any advice on how to handle the UMAT?

Thirdly, how hard is this course? I mean I;ve heard heaps abt it being a pain and very very demanding but it would be nice if anyone could share personal experiences?

I am facing a lot of pressure and am highly nervous about getting into med but I hope some of you can provide with some encouragement !!!!!




Thanks a lot


x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

 

[Tim035]

WARNING- I'm a med sci student not medicine. But never the less here are my thoughts and opinions.

Public vs private school priority is absolute nonesense, that I would imagine has evolved from the fact that the huge majority of students who do make it into med come from JR etc..

For the UMAT, try to read as much as you can in terms of factual information, even something like new scientist magazine; try to pay attention to detail, see how accurately you can reccount facts from what you have just read. This is the key to the first section, being able to quickly and effectively breakdown a complex piece of text in order to find the correct answer. The second section, I believe is more of a test of your vocabulary then your emotional responce. Almost always 2 answers will be seemingly correct and on a second reading of the text one answer will suddenly seem more right then the other. However this is a time luxury you may not have in the test, so having a wide vocabulary and fast reading pace will aid you. The 3rd section, practice doing a hell of a lot of puzzle solving. Especially stuff like arrange these five shapes in a logical order, and which comes next in the pattern- This is the section I crashed and burned in, in the UMAT mainly due to time restraints. These companies offering preparation packages I believe are a rip off, you can find enough sources you prepare you sufficently for 1/10 of the price. As in the end this practice may only make the difference of a few marks, as it is meant to be a test of intelligence and character then a test of who has done the most study.

The course itself, from people I have talked to (mainly tutors who are 4th - 5th year med students) is definatly difficult, subjects like anatomy, physiology etc have a huge knowledge basis which you must be able to draw on like second nature. However as most of these people have also said, if you apply yourself and attend all lectures/tutes then failing is not something to worry about

Good luck this year, I was a super stress head HSC. Just keep on track in terms of your study, syllabus work etc and it will all come together in the end

 

[powerdrive]

http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/medweb.nsf/page/FAQ_local

What UAI and UMAT scores do I need to be offered an interview?

As stated previously, applicants are selected for interview on the basis of their UAI and UMAT results. Listed below are the average results that have been required over the past three years in order to be offered an interview. This information is provided to give an indication of the scores that are likely to be required to be offered an interview.

Examples:
- If the sum of the 3 UMAT scores (the actual marks, not the percentile ranks) was 152, the UAI required to obtain an interview was 100.
- If the combined UMAT score (as defined above) was 168, the UAI required to obtain an interview was 99.50.

The following Table gives these and other scores:

UMAT UAI
152 100.0
168 99.5
175 99.0
188 98.0
201 97.0
215 96.0
227 95.0​

or actually look at the UAI/UMAT table here, i think it's more updated:

http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/medweb.nsf/page/Latest_News

Doesn't matter what school you go to. If your UAI and UMAT is good enough, they offer you an interview, and most of your chances of getting into med depend on the interview.

 

[sm16]

Hey powerdrive

Thank you so very much for all ur answers! I am currently coaching for the UMAT and paying $ 695 for it...which i think is really pointless coz no tuition can prepare u for whats in the UMAT or so i've heard but parents insist...they "think" doing coaching fr the umat is trying my "very best" to get into med!...:mad1:!!!

I've heard the umat of being extremely hard...my only options if i dont make it to med directly are to join a health sciences course! Thanks fr all ur knowledge on the UMAT!

I'm trying my best to keep my head above all the work this year....but its a bit hard!....but hopefully things will work!

Thanks a bunch again!

 

[Season]

Also remember that UNSW is not the only med school out there, there is another 8 to choose from.

Medicine will always be hard, I don't think the UNSW course would be much different in that regard. However its more of a quantative learning then qualitative. Just soo much to learn, though the concepts aren't that difficult.

 

[Tim035]

Also remember that UNSW is not the only med school out there, there is another 8 to choose from.

Medicine will always be hard, I don't think the UNSW course would be much different in that regard. However its more of a quantative learning then qualitative. Just soo much to learn, though the concepts aren't that difficult.

Yeah intro anatomy drilled this fact, not hard just a mountain of information to remember.

 

[Wooz]

Hey powerdrive

Thank you so very much for all ur answers! I am currently coaching for the UMAT and paying $ 695 for it...which i think is really pointless coz no tuition can prepare u for whats in the UMAT or so i've heard but parents insist...they "think" doing coaching fr the umat is trying my "very best" to get into med!...:mad1:!!!

I've heard the umat of being extremely hard...my only options if i dont make it to med directly are to join a health sciences course! Thanks fr all ur knowledge on the UMAT!

I'm trying my best to keep my head above all the work this year....but its a bit hard!....but hopefully things will work!

Thanks a bunch again!

Also consider applying to JCU if you get i reasonably high UAI as they are the only undergrad uni that doesn't use UMAT for normal school leaver entry.

 

[sm16]

Hey everyone

Thanks a lot for ur help and inputs!...I am aware that UWS also offers med and so do 7 other unis...but my only problem is moving to another state....i dunno if i can do that yet!...also i have heard UWS isnt that gr8 and living in the eastern side of sydney it mite take me quite a while to get there!

But i'm not too worried abt tht as yet coz i just need to work on my umat and hsc fr now!

Thanks fr all ur help!