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Author Topic: Dentistry @ Latrobe Questions  (Read 3985 times)  Share 

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eru

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Dentistry @ Latrobe Questions
« on: December 20, 2017, 11:04:15 pm »
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Hey guys,

It would be really great if someone could help me with these questions:

1. This might seem like a really dumb question but are there buses in Bendigo? I won’t be able to get my Ps by the time uni starts so I’m worried about transport.
2. Is it possible for students to go back home every weekend, or is that an unrealistic hope? I would love to see my family every week, but I’m unsure of whether I will be able to travel 6 hours every week whilst keeping up with my studies.
3. As a dentistry student, what sort of extra co-curricular activities can you do to improve your resume/gain experience? Does being in Bendigo limit the amount of activities you can do?
4. In general, how is university life in Bendigo? I assume that there are less clubs and social activities available compared to other unis in the metro areas. Is it possible to meet people from other courses?
5. I’m planning to live off-campus for the whole five years, and was wondering if anyone could share their own opinions and experiences relating to living off-campus or on-campus. Although getting to uni may be slightly more inconvenient, I feel like I would be less restricted if I lived off-campus (I just wanna bring along my own rice cooker man). My parents are also worried that the noise levels will be too high if I live on-campus (from parties and stuff) and I wouldn’t be able to sleep or study. I guess I can be more selective about my housemates if I live off-campus..? Also do you have to rent a new place every year, because most people go home for the Christmas holidays?
6. I’ve heard that the fail rate for first year dent is high, which makes me very anxious. Is there are a reason why the rate is high? Is this a common thing for most dent courses in Australia?
7. Do people still strive for high grades in dentistry, or is it ok to just pass your subjects? Do grades affect your employment prospects?

Any other advice and opinions are welcome. Thanks :)

K888

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Re: Dentistry @ Latrobe Questions
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2017, 10:56:33 am »
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Not doing dentistry, but I can answer some of your questions about living out of home :)

Quote from: eru
1. This might seem like a really dumb question but are there buses in Bendigo? I won’t be able to get my Ps by the time uni starts so I’m worried about transport.
Yep, there's buses in Bendigo - it's a big, major regional town after all! Just go onto the PTV website, go into timetables and click on the regional buses section and scroll down to check out the Bendigo routes. Just do a bit of googling to find out more info :)

Quote from: eru
2. Is it possible for students to go back home every weekend, or is that an unrealistic hope? I would love to see my family every week, but I’m unsure of whether I will be able to travel 6 hours every week whilst keeping up with my studies.
Hmm, you could probably manage, but it'd be tiring. I come from a rural area and moved to Melbourne for uni, and just found that I got sick of travelling and sometimes just wanted a quiet weekend to spend some time alone and explore the area.
I'll also add, just something I've worked out from a year of living out of home - if you see your family each week, you'll probably find you get more homesick. Sounds weird, right? But like, if you see them each week, you'll not get used to spending time away from them, and so you'll find it harder to be away from them. Plus, spending weekends in Bendigo could be really helpful for making friends and doing stuff.

You can always start by going home each weekend, then work that up to every 2 weeks, then stretch it out to whenever you want or something like that. :)

Quote from: eru
5. I’m planning to live off-campus for the whole five years, and was wondering if anyone could share their own opinions and experiences relating to living off-campus or on-campus. Although getting to uni may be slightly more inconvenient, I feel like I would be less restricted if I lived off-campus (I just wanna bring along my own rice cooker man). My parents are also worried that the noise levels will be too high if I live on-campus (from parties and stuff) and I wouldn’t be able to sleep or study. I guess I can be more selective about my housemates if I live off-campus..? Also do you have to rent a new place every year, because most people go home for the Christmas holidays?
I don't know what the La Trobe uni accommodation and its rules are like, but honestly I can't recommend living on res enough, even if it's just for your first year. I think you should be able to bring your own rice cooker, but maybe research that.
My experience of living on res is you can be social if you want, and you can be quiet if you want.
But for living out of home for the first time and moving to a new area, living on res is great - you can make friends, it's easy to get to uni, if something goes wrong there's always people you can call to help you out (this is a big thing - you don't think you'll ever need help, but this year I ended up getting pretty sick and needed to be taken to hospital, and thankfully I could call someone and get them to drive me. What would I have done if I wasn't living on res? It would have made things a lot tougher), and it's good for peace of mind security-wise.

Quote from: eru
7. Do people still strive for high grades in dentistry, or is it ok to just pass your subjects? Do grades affect your employment prospects?
Obviously can't speak specifically for dentistry, but there will always be people who strive for high grades and people who only want to pass in every single uni course there is. Like, whether you graduate with a HD average or a P average, you all come out with the same qualification. I just wanna say, uni is a lot different to high school, so you'll likely not be getting the same marks you got in high school - it's not so easy to get 90+ on things in uni!
RE: whether grades affect employment prospects, like, potentially to a degree they might, but I think employers are always more concerned about your ability to engage with people and that you have the necessary skills. If you've impressed people in your placements and impressed in your application for jobs, then that's the most important thing.

I hope this has helped a bit :) All the best!

Mellyboo

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Re: Dentistry @ Latrobe Questions
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2018, 10:02:57 pm »
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Hey, sorry been away from atarnotes for a while, will answer now
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Mellyboo

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Re: Dentistry @ Latrobe Questions
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2018, 10:18:19 pm »
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Quote
1. This might seem like a really dumb question but are there buses in Bendigo? I won’t be able to get my Ps by the time uni starts so I’m worried about transport.
Yep, there are busses and 90% of dent first years don't have a car you're not alone. Plus the 10% that do give lifts all the time, they're pretty nice :p
Quote
2. Is it possible for students to go back home every weekend, or is that an unrealistic hope? I would love to see my family every week, but I’m unsure of whether I will be able to travel 6 hours every week whilst keeping up with my studies.

Literally 99% of melbourne kids go home every weekend, I'm the only odd one who doesn't because I hate travelling. But you're not alone and will always have company on the train. If you're worried about studies, 6 hrs is good for study on the train, the vline is pretty good. But you'll find that you won't want to study on the train after a long week of uni.
Quote
3. As a dentistry student, what sort of extra co-curricular activities can you do to improve your resume/gain experience? Does being in Bendigo limit the amount of activities you can do?
For first year, we don't do a lot of resume building stuff specifically to dentistry apart from having a position in BOHDS (bendigo oral health and dentistry society). Most opportunities are general uni stuff like volunteering for open day and stuff like that. Yes, being in bendigo does limit what activities you do but everyone is in the same boat. Hence why many melb kids go back every weekend + family reasons.
Quote
4. In general, how is university life in Bendigo? I assume that there are less clubs and social activities available compared to other unis in the metro areas. Is it possible to meet people from other courses?
Yeah there are less clubs and social activities, but as a dent student I feel that its sufficient enough as it is. I've been pretty satisfied with my experience in bendigo and there is a nice balance of study and social life. Yep, totally possible to meet people from other courses.
Quote
5. I’m planning to live off-campus for the whole five years, and was wondering if anyone could share their own opinions and experiences relating to living off-campus or on-campus. Although getting to uni may be slightly more inconvenient, I feel like I would be less restricted if I lived off-campus (I just wanna bring along my own rice cooker man). My parents are also worried that the noise levels will be too high if I live on-campus (from parties and stuff) and I wouldn’t be able to sleep or study. I guess I can be more selective about my housemates if I live off-campus..? Also do you have to rent a new place every year, because most people go home for the Christmas holidays?
Not completely sure about off-campus. 10000% recommend you live on campus, btw. Most do and it's much easier to meet friends that way and feel involved and keep up with what everyone else is up to. You can pick an alcohol + noise free building you or your parents dont need to worry.
Quote
6. I’ve heard that the fail rate for first year dent is high, which makes me very anxious. Is there are a reason why the rate is high? Is this a common thing for most dent courses in Australia?
In 2016 the fail rate was pretty high yep, but this year I believe few/no people failed purely because they decided to grade us differently, there wasn't that much of a change in content, except for practical stuff. I heard theyre changing it back to the 2016 model though so study study study :\
Quote
7. Do people still strive for high grades in dentistry, or is it ok to just pass your subjects? Do grades affect your employment prospects?
In dent, there are some of us who aim for/get straight HDs still. But I think everyone would have been satisfied just passing tbh. It is the most important thing rather than the actual mark. But obviously you want to do your best. Not sure if it affects employment prospects, it might... I hope not.

hope this helps :) if there are any more questions feel free to ask here
« Last Edit: January 21, 2018, 10:21:20 pm by Mellyboo »
2016 ATAR: 98.40
Successful ASPIRE applicant
Chem [44] Bio [41] HHD [41] Further [43] EAL [46] MUEP Chem [4.5] Lab skills [42]
2017-2021: Bachelor of Health Sciences in Dentistry/Master of Dentistry @ La Trobe Bendigo

papi

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Re: Dentistry @ Latrobe Questions
« Reply #4 on: February 16, 2018, 12:22:11 am »
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Hey! Just adding onto Mellyboo’s post...

1. no need to worry about transport. Nearest shopping centre is around 5 minute walk from the university, and there is a bus from uni that gets you to the shopping centre and the train station located in “the town”. Also there’s always people with cars who are willing to go grocery shopping with others, or if you live at a shared accommodation off uni, they will invite you to go grocery shopping with them or offer to give you a lift from/to the station.
Also most off uni accommodations are very close to uni!

2. I have lived both on and off uni and here I will have to disagree with Mellyboo. I liked both. Uni accommodation is not necessarily superior, and also it is very expensive. It’s worth it, but I just want to say that off-uni is just as good with cheaper price.

You can bring your rice cooker to res (uni accommodation). If you get ratchet floormates I guess they could be loud sometimes in the shared area but just tell them to tone it down and everything is good. Every Tuesday might be a bit noisy because it’s uni night and some units/hillside apartments may be partying but it’s bearable.

I think in terms of accommodation it’s 50:50? Like half of the cohort lives off res, and the other half on res and so on. For me, the only reason I chose to live on res in 2017 was because of meal plan and cleaning services, but they announced that due to head chef resigning and lack of applications, there will be no meal services in 2018.

I really enjoyed staying on res last year and one of the best memories is pulling an all nighter altogether before the final exam... which is kinda sad

3. First year fail rate was pretty high until 2016 because of the way they designed and marked the prac subject assignments/exams but in 2017, the subject had been redesigned to prevent that. Not many people failed - I only know of 1 person and it was reasonable.
« Last Edit: February 16, 2018, 12:31:58 am by papi »