vehura's vce journal

[The Cat In The Hat]

Soooooo…. Long time no see!!! It has been a pretty long time since I’ve posted, mostly because I think about posting and go… hmm. Not really sure what to write since my life isn’t really that interesting lol but still, I decided to update today finally to prevent this journal from slipping into complete oblivion.

So, I’ll sort of update about my subjects and life etc etc if anyone’s even reading! Not sure if you are or want to but welcome back if you are.

So English: I’m doing pretty well in this subject, mostly because my teacher is pretty awesome; her criticism is pretty extensive but when she does give feedback they are always things you can work on to improve your writing. I am just starting on unit 4 now - the comparative task. We’re doing Ransom/The Queen, which I initially hated the idea of, but after reading The Song of Achilles I am now in a much better place regarding my feelings to this book than I was before

Literature is also okay - I am finding this subject pretty hard to stay completely motivated for as there is not much homework. Luckily my super generous boyfriend attends Melbourne uni and has given me access to the library, so finding critical readings and journals is way easier now. But still, I feel like I’m sooo inadequate compared to other people doing lit - I’m not sure if my writing is up to standard as my literature teacher is smart, but his feedback is veryyyy, well…. short? I’ll get a 15/20 and it’ll be sort of like “well done, need to expand your ideas outside the passages”. And that’s it. Not sure how to approach this issue, I sort of hate the idea of approaching other English teachers as they already have enough work.

For methods…. HAHAHAHA. It’s definitely going in my bottom 2!!!!! It’s so bad. Like the applications SAC was so difficult - my school isn’t exactly above the curve in our methods ability (even my teacher said our methods ability was way below than kids in his last school) but still, the SAC was pretty hard for most people. I sort of gave up by the third part after realising I seriously wrote the discriminant formula as the turning point formula for one of the easiest questions in part one. Not sure what happened there but I wasn’t very impressed

Also, the UCAT is a thing. I am pretty happy with the amount of practice I have done so far; I will have done my 15th mock on Medify by Friday. I’m not sure how difficult/easy Medify is compared to the actual test though, which adds sort of an element of anxiety, but all I know is that all I can do is my best. UCAT is one of those things where it is so difficult not to compare yourself to other people who are getting way higher scores - but, if anyone else is feeling this way just know that your pace is the only pace that matters, and if you go into your test knowing you have put your absolute best effort in then there is nothing more or nothing better you could have done. Testing season is starting in a couple of weeks; so I wish those who are doing it the best.

Also, I’m just wondering if anyone knows regarding VTAC applications if there are three different Monash medicine course codes? Because on the VTAC website it has three different codes for school leaver entry, bonded school leaver entry, and extended rural cohort entry, but then I saw someone on AN say you don’t need to add in the bonded code - they will just give you a bonded place? Not sure if anyone would know but it would be good information to have by august. Thanks so much!! I’ll see you guys next year 

Hey, I did Ransom/The Queen last year! I enjoyed the film although the book left me cold. I liked writing the essays, though. Hopefully you enjoy it - have you watched the film yet?
Methods has the useful thing of being comparatively easy to pick up marks even if you did badly in the SACs - if you do well in the exams, the marks jump up, so SACs aren't as important.

[Chocolatemilkshake]

Hi Vehura, nice to see an update!

Also, I’m just wondering if anyone knows regarding VTAC applications if there are three different Monash medicine course codes? Because on the VTAC website it has three different codes for school leaver entry, bonded school leaver entry, and extended rural cohort entry, but then I saw someone on AN say you don’t need to add in the bonded code - they will just give you a bonded place? Not sure if anyone would know but it would be good information to have by august. Thanks so much!! I’ll see you guys next year 

So the three Monash medicine codes are essentially for the same course but there are different "agreements" you make by accepting certain offers. See below for a general overview...

- Monash Medicine School Leaver entry (unbonded): basically you do the 5 year course (typically the most desirable).

- Monash Medicine Bonded: so exactly the same 5 year course as the above but you sign an agreement with the government to spend three years (after your degree) working rurally (see more specific info here.) And to answer your question NO, Monash won't give you a bonded place UNLESS you put it in your VTAC preferences. I'd suggest preferencing it as it increases your chances of getting into Medicine. i.e. if you don't have high enough scores to to get an unbonded place but you are very close, you might be able to get bonded! However, obviously you have to be aware of the terms you are signing to and be willing to follow through on the agreement after completing the course.

- Monash Medicine Extended Rural Cohort (ERC): so again, same course as the above but 2.5 out of 3 of your clinical years (DURING the course) are done in rural Victoria. This is actually the cohort that I'm in! The first two years of the course (preclinical, 1-2) are still at the Clayton Campus. Then when you get to clinical years (3-5) the majority of your placement isn't in Melbourne (you'll be placed at places like Bendigo, Mildura, Sale, etc). There are no ties to work rurally after you've finished the course (unlike bonded).

Hope this helps to explain it a little! In summary, school leaver = no ties, ERC = ties to work rurally DURING course, Bonded = ties to work rurally 3 yrs AFTER course. I would say people tend to preference school leaver first then ERC and then bonded! But ultimately it's up to you  (and of course, you don't have to preference all of them if you don't want to!) All the best for the UCAT!

[vehura]

All the best for the UCAT!

Thanks so much Chocolatemilkshake! I was vaguely familiar with what each entry entails but you clarified it really well for me. Someone here wrote that you didn't need to preference CSP bonded, but I wasn't sure on why as there were different VTAC codes. Thanks so much, you have really cleared it up.

Since you're doing the ERC, do you know if you are living where your placement is during your clinical years? I read on MSO that you can't leave until like the weekend? Thanks so much again!

[Chocolatemilkshake]

Since you're doing the ERC, do you know if you are living where your placement is during your clinical years? I read on MSO that you can't leave until like the weekend? Thanks so much again!

Yeah so you do move to where your placement is during semester. I can't speak from experience because I'm only preclinical years although I do know that Monash provides cheap accommodation near your placement.