Questions about University of Melbourne courses

[user2357]

Hi,
My family is moving to Melbourne so I decided to attend the University of Melbourne. I read about the university and the Melbourne Model a lot online (especially this website) but I still have some questions that I couldn't get answers to through my Google searches.
I finished my HSC in 2013 in NSW and my estimated ATAR is 99.80 - 99.90. If I get 99.90 then I will definitely go for medicine but if I don't, I am not really sure what I want to do, since I have a lot of interests.
If I do something like science or biomedicine and do the GAMSAT, can I get in either medicine or dentistry depending on my score? Or do I need to have done oral health to get into dentistry?
If my GAMSAT score is too low but my GPA is good, can I get into law or engineering or do I have to have done certain majors to get into those?
I would very much appreciate any help!

[Sinner]

As for medicine and dentistry, for most unis, you can even do arts or music, and get in with a decent gpa, gamsat score, and interview performance. It's only Melbourne Uni's that require certain prerequisite subjects (Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry) that compel you to do a science or biomed degree. You should ask yourself whether med or dental is really the thing for you before going down the path.

[m.Chemia]

As for law, as long as you have a good GPA, you can do any undergraduate degree you want as there is no prerequisite. As for engineering, if you do one of the engineering system majors in Bachelor of Science/Biomedicine/Environment (eg. Chemical, Mechanical, Electrical, Bioengineering system, etc.), you can complete Master of Engineering in 2 years, but even if you didn't do one of the Engineering System majors, you can still do MEng but it will take an extra year.

Edit: all the graduate engineering degrees at UoM requires 2 units of first year mathematics (Calc 2 & Linear Algebra equivalent) and 2 units of first year science (Chemical & Biomedical & so on require Chemistry, some other streams require Physics, and for some streams any science will do.)

[hobbitle]

It sounds like you're not sure what you want to do, since all of law, engineering and med/dent are on the table.
It's totally fine to not know yet what you want to do, but you do know that if you want to go to UoM you can't go straight into Medicine?
If you are sure Medicine is what you want and you'll keep trying until you get it, do B Biomedicine or B Science at UoM, make sure you take the 3 x Level 3 prerequisite subjects, sit the GAMSAT and keep trying until you get it.
If you feel like you'll just do something else if you don't 'easily' get into Medicine, do the B Science in an Engineering Systems major. This still leaves Medicine open to you if you take the prerequisite subjects, but it also leaves the 2-year Engineering Masters open to you.
I'm not sure how Law works except that it is purely postgrad at UoM also.

[mack_smallan]

Hi,
My family is moving to Melbourne so I decided to attend the University of Melbourne. I read about the university and the Melbourne Model a lot online (especially this website) but I still have some questions that I couldn't get answers to through my Google searches.
I finished my HSC in 2013 in NSW and my estimated ATAR is 99.80 - 99.90. If I get 99.90 then I will definitely go for medicine but if I don't, I am not really sure what I want to do, since I have a lot of interests.
If I do something like science or biomedicine and do the GAMSAT, can I get in either medicine or dentistry depending on my score? Or do I need to have done oral health to get into dentistry?
If my GAMSAT score is too low but my GPA is good, can I get into law or engineering or do I have to have done certain majors to get into those?
I would very much appreciate any help!

I also moved to Melbourne from sydney to go here. Like the ones before me said you can do anything (as long as you the prereq subjects) and get into med/ dent. My recommendation is do science and NOT biomed. Science is very flexible and you can go in any direction (e.g. neuroscience, engineering, physics, software, psychology, forest sciences etc.) and there are many directions to choose from. I suggest you look through the majors on: https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/view/current/B-SCI. Biomed is really restrictive and it does not, by any means, increases you chances of entering into med/ dent. Additionally, for law you can go any undergrad degree, you just have to sit the LSAT. For engineering the best thing you can do is science majoring in one of the engineering.

In my opinion if you do become a bioengineering systems or chemical systems major it opens you up yourself to a whole range of graduate programs in all fields (whether that is law, dent, optometry etc.). Also if you don't know already, check you the 'pagingdr' forum for good information and discussion on med.

[user2357]

Thank you all for the replies, really appreciate it.
I am not really interested in Law but having it as a back up is nice.
I am mostly interested in applied science, i.e. medicine and engineering so Melbourne seemed like the right place for me.
I am worried about a few things, however. I heard that the masters of engineering graduate degree may not be Commonwealth supported so will I have to pay $40000 for the degree? Also, do I have to do a systems undergraduate major or can I just do the minimum engineering prerequisites?
Regarding medicine and dentistry, do they have different GAMSAT and interview requirements?

[mack_smallan]

Thank you all for the replies, really appreciate it.
I am not really interested in Law but having it as a back up is nice.
I am mostly interested in applied science, i.e. medicine and engineering so Melbourne seemed like the right place for me.
I am worried about a few things, however. I heard that the masters of engineering graduate degree may not be Commonwealth supported so will I have to pay $40000 for the degree? Also, do I have to do a systems undergraduate major or can I just do the minimum engineering prerequisites?
Regarding medicine and dentistry, do they have different GAMSAT and interview requirements?

the require for engineering at melb uni is:
- do science, commerce or biomed only
- average 65% (which for a person getting 99.90 means nothing) in the last 2 years of the undergrad degree
- do calculus 2 and linear algebra
- do not have to do a systems major

for med (assuming you are not an international student):
- some schools have a minimum, some don't, if they do its usually 50 - 55 in each of the sections, but realistically it has to be much much much much greater to have a realistic chance of getting in
- there are no particular requirements for interview, but beware you also do only 1 interview and that score is used as the interview score at all medical schools. Note you apply through GEMSAS and have get to apply to (rank) 6 schools out of the 11 graduate medicals schools available through GEMSAS. Sydney Uni isn't available through GEMSAS, you have to deal with them separately. Also note Queensland doesn't have interviews.

[duhherro]

how hard is getting a 65+ average?

[hobbitle]

how hard is getting a 65+ average?

That depends on how hard you work and how much you are playing to your strengths with what you study.

Eng can get pretty hard but if you enjoy it and you show up to everything, do all assigned homework questions, and submit all your assessment on time, you shouldn't have any issues getting 65% or higher.

[user2357]

Thank you very much Mack.
I am now considering biomedicine at Monash since I wouldn't need to sit the GAMSAT.
For some reason, I don't perform well on admission tests, I just don't like them but I perform much better on normal exams since I know how to prepare for them.
I will look deeper into it and see if it is the right course for me.
I am not sure if I should do biomedicine scholar's program, normal biomedicine or combined biomedicine in case things don't work out (but this would most likely hurt my WAM).
Here is a link: http://med.monash.edu.au/medical/gippsland/mbbs-pathways.html

Bachelor of Biomedical Science students (including those undertaking double degrees) at Monash who maintain a Weighted Average Mark (WAM) of 70 or above at the end of the first semester of their penultimate year will be offered the opportunity to undertake a multiple mini interview for the Graduate entry MBBS.

GAMSAT will not be a requirement for entry into Monash University’s graduate entry program.

[Russ]

If you want to do medicine you should sit the GAMSAT anyway. I don't like the new monash structure but; if you go there and don't get a place, you'll want to be applying to other universities as a back up. If you're wiling to move to Gippsland then you'll probably also be considering interstate places.

[user2357]

I will definitely sit the GAMSAT too since the interview will be in semester 1, year 2 so I can sit the GAMSAT twice in years 2 and 3 if I wanted to.
I am also becoming very interested in the biomedicine industry itself. Many people say that the billion dollar (even trillion) companies of the near future will most likely be in the biomedicine field (i.e. Craig Venter).
Do you guys know if biomedicine is good at Monash in terms of quality of teaching, etc? How does it compare to Melbourne? Is Monash well recognised internationally in case I decide to go into biomedical research?

[user2357]

If you want to do medicine you should sit the GAMSAT anyway. I don't like the new monash structure but; if you go there and don't get a place, you'll want to be applying to other universities as a back up. If you're wiling to move to Gippsland then you'll probably also be considering interstate places.

Can you please elaborate on why you don't like the new Monash structure? I would love to know the advantages and disadvantages of this structure (other than the obvious ones) before deciding what course to do.

[Russ]

Because it's a fairly obvious attempt to convince year 12 students to study at their university in their specific undergraduate course(s), which is good for the university but bad for students in general. It's evident in this thread, where you're saying you want to go to Monash, solely because of this new structure they've implemented. Places in a graduate medical course shouldn't be determined by what you do out of high school. It's for a similar reason that I disapprove of the new chancellor's scholars program out of UoM, where they award places in the MD based solely on getting a high ATAR.

I wasn't commenting on the quality of the degree, which I don't have a particular opinion on. I have heard a couple of people talking about problems with the course given the recent sale of the Gippsland campus to Ballarat University, which might be something to look into.

I wouldn't worry too much about anything you've heard about industry in the near future being biomedical in nature. There are going to be a lot of big industries in the future and studying "biomedicine" or "biomedical science" isn't anywhere near specific enough to make you suitably qualified, you'll still be required to pick a more specific area to focus on.

[hobbitle]

It's for a similar reason that I disapprove of the new chancellor's scholars program out of UoM, where they award places in the MD based solely on getting a high ATAR.

Nice to know I'm not the only one with whom this doesn't sit well with.