Med/dentistry

[Minoaws]

Hello,
I know that for post graduate medicine and dentistry the weighted gpa is used, not wam. My wam is not good but I wanted to list my grades here so that someone could tell me if I have ANY chance of getting into post grad med or dentistry.

1st yr: 7 Passes, 1H2A
2nd yr: Semester 1 - 1 Pass for a 25 point subject, 1 H1, 1 H2B

I will be starting semester 2 in 2 weeks and I wanted to ask, if I get all H1’s for semester 2 and all of next year, will I have any chance of getting into med or dentistry?

Thank you

[Meddling]

Hi, if i do the calculations:

1st yr GPA: ((4.5 x 7) + (6.5 x 1))/8 = 4.75
2nd yr GPA: ((4.5 x 2) + (7 x 1) + (6 x 1) + (7 x 4)) = 6.25
3rd yr GPA: (7 x 8 )/8 = 7

Weighted GPA: (4.75 x 0.2) + (6.25 x 0.4) + (7 x 0.4) = 6.25

So the "Maximum GPA" that you can achieve, seems to be, 6.25, and that is assuming you get H1s without missing a single one.

Also, according to the PagingDr's 2018 medicine offer extract, you need this 'combo' score of 1.6 (which is a theoretical number, so there is no evidence to support whether this is accurate). But, since this extract uses real data from applicants it shouldn't matter at all. This is calculated by (GPA/7 + GAMSAT/100)

With your current GPA; 6.25, and assuming you need a minimum combo score of 1.6; (1.6 was the lowest average of combo score)

6.25/7 + x/100 = 1.6
x = 71

So to have 'some' chance, you need a GAMSAT score of 71 (Which is high for most medicine applicants in the data)
This high GAMSAT score is to balance out your 'low' GPA. (See my attachment below). The lowest average of those offered a place was 6.23 (Flinders uni), 6.14 (UniSyd), 6.26 (Uni of Wollongong).

Which means you have a chance in those unis. However, University of Sydney mostly looks at GAMSAT scores if your GPA is over 5, and their average for GAMSAT is 71. Wollongong is a portfolio university, so if you did have any life events that impacted your study, or have any volunteering experience you may have a better chance at these universities.

In my attachment 2, (GAMSAT avgs) you can see that average gamsat shows an upward trend, implying tougher requirement for application processes in the future. Hope not

As for University of Melbourne, they have a GPA average of 6.69, and a GAMSAT average of 70.09 giving an average combo score of 1.66. So, I'd say you have a small chance of getting an offer at this uni. However, any uni for medicine is good and won't really make a difference to your qualification.

I wish for your best
I'm wanting to get into medicine in the future too.
Hope this helped

P.S: As for DDS entry, i am not sure but i remember entry requirement being similar but without the interview hurdle.

[melbperson]

Hi, if i do the calculations:

1st yr GPA: ((4.5 x 7) + (6.5 x 1))/8 = 4.75
2nd yr GPA: ((4.5 x 2) + (7 x 1) + (6 x 1) + (7 x 4)) = 6.25
3rd yr GPA: (7 x 8 )/8 = 7

Weighted GPA: (4.75 x 0.2) + (6.25 x 0.4) + (7 x 0.4) = 6.25

So the "Maximum GPA" that you can achieve, seems to be, 6.25, and that is assuming you get H1s without missing a single one.

Also, according to the PagingDr's 2018 medicine offer extract, you need this 'combo' score of 1.6 (which is a theoretical number, so there is no evidence to support whether this is accurate). But, since this extract uses real data from applicants it shouldn't matter at all. This is calculated by (GPA/7 + GAMSAT/100)

With your current GPA; 6.25, and assuming you need a minimum combo score of 1.6; (1.6 was the lowest average of combo score)

6.25/7 + x/100 = 1.6
x = 71

So to have 'some' chance, you need a GAMSAT score of 71 (Which is high for most medicine applicants in the data)
This high GAMSAT score is to balance out your 'low' GPA. (See my attachment below). The lowest average of those offered a place was 6.23 (Flinders uni), 6.14 (UniSyd), 6.26 (Uni of Wollongong).

Which means you have a chance in those unis. However, University of Sydney mostly looks at GAMSAT scores if your GPA is over 5, and their average for GAMSAT is 71. Wollongong is a portfolio university, so if you did have any life events that impacted your study, or have any volunteering experience you may have a better chance at these universities.

In my attachment 2, (GAMSAT avgs) you can see that average gamsat shows an upward trend, implying tougher requirement for application processes in the future. Hope not

As for University of Melbourne, they have a GPA average of 6.69, and a GAMSAT average of 70.09 giving an average combo score of 1.66. So, I'd say you have a small chance of getting an offer at this uni. However, any uni for medicine is good and won't really make a difference to your qualification.

I wish for your best
I'm wanting to get into medicine in the future too.
Hope this helped

P.S: As for DDS entry, i am not sure but i remember entry requirement being similar but without the interview hurdle.

I'm in a similar situation where I am a first year and first semester got 3 Ps and 1 H3 (59 WAM); so providing I get H2 and H1s will I get 70+ WAM (or results competitive enough for post grad med)?

[Minoaws]

Hi, if i do the calculations:

1st yr GPA: ((4.5 x 7) + (6.5 x 1))/8 = 4.75
2nd yr GPA: ((4.5 x 2) + (7 x 1) + (6 x 1) + (7 x 4)) = 6.25
3rd yr GPA: (7 x 8 )/8 = 7

Weighted GPA: (4.75 x 0.2) + (6.25 x 0.4) + (7 x 0.4) = 6.25

So the "Maximum GPA" that you can achieve, seems to be, 6.25, and that is assuming you get H1s without missing a single one.

Also, according to the PagingDr's 2018 medicine offer extract, you need this 'combo' score of 1.6 (which is a theoretical number, so there is no evidence to support whether this is accurate). But, since this extract uses real data from applicants it shouldn't matter at all. This is calculated by (GPA/7 + GAMSAT/100)

With your current GPA; 6.25, and assuming you need a minimum combo score of 1.6; (1.6 was the lowest average of combo score)

6.25/7 + x/100 = 1.6
x = 71

So to have 'some' chance, you need a GAMSAT score of 71 (Which is high for most medicine applicants in the data)
This high GAMSAT score is to balance out your 'low' GPA. (See my attachment below). The lowest average of those offered a place was 6.23 (Flinders uni), 6.14 (UniSyd), 6.26 (Uni of Wollongong).

Which means you have a chance in those unis. However, University of Sydney mostly looks at GAMSAT scores if your GPA is over 5, and their average for GAMSAT is 71. Wollongong is a portfolio university, so if you did have any life events that impacted your study, or have any volunteering experience you may have a better chance at these universities.

In my attachment 2, (GAMSAT avgs) you can see that average gamsat shows an upward trend, implying tougher requirement for application processes in the future. Hope not

As for University of Melbourne, they have a GPA average of 6.69, and a GAMSAT average of 70.09 giving an average combo score of 1.66. So, I'd say you have a small chance of getting an offer at this uni. However, any uni for medicine is good and won't really make a difference to your qualification.

I wish for your best
I'm wanting to get into medicine in the future too.
Hope this helped

P.S: As for DDS entry, i am not sure but i remember entry requirement being similar but without the interview hurdle.

Thank you so much for the info!
What if i do an honours year?

[vox nihili]

Hi, if i do the calculations:

1st yr GPA: ((4.5 x 7) + (6.5 x 1))/8 = 4.75
2nd yr GPA: ((4.5 x 2) + (7 x 1) + (6 x 1) + (7 x 4)) = 6.25
3rd yr GPA: (7 x 8 )/8 = 7

Weighted GPA: (4.75 x 0.2) + (6.25 x 0.4) + (7 x 0.4) = 6.25

So the "Maximum GPA" that you can achieve, seems to be, 6.25, and that is assuming you get H1s without missing a single one.

Also, according to the PagingDr's 2018 medicine offer extract, you need this 'combo' score of 1.6 (which is a theoretical number, so there is no evidence to support whether this is accurate). But, since this extract uses real data from applicants it shouldn't matter at all. This is calculated by (GPA/7 + GAMSAT/100)

With your current GPA; 6.25, and assuming you need a minimum combo score of 1.6; (1.6 was the lowest average of combo score)

6.25/7 + x/100 = 1.6
x = 71

So to have 'some' chance, you need a GAMSAT score of 71 (Which is high for most medicine applicants in the data)
This high GAMSAT score is to balance out your 'low' GPA. (See my attachment below). The lowest average of those offered a place was 6.23 (Flinders uni), 6.14 (UniSyd), 6.26 (Uni of Wollongong).

Which means you have a chance in those unis. However, University of Sydney mostly looks at GAMSAT scores if your GPA is over 5, and their average for GAMSAT is 71. Wollongong is a portfolio university, so if you did have any life events that impacted your study, or have any volunteering experience you may have a better chance at these universities.

In my attachment 2, (GAMSAT avgs) you can see that average gamsat shows an upward trend, implying tougher requirement for application processes in the future. Hope not

As for University of Melbourne, they have a GPA average of 6.69, and a GAMSAT average of 70.09 giving an average combo score of 1.66. So, I'd say you have a small chance of getting an offer at this uni. However, any uni for medicine is good and won't really make a difference to your qualification.

I wish for your best
I'm wanting to get into medicine in the future too.
Hope this helped

P.S: As for DDS entry, i am not sure but i remember entry requirement being similar but without the interview hurdle.

I know really little about PagingDr's dataset, but I'm pretty sure the way they obtain it is by asking people to disclose their scores on the site? In which case, the dataset would be subject to fairly significant selection bias and thus pretty unreliable.

If you know anything more about how they've come by their data, that would be awesome and really help this discussion. If my assumptions are correct about how they've come by it though, the numbers you've given are not reliable indicators of what one needs to get into med.

Also, I'm not sure if you considered the fact that the entry requirements for Melbourne med have changed, meaning that both GPA and GAMSAT make a smaller contribution to the score needed to enter med.

[Meddling]

I know really little about PagingDr's dataset, but I'm pretty sure the way they obtain it is by asking people to disclose their scores on the site? In which case, the dataset would be subject to fairly significant selection bias and thus pretty unreliable.

If you know anything more about how they've come by their data, that would be awesome and really help this discussion. If my assumptions are correct about how they've come by it though, the numbers you've given are not reliable indicators of what one needs to get into med.

Also, I'm not sure if you considered the fact that the entry requirements for Melbourne med have changed, meaning that both GPA and GAMSAT make a smaller contribution to the score needed to enter med.

Yep, but i think it gives a good idea of the score they want. It seems to be the only public forum specifically for medicine applicants
Also, I am fully aware that they changed the process, but you would still need to get an offer for an interview (?)

Also, if it is fine with you, what were your scores (GPA, and GAMSAT) at the time you applied? Thank you!

[Meddling]

Thank you so much for the info!
What if i do an honours year?

Hey, no problem, but as vox previously said, it may not be an accurate indication. So, dont take my word for it!
I'm not too familiar with the honours year calculations but it is probably the same! You can probably calculate it yourself haha

[Alter]

Echoing what vox said, I can confirm that their database is limited to the actual user submissions that they receive. Naturally, this is also slightly slanted in favour of those who are willing to publish their scores (which you can imagine tend to be higher than average). I would definitely agree that you need to take these numbers with a grain of salt. One possible conclusion you could draw from this is that the lowest score you can feasibly get admission with isn't really accessible information (from the unis or PagingDr), so it's worth applying if you think you have a shot.

Additionally, combo scores aren't exactly an accurate way of knowing what your chances are, because they assume that a 6.3 GPA is equivalent to a 90 GAMSAT, for example (i.e. there is an inherent bias towards wGPA if you consider GPA/7 + GAMSAT/100, for obvious reasons). The only university this rule is definitively true for seems to be Griffith, and this actually reflects in the PagingDr stats. In actuality, we don't always know how the two criteria are considered, even if we know their respective weighting.

A final thing to consider is the impact of other parts of your application. Applying for a FFP or as an international student will assuredly lower the scores you need. In a similar way, Melbourne Uni have quotas for a rural student cohort and those that apply through Graduate Access Melbourne (e.g. Indigenous background, disability, financial disadvantage). This can make it easier to secure an interview, if you fall into one of those categories.

A quick comment regarding vox's last point: apparently, despite the weighting towards interviews having changed, the actual number of interviews given out hasn't been planned to increase in accordance with this. In that way, there's a subtle added importance to GPA/GAMSAT which will still apply. This is according to a chat with staff of the school of biomedicine. The key take-away from this is that even if you would smash an interview given the chance, just because it is weighted more highly doesn't mean you have a higher chance of actually receiving the interview offer.

To address the OP, I would encourage you not to give up. In my first year of biomed, I got a number of scores in the 50s/60s, and my grades have made a strong improvement since then. I had originally consigned myself to having no chance, but nothing is really final until you have your GAMSAT and final grades to apply with. Also: there are plenty of universities around Australia, and not all of them mandate an insane GPA. If you're rural, you have options such as the Flinders PRCC program. If you get a strong GAMSAT score, you can look at options such as Sydney and UQ. Or if you've got a wealth of life experience that your grades don't necessarily illustrate, portfolio unis such as UNDA and Wollongong are just as good.

I think the most important lesson that I learned was not to expect to have sudden, insanely good improvements. It's unrealistic (albeit possible) to go from straight Ps to straight H1s, so focus on improving what you can and always keep your options open. You don't have to get into med school on your first go, so don't make it your be-all and end-all.

Regarding how honours fits in: it's super complicated and I'm not really 100% sure. A central idea seems to be that it depends if you've got semester 1 grades for your honours project, and, if so, how 'large' your completed study load is at the time of application. This can change on a case-by-case basis depending on your uni, department, and where you're applying to. That being said, if you've fully finished an honours year and apply with all of your grades, they will count towards applications, AFAIK.

Best wishes and happy to clarify any points I've made that are a bit confusing as I'm typing while a bit sleepy.

[Sine]

Unless the uni gives out the actual scores required and for each type of place (CSP/FFP etc) the information Meddling has provided is probably as close as you can get. Since it's an educational forum obviously scores may be inflated a touch but dentistry and med are inherently competitive so shouldn't be too much. Aiming higher than you need is never a bad thing. The mentality of trying to just scrape into everything is probably going to disadvantageous in the long term.

Echoing what vox said, I can confirm that their database is limited to the actual user submissions that they receive. Naturally, this is also slightly slanted in favour of those who are willing to publish their scores (which you can imagine tend to be higher than average). I would definitely agree that you need to take these numbers with a grain of salt. One possible conclusion you could draw from this is that the lowest score you can feasibly get admission with isn't really accessible information (from the unis or PagingDr), so it's worth applying if you think you have a shot.

Additionally, combo scores aren't exactly an accurate way of knowing what your chances are, because they assume that a 6.3 GPA is equivalent to a 90 GAMSAT, for example (i.e. there is an inherent bias towards wGPA if you consider GPA/7 + GAMSAT/100, for obvious reasons). The only university this rule is definitively true for seems to be Griffith, and this actually reflects in the PagingDr stats. In actuality, we don't always know how the two criteria are considered, even if we know their respective weighting.


A quick comment regarding vox's last point: apparently, despite the weighting towards interviews having changed, the actual number of interviews given out hasn't been planned to increase in accordance with this. In that way, there's a subtle added importance to GPA/GAMSAT which will still apply. This is according to a chat with staff of the school of biomedicine. The key take-away from this is that even if you would smash an interview given the chance, just because it is weighted more highly doesn't mean you have a higher chance of actually receiving the interview offer.

hmm so for the combo score a GPA of 7 = gamsat of 100 and GPA of 6.5 = gamsat of 93. From my understanding each of these use different scales so that combo doesn't actually make these equalities. Imo the combo score is isn't too bad (probably the best gauge we have)  but I do think they have some cutoffs so you can't get in with too low of a gpa/gamsat even if your combo was high. Although yes I wouldn't believe that they use that alone when determining rankings unless they explicitly say so.

[Shenz0r]

Frankly, it will be a bit of an uphill battle to get into Melbourne if you aren't able to achieve a good GAMSAT score.

That being said, you can look into other universities that only use GPA as a hurdle requirement (e.g Sydney, Monash). I think a few people I have known were able to get into Monash with a GPA similar to yours.

For now, focus on doing your best on the GAMSAT.

[Sine]

Frankly, it will be a bit of an uphill battle to get into Melbourne if you aren't able to achieve a good GAMSAT score.

That being said, you can look into other universities that only use GPA as a hurdle requirement (e.g Sydney, Monash). I think a few people I have known were able to get into Monash with a GPA similar to yours.

For now, focus on doing your best on the GAMSAT.

monash doesn't use GPA nor do they take unimelb students anymore :/

[scarletmoon]

Would a GPA of 6.03 and Gamsat in the low 70s give me a chance at applying for med? What unis are most likely to take me in?

Also I'm not sure if I should do an honours year to get my gpa up, or to just try and apply with the scores I have.

[Alter]

Would a GPA of 6.03 and Gamsat in the low 70s give me a chance at applying for med? What unis are most likely to take me in?

Also I'm not sure if I should do an honours year to get my gpa up, or to just try and apply with the scores I have.

Do you have a rural background? If so, basically all universities are still available to you, including UQ.

Even without such a background, you still have a decent shot at either USyd (hurdle GPA and you're above the GAMSAT threshold) or one of the portfolio unis (if you have a solid portfolio). Griffith would be pretty hard (importance of high GPA), and I can't speak to your chances of an interview at Melbourne - you might be touch and go.

[scarletmoon]

I am rural. My unimelb weighted gpa is 5.96 would that be enough for a rural pathway entry?

[Alter]

I am rural. My unimelb weighted gpa is 5.96 would that be enough for a rural pathway entry?

Oh, nice. Think my gpa is the same as you and my gamsat is 68 w a bit of graduate access, so I'm basically in the same boat. I think we're virtually on the cusp so nobody can really say, but rural definitely helps a ton for nabbing an interview. I'm assuming you still have 2 semesters left given your signature (correct me if I'm wrong) so if you boost your GPA you'll be in a good position.

When I was in your position last year, I was really considering honours. I'm in a position now where I don't want to do honours, because I realised I would only really be doing it for the extra year at the end of the day. I think, given that time is still on your side, it's definitely great to keep honours in the back of your mind, but don't do it for the sole reason of boosting GPA -- especially for unimelb entry, because you'd need to wait an extra year for your honours grades to even count for GPA calculation.

Sent from phone, sorry for typos