A high GPA

[stonecold]

I do Biomed at MelbUni and have lots of friends in science too.  If you are interested in health sciences, I would definitely, definitely recommend Biomed over Science.  Biomed biology is a lot more relevant to human biology (especially in second semester).  You have a lot less focus on stuff like classification of organisms (like in science biology), and virtually nothing on plants (huge emphasis in science biology).  That said, if you want a "more rounded" education, then science is the way to go.

Chemistry for Biomed is most of the stuff from Chemistry 1 and Chemistry 2 which is relevant to human chemistry.  Some of it is covered in less depth, so probably easier (though the actual content is the hardest topics from Chem 2).

Physics for Biomed is notoriously bad...hopefully you've already done physics and you get to do Physics 2: Life Sciences, which is far more organised.

In terms of getting a high GPA, I haven't found it too bad so far for Biomed (I had a 96.5% GPA in Sem 1 - though that took MAJOR crammage in swotvac). Average across the cohort last year for Sem 1 was 75% apparently.  Might be a reflection of the level of competition in the subject though.

Also, they seem to throw around statistics that 40% of the medicine intake came from biomed or something like that.  either that or 40% of biomed got into med.  So if that's your aim in going to UniMelb, it might be something of consideration.

Great post.  Thanks.

So Physics for Biomed is not good?

I have only done 1/2 VCE physics.  Any chance of getting into the normal one?

[rustic_metal]

Does anybody know what they mean by "A cumulative GPA of 3.0 or equivalent (on a 4.0 scale) or better" here: http://www.gla.ac.uk/international/abroadexchange/studyabroadprogramme/howtoapply/?

I took a look around the web for some kind of a conversion chart, but the best I could find was something like this http://faculty.cascadia.edu/dwhittaker/percent2gpa.htm, but seriously? An 84% average for exchange? Surely that's just for high school or something?  

What Melbourne Uni average would I need to be eligible?

[rustic_metal]

I have only done 1/2 VCE physics.  Any chance of getting into the normal one?

Nah, not worth it anyway. Fundamentals only lasts one semester, then you're back up to scratch and with the rest of the physics 2 cohort (there's no physics 2 fundamentals).

[vexx]

I do Biomed at MelbUni and have lots of friends in science too.  If you are interested in health sciences, I would definitely, definitely recommend Biomed over Science.  Biomed biology is a lot more relevant to human biology (especially in second semester).  You have a lot less focus on stuff like classification of organisms (like in science biology), and virtually nothing on plants (huge emphasis in science biology).  That said, if you want a "more rounded" education, then science is the way to go.

Chemistry for Biomed is most of the stuff from Chemistry 1 and Chemistry 2 which is relevant to human chemistry.  Some of it is covered in less depth, so probably easier (though the actual content is the hardest topics from Chem 2).

Physics for Biomed is notoriously bad...hopefully you've already done physics and you get to do Physics 2: Life Sciences, which is far more organised.

In terms of getting a high GPA, I haven't found it too bad so far for Biomed (I had a 96.5% GPA in Sem 1 - though that took MAJOR crammage in swotvac). Average across the cohort last year for Sem 1 was 75% apparently.  Might be a reflection of the level of competition in the subject though.

Also, they seem to throw around statistics that 40% of the medicine intake came from biomed or something like that.  either that or 40% of biomed got into med.  So if that's your aim in going to UniMelb, it might be something of consideration.

Great post.  Thanks.

So Physics for Biomed is not good?

I have only done 1/2 VCE physics.  Any chance of getting into the normal one?

hmm yeah why is physics for biomed so bad?

[dptjandra]

Physics for Biomed is bad because they try to teach physics from scratch to people who have not done any physics before, taking you up to a second semester first year level in the space of one semester.  This means that your 1/2 knowledge may help you a bit.

But also, some questions are super ambiguous and unclear.  The content by the end of Physics of Biomed is a lot of what you would get from Units 1/2/3/4 + Life Sciences (the subject for people who have done VCE) minus detailed studies.  Yet there were questions in the prac Biomed exam which I couldn't do.  Lots of good students who did Physics for Biomed struggled, and I am not convinced that this was entirely their fault for not knowing their stuff.  On the prac exam too, there was a question which had an "answer" that was completely impossible.  I helped someone write an e-mail to query and they admitted it was wrong.

Life Sciences covers a lot of the same content, but the questions are quite clear, the lecturers are generally good (particularly the later ones), and does less diversity and more detail on certain concepts.  However, I think it would be a struggle if you hadn't done Units 3/4 seeing as there are a lot of concepts such as magnetism and detailed electricity and general concepts (eg. circular motion) which are only brought in for the Yr 12 course.

That said, I can probably help to give a clearer picture when the results for this semester come up - I'll talk to others in biomed about it.

[Russ]

I did physics for biomedicine and that is quite true, but I don't think it's substantial enough to destroy your mark. I only had a couple of days of study for it and managed to get a decent mark

Also, they seem to throw around statistics that 40% of the medicine intake came from biomed or something like that.  either that or 40% of biomed got into med.  So if that's your aim in going to UniMelb, it might be something of consideration.

When did they say this?

And also, people have constantly told me that Science subs are the same as biomed ones, but from here everyone says they are actually different and suited towards human biology, which suits me better.

The core subjects are different, the elective subjects for your 50 point major will be the same (ie shared with BSc students). Second year is where it's really noticeable, you do the two 25pt core subjects that cover everything (biochem, anatomy, physiology, immuno, micro, genetics etc.). At the end of your degree you'll emerge with very similar knowledge if you majored in similar areas.

[dptjandra]

Yeh - I think the content of Physics for Biomed is quite good...just I've heard that it's not taught that well.  I didn't actually do it though, so your first-hand experience is probably better.  Did many people manage to get H1's who did Physics for Biomed?

I should also have qualified what I meant about the similar subjects.  If you choose to do BSci with an eye towards a postgrad med degree, then your subject choices will be such that you cover quite similar material as the Biomed cohort.  That said, the Biomed course automatically facilitates more core and elective choices that are specifically linked to humans, while subjects you take in BSci may cover a broader range of topics (but some perhaps in not as much depth).  The names of the core subjects ARE different.  The electives between the two degrees overlap though.

Re: 40% statistic - there was some lunch thing for people with "guaranteed places" into all graduate degrees and the dean of admissions was there.  When people were asking him questions, it came up and spread through our first year biomed cohort like wildfire.

[Edmund]

^huh..?
an anatomy and physiology subject = Principles of Human Structure and Integrative Human Physiology
and also biochem subject is required.
:\

I am totally looking at Biomed atm.  All the choosing in science is putting my off haha.  I know I will pick the wrong thing by mistake and probably miss a prereq somewhere. 

And also, people have constantly told me that Science subs are the same as biomed ones, but from here everyone says they are actually different and suited towards human biology, which suits me better.

Here are the subjects you need to satisfy the prerequisites:
http://vcenotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,10665.msg132757.html#msg132757

If you are intending to PG med through BSc it doesn't make much difference. I thought parts of first year science subjects were horribly boring (Biology - botany, zoology), obviously subjects like these are not meant to target specifically students with an interest in Health Sciences. But thats OK as you can get through these easily.

Second year prerequisite subjects are quite similar to Biomed subjects. They are within the MDHS faculty so you are pretty much safe from having to learn plant and animal science. Subjects like anatomy and physiology have similar lecture material compared to the anat/physiol covered in Biomed. However if you want to learn the other stuff covered in Biomed core subs like Pharmacol and Cell Biol, you can take them as separate subjects.

If you had the choice, I would say go for Biomed, but if you can't, Science isn't a bad choice and you have nothing to lose

[mikee65]

Physics for Biomed is bad because they try to teach physics from scratch to people who have not done any physics before, taking you up to a second semester first year level in the space of one semester.  This means that your 1/2 knowledge may help you a bit.

But also, some questions are super ambiguous and unclear.  The content by the end of Physics of Biomed is a lot of what you would get from Units 1/2/3/4 + Life Sciences (the subject for people who have done VCE) minus detailed studies.  Yet there were questions in the prac Biomed exam which I couldn't do.  Lots of good students who did Physics for Biomed struggled, and I am not convinced that this was entirely their fault for not knowing their stuff.  On the prac exam too, there was a question which had an "answer" that was completely impossible.  I helped someone write an e-mail to query and they admitted it was wrong.

Life Sciences covers a lot of the same content, but the questions are quite clear, the lecturers are generally good (particularly the later ones), and does less diversity and more detail on certain concepts.  However, I think it would be a struggle if you hadn't done Units 3/4 seeing as there are a lot of concepts such as magnetism and detailed electricity and general concepts (eg. circular motion) which are only brought in for the Yr 12 course.

That said, I can probably help to give a clearer picture when the results for this semester come up - I'll talk to others in biomed about it.

what about physics for BSci, if you havnt done vce physics should we take it or go back to vce physics?

[dptjandra]

I didn't do a first semester physics subject but I have a strong suspicion they just teach it from scratch in Physics 1.  So if you haven't done physics but you do BSci physics in Semester 1, you should be ok.  I had a friend who did that (hadn't done VCE physics) and did my Physics 2 subject with me in second semester and they seemed to cope.

[dptjandra]

Physics results are out - big spread of marks in both physics subjects.  People who did Physics for Biomed have told me they have a feeling their results were scaled slightly, but I know two people who did really well (a 93 and a 92).  Some people who didn't do as well, spready from mid 60s to mid 70s.

Similar results with Physics 2: Life Sciences, which is what I did.  I got 93, which I'm pretty happy with (though I was hoping for maybe one or two percent higher since my current result means my exam was just on the cusp of 90% and I thought I did a bit better).  Similar spread across the board with other friends who did it though.  In short, both physics seem to have similar results after any scaling that may or may not have been done.  In my opinion, ours was still better organised and less ambiguous questions, though both have interesting subject content.  Also goes to show that it is very possible to get high marks in either - people who got high marks in Physics for Biomed were similarly uncertain coming out of the exam because of ambiguous questions.  Overall, it appears harder to get in the top end of physics than some of the other first year subjects (notably biology, where there were some higher 97+ scores and maths, where 100 is very possible).

[mikee65]

Physics results are out - big spread of marks in both physics subjects.  People who did Physics for Biomed have told me they have a feeling their results were scaled slightly, but I know two people who did really well (a 93 and a 92).  Some people who didn't do as well, spready from mid 60s to mid 70s.

Similar results with Physics 2: Life Sciences, which is what I did.  I got 93, which I'm pretty happy with (though I was hoping for maybe one or two percent higher since my current result means my exam was just on the cusp of 90% and I thought I did a bit better).  Similar spread across the board with other friends who did it though.  In short, both physics seem to have similar results after any scaling that may or may not have been done.  In my opinion, ours was still better organised and less ambiguous questions, though both have interesting subject content.  Also goes to show that it is very possible to get high marks in either - people who got high marks in Physics for Biomed were similarly uncertain coming out of the exam because of ambiguous questions.  Overall, it appears harder to get in the top end of physics than some of the other first year subjects (notably biology, where there were some higher 97+ scores and maths, where 100 is very possible).

can you explain difference bw both physics and if its worth doing if you havnt done vce phys? for (BSc). btw are you Bsc or biomed?

[dptjandra]

I'm in Biomed - as part of the biomed course, you have to do a unit of physics in 2nd semester.

If you haven't done VCE Physics, you must do "Physics for Biomedicine".  This is only available to Biomedicine students.
If you have done VCE Physics, unless you performed exceptionally poorly, you must do "Physics 2: Life Sciences and Environment".  This subject can also be accessed by Science students, most of whom will have done Physics 1 in Semester 1 (which is not available to Biomed students).  For science students who have done Physics 1, there are various Physics 2 streams (one could intead of life sciences, do mechanical physics, or "advanced" physics).  For biomed students, there are only the two options mentioned above.

The difference between the two subjects, I believe, is that the first (Physics for Biomed)assumes that you have done no Physics before, because there is no opportunity to do Physics 1 for Biomed students and they have not done 3/4.  They attempt to start from scratch and move quite quickly through kinematics and motion (eg. momentum, constant accel equations, projectile motion etc. etc.) before covering the same areas of study in Physics 2: Life Sciences (which leaves out kinematics and does just thermal, fluids,  electrostatics, circuits, magnetism and radiation).  Obviously the latter covers each topic in more detail, having a stronger foundation and more time to work with, but essentially the same broad topics and broad ideas are covered.

[stonecold]

I really want to learn some of the physics before uni starts.  What text do you use in Physics for Biomed?

[dptjandra]

They use "R Knight, B Jones and S Field, College Physics: A Strategic Approach, 2nd edition Addison-Wesley, 2010."

https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/view/2011/PHYC10007

That has details on the subject