Undergraduate Medicine

[Voltman]

I have a friend in year 12 who is interested in undertaking undergraduate Medicine. He wants to do it at Monash but is extremely nervous about the UMAT and its other selection processes, such as the interview if accepted. Of these he finds the interview much more traumatic but he is very determined in getting into undergraduate Medicine. He has completed two VCE subjects but he won't tell me what study scores he got for them until he gets his final results for his overall ENTER. He is continuining with VCE next year and I am also afraid that he may need some help with this. I understand that in the interview there will two main types of questions to be asked - some involving past accomplishments and the other being on situational questions. From these it looks like its easiest to prepare for questions involving past endevours and achievements. And if it were in the form of a certificate or award it would only seem more credible. So, for him it would probably seem a good idea to enter in as many competitions as possible to win awards. He does have other certificates/awards but they are old and would seem very unattractive to Monash. In the past he has thrown out many certificates (thinking they'd be no help) but now he wants to get more. But is one year enough? How can he get more awards with him still doing VCE? Any other relevant advice for my dumbstruck friend?

[shinny]

Certificates? Awards? I think you've got the wrong idea. Firstly, they say you cannot bring anything in. No testimonials, no certificates etc. Secondly, they're not looking for what you've accomplished per se. They don't have to have someone who's hiked Everest to be qualified to become a doctor. They just need normal people who've done normal things, and as long as your friend has lived a normal life, they should have plenty of experiences which they can quote. The main ones which come up are describing situations where you have been:
1. A team member
2. A team leader
3. Under pressure/stress/emotional trauma
4. Problem solving
Even with these, you don't need anything significant. You can just quote a scene with you and your friends hanging out somewhere, and then getting lost or something. Awards are definitely not the thing to be going for.

[Voltman]

The main ones which come up are describing situations where you have been:
1. A team member
2. A team leader
3. Under pressure/stress/emotional trauma
4. Problem solving

But what if he can't think of any time where's he's been in those situations (I mean, I'm sure he could but let's say he can't)? Would it be ideal to make up a few lies? What's exaggerated and more interesting is likely to catch the eye the interviewers and attract attention (in a good way). Do people do that a lot? I mean lie in the interview?

[polky]

You can lie in the interview, whether the interviewers will know is another matter.

I don't really see the disadvantage in lying as long as it's convincing enough.  I don't know if people do that alot, I would expect the really hardcore ones to?  No idea.  Maybe ask him to prepare for those kind of situation questions, and try as much as possible to draw from personal experience instead of lying (which if not prepared beforehand could be easily exposed).

[shinny]

Well if you're a good at lying, then do it. Problem is most people suck at it, and you're not as good at it as you think you are. If you do get caught, say goodbye to any chances of getting in really since lying is a quality they definitely don't like in a Med student. But yes, I'm pretty sure everyone makes some slight 'alterations' in telling their anecdotes to make it sound better. But still, it's hard to make something up completely fresh and get away with it.

[werdna]

just out of interest, is there only one round of interview offers for medicine at Monash

[click]

Yep. They have a cut off umat score which decides who is still in play for the interviews.