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anyone wanna respond to my previous post? the one abt us to aus gpa...
How Hard is it to get into Uni Sydney Med?
- Thread starter anomorato
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The admissions standards at Australian schools are not as high as they are for US and Canadian programs. Its much harder to get into a North American school. British schools are also more difficult. I have applied to both British and American programs. I got to to go to Australia. Regardless if you go outside a North American medical program, the Caribbean, Ireland, Oz, etc, its going to be harder to match into a competitive program. There are quite a few prospective Caribbean students who go to Australia with the idea that they will be more highly regarded. I don't think so. People are still going to assume you went to Australia because you could not hack it at home, especially in the US. The real issue with regards to getting an American residency is your USMLE score, get a higher score equates into getting a better residency, regardless of what school you went to, I know Caribbean grads who have done extremely well.
There was a discussion a couple of years ago regarding USyd admissions, if you have a 8/8/8 on the MCAT and meet the minimum GPA, you will get an interview. I would wager that the average MCAT score for Sydney students is lower than Queensland. The average MCAT of an admitted student at UQ was a 28 with a high of a 32, a handful got in with 24's. UQ requires higher MCAT scores than Sydney, so I would guess that they are lower than Queensland.
There was a discussion a couple of years ago regarding USyd admissions, if you have a 8/8/8 on the MCAT and meet the minimum GPA, you will get an interview. I would wager that the average MCAT score for Sydney students is lower than Queensland. The average MCAT of an admitted student at UQ was a 28 with a high of a 32, a handful got in with 24's. UQ requires higher MCAT scores than Sydney, so I would guess that they are lower than Queensland.
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Again though, this:
"The admissions standards at Australian schools are not as high as they are for US and Canadian programs. Its much harder to get into a North American school."
is surely different if Jon Stewart is likely to be applying as a local HECS rather than international fee paying student..........
"The admissions standards at Australian schools are not as high as they are for US and Canadian programs. Its much harder to get into a North American school."
is surely different if Jon Stewart is likely to be applying as a local HECS rather than international fee paying student..........
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The admissions standards are obviously lower for international students because if they were on par with your home country then it wouldn't make any financial sense to attend a med school overseas.
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I'll be applying with the local applicant pool as i am a Australian Citizen, so i will get local tuition.
I am considering going back to Aus because of situation here in the states. I have a rather a long story about my situation, to do medicine in the US you need tons of volunteering aka hospital volunteering, shadowing you need research, well you don't NEED research but it certainly helps with the apps. Im here on a H4 visa and i cannot be issued a ssn and i cannot work here either. When i tried to volunteer at a hospital, i was turned away because i didnt have a ssn, they were concerned that they couldn't do a background check. This is just one example of the the problems, im sure the INS went through more background checks before they even issues me a visa to enter the country. If you want more examples i can go on all day about all the stuff that i have had to deal with. Plus, we will be getting our permanent residence soon, but we are uncertain when. There is a whole other story, if you want to hear this dilemma, just let me know.
i am not considering going back to Aus because i couldn't hack it in the states, i will tell anyone who is thinking this my situation and then you can decide for yourselves. My gpa is not that bad, a 3.4, i have not taken mcats as i wont need to anymore.
Also, the cost is much less in Australia as i will be paying local tuition. The tuition here is ridiculous, most schools are around the 20K range and this is the local tuition for us pr and citizens. I wont be in debt nearly as much.
I know that il be facing some hurdles with gaining a US residency if i decide to come back to the states, but nothing is impossible. Its up to the individual.
Also i think that usyd, umel and other aussie universities are held in higher regard that ANY Caribbean intuition. Of course, it wont matter what school you went to if your USMLE scores arnt good.
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great post yeah not sure, not many people study what happens after which is the most important thing. Happiness of the graduates is also very important to me. Australia and its lifestyle would rank high...
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I liked your previous post. Again, getting the interview means nothing. You need a lot of things to go well in the interview to get into Sydney.
And the interviews at Syndey were the most professional out of all the medical school interviews I went to. Way better.
Just some facts:
The interviews are conducted by 50% female and 50% male interviewers.
(I went to some interviews ie Ottawa and it was 3 male interviewers - not a good idea.)
also it is standardized in that they pick from a pool of questions and each interview group gets same amount of time to answer them and same questions.
just amazing very smart testing. Reminds me of research. That really made them stand out vs the crappy interviews (very unorganized) of the "top" schools in the US and Canada that I have experienced...
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Anywas again its not the school, its the quality of life you get after like Caribou mentioned. Canada and the US are hell so far from what my friends and family tell me from meds.
Just the weather in Sydney makes it worth it
A few nobel prizes in medical research also helps me go to Sydney
Anyways Merry Christmas to all Aussie Meds!!
Just the weather in Sydney makes it worth it
A few nobel prizes in medical research also helps me go to Sydney Anyways Merry Christmas to all Aussie Meds!!
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Australia is like heaven compared to the US and Canada, which are both going down the toilet. Why is everyone so obsessed with "Getting Back to America"??? I rather be a poor Aussie than a rich Yank any day of the week. I am going on my third year as a resident of Australia, I lived all over the US. Australia is like Shangrila in comparison.
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What city in Australia are you in? just curious. Are you an american citizen?
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jon stewart,
first off, this is true: you will be eligible for hecs as a local.
secondly, if you get a 3.5 in a N. American school, you will likely be fine. in fact, i wouldnt spend a whole lot of time trying to calculate a conversion because the schools themselves will not actually calculate an exact conversion. they will be estimating from your grades. i know cuz i spent a lot of time trying to convert and such. after coming to the conclusion that i felt i met melb uni's cut-off, i emailed them what i had calculated along with my transcripts. they confirmed i would meet the minimum, but would not give me an exact conversion as they don't even do that. they simply said my calculation was in the same ball park as theirs.
as a point of reference, my un-weighted (all years equal) gpa for my last 3 years was 2.89 on the N. American 4.00 scale. i calculated this to be equivalent to either 5.64 or 5.69 the aussie 7.0 scale used by ACER (weighted progressivley by year). i calculated 2 different ways because of discrepancies in the conversion which i felt were not particularly fair (which is exaclty why they don't make exact calculations). i benefited by weighting because my last year, which is weighted 3 times the first year, i got a 4.0/4.0. mind you, my 2nd year was a mere 1.7 which is still weighted 2x the first (of which was a 3.0).
and yes, the cut-offs of 2.7 and 3.0 are somewhat low. keep in mind, just meeting the minimums will not let you in. there are plenty of US schools which have no explicit minimums. it has not been un heard of for americans to get into us allopathic schools with less than a 3.0. it can happen, just no likely. however, internationals from N. america applying to aus schools can be competitive with such gpa's because the international appliacant pool is seperate from the locals. internationals are not competing with locals, only with other internationals. and those from N. America tend to be (but not always) those that could not get into US schools. it would seen that being in the local applicant pool would indeed make it much harder to get in given this fact. but i know of americans who gained permanent residence and applied in the local pool with a very low 3 gpa (i think it was 3.0 or 3.1) and got accepted. i think this again comes down to the fact that it is very difficult to convert the gpa- such that estimations are used. in such a case, i think the GAMSAT may prove to be a huge factor in deciding admissions.
-jake
first off, this is true: you will be eligible for hecs as a local.
secondly, if you get a 3.5 in a N. American school, you will likely be fine. in fact, i wouldnt spend a whole lot of time trying to calculate a conversion because the schools themselves will not actually calculate an exact conversion. they will be estimating from your grades. i know cuz i spent a lot of time trying to convert and such. after coming to the conclusion that i felt i met melb uni's cut-off, i emailed them what i had calculated along with my transcripts. they confirmed i would meet the minimum, but would not give me an exact conversion as they don't even do that. they simply said my calculation was in the same ball park as theirs.
as a point of reference, my un-weighted (all years equal) gpa for my last 3 years was 2.89 on the N. American 4.00 scale. i calculated this to be equivalent to either 5.64 or 5.69 the aussie 7.0 scale used by ACER (weighted progressivley by year). i calculated 2 different ways because of discrepancies in the conversion which i felt were not particularly fair (which is exaclty why they don't make exact calculations). i benefited by weighting because my last year, which is weighted 3 times the first year, i got a 4.0/4.0. mind you, my 2nd year was a mere 1.7 which is still weighted 2x the first (of which was a 3.0).
and yes, the cut-offs of 2.7 and 3.0 are somewhat low. keep in mind, just meeting the minimums will not let you in. there are plenty of US schools which have no explicit minimums. it has not been un heard of for americans to get into us allopathic schools with less than a 3.0. it can happen, just no likely. however, internationals from N. america applying to aus schools can be competitive with such gpa's because the international appliacant pool is seperate from the locals. internationals are not competing with locals, only with other internationals. and those from N. America tend to be (but not always) those that could not get into US schools. it would seen that being in the local applicant pool would indeed make it much harder to get in given this fact. but i know of americans who gained permanent residence and applied in the local pool with a very low 3 gpa (i think it was 3.0 or 3.1) and got accepted. i think this again comes down to the fact that it is very difficult to convert the gpa- such that estimations are used. in such a case, i think the GAMSAT may prove to be a huge factor in deciding admissions.
-jake
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jaketheory, thanks for your input!
are you at u mel right now?
also if you asked the med school would they tell you what they estimate your equivalent gpa is?
Whats this stuff about 1st, 2nd, 3rd year and 4th year being weighted differently? In the US all the years are weighted the same, is this not the case if my gpa is converted to an australian one? Will my senior year be worth more?
If they approximate the US gpa to a australian one, how do they go about comparing applicants when they look solely at the gpa? If one is exact while the other is a estimate, inst this unfair?
If you apply to US med schools you have to submit transcripts from every community college and 4 year college you attended, not just your main intuition, is this the same procedure that i would have to follow when i apply to Aussie med schools through acer?
are you at u mel right now?
also if you asked the med school would they tell you what they estimate your equivalent gpa is?
Whats this stuff about 1st, 2nd, 3rd year and 4th year being weighted differently? In the US all the years are weighted the same, is this not the case if my gpa is converted to an australian one? Will my senior year be worth more?
If they approximate the US gpa to a australian one, how do they go about comparing applicants when they look solely at the gpa? If one is exact while the other is a estimate, inst this unfair?
If you apply to US med schools you have to submit transcripts from every community college and 4 year college you attended, not just your main intuition, is this the same procedure that i would have to follow when i apply to Aussie med schools through acer?
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jon stewart,
the gpa calculation is explained in the acer admissions guide. i would advise you read that before looking further for advice. the section on calculating gpa is not intended for internationals as all the schools explicitly state for international applicants not to attempt to calculate it (due to different grading systems in different countries). however, it shows you how they will ultimately attempt to assign a gpa to you.
most schools will only use your last 3 years as a bachelors degree in australia is only 3 years. further, most will weight the years progressivelly: first year = 1x, 2nd year = 2x, 3rd year = 3x. so yes, senior year will be weighted more. however, the different schools vary on how they calculate gpa's. for example, u of queensland takes in to account ALL years, and all years are weighted equally. u of syd uses only last 3 years, and all are weighted equally. most the other schools will use only last 3 years and weight them.
"If they approximate the US gpa to a australian one, how do they go about comparing applicants when they look solely at the gpa? If one is exact while the other is a estimate, inst this unfair?"
What are you talking about? no school will base decisions solely on gpa. there are generally set minimums for both gpa and test score (mcat for internationals, gamsat for locals). you will have to meet these to be considered further for an interview, after which admission will be based on some combination of gpa, test score, and interview score depending on the uni. the gpa's will essentially be approximations, but they will use your individual grades, thus will require your transcripts. again, this will depend on which uni you apply to. at queensland, you will generally need to submit transcripts for all uni's attended, whereas others will only require transcripts from the institutions where the last 3 years were completed. it can be somewhat complicated and its best to contact the admissions offices directly.
they will attempt to assign you a numerical value, but there are no standards to convert accurately the different grading systems. i believe this is one reason why the minimums (2.7 or 3.0) seem low on the 4.0 scale as compared to the 7.0 pt scale.
the gpa calculation is explained in the acer admissions guide. i would advise you read that before looking further for advice. the section on calculating gpa is not intended for internationals as all the schools explicitly state for international applicants not to attempt to calculate it (due to different grading systems in different countries). however, it shows you how they will ultimately attempt to assign a gpa to you.
most schools will only use your last 3 years as a bachelors degree in australia is only 3 years. further, most will weight the years progressivelly: first year = 1x, 2nd year = 2x, 3rd year = 3x. so yes, senior year will be weighted more. however, the different schools vary on how they calculate gpa's. for example, u of queensland takes in to account ALL years, and all years are weighted equally. u of syd uses only last 3 years, and all are weighted equally. most the other schools will use only last 3 years and weight them.
"If they approximate the US gpa to a australian one, how do they go about comparing applicants when they look solely at the gpa? If one is exact while the other is a estimate, inst this unfair?"
What are you talking about? no school will base decisions solely on gpa. there are generally set minimums for both gpa and test score (mcat for internationals, gamsat for locals). you will have to meet these to be considered further for an interview, after which admission will be based on some combination of gpa, test score, and interview score depending on the uni. the gpa's will essentially be approximations, but they will use your individual grades, thus will require your transcripts. again, this will depend on which uni you apply to. at queensland, you will generally need to submit transcripts for all uni's attended, whereas others will only require transcripts from the institutions where the last 3 years were completed. it can be somewhat complicated and its best to contact the admissions offices directly.
they will attempt to assign you a numerical value, but there are no standards to convert accurately the different grading systems. i believe this is one reason why the minimums (2.7 or 3.0) seem low on the 4.0 scale as compared to the 7.0 pt scale.
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i see,
So i am assuming acer is like amcas? I haven't applied so i dont know what the process is like and want to get a little insight before hand.
So you submit your application online to acer, and you forward your transcripts to acer, and they verify everything like amcas? and then pass on the info to the med schools you apply to, which would be a max of three?
Assuming your competitive at your first choice, you get the interview, the med school then compares you to everyone else after interview, then decides on a acceptance?
so the conversion of gpa is done by the med school after they get it from acer?
Also, we have the MSAR in the US with statistics on med schools, is there anything similar to this for Australian schools?
So i am assuming acer is like amcas? I haven't applied so i dont know what the process is like and want to get a little insight before hand.
So you submit your application online to acer, and you forward your transcripts to acer, and they verify everything like amcas? and then pass on the info to the med schools you apply to, which would be a max of three?
Assuming your competitive at your first choice, you get the interview, the med school then compares you to everyone else after interview, then decides on a acceptance?
so the conversion of gpa is done by the med school after they get it from acer?
Also, we have the MSAR in the US with statistics on med schools, is there anything similar to this for Australian schools?
