USyd Med 2010 Offers

[reddyy]

Just got my acceptance letter .

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[dentmedguy]

Really? Is that a little bit early? When did you have your MMI?

 

[reddyy]

In Vancouver, ~three weeks ago.

 

[dentmedguy]

I just wonder why they will release offer so early as I think some international applicants who will have their MMI in sydney have not had their interview yet. Anyway, congrad!!

I have my MMI in singapore last week and is still waiting for results.

 

[shan564]

Congrats, reddyy. Looking forward to seeing you next year.

This happened last year too - they sent out offers early to some students, even before they actually conducted the Sydney interviews. I think they just sent them out to the top few students who were obviously getting in.

 

[dentmedguy]

i.c. Actually I'm applying for the dental programme. I really want to know my current ranking in MMI, as they just rank dental applicants with MMI scores. Do you think it is possible to ask the admission office about my current ranking?

 

[MontereyMD]

Congratulations..
Sydney is a fun city.
Just make sure that you want to live there.
Ask your parents nicely for lots of money as the cost of living is super high.
The good thing is that there is a direct Canada-Sydney flight..only 16 hours....sweet.
Like I said I hope you want to live there because it's pretty much impossible to return to Canada to live and work. Give me a call if you want to work in WA and Seattle area.

 

[reddyy]

Thanks guys, I was pleasantly surprised as well. Good luck to everyone who are still waiting to hear.

 

[shan564]

Do you think it is possible to ask the admission office about my current ranking?

No, they don't release your scores. I've heard that there are some tricky roundabout ways of finding out, but it's probably not worth the effort.

 

[SFs Own Tone]

Hey Reddy,
Congrats.

Are you comfortable sharing some background info on yourself.

I'm an American finishing up a post-bacc/Master's program and was curious what my chances would be.

My MCAT came back as a 32O and I think I could interview well, if the format remains the same next yea

 

[shan564]

I know a few people who got in with a score lower than 32. Most of the people who I've talked to are in the lower 30's.

 

[alby604]

I got my acceptance on the 11th as well. Reddy are you from Vancouver?

 

[reddyy]

SF, I am a Canadian with a HBSc from UofT (32R). For next year it seems USyd might be changing the requirements to 33:33:33 (GPA:MCAT:MMI) although you may want to double check. Good luck .

Congrats alby, I am from Toronto.

 

[alby604]

Anyone else get accepted from Vancouver?

 

[dentmedguy]

So would you accept the offer? and when do you have to reply them?

 

[starryangel]

What is the usual cut-off for acceptance into USyd?
What is the minimum score for GPA and GAMSAT?

 

[Transition]

What is the usual cut-off for acceptance into USyd?
What is the minimum score for GPA and GAMSAT?

GPA = 2.7 and it's used only as a hurdle

Acceptance is based 50/50 on MCAT (or GAMSAT) and interview score (which is MMI).

I'm not sure what the average GAMSAT score is, but the average MCAT seems to hover around 29-30. I received an interview with a 31, but declined it. I know shan, another poster here, had a 36ish (?)... well a very high score, and is currently attending.

 

[shan564]

I'm not sure what the average GAMSAT score is, but the average MCAT seems to hover around 29-30. I received an interview with a 31, but declined it. I know shan, another poster here, had a 36ish (?)... well a very high score, and is currently attending.

I think 29 is probably more of a "minimum" than an "average." I don't know anybody at USyd who got lower than a 29 on the MCAT or a 58-59 on the GAMSAT. Most people's scores are higher, but the interview is also an important component.

 

[JanikeyDoc]

The MCAT is the biggest numerical factor in admissions at USyd. If your GPA is above a certain threshold, they don't factor it into an admissions decision. I would say around a 30 would make you competitive for admissions but in reality its not hard to get into USyd especially compared to North American medical schools that really scrutinize every little thing you do. Do you really think someone with a 2.7 has any chance in hell of getting into even the worst North American school? No way. The fact that you are going to be full fee paying international changes the admissions game a lot, in that its a lot easier for internationals to get in than for Aussie citizens and PRs.

 

[JanikeyDoc]

Congratulations..
Sydney is a fun city.
Just make sure that you want to live there.
Ask your parents nicely for lots of money as the cost of living is super high.
The good thing is that there is a direct Canada-Sydney flight..only 16 hours....sweet.
Like I said I hope you want to live there because it's pretty much impossible to return to Canada to live and work. Give me a call if you want to work in WA and Seattle area.

Fun. LOL. You call Sydney fun??!!! I guess compared to Canada its tons of fun. I have been up North, kind of like America but a lot more boring. I have been to tons of other places that rank higher on the excitement list than Sydney.

 

[Transition]

I think 29 is probably more of a "minimum" than an "average." I don't know anybody at USyd who got lower than a 29 on the MCAT or a 58-59 on the GAMSAT. Most people's scores are higher, but the interview is also an important component.

Fair enough. I was guesstimating based on the information provided to me from the admissions office (they said the minimum for an interview last year was 27).

How many internationals are in your year shan?

Fun. LOL. You call Sydney fun??!!! I guess compared to Canada its tons of fun. I have been up North, kind of like America but a lot more boring. I have been to tons of other places that rank higher on the excitement list than Sydney.

Ah, there's the JanikeyDoc we know...


I haven't been to Sydney so can't comment on that, but remember that fun is a subjective term. Whereas you may find something boring, another may find exciting.

 

[JanikeyDoc]

Fair enough. I was guesstimating based on the information provided to me from the admissions office (they said the minimum for an interview last year was 27).

How many internationals are in your year shan?



Ah, there's the JanikeyDoc we know...


I haven't been to Sydney so can't comment on that, but remember that fun is a subjective term. Whereas you may find something boring, another may find exciting.

Some people like oranges and others like apples. I guess everyone has a different perspective.

 

[qubes]

Hey I got in from vancouver interviews as well! I was the guy who was on the massively delayed flight from toronto to vancouver and had no cuff links for my interview! See you in sydney!

As for Sydney not being fun, I've heard otherwise. If a drunken good time around king's cross ain't fun, if surfing ain't fun, if laid back people ain't fun. Well, no idea.

We should get a facebook group together or something for the canadians going there. Maybe start up a roomates kind of thing?

 

[JanikeyDoc]

Hey I got in from vancouver interviews as well! I was the guy who was on the massively delayed flight from toronto to vancouver and had no cuff links for my interview! See you in sydney!

As for Sydney not being fun, I've heard otherwise. If a drunken good time around king's cross ain't fun, if surfing ain't fun, if laid back people ain't fun. Well, no idea.

We should get a facebook group together or something for the canadians going there. Maybe start up a roomates kind of thing?

King's Cross is a dodgy area to hang around. A cop nearly got killed near there recently, someone ran her over. There are nicer areas around Sydney. I like personally prefer Manly. Surfing is only good a few months a year, the water is too cold most months of the year, Sydney is not all sun and fun, you need to go up North to get more consistent outdoor weather.

You want to visit a fun wild place? Try Spain, Ibiza to be specific, the place is da bomb. Way more fun than Sydney. Ibiza is hugely popular with the British. I just don't find Sydney exciting, the city becomes very quiet early in the evening. There are only two nightlife cities in Oz and they are Sydney and Melbourne, that's it, other Australian cities are superquiet. I spent time in Perth and it felt like being on the set of I am Legend after dark, no one on the street. A very large percentage of Aussies live overseas, London has a massive expat population of Australians. A large percent of Australians live outside the country, having spent three years here I can figure out why, despite being large geographically, this is a small country. Its a nice place but I don't list it as one of the most happening places in the world. I was even talking about this last night with a few Australian colleagues looking to live overseas, the big reason for moving was boredom and curiosity about other parts of the world. I will concede Australia is a nice place but not the center of the world.

Anyway you will be in medical school and will have little time for fun and won't have the money for it unless you have a rich mommy and daddy, Sydney is super expensive, and a lot things you find cheap in North America is a lot more here. Anyway as I said you will have to be superfocused because the Aussie curriculum does not prepare you for the US exams and will have to fill in gaps in knowledge. To those of you looking to go back home, you will have work your butt off to pass the US and Canadian exams. Actually you will have to do a lot better than pass. Anyway Australia is largely an alternative if you did not get into a school in North America, it does surpass other foreign options in a number of ways.

 

[shan564]

Fair enough. I was guesstimating based on the information provided to me from the admissions office (they said the minimum for an interview last year was 27).

That's reasonable; 27 may have been the minimum for an interview, but you would have had to have an absolutely stellar interview to get in despite a 27. The admissions are still 50% MCAT (even after the interview), so I doubt that many people managed to get in with that score.

How many internationals are in your year shan?

I think there are around 55, not including the ones who already have PR (there are several students with Australian PR who grew up and went to college overseas, and countless more who come from random/confusing backgrounds).

I haven't been to Sydney so can't comment on that, but remember that fun is a subjective term. Whereas you may find something boring, another may find exciting.

I've never met anybody who found Sydney "boring." I think it's exactly the type of city that I like - but of course, I'm sure it's very different from Ibiza.
My choices for med school, however, did not include Ibiza. The options were Australia, Ireland, Eastern Europe, or the Caribbean. I think Sydney was the best out of those options.

 

[JanikeyDoc]

Ibiza is full of young, semi-nude or nude European women, what's not to like about that. Plenty of tanned mammary glands over there. Its sort of Europe's version of Spring Break.

 

[shan564]

Ibiza is full of young, semi-nude or nude European women, what's not to like about that. Plenty of tanned mammary glands over there. Its sort of Europe's version of Spring Break.

There was a time when I made my decisions based on the quantity of nude/semi-nude women. Then I turned 15.

 

[dentmedguy]

Hey Shan564,

Do you know if all the international offers are released at the same time or sequentially over a period of time?

Thanks.

 

[shan564]

I think they released the offers in 2 or 3 rounds, but I'm not sure. All I know is that I got my offer early, and then some other people got theirs on a later date.

 

[dentmedguy]

Do the later round offers mean there are someones who do not accept their offers? And is there an MMI ranking in the offer letter? How much time do they usually give for replying them whether taking the offer or not?
Thanks.

 

[JanikeyDoc]

There was a time when I made my decisions based on the quantity of nude/semi-nude women. Then I turned 15.

You obviously have never been to Spain, I have, it was like dying and going to heaven. I even ran into a couple of Spanish tourists in Darling Harbour. Spain: Weather Warm Women Hot. Australia Weather Warm Women Cold. My girlfriend does not even consider herself Aussie, she's Lebanese. I noticed that people who are non-Anglo or European in Australia rarely consider themselves Australian.

 

[Transition]

You obviously have never been to Spain, I have, it was like dying and going to heaven. I even ran into a couple of Spanish tourists in Darling Harbour. Spain: Weather Warm Women Hot. Australia Weather Warm Women Cold. My girlfriend does not even consider herself Aussie, she's Lebanese. I noticed that people who are non-Anglo or European in Australia rarely consider themselves Australian.

Wasn't your account recently on hold because of idiotic comments like these? Please. Stop. Trolling.


Thanks for the reply shan

 

[iDream]

Hey guys,

For those of you who received offers, have you accepted them yet? I recently accepted mine and am now waiting for the confirmation of enrolment letter!

 

[alby604]

Hey Qubes,

No cuff links eh? ****ty deal! I was probably in one of the other interview slots because I don't recall that story. Congrats on gaining acceptance! I'm from Vancouver myself and I think a facebook group is a great idea for us Canadians. I have been searching facebook recently in hopes that one was started but no go. Give me a shout and maybe we can just start one?

Is there no one else accepted from Vancouver yet????

 

[alby604]

Hey Qubes,

No cuff links eh? ****ty deal! I was probably in one of the other interview slots because I don't recall that story. Congrats on gaining acceptance! I'm from Vancouver myself and I think a facebook group is a great idea for us Canadians. I have been searching facebook recently in hopes that one was started but no go. Give me a shout and maybe we can just start one?

Is there no one else accepted from Vancouver yet????

 

[Peter Whitman]

I am from Vancouver. I accepted a couple weeks ago. I was wondering if Shan could enlighten us all some good areas to consider living in. I was considering Bondi but that might be too far. It will be nice to have some fellow Vancouverites for support considering all the extra stuff we will have to go through in the next 4 years (PR, Carms, USMLE's, etc).

 

[Meddie83]

Where to live really depends on what you want. Do you want to be close to the Uni or do you want to live in a cool place? Bondi is not super close, but it's also not that far. A few people do live there. It is possible to catch transit, but means you'll spend a good 30-45 mins each way, each day (also there aren't travel concessions for international students so this isn't cheap). If you want to live close (which is what I would do especially in first year) look at Newtown, Camperdown, Glebe and Chippendale. If you google map the university you will see that these are the areas directly surrounding campus. If you move a little bit out of these areas it will get cheaper, but it will also mean catching transit or riding a bike. My suggestion would be one of those suburbs (Glebe, Newtown, Camperdown or Chippendale).

 

[shan564]

I am from Vancouver. I accepted a couple weeks ago. I was wondering if Shan could enlighten us all some good areas to consider living in. I was considering Bondi but that might be too far. It will be nice to have some fellow Vancouverites for support considering all the extra stuff we will have to go through in the next 4 years (PR, Carms, USMLE's, etc).

Somebody asked me a similar question via PM recently, so I'll copy-paste my reply.

FYI, there are plenty of Vancouverites in the program, so as long as you live near campus, you'll have a good number near you.



I'll give you a quick synopsis, starting from "north of campus" and going clockwise:

Glebe/Forest Lodge - north/northeast border of campus. I think it's a cool area, with a lot of shops and restaurants. Most of the people who live here are long-term residents (i.e. they own a house, etc.), but there are also lots of apartments available.

Chippendale - east border of campus. Lots of old houses. Relatively inexpensive, but you get what you pay for. There are some nice complexes in Chippendale too.

Darlington - smaller suburb on the southeast border, not as many options. Mostly the same as Chippendale.

Redfern - forgot to mention this one last time. It's also similar to Chippendale/Darlinghurst, but some people say it's a "dangerous" area. Many other people (myself included) think that those people are slightly racist - the crime rates in Redfern aren't much higher, but people are afraid of the suburb because it has a large Aboriginal population.

Newtown - makes up most of the south/southwest border - this is probably the most popular place for med students (including myself). The main street in Newtown (King St.) is basically a couple of miles packed with shops, restaurants, bars, clubs, etc. It's a popular place for people in my age group (I'm 24) to hang out, and it's not too expensive to live.

Camperdown - west/northwest of campus - this area is a bit more "posh" than Newtown. More expensive, more upscale, but still not too far from everything. If I had more money, I'd probably live in Camperdown.

The south end of Glebe is the closest to Footbridge Theatre, where we have most of our lectures (but it's hard to find a place on the south end of Glebe). Edward Ford, where your PBLs might be, is near the center of campus. Blackburn, the other building with PBLs and some labs, is closer to Newtown.
So, proximity is really a complicated issue.

There are houses with students who rent rooms together, but those are just random things that you find here and there. They don't have big apartment complexes here; if you rent an apartment, you just rent it directly from the person who owns it. The only buildings that are specific for students are the ones owned by the university (check their accommodation website), and UniLodge.

Accommodation is also competitive in Sydney. There will often be 8 people applying for any given apartment, so you can't just look at a place and say "when can I move in?" They prefer people who have a rental history in Australia. The real estate websites are the most competitive, but if you look on the acccommodation database on the USyd website, the owners are usually just first-come-first-serve. The same is generally true if you find something relatively informal on a classifieds website like gumtree.

 

[AcerExtensa]

Hey Shan,

How long does it take you to find suitable accomodation?
How was your house hunting process like?

Are 3 weeks of active looking enough? USyd commences in early Feb, and if I plan on coming around the last week or the week before last of January, does it leave me enough time to look for housing?

I looked through USyd University Owned student housing and I was quite put off by the description of its tenants, who are mainly the 17-18 year old cohort. Ideally I want to look for some kind of shared accomodation with grad students, best if they are USyd med/dent students and over 21.
I'm not yet enrolled at USyd so I can't access the school accom database.

Thank you for your input.

 

[shan564]

Yeah, that's the qualm that most people have about the university-owned accommodation.

As far as how long it takes, that varies a lot depending on how lucky you are. I found a place within a couple of weeks; some people found one on their first day, others were in limbo for a month or two. I'd suggest staying in a hostel at first, and taking your time to find a place whenever you get a chance.

The accommodation database is my favorite place to look, since most of the people who post listings are just random private owners... so they'll just give the place to the first person who calls, and they actually want students. If you look at the real estate websites, they won't like the fact that you're a student or an international, so they might put you at the bottom of the list.