Hey Jesse, hope everything is going well for you at med school 😃 Just sat the gamsat for the second time and have binged all your application videos, they are so helpful, I didn't realise there was so many different quirks for every uni so thank you for these videos!!! Just a question re: preferencing unis through GEMSAS. I think that I'm right in saying you can only get one offer one school (but unsure if this means you can get multiple interview offers?) so what would be the most effective was to rank your options (assuming I am relatively location agnostic)? i.e. is it better to put ones that you think you aren't as competitive in first before the one you are most realistically aiming for? For example I would love to go to Melbourne or Deakin but the Notre Dame / Wollongong processes favours me more due to having a strong portfolio and a weaker gamsat (and not being eligible for any of the Deakin bonuses). Should I put Melbourne / Deakin before Notre Dame / Wollongong in the off chance I make the cut off or is that likely to damage my chances at the unis I have a better 'chance' in? Thanks again for all your videos!
Hey Anna, glad it's helped! I say it at the start of these videos too but be sure to check out the new GEMSAS guide when it does release around the start of the application period (early may) as things do change year to year. In terms of preferencing and offers; TL;DR - The unis that would give you an interview offer based on scores (regardless of preference) put up their hand, GEMSAS then sees of those which you wanted to go to most (highest preferenced) and this is the school you get the offer from. The same repeats for final course offers, but only interviewing schools and lower preferenced will be in contention. Only one offer for interview is made (if an offer is to be made) however your interview score along with your GPA/GAMSAT etc will be considered by the interviewing school and schools preferences lower, for a final offer. Only one offer is made per application cycle (if an offer is to be made). In terms of how the pref system works with GEMSAS, it basically works in the applicants favour and where you preference a school does not really give an inherent advantage or disadvantage to your consideration by that school. Effectively, you should rank your preferences in order of your most preferred school to your least from those that you'd be willing to accept an offer from. So basically follow this as a rough guide: 1. List down all the GEMSAS schools that you would accept an offer to study at (you have 6 preferences in total, although you don't have to use them all). 2. Now, rank these six from your most preferred to least preferred, regardless of your perceived 'competitiveness' at each school. Even if your scores appear comparatively 'weaker' at your ideal school, put it first in your preferences. You should consider factors that are most important to you such as proximity to home/family/friends, location (which city, state), cost of living/housing options, job availabilty if you plan to work part time while studying etc Things that people usually consider that, in my opinion, really don't matter are things like reputation of the uni, uni or school rankings (these are largely driven by research output rather than teaching quality or student experience), what they've heard on the internet about issues with the medical school. These things play zero role in my enjoyment of the course and are a non issue entirely in my experience. Student experiences will vary from school to school, because every uni has its own unique flavours to the way they deliver the MD but ultimately the standard of education is high and pretty uniform nationally. Now the reason why you don't need to strategically rank schools based on competitiveness! The way the GEMSAS system works is they dump every applicants initial application data (GPA/GAMSAT/portfolio etc) into the system along with their preferences and they run simulations to work out all the possible ways that applicants could be allocated interview offers, if successful. It will determine all the schools that would be willing to make you an interview offer and the highest one of those schools in your preferences is the one that will make the offer because they assume that'd be the one you'd want most of those that were in contention. The schools don't consider your preferencing them higher as you being 'more dedicated' to them. In fact I don't think they are even made aware of where you've preferences them! You also won't 'miss out' on a spot because someone preferences that school higher than you. This means that you can't game the system. If someone was going to be 'competitive' for an interview offer at a particular school, they would be competitive regardless of whether they placed that school 1st of last on their preferences. The difference would be that if you placed it 1st, that would be the first school that gets to make that offer. If you place it last, you'd either get an offer at another school you were competitive at but ranked higher because GEMSAS assumed that meant you preferred the higher ranked one. Or if the 6th ranked was only school at which you were going to be competitive, then the offer would be made because the other five passed. Hopefully you're still with me so far! Next is that although one interview offer is made if any, the score from that interview is standardised and is considered by your interviewing school and the schools lower down on your preference list (higher ranked ones have already not given an interview so you won't be considered further for them). The simulation system repeats again and a final course offer is made (just one) at the highest ranked school (from your interviewing one, down) at which you would have made selection for an offer. Alternatively, if after interview you haven't made the cut, no offer would be made and the dreaded email of death would arrive instead. Sorry for the wall of text but hopefully this explains a very complicated system, but one that works in your favour as an applicant.
Hi, Jesse, could you speak in more detail regarding ANUS's medical degree, the MChD? Does the ranking of the university affect one's chances of matching in a specific specialty program after graduation? Is MChD as globally recognised as the classical MD? Does it have its own pros and cons?
Hi Arian, I'm not hugely familiar with ANU so I'll only comment on what I know. You mentioned 'matching' as in the US system. If that's the case, I can't comment as I really don't know anything about that system. If you're looking at specialising in the Australian system then it's a case of making an application to the relevant specialty college when you're eligible (this can vary but usually is PGY3-4 and many people also delay this further to build up their experience and qualifications further). In terms of uni rankings, no it shouldn't because most if not all specialty colleges use entrance exams and a points system based on CV items or experiences (published research, research degrees/qualifications, rural experience etc) not institutions of study. But again, there might be something I don't know about From what I can tell the MChD is an MD with a fancy title. They are both AQF Level 9 and have the same inherent skills and outcomes. It's globally recognised as an MD is but again, international recognition and certification is not something I'm hugely familiar with as it's not a pathway I am interested in myself. If you were looking to practice abroad, you'd still need to look at what other requirements the specific country has in order to successfully practice. In terms of pros and cons, I don't see anything uniquely different about the course that would make it a better or worse choice than other MD programs. Every school has a different course structure and approach to course delivery which might have its pros and cons for you personally.
The GAMSAT result of only March 2022 and prior will be eligible for 2023 intake. The GAMSAT result from September 2022 sitting will be eligible for 2024 intake. And according to GEMSAS, the application for medicine will open early May.
Thanks @Patel Maharshi for the explanation! I'll also add that if you're considering some of the non-GEMSAS units, they have slightly different application windows. Flinders for example, runs from late May to late June. If you're like me and are applying to a mix of GEMSAS, non-GEMSAS, and portfolio unis, I'd probably also suggest preparing ahead of May (particularly for portfolio unis like UNDS/UNDF and UoW) to make the application season a little easier :)
Hey Jesse, hope everything is going well for you at med school 😃 Just sat the gamsat for the second time and have binged all your application videos, they are so helpful, I didn't realise there was so many different quirks for every uni so thank you for these videos!!!
Just a question re: preferencing unis through GEMSAS. I think that I'm right in saying you can only get one offer one school (but unsure if this means you can get multiple interview offers?) so what would be the most effective was to rank your options (assuming I am relatively location agnostic)?
i.e. is it better to put ones that you think you aren't as competitive in first before the one you are most realistically aiming for? For example I would love to go to Melbourne or Deakin but the Notre Dame / Wollongong processes favours me more due to having a strong portfolio and a weaker gamsat (and not being eligible for any of the Deakin bonuses). Should I put Melbourne / Deakin before Notre Dame / Wollongong in the off chance I make the cut off or is that likely to damage my chances at the unis I have a better 'chance' in?
Thanks again for all your videos!
Hey Anna, glad it's helped! I say it at the start of these videos too but be sure to check out the new GEMSAS guide when it does release around the start of the application period (early may) as things do change year to year.
In terms of preferencing and offers;
TL;DR - The unis that would give you an interview offer based on scores (regardless of preference) put up their hand, GEMSAS then sees of those which you wanted to go to most (highest preferenced) and this is the school you get the offer from. The same repeats for final course offers, but only interviewing schools and lower preferenced will be in contention.
Only one offer for interview is made (if an offer is to be made) however your interview score along with your GPA/GAMSAT etc will be considered by the interviewing school and schools preferences lower, for a final offer. Only one offer is made per application cycle (if an offer is to be made).
In terms of how the pref system works with GEMSAS, it basically works in the applicants favour and where you preference a school does not really give an inherent advantage or disadvantage to your consideration by that school. Effectively, you should rank your preferences in order of your most preferred school to your least from those that you'd be willing to accept an offer from. So basically follow this as a rough guide:
1. List down all the GEMSAS schools that you would accept an offer to study at (you have 6 preferences in total, although you don't have to use them all).
2. Now, rank these six from your most preferred to least preferred, regardless of your perceived 'competitiveness' at each school. Even if your scores appear comparatively 'weaker' at your ideal school, put it first in your preferences.
You should consider factors that are most important to you such as proximity to home/family/friends, location (which city, state), cost of living/housing options, job availabilty if you plan to work part time while studying etc
Things that people usually consider that, in my opinion, really don't matter are things like reputation of the uni, uni or school rankings (these are largely driven by research output rather than teaching quality or student experience), what they've heard on the internet about issues with the medical school. These things play zero role in my enjoyment of the course and are a non issue entirely in my experience. Student experiences will vary from school to school, because every uni has its own unique flavours to the way they deliver the MD but ultimately the standard of education is high and pretty uniform nationally.
Now the reason why you don't need to strategically rank schools based on competitiveness!
The way the GEMSAS system works is they dump every applicants initial application data (GPA/GAMSAT/portfolio etc) into the system along with their preferences and they run simulations to work out all the possible ways that applicants could be allocated interview offers, if successful. It will determine all the schools that would be willing to make you an interview offer and the highest one of those schools in your preferences is the one that will make the offer because they assume that'd be the one you'd want most of those that were in contention.
The schools don't consider your preferencing them higher as you being 'more dedicated' to them. In fact I don't think they are even made aware of where you've preferences them! You also won't 'miss out' on a spot because someone preferences that school higher than you.
This means that you can't game the system. If someone was going to be 'competitive' for an interview offer at a particular school, they would be competitive regardless of whether they placed that school 1st of last on their preferences. The difference would be that if you placed it 1st, that would be the first school that gets to make that offer. If you place it last, you'd either get an offer at another school you were competitive at but ranked higher because GEMSAS assumed that meant you preferred the higher ranked one. Or if the 6th ranked was only school at which you were going to be competitive, then the offer would be made because the other five passed.
Hopefully you're still with me so far! Next is that although one interview offer is made if any, the score from that interview is standardised and is considered by your interviewing school and the schools lower down on your preference list (higher ranked ones have already not given an interview so you won't be considered further for them). The simulation system repeats again and a final course offer is made (just one) at the highest ranked school (from your interviewing one, down) at which you would have made selection for an offer.
Alternatively, if after interview you haven't made the cut, no offer would be made and the dreaded email of death would arrive instead.
Sorry for the wall of text but hopefully this explains a very complicated system, but one that works in your favour as an applicant.
Hi, Jesse, could you speak in more detail regarding ANUS's medical degree, the MChD? Does the ranking of the university affect one's chances of matching in a specific specialty program after graduation? Is MChD as globally recognised as the classical MD? Does it have its own pros and cons?
Hi Arian, I'm not hugely familiar with ANU so I'll only comment on what I know.
You mentioned 'matching' as in the US system. If that's the case, I can't comment as I really don't know anything about that system.
If you're looking at specialising in the Australian system then it's a case of making an application to the relevant specialty college when you're eligible (this can vary but usually is PGY3-4 and many people also delay this further to build up their experience and qualifications further).
In terms of uni rankings, no it shouldn't because most if not all specialty colleges use entrance exams and a points system based on CV items or experiences (published research, research degrees/qualifications, rural experience etc) not institutions of study. But again, there might be something I don't know about
From what I can tell the MChD is an MD with a fancy title. They are both AQF Level 9 and have the same inherent skills and outcomes. It's globally recognised as an MD is but again, international recognition and certification is not something I'm hugely familiar with as it's not a pathway I am interested in myself. If you were looking to practice abroad, you'd still need to look at what other requirements the specific country has in order to successfully practice.
In terms of pros and cons, I don't see anything uniquely different about the course that would make it a better or worse choice than other MD programs. Every school has a different course structure and approach to course delivery which might have its pros and cons for you personally.
are the applications open to apply? for people appearing for GAMSAT in March or Oct this year, when is the right time to "apply'?
The GAMSAT result of only March 2022 and prior will be eligible for 2023 intake. The GAMSAT result from September 2022 sitting will be eligible for 2024 intake. And according to GEMSAS, the application for medicine will open early May.
@@patelmaharshi3602 thanks
Thanks @Patel Maharshi for the explanation! I'll also add that if you're considering some of the non-GEMSAS units, they have slightly different application windows. Flinders for example, runs from late May to late June. If you're like me and are applying to a mix of GEMSAS, non-GEMSAS, and portfolio unis, I'd probably also suggest preparing ahead of May (particularly for portfolio unis like UNDS/UNDF and UoW) to make the application season a little easier :)
@@jesseosbourne thanks, much appreciated.
will u apply for macquarie?
Yep! I'll actually be doing a Macquarie video this coming Sunday :)