Hi! So I was just looking through the boards and I realised you're doing med at monash, so I'm hoping you'll answer a couple of q's for me!
Yes, no probs!
Monash is my university of choice at the moment, but it's 5 hours away and I've been to Melbourne a total of 3 times so how did you find adjusting to the change?
Yes, it's true that Monash is far away from everywhere. Personally, I live close to the uni so I didn't have to go to the CBD often. In terms of geography it would be difficult to adjust (obviously) since everything is so unfamiliar, and I know you'll hear this thousands of times and it might sound cliched, but you WILL get used to it. The city landmarks, the public transportation, etc.
I mainly want to do medicine so I can eventually work in a country town like the one I'm from (living in the city doesn't appeal to me beyond university), but I really don't know what the course involves - how would you judge how hard it is?
Much more workload than high school. The hours you spend in uni are less, but the amount of independent study required is much greater. Let me put it to you this way, you're pitted against other bright students so even though the workload isn't that much, you have to study hard if you want to remain competitive against other students. For example, I studied about four hours a day average and I only manages to get slightly above average. So that means that everyone are studyfreaks and/or are naturally geniuses. I don't want to scare you off but just inform you so you have a realistic view about what this course involves. .
A former teacher told me that the cut-off is very high, but it doesn't mean the course is THAT hard - only that there are many people wanting to get into it. Would you agree?
There is no defined cutoff because as you know, there are several criteria used for assessing entry into the course. One of my close friends (he's 16 still!) managed to scrape in with 85 and a meagre UMAT. Which means that he really impressed them during the interview. Plus he can enter via the Rural Access Scheme which takes rural disadvantage into consideration and alows entry with a comparatively lower UAI/ENTER. And regarding the teacher's comment, yeah that's true. The mean ENTER of candidates in a course is indicative of how many people went to get in and not really the difficulty of the course. I think the statement that medicine is the hardest course in uni is definitely wrong. You'll be amazed by the level of maths required by engineers for example.
I also think that the most I'll be looking at is 98, do you think i'd have a chance?
Definitely! There's plenty of people in medicine with lower ENTER scores (I would hazard a guess and say about 50% of local students). So just make sure you mention you're from Rural and do well in UMAT and interview.
- How can I know whether I would enjoy the course? Are there any attributes/interests etc that would indicate its 'for me'? I have this terrible fear that I'll go through it all and then find it's not what I expected.
You can find the course outline at
www.med.monash.edu.au- should give you a rough idea of what you'll be expected to study in the course. I guess, Medicine is for people who have a genuine interest in healing peoples illnesses though solid biomedical foundations. Need I say more?
What's the accomodation like?
If you arrange to stay on campus, the accomodation is shoebox sized even for the most expensive (Mannix College). I recommend you find some lodgings yourself because it's cheaper, and you get more freedom and a better study environment. Unless you like to socialise and/or get pissed every second night!
Do you have to work, if so how much? Or is it possible to live off the centrelink benefits?
I highly doubt centrelink is sufficient to support you, unless your parents are also giving you money at the same time. If you dont want to accept money from your parents, you might have to be prepared to work at least 5 hours a week depending on how much money you spend on non-essential items and services.
What are the expenses like? (books .. and stuff)
You can survive first year med without anything except a lab coat which is compulsory. If you want better than a mere average result, you might have to invest 200-300 on books since books are difficult to borrow from the library, especially around exam time.
Would I be able to get by without driving? Driving and myself don't really work, so if public transport is good..
Public transport is alright I guess. Nearest train station is Clayton (10 mins by bus) and there is a bus loop with many services. The bad thing is that you can forget a night out on the town if you're to stingy to afford the 6 bucks or so to Clayton Campus from the station. All in all, if you're only getting around in the daytime, public transoprt is reliable (better than Shityrail) and economically viable since from 2005onwards a student concession card is like 10 bucks).
What do you think of the course?
It's alright. More challenging than I originally thought.
