UNSW Med Sci 08: ROLL CALL! (2 Viewers)

[angmor]

98% of medsci students want to get into MBBS but 98% of MedSci wont make it into MBBS

Good luck

qft

 

[Tim035]

I don't think thats true, most of us remaining after first year are keen to see med sci out; I don't have any intention on doing MBBS, the only thing I'd consider post grad would be pharamacy, and this would only be the case if I found research to really not be my thing.

The increasing UAI cut off does suggest that the course is becomming more and more a last desperato attempt for a number of students to get into medicine. When I first started the level of competition and superior attitudes of certain students did put me off the course (and hence a lot of my current friends are actually adv sci, biotech or bsc sci people).

I remember being in the chem rooms one day and over hearing this girl saying "It's so weird at uni, getting use to 85 being a good mark, at school I never got anything under 95" I had to laugh which drew some interesting face from them in my direction... Everyone soon realises though that there isn't much point going nuts with the study all semester long though as you just burn yourself out.
I'm sitting on a 83.55 WAM at the moment, I'm not sure where this puts me in med science, but my UMAT sux so I've never really given much thought to the transfer program.

A lot of HSCers with 99+ UAI's think medicine is what they want to do, but I honestly believe not to many really understand what the degree involves and if it is for them.


EDIT for Nadine: In terms of electives in first semester you will have one elective, the majority of people tend to pick between maths, phsyics or phsycology. In second semester you won't have any electives as you will have to take statistics for life science. The only other option you get is whether to do Higher or fundamental chemistry. If you did both physics and chemistry in the HSC I'd suggest higher chemistry otherwise just stick to fundamentals and enjoy the fact that the first 7 weeks of the course will just be revision of year 12 chemistry

 

[katie_tully]

I think many of them believe obtaining 99+ UAI in the HSC translates to SUCCESS afterwards and SUCCESS means MEDICINE or LAW, despite the fact that a 99UAI doesnt mean they're going to be any good at either of them.

 

[Tim035]

EXACTLY what I was trying to imply.

 

[kloudsurfer]

Right now im tossing up between medicine and med sci.

Like everyone else, i failed to get into med, and it has made me think of the alternatives, and whether i would like med research better. I love learning and science (which would suggest id like research better) but i also love working with people (which would suggest im more suited to medicine).

Random question, do you get to do much genetics in Med Sci? Because I absolutely love genetics, and am considering doing a BSc (molecular biology and genetics) instead of med sci, but that degree is to restrictive, and i like a lot of the subjects offered in med sci.

 

[katie_tully]

You do genetics in MedSc, but how much depends on what subjects you pick. I know at CSU there is definitely a couple of genetic subjects to pick from.

I thought the idea of being a genetic counsellor sounded pretty cool.
You can still work with people doing research. One job I saw not long ago was doing research into childhood obesity/diabetes and as well as collate the data you had to interview highschool students. Health promotion like that is my ideal job.

 

[nadine06]

EDIT for Nadine: In terms of electives in first semester you will have one elective, the majority of people tend to pick between maths, phsyics or phsycology. In second semester you won't have any electives as you will have to take statistics for life science. The only other option you get is whether to do Higher or fundamental chemistry. If you did both physics and chemistry in the HSC I'd suggest higher chemistry otherwise just stick to fundamentals and enjoy the fact that the first 7 weeks of the course will just be revision of year 12 chemistry

a few questions i did chem in yr 12 and got 89 but i didnt do phsyics so which chem do u suggest i do??
and shouid i do the basic phsyics as an elective cause im not familiar with it. is it something that will help me later on OR should i do something i enjoy like maths or phsycology

 

[Survivor39]

If you feel you are comfortable with chem then do higher chem because you learn a little bit more with advanced lab work.

Do maths or psychology as your elective if that is what you are interested in. Physics is a bit tough at uni.

 

[nadine06]

If you feel you are comfortable with chem then do higher chem because you learn a little bit more with advanced lab work.

Do maths or psychology as your elective if that is what you are interested in. Physics is a bit tough at uni.

how about the higher maths is that anything like school, cause i only did 3unit?? i mean did u need like 4unit maths to find it ok

 

[Survivor39]

If you only did 3U, then stick with normal maths (MATH1131).

 

[Steth0scope]

You don't think someone should do advanced maths if they haven't done 4unit? What parts of advanced maths are covered in the 4u course?

 

[nadine06]

another question im sorry. if i leave enrollment until after the advisory day will i miss out on getting a good timetable??

 

[Survivor39]

You don't think someone should do advanced maths if they haven't done 4unit? What parts of advanced maths are covered in the 4u course?

I think for people who haven't done 4 U, it would be better for them to just do Normal Maths (MATH1131). But of course, if you feel you are capable, then I would suggest you to do Higher Maths (MATH1141). The suggested assume knowledge for Higher Maths is "HSC Mathematics Extension 1 and Extension 2. Students will be expected to have achieved a combined mark of at least 186 in Mathematics Extension 1 and Extension 2"

The main difference between Higher and Normal Maths is that the Higher people have the same exam as the normal people, as well as additional harder exam questions. Scaling is also better for Higher.

 

[Survivor39]

another question im sorry. if i leave enrollment until after the advisory day will i miss out on getting a good timetable??

Not really. There are plenty of spaces for lectures. Unless there are some subjects which have small tutorial classes, then you need to enrol in fast.

 

[Rekkusu]

If you can. Enrol as early as possible, 1st year timetables fill up awesomely quick.

You definitely don't want a bad timetable, because you'll be stuck with it for 12 weeks.

 

[Tim035]

I started off in higher chem but was scared off by the fact that they started with quantum mechanics, which I ended up having to do and found extremely easy in 2nd semester fundamental chemistry. I got 88 in HSC chemistry, the big difference is uni chemistry = all calculations, formulas, rules etc... There is NONE of the wordy responces which tend to fill the HSC chemistry exams.

I only did 2 unit maths in the HSC so I stuck with MATH1031 (maths for life science) in 1st semester, the reason being nothing I'am looking to major in would ever require a higher level of maths. If your looking at doing bioinformatics or engineering then a higher level of maths will definatly be needed, but in the medical sciences nothing has a prerequisite higher than math1031 that i can think of. I'm sure some people will come back and say- But it looks better when you finish your degree/ it scales better etc... Which I guess would be the logical reasoning behind choosing math1131 or math1141.

Also yes you can get started on genetics by choosing it as your biology option in 1st year, second semester. Apparently a large amount of the course revolves around statistical analysis of genetic based results to validify if you have a significant result / finding.

 

[tarsus]

MATH1131 doesn't scale much... if anything.

You don't think someone should do advanced maths if they haven't done 4unit? What parts of advanced maths are covered in the 4u course?

Integration by parts, techniques for graphing functions just by simply looking at the function, the basic concept of vectors and vector space, proving via contradiction, complex numbers and all its algebra that comes with it, and that's all I remember at the moment. The rest of the course is merely harder 3 unit algebra/calculus with some new concepts like Riemann sums. Don't worry though. Grasping all these concepts is relatively simple if you pay attention and do some questions for your tutorials. The stuff I mentioned also appears in the lower difficulty math courses but none of all is challenging.

 

[bubbly89]

I started off in higher chem but was scared off by the fact that they started with quantum mechanics, which I ended up having to do and found extremely easy in 2nd semester fundamental chemistry. I got 88 in HSC chemistry, the big difference is uni chemistry = all calculations, formulas, rules etc... There is NONE of the wordy responces which tend to fill the HSC chemistry exams.

I had a good friend explain the differences the subjects take on

year 12 uni

Bio = Chem
Chem = Physics
Physics = Maths
Math = English ( on account of the use of numbers in math?? bah they've moved onto alphabet letters *nods*)

I thought it was amusing

 

[Tim035]

Lol so true, so true.
My stats exam honestly had more- write a valid conclusion style questions then actual calculations.

 

[Rekkusu]

Haha you gotta love Math Stats, they even give you the formulas! No need to study for the exam almost.

Just a reminder, Scaling at university doesn't happen too much, and you shouldn't expect it to. Scaling only happens in extremely hard-to-pass subjects like Actuarial studies, 2nd Year Biochemistry, some Gen Eds. Also you won't know which are scaled and which aren't, unless if your lecturer is lenient enough to tell you this.