ACER application question

[willcandude]

Hello,

I applied to and was interviewed by Sydney as international student in mid August. I was told I won't know the results until November.

A week ago, I got a rejection from ANU. My understanding is that, ACER won't send my application to 2nd-preference-school (ANU) until my 1st-preference-school (Sydney) rejected me. SO, does this mean I have been rejected by Sydney already?

If that is the case, why is Sydney waiting so long to tell the rejected applicants that they have been rejected

Cheers,

Will

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[juc25]

I'm in a similar boat...well at least you got an interview at USyd! I applied to U of Melbourne and USyd and haven't heard ANYTHING from either of them. UMel was my first choice, and since I didn't receive interview invite from USyd, maybe it means I have a chance at UMel...

 

[canada83]

Will,

When did you get your letter from ANU? ANU was my #1 choice and Sdny was my #2. So far I haven't heard anything from either of them. Also, would you mind posting your stats or letting me know them in a pm. It would give me a better idea of where I'm at. Thanks.

 

[psychoclops]

I am in the same situation. I was interviewed by Usyd in Aug. and 2 days ago I got a rejection from ANU which was my 2nd choice on ACER. I read on the ACER website that each applicant will be granted only one interview, which I take to mean that if you get an interview from your #1 school then your application to the #2 school is automatically rejected even if you get rejected by the #1 school after your interview.
If I am wrong in my interpretation please correct me.

 

[willcandude]

I am in the same situation. I was interviewed by Usyd in Aug. and 2 days ago I got a rejection from ANU which was my 2nd choice on ACER. I read on the ACER website that each applicant will be granted only one interview, which I take to mean that if you get an interview from your #1 school then your application to the #2 school is automatically rejected even if you get rejected by the #1 school after your interview.
If I am wrong in my interpretation please correct me.

woah if interview at one place means auto-reject at another, then it's a pretty lame system! someone with experience please post!

When did you get your letter from ANU? ANU was my #1 choice and Sdny was my #2. So far I haven't heard anything from either of them. Also, would you mind posting your stats or letting me know them in a pm. It would give me a better idea of where I'm at. Thanks.

egh so ANU was ur #1 and you havne't heard back... hmm what does this mean...

well my stats... did undergrad in a canadian school. ~3.7gpa

I'm in a similar boat...well at least you got an interview at USyd! I applied to U of Melbourne and USyd and haven't heard ANYTHING from either of them. UMel was my first choice, and since I didn't receive interview invite from USyd, maybe it means I have a chance at UMel...

i was gonna apply to Melb, but apparently their tuition is even more expensive than USyd... so i changed my preferences last minute :S

 

[Jinhua]

I see, so does that mean that there is a possibility of getting an interview from University of Queensland? Cause sadly I received the rejection letter from Sydney this morning, still feeling very sore over it. =(

 

[juc25]

Same here. Rejection from USyd this morning. Do they only send electronic copy of rejection letter or would they send paper copy? Man, I don't think I can handle both letters of rejection...

 

[canada83]

ANU offered me an interview today. It is the first i've heard from either school (ANU #1, Sdny #2). It would be unfortunate if an interview offer with ANU voids my shot at Sdny. Regardless, it's good news.

Also, UQ contacted me on monday. They are setting up phone interviews next week (Sept. 3-7).

My stats are 29 MCAT and 3.7-3.8/4.3 Canadian University. This info should help others figure out where they are at. Would be nice to see some of your stats so I could get a better idea of where i'm at.....

 

[Jinhua]

Congrats Canada83, well all the best for this interview, hopefully I will be able to receive a phone interview from them. (Praying very hard now x_x)

 

[Jinhua]

Hi juc25, from what I know is that I don think there will be a hardcopy when they send the rejection letter. So the email they sent to us is as good as the hardcopy, oh well we just have to wait for our second choice, hopefully this will turn out better. I too can't withstand another rejection

 

[juc25]

Wow, good luck on your interview Canada83!

Jinhua, USyd was my second choice - so I'm just worried if I was already rejected from UMelb and haven't received any notice yet. I have no idea what's going on because I thought ACER move to second choice if first choice didn't work out. If this is the case, no australian med school for me...

 

[Jinhua]

juc25, I am not really sure how the ACER systems work exactly, but it seems that as long as Mel has not sent a rejection mail, then it still safe to say that u are in the race. hope that helps

 

[juc25]

Hey guys

Okay, I e-mailed OzTreKK about my application - how come I got rejection letter from USyd (SECOND CHOICE) but haven't heard from UMelb (FIRST CHOICE) and I got a reply.

It seems like I am no longer in the competition for Australian med school since my application would not have passed on to the second choice if I was to receive an interview offer from the first one. I wish you luck with your application/interviews and hopefully you guys will hear good news.

For canada83, I totally forgot about putting my stats up
Overall GPA: 3.89
MCAT: 32P (not a great verbal score - not a double digit!)
Canadian citizen

Hopefully canadian med school will look favorably for me.

 

[willcandude]

woah juc25, u considered austrlian schools without first applying to canadian schools? you should definitely firs try for canadian schools before you try ur luck overseas

 

[juc25]

Hey willcandude,

Yes, I did apply last year to Canadian med schools but didn't get in post-interview for some schools (pre-interview for some). Mind you, my MCAT was 28P before I retook it so maybe that's what bogged me down. I decided to apply for Australian schools because I attended one of those info sessions and people from UMelb sounded like they would take me in. So I applied and this is what happened. I'm applying for canadian schools now so hopefully it will all work out for the best!

Keeping fingers crossed...

 

[Jinhua]

Hey juc25,

All the best for the application to the other Medical schools. Like you, if I don't hear from Uni of Queensland, I will start looking at other universities, maybe I will start with those in the US

 

[jaketheory]

Hey willcandude,

Yes, I did apply last year to Canadian med schools but didn't get in post-interview for some schools (pre-interview for some). Mind you, my MCAT was 28P before I retook it so maybe that's what bogged me down. I decided to apply for Australian schools because I attended one of those info sessions and people from UMelb sounded like they would take me in. So I applied and this is what happened. I'm applying for canadian schools now so hopefully it will all work out for the best!

Keeping fingers crossed...

you got into unimelb? what was your mcat score and gpa? i am curious. please let me know.

 

[psychoclops]

hey,

Just thought I'd let you guys know that the rejection letters sent by ANU for applicants that marked it as a 2nd choice but were interviewed by their first choice school was a mistake. The ACER application is supposed to be held by the first preference school if they grant you an interview and was not considered by ANU. I was sent an e-mail this morning apologizing for the mistake.

Good luck to all who are waiting for an interview or waiting for a decision post-interview

 

[willcandude]

hey,

Just thought I'd let you guys know that the rejection letters sent by ANU for applicants that marked it as a 2nd choice but were interviewed by their first choice school was a mistake. The ACER application is supposed to be held by the first preference school if they grant you an interview and was not considered by ANU. I was sent an e-mail this morning apologizing for the mistake.

Good luck to all who are waiting for an interview or waiting for a decision post-interview

I find it very nice of them to actually email to apologize. They could have just left it and not send the follow-up. This correction email actually make alot of people like me feel better. Really appreciate the admission staff at ANU.

But anyhow, I am still dissatisfied with the ACER application. It's stupid to have application held up when interviewed by 1st preference school. I mean, interview does not guarantee anything..

 

[psychoclops]

Yes I agree with you. The fact that you can get only one interview is scary and makes the whole application process to Australian med schools nerve wrecking! However, we can take a little comfort in the fact that schools like Flinders and UQ (and maybe next yr UMel.) accept direct applications.

 

[Hayden2102]

Yes I agree with you. The fact that you can get only one interview is scary and makes the whole application process to Australian med schools nerve wrecking! However, we can take a little comfort in the fact that schools like Flinders and UQ (and maybe next yr UMel.) accept direct applications.

Yeah it's not the best system but you have excellent chances once you have an interview. On average they interview about 1.3 applicants for every 1 position, which is much better than standard (undergraduate entry) where it gets up to about 8 interviewees for every 1 position.

 

[canada83]

Yeah it's not the best system but you have excellent chances once you have an interview. On average they interview about 1.3 applicants for every 1 position, which is much better than standard (undergraduate entry) where it gets up to about 8 interviewees for every 1 position.

Wait a sec... are you talking about graduate entry positions for international students? I knew the odds were good, but I didn't know they accepted 3/4 applicants post interview. I'm a little suprised I haven't read any reference to that stat on forums before. Could you be more specific about which schools this stat refers to and where I can find this information.

 

[Hayden2102]

Wait a sec... are you talking about graduate entry positions for international students? I knew the odds were good, but I didn't know they accepted 3/4 applicants post interview. I'm a little suprised I haven't read any reference to that stat on forums before. Could you be more specific about which schools this stat refers to and where I can find this information.

Don't know much about foreign applicant process; I was talking about domestic graduate-entry application process.

 

[Ezekiel20]

Yeah it's not the best system but you have excellent chances once you have an interview. On average they interview about 1.3 applicants for every 1 position, which is much better than standard (undergraduate entry) where it gets up to about 8 interviewees for every 1 position.

Whoa.. 1 spot for every 8 interviewees in undergrad med? Which university are you talking about?

So a school like UNSW would have to interview about 2000 students each year?

Are you sure you're not mistaken? Maybe it's 1 spot for every 8 applicants (most of whom do not get an interview..?)

For postgrad programmes, I thought most schools interviewed 3 students for every 2 spots they have. At least that was the stats stated on the ACER application pack.

 

[Hayden2102]

"Gets up to". U of Newcastle gets about that high, others are 1:6, 1:2 etc. Generally, across the board, you have better chanches if you are interviewing for the graduate-entry system.

And yeah, 3 students to every 2 positions is 1.5 to 1...

 

[Ezekiel20]

"Gets up to". U of Newcastle gets about that high, others are 1:6, 1:2 etc. Generally, across the board, you have better chanches if you are interviewing for the graduate-entry system.

And yeah, 3 students to every 2 positions is 1.5 to 1...

Newcastle Uni has about 200 spots. I still find it difficult to believe they would interview up to 1,600 students each year, but if you insist..

Yes the odds of getting into grad-entry programmes are better, assuming each interviewee was of equal standing.

This is talking about local applicants of course - I hear stories about how international students got accepted after a 'brief phone interview' which was more like a chat, so I guess our discussion here isn't too helpful to people on this forum most of whom are international applicants.

Regards,

 

[jon stewart]

Newcastle Uni has about 200 spots. I still find it difficult to believe they would interview up to 1,600 students each year, but if you insist..

Yes the odds of getting into grad-entry programmes are better, assuming each interviewee was of equal standing.

This is talking about local applicants of course - I hear stories about how international students got accepted after a 'brief phone interview' which was more like a chat, so I guess our discussion here isn't too helpful to people on this forum most of whom are international applicants.

Regards,

haha perhaps after a chat they get an acceptance. Though that chat is going to cost them a lot of $$$. Though i guess domestic applicants also can pay lot of they end up with FFP.

 

[jon stewart]

this is how i understand it.

With the acer app you can pick your 3 schools you wish to attend.

Your first choice school gets your app, and if you are competitive with your GPA and MCAT/GAMSAT score then they can grant you a interview. If your app isnt as competitive, then its passed down to your second choice. Same thing here, if you are competitive then you will be interviewed, otherwise your app is passed down to your third choice.

Thats why they have gamsat/gpa cut offs each year. So people kinda know how competitive they are for schools.

now the important part. YOU ONLY GET ONE INTERVIEW PER APP CYCLE


So whatever school interviews you, whether it be your 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice, thats the only school that you will interview at.

You DO NOT get interviews at all three of your choices. You can choose three schools total, the other two are merely back ups incase your first school doesnt want to interview you.

So if you get rejected after an interview, then its over. You didn't get a acceptance this cycle, you cant hope for interviews from others because you only get one interview.

Hope this helps/clears things up a little. If this is wrong..then please correct me and i dont mean to provide any sort of grief or misinformation.

 

[Hayden2102]

Newcastle Uni has about 200 spots. I still find it difficult to believe they would interview up to 1,600 students each year, but if you insist..

Yes the odds of getting into grad-entry programmes are better, assuming each interviewee was of equal standing.

This is talking about local applicants of course - I hear stories about how international students got accepted after a 'brief phone interview' which was more like a chat, so I guess our discussion here isn't too helpful to people on this forum most of whom are international applicants.

Regards,

They interview everyone who gets over their UMAT and UAI/ENTER threshold, which isn't particularly high, so it gets up to that number.

Anyway this is what a couple of their first and second-year students have told me.

 

[driedcaribou]

haha perhaps after a chat they get an acceptance. Though that chat is going to cost them a lot of $$$. Though i guess domestic applicants also can pay lot of they end up with FFP.

It is a pity they can rely on phone interviews to pick a candidate.
Cost wise, it is a lot cheaper than a flight and accommodation for both parties.

Although there are many competitive international students attending school in Australia, the fact remains that International students are a cash cow for Australian medical schools. Thus, the standards can be lower for those students they admit.

In the end, as long as they pay, they're accepted in many situations.

 

[nicko18]

this is how i understand it.

With the acer app you can pick your 3 schools you wish to attend.

Your first choice school gets your app, and if you are competitive with your GPA and MCAT/GAMSAT score then they can grant you a interview. If your app isnt as competitive, then its passed down to your second choice. Same thing here, if you are competitive then you will be interviewed, otherwise your app is passed down to your third choice.

Thats why they have gamsat/gpa cut offs each year. So people kinda know how competitive they are for schools.

now the important part. YOU ONLY GET ONE INTERVIEW PER APP CYCLE


So whatever school interviews you, whether it be your 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice, thats the only school that you will interview at.

You DO NOT get interviews at all three of your choices. You can choose three schools total, the other two are merely back ups incase your first school doesnt want to interview you.

So if you get rejected after an interview, then its over. You didn't get a acceptance this cycle, you cant hope for interviews from others because you only get one interview.

Hope this helps/clears things up a little. If this is wrong..then please correct me and i dont mean to provide any sort of grief or misinformation.

That's how I understand it.

Furthermore, if you're unsuccessful at your first preference (in terms of GPA, MCAT/GAMSAT scores etc), then it is passed onto your 2nd preference.

If you get a letter of rejection from your 2nd choice, unfortunately it means your first choice has been rejected and passed on also, they just havent been as prompt in returning the correspondence. You may still be offered an interview by your 3rd choice though.

 

[willcandude]

Furthermore, if you're unsuccessful at your first preference (in terms of GPA, MCAT/GAMSAT scores etc), then it is passed onto your 2nd preference.

If you get a letter of rejection from your 2nd choice, unfortunately it means your first choice has been rejected and passed on also, they just havent been as prompt in returning the correspondence. You may still be offered an interview by your 3rd choice though.

well for me as an international, i can only apply to 2 schools thru ACER. interview at 1st preference schools means the app will not be passed to 2nd preference schools, which is my case

Although there are many competitive international students attending school in Australia, the fact remains that International students are a cash cow for Australian medical schools. Thus, the standards can be lower for those students they admit.

In the end, as long as they pay, they're accepted in many situations.

yes i agree. unfortunately, international students like me go to Australia simply because we can't get into schools in our home country. i know there are many people who think that students who go overseas for med are just rejected, sub-standard med students. that stigma will be there. i guess as, international students, we just have to prove ourselves.

are you a local student, driedcaribou? do u find many international students in your class performing not as well compared to locals?

 

[jon stewart]

willcandude, are you a US undergrad?

 

[Paulchemguy]

-

 

[willcandude]

willcandude, are you a US undergrad?

I'm Canadian, did undergrad in Canada as well.

 

[jon stewart]

I'm Canadian, did undergrad in Canada as well.

ohh i am assuming you used mcat scores? What did you get if you dont mind me asking?

 

[jon stewart]

I'm Canadian, did undergrad in Canada as well.

ohh i am assuming you used mcat scores? What did you get if you dont mind me asking? Have you looked into US med schools? i know its kinda late in the app cycle, are candaians treated as intl studnets too if they apply to US schools?

 

[willcandude]

ohh i am assuming you used mcat scores? What did you get if you dont mind me asking? Have you looked into US med schools? i know its kinda late in the app cycle, are candaians treated as intl studnets too if they apply to US schools?

mcat 29O... gpa3.74... sigh.... well i also submitted a US app this year.. completing secondaries right now... canadians are treated as out-of-state for schools that accept internationals... hopefully news from US before i head to aus

 

[driedcaribou]

yes i agree. unfortunately, international students like me go to Australia simply because we can't get into schools in our home country. i know there are many people who think that students who go overseas for med are just rejected, sub-standard med students. that stigma will be there. i guess as, international students, we just have to prove ourselves.

are you a local student, driedcaribou? do u find many international students in your class performing not as well compared to locals?

I am an international student.
There is that stigma which is unfortunate because there are many students here who do have marks and credentials which rival candidates back in Canada.
Those of us who have come were largely impatient, or wanted to leave the country for other personal reasons.

People in medical school largely perform how they did before.

If you weren't a good student before, you can probably become a decent student with some work but it is not likely you are going to develop the skills to become a stellar student. Medical school is not the environment to foster that. It isn't as 'sink or swim' as an undergraduate degree is. I am finally understanding that the undergraduate environment really is one where you foster discipline for academics.

If you are a good student, you can probably put in more work to become a stellar student.

You get what you put in.

Some international students are absolutely dreadful - however, some are absolutely phenomenal as well. You can't really generalize. Some didn't even bother to apply for their home countries. You have to remember that there are students from other countries like the UK and Singapore.

You have shocking local students and phenomenal locals as well.

The only thing you can assume about internationals are the following:

1. they somehow have scrambled up the finances to pay for their education - in my case, a huge loan

2. they are faced with more difficulties regarding career choices than local students


willcandude, although I really do like Australia, from a financial perspective, if you re-wrote the MCAT and raised your writing sample score, you'd probably get into a school in Canada.

Although in the short term you'll get into med school here.... there is a huge sacrifice to be made in the long term.

I'm facing those decisions now - I thought the decision to go back would be easy but 4 years can really change you.