New interview format at USyd?

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Hey guys I just received an official offer letter. It says that I have to decide in 7 working days to accept offer or not.

So I guess I'll be giving my spot pretty soooon.

BTW, tuition is AUD 50,400 and 3000 equipment fee with 40 lab coat. It says additional 500 will be required as equip fee during the semester and possibly for the textbooks as well. Initial payment is due sep 30 and is 25,200 AUD :eek:

I guess they are expensive, but not too bad.
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Just a heads up to everyone, if you are getting student loans then you only have to pay 5% deposit right now plus your OSHC. This will get you the confirmation of enrollment to apply for a visa.

Check with Anne, or email the International office at USyd about it.
 
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riazo said:
Just a heads up to everyone, if you are getting student loans then you only have to pay 5% deposit right now plus your OSHC. This will get you the confirmation of enrollment to apply for a visa.

Check with Anne, or email the International office at USyd about it.
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Thanks for the info Riazo!! This is great to hear as I am currently living in Melbourne and it would be very difficult for me to get the $20,000 from here haha.
 
Hi Riazo!
I might not be around in Edmonton at that time, so I'll have to smuggle some TiHo for ya to Oz. I'll put the soup coffee and donut in a ziplock to keep 'em fresh. :)


riazo said:
I'll be back in Edmonton in the summer (that is..dec and jan..haha..get used to the new seasons :). You can contact me then and we can certainly meet up (I've been craving a double double with a cream of broccoli soup and a chocolate dip donut!).

Also for those who are starting next year, ask about what equipment you will need. It will most likely be similar to ours, and in that case you can save A LOT of money by purchasing things in Canada/US. (But keep this on the down-low..the faculty might not like it..;) Contact me later for more details.
!
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Hmmm, so I could stock up on all that equipment here, and then sell it for a profit when I get there. :cool: Is that a bad thing? I can't tell. :)

Oh, for people who are accepting to go, you need OSHC health care. The company the uni uses is not the cheapest, but it is pretty close. Here are the numbers I calculated based off of info on each of the companies' websites based on 4 years.
Aus. Health Mgmt. $59.55/mo.
Bupa $61.70/mo.
Medibank Private $60.91/mo.
OSHC Worldcare $61.75/mo. (uni company)
nib OSHC $67.66/mo.

Doesn't seem like much of a difference between companies.
 
I also thought about buying equipment and then selling it. However I dont want to get busted by the faculty for running a cartel on the side. They didn't want the medsoc bookshop to order equipment, and then have no one buying from them. Now I don't know what is going to happen with next years class. Medsoc has shut down, so I dont' know where people will buy equipment. I heard rumors the other day that the faculty is setting up an equipment kit or something, where you have to buy from a dental supplier in Australia. Not too sure, but wait to see what information they send you about equipment. Also remember, you can only bring 2 suitcases of 50 lbs each. Trust me, that is not enough space. So adding equipment to that makes it a challenge.

Also for your health coverage, the prices you quoted are much to expensive.
This is the uni health cover site: https://www.oshcworldcare.com.au/Default.aspx

do a quote there for 48 months. I payed about AU$1480 last year for 48 months of coverage. Unless you are looking for dental, optical, physio coverage, i would recommend just going with OSHC for students. That will cover all your medical needs. It also makes all the paperwork easy for enrolling and student visa.
 
bigguyry said:
Aus. Health Mgmt. $59.55/mo.
Bupa $61.70/mo.
Medibank Private $60.91/mo.
OSHC Worldcare $61.75/mo. (uni company)
nib OSHC $67.66/mo.

Doesn't seem like much of a difference between companies.
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Crap, I forgot to mention that the above prices were for the family plan (I'm married :) ) but I put them up as an indicator of price differences.
 
riazo said:
Just a heads up to everyone, if you are getting student loans then you only have to pay 5% deposit right now plus your OSHC. This will get you the confirmation of enrollment to apply for a visa.

Check with Anne, or email the International office at USyd about it.
Click to expand...

Has anyone paid the Deposit yet? Anne is away on holiday and the general help people at the international office didnt know anything about the 5%. I emailed the finance people but im still waiting to hear??? just wondering if anyone has paid and what they paid?
Thanks!
 
It looks like things will be a bit vague next year due to the bankruptcy of the MedSoc Book Shop. Equipment will now be supplied from external suppliers. Alot of the stuff you could have bought off Ebay or from a supplier in the States/Canada because its alot cheaper and the Aussie Dollar is really strong. But if they're selling this as an equipment "set" now.. hmmm I guess its a different story. The radiology handbook & CD is totally new though... Never used that?

Anyway, just wanted to say congratulations for all those who made the course! Here is the facebook page for the Class of 2014 for those that are interested =)

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=557477202#!/group.php?gid=123965537657665

Sydney is a great place to study with awesome weather and the relatively small group will mean that it will be a cohort where everyone is generally tight with each other. Things are a bit expensive now though especially with the Australian dollar being so strong so be prepared financially! And judging from the economic trends, I don't forsee it getting weaker anytime soon barring another major crisis. I guess thats the biggest disadvantage of Australia compared to the Canada/States... the relatively high cost of living. Living expenses wise, I would say its similar to Manhattan. But the lifestyle is similar to SoCal..

Also the course is demanding as heck, so I'd advise people to take a break, rest but also start saving up ! Unless you're from a non-science background in which I would recommend to go over basic biomedical sciences (but at the same time, don't burn yourself out with it).
 
DJizzle said:
It looks like things will be a bit vague next year due to the bankruptcy of the MedSoc Book Shop. Equipment will now be supplied from external suppliers. Alot of the stuff you could have bought off Ebay or from a supplier in the States/Canada because its alot cheaper and the Aussie Dollar is really strong. But if they're selling this as an equipment "set" now.. hmmm I guess its a different story. The radiology handbook & CD is totally new though... Never used that?

Anyway, just wanted to say congratulations for all those who made the course! Here is the facebook page for the Class of 2014 for those that are interested =)

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=557477202#!/group.php?gid=123965537657665

Sydney is a great place to study with awesome weather and the relatively small group will mean that it will be a cohort where everyone is generally tight with each other. Things are a bit expensive now though especially with the Australian dollar being so strong so be prepared financially! And judging from the economic trends, I don't forsee it getting weaker anytime soon barring another major crisis. I guess thats the biggest disadvantage of Australia compared to the Canada/States... the relatively high cost of living. Living expenses wise, I would say its similar to Manhattan. But the lifestyle is similar to SoCal..

Also the course is demanding as heck, so I'd advise people to take a break, rest but also start saving up ! Unless you're from a non-science background in which I would recommend to go over basic biomedical sciences (but at the same time, don't burn yourself out with it).
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You should definitely try to buy your equipment from North America if you are in Dentistry. And the Dentistry course during the first two years is a lot more intense than the Medical course with a lot more contact hours in year1 and 2 and then is about the same in the 3rd and 4th year.

Similiar to SoCal? I have been in Sydney for seven years and most people compare it to San Francisco for some obvious reasons.

The Aussie Dollar is not going to get weaker anytime soon. I went to USyd Med but applied in the local pool, saved myself over 200k in tuition money.
 
Hi guys!
I have an interview this Wednesday with the University of Sydney for the Graduate program in Medicine. Just wanted your tips/advice on the interview..never had one on Skype!!

What sort of questions to expect?

thanks~
 
The best advice is to be yourself, this new interview is nothing like the ones in the past especially the MMI that they used to have for international studnents. This new interview is more like a conversation than a real interview. So the best thing is just to be yourself.
 
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hey guys, i got off the international waitlist today!!! see you in february!! =D
 
Congrats limitedstops! I thought the waitlist movement would be done by now.

Do you mind sharing your stats?
 
Cunner21 said:
Congrats limitedstops! I thought the waitlist movement would be done by now.

Do you mind sharing your stats?
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Thanks! My GPA at a 4-year undergrad was 3.58. i got overall of 21 on my DAT. let me know if you need anything else.

who's going to be part of the 2014 class? holler!
 
Thanks for sharing. So i take it your last 3 years (as sydney calculates) is higher?

limitedstops said:
Thanks! My GPA at a 4-year undergrad was 3.58. i got overall of 21 on my DAT. let me know if you need anything else.

who's going to be part of the 2014 class? holler!
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Hi everyone! I got an email from Sydney stating that international students will be interviewed via Skype and that it will an informal interview and no preparation is required. I was previously freaking out over the MMI and think I prefer this way better. But I was just wondering what they mean by informal? Do we need to dress up or be prepared to answer questions like 'Tell us about yourself, Why do you wanna be a doc, ...etc?"

Thanks and good luck:laugh:



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I think you definitely want to dress up! ('_<)
The questions I was asked weren't very difficult at all. Nothing the justify the hours I spent in preparation. I think they asked : Why Usyd? Tell us about yourself, and why do you want to be a dentist. A breeze! :) The whole interview didn't last more than 8 minutes for me. Just show your passion and enthusiasm!

And wear a suit!
 
bigguyry said:
I think you definitely want to dress up! ('_<)
The questions I was asked weren't very difficult at all. Nothing the justify the hours I spent in preparation. I think they asked : Why Usyd? Tell us about yourself, and why do you want to be a dentist. A breeze! :) The whole interview didn't last more than 8 minutes for me. Just show your passion and enthusiasm!

And wear a suit!
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It wasn't an interview at all, the new "interview" for international students is just to see if you are not some kind of psychopath, that's all. It used to be that internationals went through the same interview as locals. The MMI for example is an intense interview, in fact, my interview at USyd through the local interview process was harder than interviews for US medical schools.

If they select you for this "interview" you are pretty much in unless they think you are a loon.

In fact the intake is now 80 for internationals in the medical program and 20 for the Dental. It used to be 50 and 10.
 
PacificBlue2012 said:
It wasn't an interview at all, the new "interview" for international students is just to see if you are not some kind of psychopath, that's all. It used to be that internationals went through the same interview as locals. The MMI for example is an intense interview, in fact, my interview at USyd through the local interview process was harder than interviews for US medical schools.

If they select you for this "interview" you are pretty much in unless they think you are a loon.

In fact the intake is now 80 for internationals in the medical program and 20 for the Dental. It used to be 50 and 10.
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i thought they had 20 spots last year for dental and this year was downsized to 15.
the international interview doesn't guarantee that you're in. i was on the waitlist for a while and some people were rejected. :T
 
limitedstops said:
i thought they had 20 spots last year for dental and this year was downsized to 15.
the international interview doesn't guarantee that you're in. i was on the waitlist for a while and some people were rejected. :T
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That must have been for the Dental program, the way it works for the Medical program is if they do "interview" you, you are pretty much in the school. This is what UQ was doing 2 years ago.

I have heard of people getting offers for both Dentistry and Medicine.

I think Dentistry changed their criteria a bit, because they now rank you on GPA, they did not do this before, maybe that is why some people did not get offers.

One thing I would add about Dentistry is that you should be sure that you want to work in Australia because the degree is not accredited in the US, which means you would need to do residency or a bridging course to work in the US. I heard something about Canada accrediting it but knowing how Canada works with regards to foreign trained health care professionals, I would be highly skeptical.

For Medical students this is not a huge issue because thousands of foreign doctors go to the US for residency all the time. Even so I would say if someone would pick USyd over a DO school, I would think that would be a poor decision because being an IMG will limit you to less competitive residencies such as IM or Family Med. Just about all the people I knew who matched in the US went into primary care fields.
 
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Looking forward to meeting you guys in Feb next year! I'll be doing med.
 
Australian dental schools are fully accredited in Canada. There is no difference between graduating from a Canadian, US, or Aus dental school. All are required to complete the same steps to gain a license.

You can confirm this information here:
http://www.ndeb.ca/en/about/index.htm#section4

Here is a nice article about the new agreement:
http://www.oztrekk.com/blog/?p=1241

The reciprocity agreement was signed in March, 2010. Anyone graduating after this date is covered by the agreement.

I have heard that the same agreement may be signed between the US and Aus, but that is still not confirmed.


PacificBlue2012 said:
That must have been for the Dental program, the way it works for the Medical program is if they do "interview" you, you are pretty much in the school. This is what UQ was doing 2 years ago.

I have heard of people getting offers for both Dentistry and Medicine.

I think Dentistry changed their criteria a bit, because they now rank you on GPA, they did not do this before, maybe that is why some people did not get offers.

One thing I would add about Dentistry is that you should be sure that you want to work in Australia because the degree is not accredited in the US, which means you would need to do residency or a bridging course to work in the US. I heard something about Canada accrediting it but knowing how Canada works with regards to foreign trained health care professionals, I would be highly skeptical.

For Medical students this is not a huge issue because thousands of foreign doctors go to the US for residency all the time. Even so I would say if someone would pick USyd over a DO school, I would think that would be a poor decision because being an IMG will limit you to less competitive residencies such as IM or Family Med. Just about all the people I knew who matched in the US went into primary care fields.
Click to expand...
 
riazo said:
Australian dental schools are fully accredited in Canada. There is no difference between graduating from a Canadian, US, or Aus dental school. All are required to complete the same steps to gain a license.

You can confirm this information here:
http://www.ndeb.ca/en/about/index.htm#section4

Here is a nice article about the new agreement:
http://www.oztrekk.com/blog/?p=1241

The reciprocity agreement was signed in March, 2010. Anyone graduating after this date is covered by the agreement.

I have heard that the same agreement may be signed between the US and Aus, but that is still not confirmed.
Click to expand...

Well that must be new, medical schools will probably never be accredited in the US or Canada, correction, they will never be accredited in the US or Canada. For a while both Medical and Dental schools had some kind of accreditation in the UK until they became part of the EU.

Medical and Dental students take the many of the same lectures during year 1 and 2.
 
I just found a few days ago that I've been assigned to the Central Clinical School. Does anyone know how make the the decision and how many students are allocated to each hospital?
 
keepcalmcarryon said:
I just found a few days ago that I've been assigned to the Central Clinical School. Does anyone know how make the the decision and how many students are allocated to each hospital?
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Its completely random, and you got really lucky, the RPA is right next to campus. Some people get stuck with Nepean which is out in the sticks and is bogan city.

RPA is a good placement, the best one is Westmead but is far from school. Concord is another one. And the Northern Clinical school is another one but a pain to get to compared to the others since its on the other side of the harbour.
 
I figured I was probably pretty lucky to have gotten CCS, I selected it as my first choice mainly because it was one of the largest hospitals with the most specialties available and was right next to campus. From what I've read about each of the Hospitals though, they all seem great and have reasonable commute times aside from Nepean.
 
keepcalmcarryon said:
I figured I was probably pretty lucky to have gotten CCS, I selected it as my first choice mainly because it was one of the largest hospitals with the most specialties available and was right next to campus. From what I've read about each of the Hospitals though, they all seem great and have reasonable commute times aside from Nepean.
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Nepean is insane, the fact that you start clinical rotations from year 1, I felt sorry for anyone who got stuck there, plus Nepean is not up to par with the other clinical schools especially Central. If you got stuck at Nepean you will need a car, and cars are expensive in Oz.

This is where UQ beats USyd, their two main clinical schools PA and RBWH are located within Brisbane.

Another stupid thing about Nepean is that it is near Penrith, which is "considered" regional but since USyd is in glamorous Sydney you will not get regional study points if you apply for PR when you graduate.

Royal North Shore is a great hospital as well and its in one of the more upmarket areas of the Sydney region. Westmead is another great clinical site.
 
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riazo said:
hey bigguyry,

Glad to hear that information helped out. It seems like the word is getting out, and that has definitely made the applicants this year more competitive.

Yes, it is VERY expensive to live in Sydney. It's nearly apples and oranges between Edmonton and Sydney. You can expect to pay between $200 and $300 a week for a place near campus. It will be quite difficult to find a place before you arrive here, so I would suggest you arrive a few weeks earlier. There is also the issue of dealing with realtors in Sydney. They can be a real hassle.

For now, just worry about getting in your loans, banking, visa, etc. Also try to look for a good air ticket. The cheapest I've found was a return flight for $1280. Book early, the prices get really high ($2000 +) closer to when school starts. Don't worry so much about housing. Not a bad idea to look through some listings online. But your real search will begin when you arrive here. Most importantly, enjoy the next few months with family and friends. Once school gets going here..you will definitely miss home!

I'll be back in Edmonton in the summer (that is..dec and jan..haha..get used to the new seasons :). You can contact me then and we can certainly meet up (I've been craving a double double with a cream of broccoli soup and a chocolate dip donut!).

Also for those who are starting next year, ask about what equipment you will need. It will most likely be similar to ours, and in that case you can save A LOT of money by purchasing things in Canada/US. (But keep this on the down-low..the faculty might not like it..;) Contact me later for more details.

And remember..the waitlist does move..so keep your hopes up everyone!!
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This is the one big darkside of Sydney for the student who does not have rich parents, housing is super expensive near campus. Its also quite beneficial to live near campus during your first two years because the library and all the university facilities where you will want to study are nearby. Sydney landlords and real estate agents are dickheads also, in fact, the scum of the Earth. That is another great thing about schools like UQ and Flinders, they are in less expensive Australian cities.

Buy your key stuff in North America, especially laptop pcs which are a lot more expensive down under, any clothing items and things like shoes.
 
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