uni degrees help

[erucibon]

Hi, I currently have a very broad idea of what to apply for and i'm struggling to narrow it down.
I originally wanted (but not a strong desire) to study medicine but my UCAT is too low. Would it be worth it to continue trying to get in if i'm not absolutely set on getting in? Also, how much does the university matter with medicine?
I have always more been interested in studying dentistry but I am not sure i'd make usyd. What other options with other unis do I have?
I have been looking into physio (USYD), optom (UNSW), actuarial studies (UNSW), and some kind to commerce double degree to work in a big financial institution. The thing is I would not mind any of them so I am not sure which to choose, considering salaries and lifestyle
I'm aiming for a 99+ atar (hopefully on track).
Any advice would be appreciated!

[ritosno]

Take everything I say with at least a sprinkling of salt as I'm also just a Year 12 school leaver (albeit a very bored one who finished in May).

my UCAT is too low

How low exactly is it? If it's above 90th percentile or so you're still in with a chance, particularly if you're aiming for a 99 ATAR. If a bit below, but you were very set on doing medicine, I'd still encourage at least applying to see if you get an interview or something. However, you said you didn't have a strong desire to do medicine, which brings me to:

Would it be worth it to continue trying to get in if i'm not absolutely set on getting in?

I think this depends on why you wanted to do medicine before and if you can see yourself doing something else other than medicine. This may be a question better answered by the members of this forum who actually have gotten into medicine, but it really depends on the person I think. If your reason for pursuing medicine isn't that strong, and if you have other things that you like better, perhaps it's not worth it. However, if you have a good reason for wanting to do it and you wouldn't be as satisfied in another career, maybe it is worth it. Definitely worth trying to solicit a response from someone who's actually a med student though (or perhaps one who decided not to do it in the end).

Also, how much does the university matter with medicine?

It doesn't matter much at all. The only difference is how long the course takes to do (5 years for a MD and 6 years for a MBBS) and that doesn't matter at all in the workforce.

I have always more been interested in studying dentistry [..] What other options with other unis do I have?

I refer you to this: https://medstudentsonline.com.au/forum/threads/updated-dentistry-schools-selection-criteria-y12s-non-standards.34261/ link from medstudentsonline, which lists a number of dentistry courses around Australia.

The thing is I would not mind any of them so I am not sure which to choose, considering salaries and lifestyle

You mention a good variety of courses, which is interesting. Certainly being a dentist would give you a different lifestyle to an actuary! I encourage you to look at course structures, class profiles (available in the course handbooks of most universities' websites), and to find out as much as possible about how each profession works and lives and the growth potential of these industries, etc. Personally, I decided to go for physiotherapy (fingers crossed come January, haha) after doing a lot of research into many different health-related courses and finding out that this was the most interesting one for me and the kind of job I wanted to do in the future.

[lm21074]

Hi there!

With medicine, it's probably best to assess your motivations to study medicine / become a doctor before you proceed. If your motivations to study medicine involve money and prestige, it's best to rethink your choice because a) you're not going to earn bucket tons of money as soon as you graduate - there are so many other professions you can do where you can earn big salaries and b) a career in medicine (and other healthcare professions as a matter of fact) are big commitments.

If you have at least a slight interest in medicine, you don't know too much about careers in the field and your sole motivation is not money / prestige, do a bit more investigating into the pathway by researching on the internet, attending open days, speaking to medical students and doctors, etc.

The university you attend to study medicine (and other health practitioner courses) does not matter much at all. This is because to become a doctor, you need to study a degree that's recognised by the Medical Board of Australia and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA - all healthcare practitioners have to register with this), so each degree is going to teach virtually the same things. Some of the main differences between each uni are the placements. As each uni is in a different location, you're going to be doing placements at different hospitals / clinics. Some unis might have the opportunity for you to do an honours year or a PhD alongside your degree too.

Assuming you're from NSW, there's also the Bachelor of Dental Science at Charles Sturt Uni at their Orange campus. For postgrad options, you've also got USYD Dentistry (Graduate Entry). There's also the option to study interstate if you're interested.

When choosing study options and indeed a career, your interests are important. It might be helpful to consider what high school subjects you like, any work experience you may have done, and researching university courses. After all, you're more likely to succeed in a job you enjoy. Success in many jobs can lead to progression and a higher salary. Also, it might be helpful to speak to your school's careers counsellor and/or your teachers. They know you better than we do


Hope this helps and all the best!



Edit: Beaten by ritosno but I'll leave this here

[rirerire]

Hi, I currently have a very broad idea of what to apply for and i'm struggling to narrow it down.
I originally wanted (but not a strong desire) to study medicine but my UCAT is too low. Would it be worth it to continue trying to get in if i'm not absolutely set on getting in? Also, how much does the university matter with medicine?
I have always more been interested in studying dentistry but I am not sure i'd make usyd. What other options with other unis do I have?
I have been looking into physio (USYD), optom (UNSW), actuarial studies (UNSW), and some kind to commerce double degree to work in a big financial institution. The thing is I would not mind any of them so I am not sure which to choose, considering salaries and lifestyle
I'm aiming for a 99+ atar (hopefully on track).
Any advice would be appreciated!

Honestly, from the advice I've been given (and the struggles I've seen of ppl around me), medicine is something you really need to think about before pursuing. There's money and prestige to any of the jobs you've mentioned, and of course to medicine too- but consider the fact that you will have to dedicate your entire life to the career as a doctor- it's a pretty gruelling course and then job. I definitely recommend that you look into it a bit more.
Secondly, it doesn't really matter which university you go to, if you genuinely want to do it you should apply to every uni that offers it because in Vic and NSW its very competitive. (Although ofc its understandable to have reservations about going to another state or doing a more rural course for example).
For dentistry, aside from USYD multiple unis offer it-the atar required would be lower at some than others (eg at CSU). Ofc graduate medicine or dentistry is always an option to consider if you are really interested but your atar isn't high enough.
The other degrees you chose are completely fine too, I recommend that you apply for early entry at as many places as possible- you can always differ or reject offers later on and you'll be able to keep your options open. right now the most important thing to work on is your atar but I think you should talk to your careers adviser soon because early entry (SRS) is closing on the 20th of Sept.

[Orb]

If you want to optimise for compensation and prestige, i'm going to copy and paste an earlier post on several career pathways that are much more lucrative long-term than Med... you should probably find something that you're genuinely interested in though because there's nothing like prodding at teeth for the 13th hour everyday when you hate it

Spoiler

Happy to share my experiences, the best paying jobs out of uni are usually these ones (no med actually), I also want to caveat that money isn't everything, but if this is what you want...:

Quant trading:
Pros: Normal hours (~45-50 hours a week), incredible pay (150-200k+ in Aus), lunch catered, first class flights if another office wants you
Cons: You need to be very good at maths or programming, some 30-40% of grads get fired in their first year due to poor performance (so the environment is very high stress)

Investment banking:
Pros: Good pay (~$150k+ in your first year incl. bonus), free dinners and taxis back home, good career progression (+50k comp every year)
Cons: Haha well... working 9-1am everyday and working weekends every week (at least 1 of Sat/Sun, sometimes both), having no life outside of work and the Friday night clubbing/drinks with the crew (doesn't even happen anymore because COVID)

Tech:
Pros: Decent comp ($120-140k when you factor in stocks) and very nice perks (free lunch, amazing office, etc)
Cons: There are pretty much only software engineering roles in tech companies (other roles are 20% paycut) and you have to be very good at programming

Management Consulting:
Pros: Comp is alright ($100k+), very good progression (salary doubles every ~3 years) and incredibly good perks (business class flights, 5 star hotels, huge expense budgets)
Cons: Work life balance can be very bad at times (IB level bad, so you're essentially getting paid 70% of what they earn but doing the same hours at times)

There are other high paying roles, e.g. Mining Engineers, but I don't know enough about them to make an informed comment, hope this is valuable

As for degrees, you can get into any of these roles studying any degree (Tech needs a BSci probably, and IB prefers Commerce) but the others are pretty degree indifferent

[erucibon]

Thanks for all the info, it was very helpful!

The university you attend to study medicine (and other health practitioner courses) does not matter much at all. This is because to become a doctor, you need to study a degree that's recognised by the Medical Board of Australia and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA - all healthcare practitioners have to register with this), so each degree is going to teach virtually the same things. Some of the main differences between each uni are the placements. As each uni is in a different location, you're going to be doing placements at different hospitals / clinics. Some unis might have the opportunity for you to do an honours year or a PhD alongside your degree too.

Is this true for all degrees?

mod edit (insanipi): post merge

[Sine]

Is this true for all degrees?

I wouldn't say so, the standardisation and similarity between courses that require professional accreditation for things like medicine mean that you are going to be learning basically the same things regardless where you go. I don't think the same things can be said for more generalist degrees such as Arts/Science.

Also for your initial query. If you are looking for money/prestige and that is what your aims are, something like investment banking, consultancy or actuarial studies would be up there imo.

[erucibon]

I wouldn't say so, the standardisation and similarity between courses that require professional accreditation for things like medicine mean that you are going to be learning basically the same things regardless where you go. I don't think the same things can be said for more generalist degrees such as Arts/Science.

Also for your initial query. If you are looking for money/prestige and that is what your aims are, something like investment banking, consultancy or actuarial studies would be up there imo.

Thanks for the quick reply! For investment banking, what pathways would be taken to reach it?

[Sine]

Thanks for the quick reply! For investment banking, what pathways would be taken to reach it?

I'll leave this for Orb, they should be able to give a lot more detail than I can in what sort of targets you need to hit to be competitive.

[Orb]

Thanks for the quick reply! For investment banking, what pathways would be taken to reach it?

Investment banking you'd probably need to study Commerce or something related (by far 60-80% of investment bankers had studied some form of commerce in their undergraduate degree).

Management Consulting is degree indifferent (can study anything and join) in fact they love poaching 'doctors' or students studying medicine

Tech is usually BSci or Comp Sci/programming equivalent

Quant trading is degree indifferent as long as you're good at maths