Please help me decide my future? (1 Viewer)

[trxpleflatt]

Hi,
I would like to ask you guys for advice on what I should do this year.
Situation: My ATAR is 98.70 + UMAT % 73 + eligible for the ACCESS disadvantaged scheme + I've received a main round offer for nursing @ UTS, however my eyes are still definitely on medicine (but dentistry and optom is okay too, I guess). I stupidly forgot to add Optom to my UAC preferences list - however I just added it, maybe hoping to be considered for the late rounds (don't think that'll happen though LOL )
Pathways:
1) Gap year: go to Casey College and complete a Certificate III in Aged Care and/or participate in the Plunge program @ Morling Bible College ... then try out for the Medicine/Dentistry/Optom
Pros
* Keep my ATAR (my ATAR not that great though, compared to other students + I'm not sure if this is true though )
* Experience new things in the community @ Bible College; have a feel of what nursing is like
* Gain a certificate in something at the end
Cons
* Waste of a year if I fail @ UMAT + interview and don't get into the course I want
* $$$
2) Do Nursing and continuously try out for Med/Dent/Optom
Pros
* Almost-definite job at the end (I come from a poor family so this is kind of important)
* Better understanding of how the hospital system works + patient contact
Cons
* $$$
* My ATAR doesn't count anymore + what happens if I fail @ Nursing and don't get the marks required for those courses
* Nursing is not what I want to do in the future, as a career until I retire
* UMAT/interview required again

I'm sure there are more reasons to add to both of these pros/cons list ... hopefully I can think of more. Kind of sad at the moment.
Any input you would like to give on my dilemma? Thanks for your help

 

[Xt]

Have you considered adding Adv Sci or Med Sci Adv courses from UWS, or Med Sci from UNSW - in hopes of achieving entry via special schemes? The good thing about those courses are you can apply for first year entry into Medicine after a year of uni and if that doesn't work you can then apply via the special entry. If that still doesn't work, you can then go on and apply for Post-Grad Dentistry, Medicine, Optom, Pharmacy, or Masters of Nursing (which is 2 years). So total length would be 7 years for medicine.

I think for the GAP year option you could always purchase a UMAT prep course and work at it for half the year and as you've mentioned, volunteering in the community is great to mention in interviews, and remember that ATAR is only a threshold at UNCLE/UNE and UWS. Also because you wouldn't have started uni I think you can still apply for Monash, UTAS, and UQ (not 100% certain tho). Really depends on how much you think you can improve on UMAT.

I wouldn't worry too much about not getting high marks in Nursing in hopes of applying for medicine (altho I think just rote learning courses would be much easier than say a practical course), only because most uni's only use GPA as a threshold (Even USYD and UNCLE require credit GPA as examples). Also, I think the clinical experience would work really well in interviews, mentioning how I don't have some obscured and hyped version of medicine but understand that patient contact/helping people comes with its positives and negatives.