[update] Clinical school preference list submitted. Midsemester test tomorrow.

Today I submitted the clinical school preference list for the MD program. In order, I put: Metro 1, Metro 2, Rural. This was primarily due to the distance away from home. Metro 1 also has the research precinct around it, and it's the closest to the university. For the other options, I said I was willing to take up an ERC place if I didn't get a normal unbonded CSP, but not a BMP or MRBS place.

I also did an online test today, in the same subject where I got 75% for one of them before in another test. This time I looked up a lot of the things I wasn't 100% sure about on wikipedia and got 100%, although a lot (or all) I would have gotten right without looking up. That subject didn't have a midsemester test though, and because there are more important pressing issues (interview), I haven't been studying for it well.

However, another subject of mine has a midsemester test tomorrow. It's a relief that it's a multiple choice test though. My preferred exam format, although my preferred exam is of course GAMSAT section 3.

Speaking of the GAMSAT, in light of these interview cutoff rises, I wonder if I should have done more to prepare for the GAMSAT this year. I could have used the MCAT 101 passages in verbal reasoning for example (my section 1 hardly improved this year compared to last; 3 points), and I could have written more essays, rather than having a somewhat lazy preparation effort of <10 essays. I know it would not matter if my interview performance is good enough, but despite my GAMSAT being "high", I wonder if improving it more than I did would have been higher yield than improving the interview techniques. Ah well, that's nothing I can change now.

[update] UniMelb interview offers released! (Also UQ offers and other GEMSAS interview offers)

I just got a UniMelb interview offer, as would have been expected. It seems like the cutoff has jumped this year too, as expected, due to the increase in biomed students and science students from unimelb compared to last year.

Now I have to do well on this. I don't want a repeat from USyd, and I've been doing some preparation, but not as much as I could have. I have a midsem next week though, as I mentioned before, and assignment due soon, and a prac writeup due for a prac probably too.

UQ offers also were released today. It seems like the cutoff for an unbonded CSP is either 73 or 74 from reading forums (there hasn't been anyone with 73 who has posted yet, but someone with 74 got unbonded CSP and someone with 72 got BMP). If it's 74, then it's as I predicted; 74 to 75. As expected, I would have received a place with my score from last year. I hope the UQ (lower preference) issue is resolved so that I can get a place at UQ if I happen to get knocked back from unimelb after the interview (which isn't that far fetched due to USyd).

Anyway, that's how things are at the moment. I did an online test for one of my subjects today though, and it was very easy and I got full marks for it. Only worth 3.333% of that subject though. Or 2.5%? Not sure if there were 3 tests or 4 hmm... I thought it was 3 though.

Seize the opportunity

Today I just missed my train to the city in the morning. I started later today, and this was not in the peak hours, so the trains ran at every 15 minutes instead of more regularly.

I was a bit upset because it meant I had to wait quite a while for the next train (although I wasn't late for class, I could have spent that time reading the newspaper at uni when I got there). I sat down on a metal chair and put on the music. I was wondering what I should do for the next 15 minutes as it didn't seem productive; I didn't feel that I needed a rest in that time.

Then the thought crossed my mind. I should exercise. I'm not really into exercising a lot, although often I do Taekwondo patterns in the morning if I wake up early enough and uni doesn't start until much later, and I ride my bike on weekends. I also often walk to the train station after uni instead of catching a tram, since I'm not in a rush for time. It's not much though, so doing more is better.

The first thought would be to just walk up and down the platform, although I didn't feel that it would be very good exercise. But then I realized that I could do stepups on the chair that I was sitting on (not many people were around). I haven't done them for a long time, and it uses considerable energy and force, so I decided it would be a good way to use up my time until the train came.

So I did my stepups. After a while I got a bit tired, and did some stretching. Then the train came. I felt that this waiting time was not wasted at all; this time it was used well. Maybe next time I have to wait >10 minutes for a train, and if I don't feel tired, I should do some stepups again, and not be upset of having to wait. That was an opportunity found out of what would usually be considered wasted time.


As for med school admission, some schools including Monash and UWA sent their interview offers today. Melbourne hasn't as yet. However, my scores were greater than some who got offers for Monash interview, so it seems like barring any administrative errors, I probably got an interview offer from Melbourne or a place at UQ.

[update] Midsemester test next week, and assignment due too.

There is a midsemester test next week for one of my major subjects. There is also an assignment due too for another subject (the same one where the draft was due last week), and there is a prac this week for that subject too (which is the only prac this semester), and I have to write up a prac report. So there are quite a few things which need to be done in the next two weeks.

Anyway, today I surveyed the level 7 medical building at unimelb, since apparently some interviews have been held there. I felt that maybe I should get a feel of how the place is like, so I could be less nervous on the day. I had been there in first year once when I had nothing to do and decided to explore all the levels of the medical building, but I didn't spend that much time analyzing any particular level.

I also finished my volunteering commitment for the Student Appeal today. The Student Appeal raises money for students who live on campus and are finding it difficult to pay their bills and living expenses, and donations of $5 or more are matched by the university. It felt nice to be part the team raising money for a good cause. I also have something to say now for volunteering questions during future interviews or if I have to submit a CV, apart from saying that I have helped people in person and online with their VCE studies and GAMSAT practice questions without asking for money.

It seems like GAMSAT interview offers and UQ offers are going to be out soon. 2-8 days. I'm interested in what the UQ cutoffs will be, and also the interview cutoffs of the other unis.

Reunification (統一)

As a result of conflicts between communist and capitalist forces in the late 1940s and early 1950s, both China and Korea are divided into two parts. Both have been divided for about 60 years now. It's been a long time.

One day I hope there will be reunification of China. However, there are a lot of challenges. There are political challenges, due to the different types of government. And there are economic challenges, since the mainland communist China has a much lower GDP per capita than Taiwan. However, the mainland is catching up very rapidly, with an average of about 9% growth in real GDP per year ever since Deng Xiaoping took over as the de facto leader.

Historically though, this was not the first time that China has been divided. But I hope this situation will be resolved well during my lifetime.

[update] Not the best week...

The past week hasn't been the best. At the start, I had the draft of an assignment due, and then there was an online test for another subject worth 7.5% of it (not big, but not a small amount). I didn't do as well as I'd have liked; 75%.

Then the offers for USyd dent came out. It wasn't that surprising, but I didn't get an offer. Who knows, I might still get one in later rounds though. Logically it shouldn't have affected me too much, but sometimes I do wonder if I should have applied to UniMelb DDS and spend the extra $100... Especially with this uncertainty surrounding UQ, whether or not people who didn't preference them first would get a place, despite the supposed streamlining with the GEMSAS implementation. On the other hand, maybe that's the motivation I need to do well on the Melbourne interview...

Then I hear that the interview ratio of the Melbourne Medical course has been increased from 1.25 (125%) to 1.5 (150%). This seems to be not proven incorrect due to the interview ratio of 125% been taken off the unimelb website. Now it's better to know than not to know, but this news isn't good. I assume they might have been trying to compensate for USyd pulling out of the consortium, but USyd med people already have their offers so I wonder if it was actually necessary. That makes the ratio without FFPs 1.5*320/280=1.71, which is not low at all! And if only unbonded CSPs are included (I only put down accepting unbonded CSPs; logically I'd rather apply the next year and put UQ first than accept a bonded CSP), then 1.5*320/202=2.38, before accounting for all the guaranteed entry people...

Ah well. I wouldn't be surprised if I look back on this week in the future and it is just a small bump after all. But I do have to put it behind me, practice more for the interview, and keep up more with the study... I wish I could just focus on studies, seriously.

[update] Almost missed the draft submission date for an assignment... oops

This weekend, like I said earlier, had some time spent catching up on past lectures. So I am a bit more up to date, but not completely. Ah well.

I was totally unaware that a draft copy of an assignment was going to be due on Tuesday (16 August). I only found out that there might be an assignment due soon from someone's facebook update saying they had to look up a lot of articles for some assignment. Then I checked the online blackboard/learning management system and saw that it was due on Tuesday!

It's not so bad though since the draft is only marked as pass/fail (20% of the assignment mark), but I might have started it earlier if I knew the draft was going to be due this soon. The reason I did not know though was that I can't be bothered reading the messages on the online blackboard/LMS and I think the assignment was not discussed in lectures. Looking back at my emails, it seems like I didn't receive a notice about the assignment either. I should have read the LMS properly though, but usually when I use it I just go straight to the lecture notes to print them off without reading any of the news.

Anyway, I'm about 3/4 complete as far as the minimum word count is concerned now, and I'll probably finish the rest tomorrow. Lucky I happened to read facebook though; otherwise 3% of my overall mark for that subject could be gone just like that. Usually I don't like assignments and I prefer exams as assessment, but this assignment seems to be about searching up articles in journals, so I guess it's a bit hard to make it into an exam.

[update] GEMSAS interview offers in about two weeks. UQ offers soon.

Trying to put the USyd interview experience behind me, but learn from it at the same time, I've done some practice with questions in a group for the past few weeks. I've done a little talking into the mirror too, although not very much yet. But that said, I've been neglecting the study a bit. I'll try to catch up on the weekend.

According to the GMAC guide, UQ offers are released this month. I expect that I would have received an unbonded CSP from UQ if I preferenced UQ first, since they just use GPA as a hurdle (which I pass quite easily) and rank only with GAMSAT, without having an interview. There seems to be some controversy with the number of provisionals, notably a lack of an upper bound on the number of provisionals displayed in the GMAC guide or online, but I doubt the cutoff would be >83 (my guess is around 74 or 75; I think my score from last year of 77 would be enough).

However, due to the UQ (lower preference) issue, I wonder if I will get a place there if I happen to get passed on from Melbourne, if I would have received a place there initially by preferencing it first. I would have liked to have been able to apply to UQ directly to sidestep this issue like we could with USyd; with UQ pulling out actually making more sense as a non-interview uni with a different admission calendar. Otherwise, and perhaps this other option would be better to save application fees, it would be nice if they could have guaranteed that there would be spots reserved for second round offers.


Anyway, the GEMSAS interview offers, also according to the GMAC guide, will be released from 25-31 August, which is in about two weeks. I think that I will get one from Melbourne, but I am quite interested in what the cutoffs will be. I'm quite sure they will rise from last year though, due mainly to the big increase in the biomed and science cohorts this year.

Happy fourth anniversary, Girls' Generation (소녀시대)!

Yesterday, August 5, was the anniversary of Girls' Generation's (소녀시대, SNSD) debut performance, 다시 만난 세계 (Into the new world), on August 5, 2007. At the same time though, I was a bit disheartened by the enormity of the task ahead of me to improve my interview performance because USyd decided to release the MMI scores; to be honest, my performance was very bad. But I guess I am better off with that information; it does tell me how much I need to improve.

I was sad that because of my poor interview result affecting me, I couldn't feel the excitement of the anniversary of SNSD's debut like I would have hoped at the same time. But today now that I think of Girls' Generation's debut, I remember all the hard work they needed to do; about six years of intense training before the debut, followed with a lot of ongoing work to perfect their skills. From starting at a humble beginning, to now being very dominant in K-pop, it is inspiring how they have come a long way.

I might just reflect on that for a while, and try to draw inspiration from them. I've come so far down the path of medical school admission due to the GAMSAT score, but for me there is still quite some distance to go (unless I put UQ first). The road is not always easy, but if I keep making improvements, I can keep going further. One step at a time.


To SNSD, happy anniversary. I hope that it will be Girls' Generation for a long time.

Right now it's Girls' Generation! From now on it's Girls' Generation! Forever, Girls' Generation!

지금은 소녀시대! 앞으로도 소녀시대! 영원히 소녀시대!

소녀시대 짱! 소녀시대 파이팅!

[update] USyd releases interview scores.

Today, unexpectedly, USyd released the interview scores of medical school applicants. My score was very low, 84/180 (46.7%). That means that I have a lot of improvement to do with my interviewing ability.

It's interesting to note that the email suggests that the rank list is generated by adding up the interview percentage (out of 100%) with the GAMSAT overall score (out of 100). This is instead of adding up "standard scores" (aka z-scores), and since the interview scores have a higher standard deviation than GAMSAT overall scores, means that the rank list weights the interview more highly than a standard score approach.

Anyway, it seems like I have to improve my interview ability quite significantly (it was about 15% more for me to get an unbonded CSP this year in USyd). Thankfully, I only have three subjects this semester to worry about.