International student offers, quotas, deferral, transfer & change of immigration status
Offers
Offers of places are made by the Dean of the Faculty to those applicants who are considered to be most suitable, progressing through the suitable categories until all places have been offered.
Applicants are required to meet or exceed a minimum MMI score which will be determined by the Admissions Committee. Applicants will then be ranked on the basis of their GAMSAT/MCAT performance (50%) and their MMI performance (50%). This will generate a single ranked list of applicants. Offers will be made in sequence commencing with the applicant with the highest ranked score. Should it arise that applicants ranked equally need to be separated, the Overall GAMSAT/MCAT scores will be used.
Firm offers are only made to applicants who are already graduates. Provisional offers are made to applicants who have not completed the final year of their bachelor degree at the time of interview. The provisional offer lapses if the applicant fails to achieve a GPA of 5.5 or above on completion of the degree. An original academic transcript of the completed degree must be submitted to the Faculty of Medicine as soon as it is available and no later than 5 January of the year in which the applicant intends to commence the USydMP. Where the transcript does not state that the degree has been conferred, an award letter issued by your Faculty or University, showing the scheduled date of graduation ceremony, must also be provided by the due date. Offers are normally made in early November and a small number of subsequent offers may be made in December and January.
Successful applicants are given a firm date by which to accept the offer of a place; offers not accepted in writing by that date lapse.
No applicant will be admitted to a graduate-entry medical program with advanced standing and exemptions from participating in part of the program will not be offered. Notwithstanding the above, approval for exemptions from the non clinical components of Stages 1 and 2 of the University of Sydney Medical Program will be considered for applicants who have completed the requirements of the Bachelor of Dentistry at the University of Sydney.
Quotas
International applicants compete for places only against other international applicants. The quota for international students is additional to the quota for local students. In 2009, up to 55 international students will be admitted to the University of Sydney Medical Program (USydMP).
Deferral
Deferral of enrolment after accepting an offer of admission, or suspension of candidature after enrolment but prior to 31 March of the first year of enrolment, will only be permitted under the following circumstances:
- Deferral for one year may be permitted in the event of serious illness or misadventure that could not have been foreseen at the time of application. Appropriate evidence and documentation acceptable to the Faculty must be provided to support such a request for deferral.
- Deferral for one year may be permitted to allow suitably qualified applicants to undertake an additional research year for an Honours degree (i.e. those applicants enrolled in the final year of a bachelor's degree which leads directly to a one-year research program for an Honours level degree).
- Deferral for up to three years may be permitted to allow applicants who are enrolled in a higher research degree at a tertiary institution at the time of application to the University of Sydney Medical Program to complete that higher degree.
- In exceptional circumstances, the Dean may permit deferral for one year to allow suitably qualified applicants to complete a non-degree postgraduate research year at an institution approved by the Faculty.
- Requests for deferral must be in writing and must be received by Faculty by 30 November 2008. Requests will be considered by the Admissions Committee and the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.
Applicants who hold a deferred place cannot re-apply to a different school the following year unless they have previously declined the original offer.
Other than in exceptional circumstances, applicants who accept an offer of admission and then fail to enrol without notifying the university of their changed decision, or who enrol then subsequently withdraw or discontinue without prior approval, will not be reconsidered for admission to any of the graduate-entry medical schools for two years. A new application will be necessary.
Transfer
Students commencing a medical degree program at any Australian or New Zealand medical school are expected to complete the entire program at their chosen university. Any student who is currently enrolled or who has previously been enrolled in an Australian or New Zealand medical or dental degree program is not eligible to be considered for admission to any of the graduate-entry programs for a period of two years after the year of last enrolment in that degree program.
Transfer of enrolment between medical schools is not possible except in very exceptional circumstances and only with the approval of the deans/heads of the two schools involved.
Transfer will not be considered if an applicant has applied to the USydMP but has been rejected.
Applicants for transfer must have met the requirements for admission to the USydMP that were in place at the time of admission to the prior medical school.
At least 50 per cent of the USydMP would have to be completed, i.e. transfer into Stage 3 or earlier only will be considered.
Matters that the Dean will consider in reviewing an application for transfer include:
- Whether the medical program curriculum undertaken by the applicant at the prior institution is comparable to the University of Sydney Medical Program, as determined by the Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney;
- The academic performance of the applicant in the prior medical school; and
- The recommendation of the dean/head of the prior medical school.
Change of immigration status
There are two possible situations relating to the position of international applicants to the USydMP who change their immigration status:
- The applicant’s status changes before an offer is made.
Should an international student who is granted Permanent Resident (or New Zealand Citizen) status before an offer is made, his/her application will be void. He/she may re-apply for a local place in a subsequent intake. - An international student becomes an Australian permanent resident (or New Zealand citizen) after an offer is made.
An international student who is granted Permanent Resident (or New Zealand Citizen) status after an offer is made will transfer to a local fee paying place if a place is available. Permanent Resident Status is established from the date stamped on the student’s passport or a "certificate of Evidence of Resident Status" from DIMIA, not the date on which the application for status is made. If the student obtains Permanent Residency Status or advises the University after the census date, the student will be classified as an international student for the remainder of that semester. From the following semester or term the student will be classified as Permanent Resident.