NUS Medicine admission process.

This goes out to all doctor aspirants, I found a post on brightsparks that was particularly insightful to the process of admission for NUS medicine.

http://forum.brightsparks.com.sg/showthread.php?p=8239#post8239

I shall copy and paste it here for your info:
hi im a current student in the school of medicine. let me just give a quick overview of the admission system as far as i know it to be. admission scores into med comprises both a university score and a faculty score. both are worth equal weightage.

The university score is calculated by the office of admission and is a standardised admission score for all faculties of the university.

Took this from the office of admissions website:
To compute your University score you would include:
the best four content subjects (i.e. 3 H2 and 1 H1 content subjects, with at least 1 content subject to be from a contrasting discipline)
either GP or KI grade taken in the same sitting
H1 Project Work
The maximum points for H2 and H1 subjects are 20 and 10 respectively.
We will include in the scoring your best MTL subject grade (e.g. ‘H1’ MTL or ‘O’ Level Higher MTL) only if you present the result for consideration and only if it raises your University Score.

Correct me if im wrong, but this basically puts your maximum attainable score at 90. basically what this means is that your H2 subjects are worth doubly as much as your H1 subjects, including PW and GP. of and yes you absolutely have to do chemistry at H2. and either biology or physics. theres no exception to this rule. H3s/S papers do NOT count at all towards your admission score. they only serve as brag factors in your CV/interview.

Unfortunately admission into med is very competitive as only 260 people out of the many thousands who applied will be offered admission. the first stage of this ardous admission process is the shortlisting that is done purely on the basis of your university score (ie based on your A level results only). Out of the many people who apply for medicine, almost all of them will have perfect content subject scores (ie 4 H2 As or at least 3 H2As and 1 H1A).

The main distinguishing factor between most of the applicants is therefore their GP and PW scores, where even the toppest JCs do not have throngs of distinction scorers. It basically boils down to a game of math. From my experience, the lowest score that i have seen shortlisted is H2:AAA,H1:ABC so i think in my opinion you can use this as a guide in your chances of being shortlisted. for those who took the old A level syllabus and are reapplying this year, the lowest grades i have seen being shortlisted is A:AAA, GP B3, PW Band 2)

I am assuming that there is a linear relationship between the grades you get for a subject and your university score for that subject. ie the difference between an A and a B is worth the same in score as the diff between a B and a C. If anyone has more info on this, pls feel free to correct me. Therefore, to rate your chances more accurately, you can only have a total of 3 H1 grades worth of blemishes (sorry i cant think of a better word) from the perfect score or 1H2 grade level + 1H1. but of course this is from what i gathered from last year, this year's competition may be even more stiff. but in general if the only flaws in your result slips are a GP B and PW B you can sleep soundly, you should get thru the first round easily.

Once you get through the first round, it will then be a different ball game altogether. You will be assessed based on a faculty score comprising 2 interviews, 1 essay and a portfolio. For those who want more information/tips, you can pm me for more details. However, the final admission score that is used to rank you (yes there is a rank) comprises both the faculty score and admission score in equal weightage as said earlier. So people who know that they barely got past the first round, have to work extremely hard for the second round if they want a chance at all. I remember the dean telling us before that the difference between the last admitted and the first rejected applicant has a final score difference of <0.1.

I am going to conclude this lenghty message with a few final tips. number 1. i think i have given you a good gauge of the score you probably need to get shortlisted. for people who definitely do not make the cut, you should probably not waste your 'first choice' option on medicine. it could help you secure a place in another faculty that you might like even better. secondly, people who are currently serving national service and are pretty sure that they will get pass the shortlisting round should start preparing your portfolio *_NOW_*. When the final shortlisting results come out, you have less than 2 weeks to prepare it for submission. if you are confined, lagi worse. and theres quite a lot work you need to do to submit a good portfolio, including obtaining 2 letters of recommendations and a personal statement. thirdly, even before you make that application for medicine in the next couple of days, ask yourself why you are doing it. are you doing it for yourself because that
is genuinely have the passion for it, or are you doing it for your parents/money. Medical school is NOT a honeymoon place and the life of a doctor is honestly a very hard one. countless hours in the hospital, neglected families and outcasted socially. granted, the monetary rewards are not bad at all, but i sincerely believe there are better ways of getting rich. be sure you are applying for the right reasons, as the whole application process is not just to shortlist the best applicants for medical school but also to ensure that medicine will fit you best as a career in the future.

very lastly, for those who are thniking of applying thru the Exceptional Individual Scheme (EIS), please feel free to do so. However i wish to clarify that getting accepted through EIS is definitely not an easy thing (definitely not easier than the mainstream route) as the people who apply through it have very compelling cases that you have to compete against. and not to say the number of positions avaliable are very very few.

I will be more than happy to answer any other queries you may have. including recommendations for overseas unis, costs etc. please feel free to pm me or reply below. I hope this post has answered many of your queries. Heres to the the best of luck for each and every1 of you. hope to see you come august.