While you're still at school...

Health Sciences First Year is quite different from school in so many ways. The different style of teaching, the different style of assessment, some seriously cool labs. Oh, and the fact that people change - notably those slackers from school who are (generally unsuccessfully) trying to suddenly become high achieveing hard workers. The reality though is that there are some things you can do while still at school that'll definately help:

1 - First and foremost, sit UMAT in year 13! This didn't used to be the obvious thing to do, but in 2009 ACER (the guys who run UMAT) changed the rules slightly - now not only are you allowed to sit UMAT in year 13 and during HSFY, but when you do, Otago will consider your best mark of the two. So then, there are some definate advantages here - you have two shots at a high score, and if you get a decent score in year 13 there is so much pressure taken off (believe me, as someone who got a 96th percentile UMAT in year 13, when I say that I was incredibly glad that I sat UMAT in year 13). From my perspective it also means that maybe I don't have to hear as much groaning from people that "UMAT has so much luck involved" and "I'd make a very good doctor, but I only got 50th percentile in UMAT, therefore UMAT is flawed". Let me just say that I strongly support UMAT and this sort of unsubstantiated complaining pisses me off. The only downside is that it is really expensive - $200 to sit UMAT, $90 for the sample questions, and the cost of travelling to Dunedin or Auckland (those being the only two places in the country where you can sit UMAT - still it's a good chance to check out Otago, and the halls, before moving down). If it gets you into med (or whatever professional programme you're after) then it's totally worth it, but I'm just warning you now that you'll need to find a load of money.

2 - Take biology, chemistry and physics in year 12 and 13, and work hard at them (this is coming from an NCEA perspective by the way). You'll then know quite a bit of the HSFY stuff before HSFY, be familiar with science exams, have a good enough understanding of chemistry and physics that you can pick up the new content in CHEM191 and PHSI191 easily, and be used to working hard. Believe me - the hard work of HSFY isn't that bad if you build up to it from school. People who slack off in school but resolve to "pick up their game for HSFY" generally only last a few weeks before slacking off again. By the way, the really relevant achievement standards are level 2 cell biology, level 3 genetics, level 2 waves, level 2+3 mechanics, level 3 radiation, level 2+3 electricity, and level 3 aqueous systems (that's just what I reckon though, and most of the NCEA science standards will feature at some point in HSFY).

3 - (If you're going for med) Work out why you want to do medicine. Not only will this help motivate you through HSFY, it'll make sure that if you do get that med offer you still want to do it. Throughout HSFY you'll be exposed to a load of people (including some from the med school) activately talking down medicine as a career. Partly it's about being realistic - medicine is a very hard path, and one you should only take if you honestly can't see yourself doing anything else. It'd suck to work your arse off during HSFY for a med offer, only to realise at the end of the year that a med offer isn't really what you want. I'm not going to go over my reasons for wanting to do med. I find that this is a personal thing - everyone seems to differ a bit as to why they're doing it. That's fine, as long as you have your reasons (and don't you let anyone tell you that their reasons for doing med are any better). If you know you want to do med, then by all means go for it. Just make sure you are sure of this.