Hello!
I am looking to apply at Monash for medicine, I am in year 12 now, and am a rural applicant (lived in a rural place for 9 years).

I came across three courses for med (The normal one with just CSP, ERC, and BMP). After reading a lot online about ERC (as I had never heard of it before), this seems like a pretty good option. I am in a dilemma to choose between just CSP or ERC as my first preference.

Just wondering if I will I have a greater chance of getting into med at Monash if I put ERC as my first preference since I am a rural student? Or should I go with CSP-->ERC-->BMP (in order of preference)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you 🙂

no, you won't have a better chance in ERC vs CSP. however, you will get an advantage for being rural so long as you sign up for the Dean's Rural List (make sure to do this). I highly highly recommend you don't put ERC first, because CSP is the "default" course with no obligations. you can always put a rural placement as one of your rotations as a CSP student if you want, it's just that you won't be obligated to do so.

if you put (for example) ERC -> CSP -> BMP, then you might have the scores to get a CSP offer but you'll get ERC instead since it's less competitive. you would only get the chance to go to a metropolitan placement in your last year of the course (for just a couple of months).

of course, if you are truly convinced that you won't want to do more than one metropolitan placement then you should preference ERC over CSP. however, the majority opinion is that a CSP place is "better" than a ERC, which is evidenced by the higher ATAR cutoffs.

source: am a med student

  • doe replied to this.

    Thank you so much, your advice was a huge help! nemo11

    I have applied now - I put CSP --> ERC --> BMP. Just double checking, I will only receive an email to sign up for the dean's rural list in September right?
    Also, do you know if how rural you are matters at Monash, i.e. will an RA3 applicant have a higher chance than a RA2 applicant? Or is it just like if you are rural or not?

    Thank you!!

      Yes, you'll get an email after VTAC preferences close, but I think the date listed is in October.

      I think the exact rural classification does get considered, but not in the Dean's Rural List. The DRL basically just lowers the UCAT cutoff for you to receive an interview. After that, Monash uses SEAS data to get your final "aggregate" (ATAR+UCAT+Interview score), which I'm pretty sure takes into account the location of your high school.

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