In the first semester of first year, our residential assistant told a group of us that we wouldn't make it into Medicine, and that we shouldn't get too wrapped up in it. After we missed out, he told us again, and said we should do physio, pharmacy or something similar instead.
If you didn't get into Med from HSFY this year, you'll hear a version of that advice from somebody over summer. Some of it holds up, the piece that matters most for your next three years doesn't, and you should know which is which before you enrol for 2027.
Did he have a point about the odds?
On the numbers, he had some of it right. Otago received 1,141 applications for Medicine for its 2026 intake and admitted 347 people across all its categories, according to its Admissions Statistics 2026 report. Most people who apply from HSFY miss out. Telling a hall full of first years that the odds are long is accurate.
The HSFY category is also a once-only route. Otago's Medicine guidelines say you can apply through it once, and Auckland's first-year entry works the same way. If HSFY were the only door, his advice would have been fair warning.
We break the wider intake down in Otago Medical School's acceptance rate, including why the general pathway is tighter than the headline figure.
Didn't get into Med from HSFY? The route he left out
His advice treated one route as the whole map. Otago runs a Graduate category alongside HSFY. You finish a degree, sit the UCAT ANZ in the year you apply, and Otago ranks you on a weighted GPA from that degree. In the general graduate pathway it made 51 offers for the 2026 intake and 32 for 2025. Auckland takes graduates too, and from 2028 entry it ranks them on an interview and Casper once they reach a GPA of 6.0. Waikato's new graduate-only school takes its first 120 students in 2028.
Graduate entry is narrow as well. Otago's general graduate pathway turned 284 applications into 51 offers for 2026, and the lowest weighted GPA that got an offer was 8.12 on its old scale. Graduate entry rewards a different skill from HSFY, though. HSFY asks you to perform in one year of set papers. The graduate route gives you three years, a degree you choose, and papers you pick, and Otago gives your 300 level grades three times the weight of your 100 level ones. A person who struggled in HSFY can build a strong weighted GPA if they plan it.
We set out every school's graduate rules side by side in our complete guide to graduate entry Medicine in NZ.
Is physio or pharmacy a good backup?
Physio and pharmacy are good careers, and some people find they love them. Picking one because a person in authority told you to give up on Medicine is a different decision, and a risky one if Medicine is still what you want.
One rule is worth knowing before you accept any programme. At Otago, the qualifying degree for the Graduate category is the first university degree you're awarded, and you have to apply within three years of finishing it. Otago ranks the grades of the first degree you complete, whichever degree that is. That's fine if you'll do well in it and enjoy it. It's a problem if you're in it for the wrong reasons and your grades show it.
If you're torn, talk to a Student Development adviser through AskOtago before enrolment closes, and ask how your HSFY papers credit to each degree you're considering.
What to do instead
- Take a week before deciding anything. Results week is a bad week to pick a degree.
- Decide if you still want Medicine. Be honest with yourself. If you do, plan for the graduate route rather than drifting into something "close".
- Choose a degree you'll score well in. Otago gives no preference to degree or major, so pick the one where you can get A-range grades for three years.
- Learn how the weighted GPA works. Your 300 level papers count three times as much as your 100 level ones. Our worked example of Otago's weighted GPA shows the maths.
- Mark your application year. For Otago you sit the UCAT ANZ in the year you apply, so a test you sit in second year won't count for a final-year application.
- Keep a second path open. Pick a degree you'd be glad to have if Medicine doesn't happen.
Our RA was right that most people who apply from HSFY don't get in. Being right about the odds of one route doesn't make him right about you, because the graduate route runs on different rules and gives you three years to plan for them.
FAQ
Can I repeat HSFY if I didn't get into Medicine?
You can't use the HSFY category for Medicine a second time. Otago's guidelines say a candidate may apply through it once only, so for most people the next route is graduate entry. Check your own situation with AskOtago.
Do my HSFY papers count for graduate entry?
If they're part of your degree, they're 100 level papers, weighted 0.5 in Otago's calculation. Stronger 100 and 200 level papers can push weaker ones out of the pool.
How long does the graduate route take after HSFY?
It depends on how many of your HSFY papers credit to your degree. With a three-year degree that credits most of them, you'd apply in your final year and start Medicine the year after.
Missed out this year and not sure where to start? Take the free 60-second graduate entry check and see which stage you're at and what to do first.
Cutline is not affiliated with or endorsed by the University of Otago, the University of Auckland or the University of Waikato. Figures are from Otago's Admissions Statistics 2026 report and rules from the universities' published pages, checked 11 October 2026. Admission rules change every year, so check the official pages for the year you're applying.
