Short answer: pick a paper you can score highly in, because your eighth paper counts toward the same GPA that decides your professional programme application. The three most popular picks are MAOR102, STAT115 and MATH130, and all three are realistically high-scoring options.
Why this decision matters more than people think
Students agonise over their seven core papers and then choose the eighth almost at random. But at the GPA levels that Medicine and Dentistry now require, every paper is load-bearing. One mediocre result in a paper you picked casually can cost you more than the difference between a good and a great result in a core paper.
So the question is not "which is most interesting" or "which looks best". Nobody is comparing your eighth paper choice. The question is which one you can reliably do well in.
The popular options
MAOR102 (Māori Society)
Conversational and concept-based rather than calculation-heavy. It is about the Māori worldview, history and contemporary society, assessed half internally and half by a final exam. If you write reasonably and engage with the ideas, it is very manageable, and the content is genuinely relevant if you are heading into health in Aotearoa.
STAT115 (Introduction to Biostatistics)
A genuinely nice introductory paper. There is no maths prerequisite, it starts from the basics of data and probability, and it uses R throughout. The main skill is choosing the right approach for a given scenario rather than heavy computation. Concepts build on each other, so the one thing that hurts people is falling behind early.
MATH130 (Fundamentals of Modern Mathematics)
Similar in spirit to STAT115: introductory, approachable, and very doable if you keep up. One real difference worth knowing: MATH130 is not all multiple-choice. Some answers require working to be shown, and that working is marked. So practise producing a full method, not just landing on the right number.
How to choose between them
- If you are stronger at writing and ideas than numbers: MAOR102.
- If you want the lightest computational load with no maths background: STAT115.
- If you are comfortable with maths and happy to show working: MATH130.
You can of course take something else entirely. These three are just the well-trodden paths, which means more people around you are doing them and more shared resources exist.
One thing not to do
Do not pick a paper purely because you heard it is a bludge and then ignore it all semester. Every one of these is easy to score well in if you do the work, and easy to score badly in if you treat it as free marks. The paper does not care that it was your eighth choice.
Practice questions are available for all three on Cutline: MAOR102, STAT115 and MATH130.
