Charles Darwin University vs Griffith

GAMSAT cut-offs. Charles Darwin University — not used or not published. Griffith — Minimum 50 in each section AND 50 overall. Interview shortlist rank: 50:50 unweighted GPA (as %) + overall GAMSAT (out of 100). Final offer rank: 50% interview-selection rank + 50% GUMSAA interview…

Timing shapes the choice as much as the score. GAMSAT is graduate-only and sits in March and September; UCAT-ANZ is mostly undergraduate and sits in July. A few schools run their own selection model with no national test at all.

Charles Darwin University requires Recent school leavers need an ATAR of 85 or above after the addition of any relevant adjustment factors. Applications go through SATAC (code 113371) and must be accompanied by a CDU Menzies Medical Program Application Pack.

40 Commonwealth Supported Places, allocated NT First Nations 40%, NT residency 30%, NT residency MMM 4–7 15%, non-NT First Nations 10%, rural and remote 5%.

CDU’s statements on international entry conflict: for 2027 entry the course page and the CMMP FAQ list 10 onshore international fee-paying places (applicants in Australia without a student visa) on top of the 40 Commonwealth Supported Places, while the course page’s key-details box, the 2027 Course Catalogue and the FAQ’s eligibility answer say the course is open only to domestic students, and the FAQ’s fees answer and the 2027 Admissions Guide say all places are Commonwealth supported.

Griffith requires Bachelor/key degree with a minimum unweighted GEMSAS-schema GPA of 5.0/7.0; GAMSAT 50+ overall and 50+ in each section (valid 4 years) or MCAT 123+ in every section (valid 2 years); plus GUMSAA — an online MMI in Griffith's own terminology, but delivered as a self-scheduled recorded assessment rather than a live in-person station circuit.

Apply via GEMSAS (domestic) or direct to Griffith (international).

ATAR. Charles Darwin University — 85 or above after adjustment factors (recent school leavers). Griffith — no published cut-off.

Graduate-entry GPA. Charles Darwin University — not applicable or not published. Griffith — Minimum 5.0/7.0. Griffith explicitly states "a GPA required for interview selection is likely to be significantly higher than 5.0". Minimum eligibility is an unweighted GEMSAS-schema GPA of 5.0/7.0…

Read every ATAR figure as a selection rank, not a raw score. Educational access bonuses, rural-origin uplift and Indigenous pathways all adjust it, so the published number is rarely the one that decides your application.

Charles Darwin University uses Panel (Panel interview, 30 minutes); Griffith uses MMI (GUMSAA — an asynchronous, one-way recorded online MMI delivered on the SAMMI (Scalable Automated Multiple Mini Interviews) platform, self-scheduled within a set…).

These two formats reward different skills — Panel emphasises narrative coherence and the ability to develop a thread under follow-up questioning, while MMI rewards breadth and quick recovery.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, Charles Darwin University may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, Griffith is the better fit.

Charles Darwin University runs a PBL curriculum; Griffith runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Charles Darwin University leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Griffith uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Five-year direct-entry Bachelor of Clinical Science Medicine/Doctor of Medicine (SMED01, 400 credit points), the CDU Menzies Medical Program. Years 1– 4-year graduate MD, described by year (Griffith's documents number the phases inconsistently). Years 1-2 are campus-based at the Gold Coast (Southport

Intake size: Charles Darwin University — First cohort (February 2026): 42 students, including two First Nations students, from about 1,900 applications; Griffith — 2027 cycle: 208 domestic places (148 CSP + 60 BMP), of which about 80 are reserved for Griffith and UniSC Bachelor of…. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Charles Darwin University: All of Years 3–5 are block placements across the Northern Territory; for placements outside Darwin, students live in towns such as Katherine, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and Nhulunbuy. First Nations Culture and Health is one of five themes, with a pass/fail task in every Year 1–2 unit, and research is mentored through Menzies School of Health Research.

The course is built on Western Sydney University’s curriculum, which CDU is adapting for the NT. Study is full time and face to face, and students must live in Darwin. AMC accredited to 31 March 2031 with conditions (decision of 29 November 2024).

Griffith: Griffith's 4-year graduate MD is based at the Gold Coast campus (next to Gold Coast University Hospital) or the Sunshine Coast Health Institute at Birtinya.

A new Toowoomba teaching location carries 10 unencumbered CSPs from 2027, but it is not selectable at application: students who have accepted Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast offers are invited to be considered in early November 2026, and if places remain top-up offers may be made via GEMSAS; it is not open to Bachelor of Medical Science provisional-entry students.

Griffith's 2026 pages already show a small Toowoomba Year 1. Early clinical contact in Years 1-2 is through the General Practice Longitudinal Program and community placements; hospital rotations start in Year 3. Griffith also has rural (GURPAS) and First Peoples entry pathways.

GURPAS gives competitive rural applicants priority access to the MD and does not itself make a place bonded; First Peoples applicants sit no GAMSAT and no GUMSAA at all, going instead to a dedicated panel interview. Pre-interview ranking weights GAMSAT and GPA broadly equally; the MMI then carries substantial weight in the final composite.