chris and farideh

Talking to my Aussie neighbour about University the other day, she said your son cant just choose what he wants to study here.
Its up to University on what he gets at the end of the his year 12 result, then the University would send him a letter to say what degree he can go for.
What if he doesn’t like the choices he has been offered, what happens then.

scrubbedexpat020

Fascinating concept! Very planned economy!!

My daughter is due to choose her uni/course preferences in June.

Just like the UK they set the bar, get the score and you are in.

Where did they get the info from?

Ian

Pollyana

www.mythsaboutaustralia.com ...... same site that tells you its always sunny and everything is cheap

sussex2

My daughters did A levels in the UK before applying for uni in Oz, so possibly slightly different.
They worked out from the uni web site how many points the subjects taken in the UK would give them. I guess this equates to the score from Oz year
12. They then looked at the points that had been needed to take their chosen courses the previous year, again on the uni web site. (The uni was not able to give an exact number of points required for each subject in their coming entry year as it depended on the number of applicants for the course. Lots of applicants, the higher the score needed I guess).
They were able to give several preferences of courses on their applications. The uni then, (in Jan I think) did a round of offers and they were advised if they got their 1st, 2nd 3rd choice etc.
Bad memory I'm afraid, but I think that is how it worked.

moneypenny20

Your neighbour is talking out of her backside or winding you up.

Kelli28

here in queensland it goes by OP score or rank each course will have a OP score cut off point eg dentist will be OP1 whereas another course at a different uni may be a OP 15 so if you have a high score you can pick which course at which uni you want. you apply through QTAC and give 6 preferences no1 the one you want followed by other choices if you dont have all the requirements for the first course you will be offered 2nd choice and so on, most get first choice i only know of one person at my uni who was given 2nd choice but he wanted to be a doctor and took 2nd choice as a science degree then after so many credits will be able to go on as a doctor
hope that helps k

themerlin

Although it might be a good idea, stop the unis pumping out people with worthless media studies and sociology degree (with the option center link form module)

rabsody

actually no they're not. your OP score dictates which degree you can go for. for instance if you get an OP8 and you want to study psychology which needs an OP4 to get in, you can't study it (there are other ways of getting in further down the line). there is a minimum OP requirement for every degree, if you don't get the results, you don't get in.

Kelli28

thats not entirely true you can get in with a lower OP if the course is undersubscribed. the OP or rank is only a guide on the previous year

quoll

You can certainly fail to qualify for some courses but that is not different from the situation in UK where you had to get certain grades at A level in order to qualify. But it certainly isnt a case of plugging in your year 12 pass grades and see what they offer you - you can make a choice of what to apply for.

moneypenny20

That's no different from how it works anywhere generally. She was told the Uni decides what degree the person goes for apparently irrespective of what they want to do - that's wrong.

Vash the Stampede

Absolute bollocks.

When you apply to a university, you provide them with three preferences, in order of priority. If the university has room for you, and if your school results are sufficient to meet the requirements of your preferred degree, then you get your #1 choice.

If you don't meet the requirements, you are instead offered a placement for one of your remaining two preferences (again, depending on quota levels and your school results).

At no time does a university tell you what you are going to study and force you to take it; they simply offer one or more of your three preferences.

That is not the same as a university telling you what you are going to study, regardless of your personal preference.

Ozzidoc

And remember that most degrees can be undertaken part-time.

I know someone who was absolutely gutted to miss out on his first (only?) choice - an accounting degree. He obtained a "trainee accountant" job, which combined part-time study with his job..he started doing bookkeeping etc initially and then worked his way up. After five or six years, he was way ahead of his peers career wise.

(Remember that in Oz, many people go to uni in their home town, so still live at home. Going to uni is less of a "lets move to the other side of the country for a wild time" period in one's life.)

chris and farideh

Thanks for all your replies, I'm still confuse, as she said that's what she was told at her daughter's school, she's going to Uni next year.
I'm going to call his school tomorrow to check about what my next door neighbour mentioned.
Let you guys know the answer tomorrow.

chris and farideh

So this is what I found out today, which is very useful for the University entry for Qld only, like someone said you get 6 preferences to choose.
Then you send it off to QTAC not the university itself I think she said you, and then your school would send the result of your final exam to them.
So that's how they decided whether you get the first choice for your degree & your Uni, if the student decide that he doesn’t want go to their first choice after all, then it would be offer to someone else who couldn’t get in because they didn’t get the right result & so on.
Each state is slightly different, so I was told if my son wants to go & study in another State he has to do the perfences for that State only.
He cannot put his preferences of different state in his Qld form, I don’t know if you get me.
I know it sounds confusing, but now I got it.