Brit Princess xxx

Haven't been on this in ages, I've done some research online but it's all so confusing. I'm 17 and live in England, my mum is thinking about moving to Australia with myself and my brother and sister. I will be applying to university next year and want to know about Australian universities.

First of all, which universities are said to be good, i'm thinking about studying dentistry. I also want to know what exactly I need to do to apply to school.

Any advice would be sooo helpful, thank you x

gelato

I'm Australian and went to an Australian university many mooons ago. As a general rule, most Australian students go to uni in the same town where they grew up - unless they're from a small town which does not have a uni or want to study something specific like dentistry which isn't offered at all unis. If you're moving to a capital city (Melbourne, Sydney, Perth etc.) then dentistry should be offered at at least one university in that town and you can just go there. Most Australian students live with their parents and you only get Austudy (state subsidy) if your parents have a lower income.

Will you be doing year 12 or the HSC in Australia? Australian universities take students based on their mark in the HSC. It can be pretty competitive to get into something like dentistry so doing only year 12 in Australia (rather than years 11-12 which is the period you study for the HSC) may put you at a disadvantage.

Also would you qualify as an Australian student paying HECS after such a short time in Oz? You need to find out because if you have to be a full fee paying foreign student it will cost you a lot of money to go to university in Oz. HECS is a deferred payment which is a lot less which is what Australian students pay.

I'd email or call some university admissions offices in the town where you're planning to move and ask these questions.

Dreamy

Your best starting point would be here:

Going to Uni

Smartinis

I know its hard coming over at 17, our sons were 12, 16 and 18 when we came nearly 5 years ago but they love it here have settled really well and wouldn't dream now of being anywhere else. As for Uni, there are some great uni's here in Australia so I'm sure you won't have any problem finding a suitable course. Our eldest two are both at uni here one finishes his Masters this year, he came over with British A levels and getting a place was really straightforward, even though he went interstate to study Marine Biology.

Are you doing your A levels at the moment? If you are make sure you finish them first, if you get good grades they are easily excepted here. If you don't finish your A levels you will have to go back to school here and complete your HSC /VCE etc depending on the state you live in. This is a 2 year course like A levels and you get a university ranking depending on your score. It is possible to do just the final year in some cases but it will probably seriously affect your score as here students have to take 6 subjects including Maths unlike the A levels which are usually only 3 or 4.

If you aren't an Australian citizen you won't be able to get HECS. This is the deferred payment scheme like a student loan for Uni fees. If you are coming as a PR then you will however be able to apply for a "commomwealth assisted" place and get domestic fees. This is really important as non CA places and international fees are huge. Make sure you apply for the assisted places. You will however have to pay each semester upfront with out discounts that apply to Aussie students. If you are only on a temporary visa then you will get stung for the international fees.

I hope this helps, pm me if you have any queries, we've been through it both ways here and have son number 3 also going to uni here next year. It is confusing but once you have your place sorted I'm sure you'll love it here as much as ours do.

Good luck.

PeterYork

I would recommend the University of Melbourne*: great campus in the inner city, diverse students (many international), excellent academic quality. They also have a dentistry program. Yes find out as much as you can about student finance, its a bit different here.

*Conflict of interest: I work there!

moneypenny20

Check out this site, may be of help.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

From a glance a while back at the requirements to get on dentistry courses you need two things. A very high entrance mark and pretty deep pockets. The courses are amongst the most expensive to undertake at any Oz Uni.

caliburn

I heard quality of Australian universities is fairly mediocre, nothing close to the top universities in the UK. However, if you do insist on getting your education from the Oz, here's a few institutions to consider:

1. University of New South Wales
2. University of Melbourne
3. None
4. None
5. None
6. Mcquarie Uni, Uni of Sydney, Aus National Uni

louise123

I'm going to Monash University for 6 months, does anyone know anything about the quality of of the uni compared to others?

scrubbedexpat020

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monash_University#Rankings

It's very good. Daughter's choice was Monash or Melbourne. Melbourne is in the city whereas Monash is in the suburbs. Better shopping in the city.

Good place for questions http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/80

Ian

louise123

Thanks for the link, I have done some research but there isn't much information out there. I think Monash doesn't get much of a mention because of University of Melbourne being so close by and located in the city etc.

renth

That's pretty harsh, OK there's no Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Harvard, MIT equivalents but the Group of 8 are excellent universities - http://www.go8.edu.au/

Plus if you do dentistry at UWA you'll get taught by my friend!

Brit Princess xxx

Thankyou everyone for your advice, I know that the UK universities are better regarded internationally than the Australian ones but if my family are going to move to australia I dont really want to be in England by myself.

Me and my mum have been talking about the options and as the fees for international students are so high even though we do have a visa we may leave next year and I'll go behind a year or try to catch up in Year 12.

I've finished my AS levels, but havent finished the whole course, I have one more year to do. All your advice has been really helpful thankyou.

And I've looked at the universities suggested by all of you and I think that the university of melbourne looks really good because I like the thought of being in a city but campus based. I'll let you all know what we decide to do.

Many thanks xx

scrubbedexpat020

Not so fast, tiger, we haven't finished yet.

If you get "A" levels here's the rough conversion to VCE ENTER http://www.britzinoz.com/uk-australi...instance=tml-1
An ENTER of 99 means you are in the top 1%, 80 equals top 20%.

WRT Melbourne you need to investigate the Melbourne Model. Melbourne offers a limited number of general degrees one of which is required for entry to postgrad law or medicine at 21. You can't do law or medicine at undergrad.

At Monash you can go straight on to a Law or Medicine degree at 18.

Degrees are normally 3 years, for honours you do an extra year. Honours is usually done here for students wanting to go on to a PhD.

Here's a link that compares Aus with UK degrees http://www.aber.ac.uk/pga/Comparability.html

You can do a double degree over 5 years and walk out with 2 full degrees at Monash e.g. Commerce/Law. I think it's best to do a Bachelor/Master's as that the norm in UK and US.

Monash has 3 main campuses. The entry requirements for a course vary by campus due to supply and demand. For the main campus they may require an ENTER of 90, for a campus in the sticks the ENTER could be less than 80.

Another uni in the city for shopping is RMIT. In VIC, the premier league is Melbourne and Monash. RMIT is Championship. RMIT looks like an office-block, Melbourne has a real campus.

Melbourne does excellent exchanges. Daughter is off to Marshall Business School, Uni of Spoilt Children (this is how the locals refer to Uni of Southern California as the rich kids go there) in LA in 7 weeks for a semester. Luckily, she doesn't have to pay their fees otherwise she wouldn't be going.

Ian

balkanghost

For Australian study and career resources see MyFuture.

If you are not an Oz citizen you be paying an arm and a leg to study Dentistry.... it maybe much more economic and practical to look at a pathway, you can at least get a taste of the dental care field for much less $$....