I wouldn't be so negative towards VU, I now live in the east, about 10 mins from Monash and Deakin, so that's where I want to be, I didn't even put down any Melbourne or anything else, all my preferences were Monash and Deakin, cause they're close!
But if I lived in the west where VU was the only option, there wouldn't be any reason why I'd avoid it, I just don't think it's right to say "oh VU is shit because it needs low ATARs", in fact, one of my friends went to VU for Law, and she's now training to be a barrister, so it's not bad at all, she said that the lecturers were genuine and helpful and that the other students were good friends, so I don't think there's anything wrong with VU, there's just some really bad stigma about it which it really doesn't deserve