Some hope for those in 1st year uni and those doing VCE

[methodsboy]

hey
found an article:
SOURCE: http://education.theage.com.au/pagedetail.asp?intpageid=82&intsectionid=2
AFTER VCE - OPTIONS
By Alexia Doherty
Published in Sage Edition 1 2001
If all else fails, take the backdoor
IMAGINE it’s the day you get your VCE results. Two years of hard work condensed into one printout.
You read down the page: a few Bs, a couple of As and a D, reminding you of the cringeable chem exam. On the bottom of the page in bold type is your ENTER — a few points less than the score you needed for your dream course.

Should you settle for your second, third or even fourth preference, or is there another way to achieve your ultimate career? Disappointing as it may seem, all is not lost. Just because you didn’t get into your preferred course the first time doesn’t mean that for the next three years you have to study something your heart really isn’t in.

Sometimes the path to your chosen career can take a slight detour, and you end up spending a year studying a similar course in the same subject area as your first choice. One student who took a backdoor into her course achieved her dream of studying physiotherapy.

Marnie Hullin remembers she had always wanted to study physio-therapy. Marnie completed her VCE in 1996, but about halfway through the year she realised that she wasn’t likely to get the score needed to study physiotherapy, ‘‘so I considered doing osteopathy instead, which needed a lower score’’.

Unfortunately, Marnie missed out on osteopathy as well, but did receive an offer to study human biology at RMIT. For Marnie, accepting this offer meant moving away from her family and friends in Central Victoria; something she wasn’t ready for just yet.

After making a few inquiries, Marnie found out that by studying first-year nursing, a related course in the health science field, she would be able to apply for a transfer to physiotherapy the following year. She knew her marks would need to be of a relatively high standard, but this was the break she was looking for, even if it did mean an extra year of study to reach her goal.

‘‘I submitted a change-of-preference form following the offer from RMIT and applied for and was offered a place to study nursing at LaTrobe Uni, Bendigo. This meant I wouldn’t have to leave home and that I would have a second chance at getting into physio,’’ Marnie said.

So Marnie embarked on her year of nursing, always keeping her aim to study physiotherapy in focus. Her marks remained consistently high, though she insists she hated the work, and Marnie made it through her transitional year. Much to Marnie’s delight, her extra effort proved worthwhile and after studying a course with an ENTER score of around 50, Marnie got her transfer into physiotherapy which has an ENTER score well into the high 90s. Please explain?

Working to Marnie’s advantage was the fact that LaTrobe Univer-sity, where Marnie was already within its system, offered the physiotherapy course only at its Bundoora campus in Melbourne. ‘‘It really helped that I was already studying at LaTrobe,’’ said Marnie. ‘‘I think that it makes changing courses much easier as you’re already on the books, so to speak. I didn’t have to apply through VTAC for the transfer, instead I lodged an internal transfer form. I knew that if I was successful and got the trans-fer, I would definitely have to move, but the extra year at home had prepared me for that.’

[Velox]

Transfers are always a good thing to think about, but are unis really more likely to accept internal ones? I've never heard a definitive answer to that (I suppose there probably isn't)

[Fyrefly]

I think this happens more often than people realise... an old article, but still an interesting read *thumbs up*

[costargh]

I think this happens more often than people realise... an old article, but still an interesting read *thumbs up*

+1.

As for the internal transfer thingo. Uni's will usually have a sorta pre-determined minimum average required  TO BE CONSIDERED for transfer (this is the case for Business & Economics faculty @ Monash).

Courses like Law which are highly competitive for transfers will require averages above the minimum that is required just to apply.

I think external may be harder when you are say, not at a Uni that is a member of the group of 8 or whatever its called and you're trying to transfer in?

hard to say

[Eriny]

Group of 8 unis do tend to be a bit discriminating. They'll let in students with good marks from non-group-of-8 unis, but I've heard that they don't always give credit for courses done at the first university.

Also, someone I know who transferred from ANU to Melbourne Uni (about 4 years ago) said that you were supposed to have an 80 average in order to get into Arts. This seemed fairly insane to me, especially given that it's between 2 group of 8 unis.

[Fyrefly]

They'll let in students with good marks from non-group-of-8 unis, but I've heard that they don't always give credit for courses done at the first university.

I remember a guy in my B.Law tute last year was basically repeating the subject... he'd already done it wherever it was he'd just transferred from but they said he had to do it again >.>