Applying for tertiary study in Victoria A complete guide to applying for courses, SEAS, and scholarships through VTAC Presented by Ms Vivian Seremetis, Careers Coordinator, Mazenod College Parent Information Session 2019 VICTORIAN TERTIARY ADMISSIONS CENTRE 40 Park Street, South Melbourne, VIC 3205 Telephone: +61 3 9926 1020 www.vtac.edu.au Facebook: www.facebook.com/vtacguide | Twitter: twitter.com/vtacguide | Youtube: www.youtube.com/vtacmedia

What is VTAC? The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) is the central point for applications to Victorian universities, TAFEs, and Independent Tertiary Colleges VTAC also calculates the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) for Victorian Year 12 students Applications open on Monday 5 August, and timely applications are due by Monday 30 September Students won’t be applying individually to each institution, but instead submitting one application through VTAC for up to 8 course preferences.

CourseSearch & Individual Appointments Appointments with Ms Seremetis, one-on- one to discuss plans for next year. Uni, TAFE, Apprenticeships, “To Apply or Not to Apply”! VTAC CourseSearch lets you search across universities, TAFEs, and independent tertiary colleges in one place Lists all essential requirements and admission criteria including prerequisites Advanced search options include filtering by institution, area of interest, and qualification level Available at vtac.edu.au and in the free VTAC app CourseSearch lets you search across all the institutions at once – good for comparing courses Information displayed in CourseSearch is provided by institutions 2018 CourseSearch available from late July

Year 11 & Year 12 Guide Detailed information about how to apply A guide to researching and making decisions Interviews with students and professionals in various areas Copy distributed to students already or download for free at the VTAC website YELLOW GRID!!! Draft application and further information about the VTAC process, SEAS, Scholarships and the new December round of offers. – Check your son’s grid!!! What is he including in his application? The Guide does not contain course information. PDF download is located in the “Publications” section of the VTAC website.

Create a VTAC account from Monday 5 August All VTAC applications are completed online using the same VTAC ID and PIN Creating an account is a simple question-based process If you’re a current Year 12 student, make sure you enter your student number so that we can access your results later in the year WE DO THIS AT SCHOOL! NO NEED TO PRE-REGISTER OR CREATE AN ACCOUNT FOR YOUR SON! One registration only To correct errors, change the details online or call VTAC. Do not create another registration. For current Year 12 applicants, use a personal, not school email address Some school email addresses are deactivated by the time offer emails are sent Four digit PIN Lost PINs can be retrieved from the log in form. Nominate a proxy if needed VTAC cannot discuss your application with anyone except you (not even your parents) unless you have specified an authorised nominee when registering.

Applying for courses List up to eight courses/institutions Preference order – always list courses in the order you want to get into them To add course preferences: Select institution and/or course or type in the course code. To move a course on the preference list use the up/down buttons. To delete a course use the x button. Explain why preference order matters – you won’t find out about lower preference courses Be careful with X button – if a course has an early closing date and it is removed after that closing date, it can’t be re-added

How to order your preferences video Animated video available on the VTAC YouTube channel (VTACMedia - https://www.youtube.com/user/vtac media/videos) Covers how the preference system works, including why it’s important to list preferences in order of most wanted courses

Application dates for Mazenod College VTAC applicants: Book an appointment with Ms Seremetis to get assistance in selecting your 8 preferences via the google doc! Attend Open Days in August All applications are done at school in homeroom groups Last 2 weeks of term allocated time to chase up students who missed application sessions and to assist eligible SEAS applicants Homeroom Application Date Location Cagney, Coghlan & Foynes  Tuesday 3rd September 2019 Lecture Theatre Gavin, James & Lombard Thursday 5th September 2019 Mannix, Ryan & Simmonds Tuesday 10th September 2019 May run only if required Thursday 12th September 2019

Course application: payment 2019 timely application fee for current year 12 students: $39 Late fee $113 / very late $148 Application fees are paid using a credit or debit card via PayPal (PayPal account is not required) VTAC encourage applicants to make payment at the time of submitting an application, to avoid issues with the application down the track: Payment deadlines – domestic year 12 applicants To receive a printed ATAR statement 5pm, Monday 9 December To be eligible for December offers 4pm, Saturday 14 December To be eligible for January offers 4pm, Thursday 19 December

SPECIAL ENTRY & ACCESS SCHEME (SEAS) categories Category 1: Personal information and location As simple as ticking a box All applicants should apply for this category Category 2: Disadvantaged financial background Category 3: Disability or medical condition Category 4: Difficult circumstances E.g. disruption to living situation, affected by illness or death of relative/friend, natural disaster, refugee status Apply for as many categories as relevant to your circumstances, but do not claim the same circumstances under multiple categories

Financial documentation Documentary evidence of benefit or family tax benefit in immediate family Impact statement Statement of support 123456789A (applicant’s own CRN) OR OR CRN only possible if it’s in the applicant’s name OR documentary evidence if it’s in a parent’s name OR impact statement and statement of support NO SCREENSHOTS for Centrelink doco Evidence must be no older than 3 months at the time of submission.

SEAS documentation – categories 3 & 4 Where needed: Impact statement – written by applicant Statement of support – written by health practitioner or relevant responsible person Impact statements without an accompanying statement of support will not be considered. For more information about SEAS documentation, visit www.vtac.edu.au More information and examples online

Scholarships VTAC collects scholarship applications for many institutions One application, many institutions Scholarships are not just for academic performance Many equity scholarships have similar documentation requirements to SEAS Statements must be submitted separately for each using the correct coversheet. List of scholarships available on the VTAC website Including scholarships which require direct applications to institutions Scholarships are not just for 99.95 students! Everyone should apply.

Six offer rounds Have you booked an overseas trip?? Do I need to be in Australia during December & January??? This graph is based on the real offer numbers from last year. The vast majority of offers are made in the first round. This is why the 14 and 20 December COP deadlines are so important.

2pm Next day Offer advice From: VTAC Enrolment instructions From: Institution 2pm Accept Defer Reject Next day December round offer released Wednesday 18 December, 2pm. COP opens at 4pm on the same day. Next round of offers made on Wednesday 15 January 2020, 2pm. Advise students to check enrolment deadlines carefully. These are set by institutions so are not all the same. Should I be going overseas???? Enrolment is with the institution, not VTAC

More information Need help? At school? Talk to Ms Seremetis or send an email Call VTAC on (03) 9926 1020 Email VTAC through your VTAC account Send VTAC a Facebook message More information Step-by-step info on the VTAC website Articles in the VTAC Year 11 & Year 12 Guide (printed copies at school or free PDF online) Fact sheets on the VTAC website Short videos on our YouTube channel