Australia & New Zealand Higher Education Destination Coffees April 21, 2011

Why Australia/ New Zealand? Why not? – Australia and New Zealand are some of the best places to live while you learn In comparison to other countries, cost of higher education is affordable; international students can often work on a student visa Strong international reputation for excellence – standings in world rankings of research universities Great preparation for future success Multicultural societies with English-speaking cultures Built in 6 month “gap” experience

What To Think About Australian universities operate separate admissions procedures for domestic and international students. Many Australian universities have intakes in both Semester 1 (February/March) and Semester 2 (July). Applications submitted in September for February intake. Faculty Admissions Committees often set specific subject requirements and selection procedures relating to particular degree courses. You may direct entry to Law or Medicine Standard university degree is 3 years Although some courses at some institutions operate strict quotas (and particular application procedures will apply) most courses operate on a “rolling” admissions basis in that selection decisions are made as applications from international students are received. Because of southern hemisphere, school year begins in Feb. Apps submitted in September. A few universities will take in July. Works better for WAB calendar, students will be out of sync. Majority are Feb entrants, housing may be limited in semester 2 entry. Question to ask is when does your program begin at that school and when do you want to start. Need to think about what will you do for 9 months.

Australian Unis There are different types of universities in Australia: the "Group of 8" research universities (ANU, Monash, Universities of Adelaide, Melbourne, Western Australia, Queensland, Sydney, South Wales) Technology universities (RMIT, Curtin, University of South Australia, University of Technology Sydney, Queensland University of Technology) Universities that focus on undergraduate teaching (Edith Cowan, University of Canberra, Central Queensland, Charles Sturt) TAFE (Technical and Further Education) Colleges and Institutes: Vocational education institutions, sometimes bridging institutions between high schools and universities. Admission criteria will differ among these groups, and even from one university to another.

New Zealand Unis New Zealand has 8 Universities (University of Auckland, University of Waikato, Victoria University of Wellington, Canterbury University, University of Auckland, University of Otago, Lincoln University, Massey University) 25 Polytechnics and/or Institutes of Technology (Auckland Institute of Technology, Central Institute of Technology, Christchurch Polytechnic, Waikato Polytechnic) What is the difference between Universities and Polytechnics and Institutes of Technology? Historically the main difference had been that Universities focused on academic programmes and the Polytechnics focused on practical training. Taylors Auckland Foundation Year (TAFY) designed to prepare you for entry into the University of Auckland, AUT University and Massey University.

General Requirements Secondary School Leaving Certificate: Prefer IB diploma, but also possible to enter with a High School Diploma and scores from SAT (for non- citizens) Language proficiency: Prefer the IELTS, but may take TOEFL Foundation Year: Also possible to do a Foundation Year if you don’t meet general requirements IELTS is required for Australian immigration – either is okay for admission

Application Process New Zealand – Apply directly to each institution. Australia - Australian citizens and permanent residents apply through the tertiary admissions centre in the state in which they plan to study IB students – convert your IB score to the tertiary leaving exam score equivalent to see what minimum points are required for each course, at each uni

Tertiary Admissions Centers New South Wales – University Admissions Centre (UAC) www.uac.edu.au Queensland – Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) www.qtac.edu.au South Australia – South Aus. Tertiary Adms. Centre (SATAC) www.satac.edu.au Western Australia – Tertiary Institutions Service Centre (TISC) www.tisc.edu.au Victoria – Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) www.vtac.edu.au Tertiary admissions centers for Australian, New Zealand, permanent residents only

Sample IB:ATAR score conversion table

Resources http://www.internationalstudent.com/school-search/international- colleges.shtml http://www.australian-universities.com/ http://www.idp.com/ http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/Australia/Education/High er_Education/Colleges_and_Universities/ http://studyinaustralia.gov.au/Sia/en/Home.htm http://www.studyingnewzealand.com/ http://www.i-studentadvisor.com/international-courses-new- zealand.html - IDP ( International Development Program) Education Australia. IDP is a semiprivate company set up by Australian universities and their government and serves as a “one stop shop for Australian education.”

Advice from WAB families Residence is very difficult to get – think about shared housing and start looking before you apply. Important: which city, lifestyle do you want? Think carefully about your “gap” semester Keep an open mind, especially when returning to your home country Aussie unis moving towards more general education in first year – to help retain students For example, Monash will move to a 4-year degree in 2012

Q & A Ms. Bernie Longboy A-I Mr. Peter Hauet J-M Ms. Aleka Novitski Bilan N-T Ms. Michelle Chow-Liu U-Z