Australian Admissions

[Miss MAS]

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Hi all,

I am applying to Uni Melbourne's DVM program as a local student. I live in the US but have dual citizenship, so I am having a hard time finding out how competitive the program is. I have been emailing with someone in admissions, but she doesn't seem to have any statistics so I really have no clue how hard it is to get in. Can anyone help me out with this? I was told there are 80 spots, but not how many apply, etc.

I'm also wondering how the subsidized spots are picked? And since it is so expensive to live in Melbourne, do people have trouble getting enough money to cover all their expenses? Or are the loans reasonable?

Thanks!

 

[sunshinevet]

As the new DVM program has only been going for about a year or so, it is too difficult to accurately say how competative the program is. You will find there are certain spots allocated to internationals, to people with guarrenteed places, and to local competing students. Ask her about spot allocation.

Here at Murdoch, we recieve around 300 applications each year for 30 spots, for local students, so its very competative. (The rest of the class is made up of ~30 international students, and ~30 studenst who had guarrenteed places from highschool marks.) Melbourne is a larger, more popular city - you can probably expect it to be slightly more competative. Though it depends how many spots they allocate to each category.

What do you mean by "subsidized"? Are you talking about government supported places? If you are a local student undertaking a degree, all places are government supported unless you actually apply for one that is not - this usually means you can have lower marks to get into a course. For highly competative courses such as vet and medicine, the option to not be government supported does not apply, so they cant let in students with lower numbers in exchange for money. Also, students here do not take out loans to cover the costs of studying - you can apply for centrelink, which is money the government gives you to help pay for the cost of studying - but most also work. (I'm a third year student at Murdoch and I work ~27 hours a week.)

 

[Miss MAS]

Thanks! I guess I mean the supported spots... I was told that there are some commonwealth supported spots and some full fee paying spots. Do you know how these are selected for? And how much is covered by the government? About how much will you be in debt once you finish?

As far as working, people that I know in US schools have a hard time working more than 15 hours a week and having enough time to study.... do you have any trouble with this?

And for the application process, the person I spoke with in admissions said that GRE scores are not required, and there is no personal statement... do you know if this is true?

 

[sunshinevet]

Most full fee paying spots in vet courses are for international students - here at murdoch we dont have any full fee spots for local students, and thats the same at CSU, JCU and Adelaide - i know that Sydney had some so maybe melbourne does too, but full fee paying spots for local students will be extremely rare. (Ie., if there are people in your class who are full fee local students, you will find only one or two.) When you actually apply for the vet degree at Melbourne, if full fee paying is an option for local students, there will be two different things to apply for - one which is commonwealth supported, one which isnt. So you just apply for the commonwealth supported place, and then if you get in, the whole degree will be subsidized. You don't apply for vet and find out later if you're getting the subsidy - when you apply, you apply for the degree with the subsidy.

The subsidy is a lot - full fees at Murdoch are ~40k/year, and I pay around 10k. That money comes from an interest free loan from the government that i dont have to pay back until i start earning real money. So I end up ~60k in debt.

So at the moment, I work ~27 hours a week, have ~35-40 hours a week for uni, and have a boyfriend, friends etc. I'm not going to say that its easy - it requires some pretty epic time management, but its going to be better for me to earn and save now so that when i get to 4th and 5th year, i can work a lot less. Most students here work 10-20 hrs/wk, except the internationals, who all live on loans (actually, some work a little bit but not many). It is hard, but people seriously dont take out loans to cover living expenses for uni - theres no government set up to do it, and im pretty sure a bank would laugh at you if you asked. So you might be living in the crappiest, cheapest place you can find, eating the crappiest, cheapest thing you can find, but thats just how we do it over here. Everyone manages somehow.

As for the application process - I've already told you im at murdoch, and I dont even know what stream you're applying into. If I were you, I'd probably trust the admissions lady at Melbourne - it is what shes there for 😉

I guess the biggest thing is - would you be eligible for a commonwealth supported place and HECS? There might be a few residency requirements stopping you, and despite your citizenship, it may result in you being treated like an international student?

 

[Miss MAS]

Thank you so much, you have been so helpful! I really appreciate all the info! I guess my next step will be to make sure I am eligible for a commonwealth spot... wish me luck!

 

[paleovet]

If you become a permanent resident of Oz (I'm an American with an Aussie partner) can you get a Commonwealth supported place? I'm curious to hear what you find out Miss MAS!