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special featuremid-year enrolments

Study your way to a dream career

EARLY. TO RISE.GET THE SIX-MONTH JUMP. Why wait until 2017 to begin your degree? Start mid-year and get ahead sooner.

Come along to our Mid-Year Information Day on Saturday, 21 May, at our Parramatta South campus, from 10am to 2pm. Speak one-on-one with our academics about the huge range of courses on ofer. Get a feel for campus life. Find out how to apply.

Unlock your unlimited potential. Go to westernsydney.edu.au/midyear to book your place.

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MID-YEAR ENROLMENTS SPECIAL FEATURE

Enrolling to study mid-year offers flexibility and the chance to get started on your dream career before the rush of the new year.

If you’ve missed the boat in applying, it means you don’t have to wait for the new

year to get started

Five reasons to hitthe books mid-yearIF YOU missed out on the course of your dreams, made a wrong decision or want to take the next step in your career, there’s still time to make it happen.

Not only is mid-year admission achance for universities, private colleges and TAFEs to fill the gaps and boost their numbers, for prospective students it’s the perfect opportunity to get a head start without waiting for the new year.

This year, your chances of securing a spot are ever better, as while the number of offers made to students increases every year, the number of students wanting mid-year spots has remained relatively steady, says Trudy Noller, Senior Community Liaison at the University Admissions Centre (UAC).

Last year, more than 12,000 mid-year offers were made to students, and so far this year more than 100 have already been made, with admissions running until July 20 to start the new semester.

Still not convinced? If any of thesereasons sound familiar, it’s time to fill out that application form:

YOU MISSED OUT ON A SPOTWhile mid-year admissions attract both recent graduates and those who are returning to study after being in the workforce a while, the majority (55 per cent) are still school leavers.

So if you missed out on a spot atuniversity or didn’t get the required ATAR for your dream degree, applying mid-year can be a chance to give it a second shot, with fewer people applying than during the January admissions period.

But Noller is quick to emphasisethat while there is less competition for places, there are also fewer spots available, so offer availability depends on the course and the quality of the other candidates.

Similarly, not all courses will offerplaces. “High demand courses such as medicine and nursing often aren’t available for mid-year enrolment,” Noller says. If you’re considering enrolling mid-year, she suggests contacting your chosen university first to ask about entrance

requirements and ensure you fulfil them. “Once you’ve done that, you can apply for the course through the UAC,” she says.

YOU WANT TO CHANGE COURSESIf you thought you knew what you wanted only to find out it doesn’t live up to expectations, mid-year is your first opportunity to choose a course that’s more enjoyable. In fact, around two-thirds of school leavers applying mid-year fall into this category, or are staying in the same course but moving universities or institutions.

“It may not just be working for them, or they may have tried a few weeks of a course and then dropped out before the census date,” Noller says.

If you’re transferring straight from one course to another, you may have more luck if you’ve done well in your current course, so it’s worth putting in the effort now, even if you don’t enjoy it. Similarly, if you chose well, some course credits can count towards the new degree, saving you the hassle of repeating subjects.

If it’s a particularly popular courseyou’re after, Noller warns you might be better off waiting a little longer.

“Sometimes, your first semestermarks aren’t always available by the time mid-year offers are made, so you’re better off staying in your current course for a full year and try again later,” she says.

YOU DON’T WANT TO GRADUATE WITH THE CROWDIf you enrol mid-year and stick with the standard course load, you’ll also finish mid-year, meaning fewer graduates to compete with.

“It does give you a bit of an

advantage; you get a headstart on the next intake and on finishing before them too,” says Angelo Kourtis, Vice President of People and Advancement at Western Sydney University. That means you get a six-month headstart on finding your new employer before the rest of your graduating class, and may even mean you can take advantage of any new starter roles that come with the beginning of the new financial year.

Alternatively, you might considerspending the six months doing work experience or completing an internship – both of which will give you the edge when it comes to applying in the New Year.

YOU NEED FLEXIBILITYWant to study this year but starting in January is impossible? Particularly for postgraduate courses, the mid-year enrolment period is all about offering flexibility to those with other commitments.

“Mid-year enrolments provide students with added flexibility in their lives, and we find it suits some applicants better than others, particularly applicants who are older,” Kourtis says.

Western Sydney University hasone of the largest intakes of mid-year enrolments in NSW, the majority of who are mature-age students lookingto reskill or reboot their career.

“It gives them the opportunity tostart at a different time that’s more convenient to them; perhaps they have children starting school or their work is busier at the beginning of the year,” Kourtis says.

If you’re considering postgraduatestudy, Kourtis recommends talking to the university, TAFE or private college first to find out their entrance

requirements and, if flexibility is a concern, how the course is delivered – many offer part-time, online or intensive flexible learning options to make fitting study into your life as pain-free as possible.

“We have a big summer school that lets you accelerate your studies, gives you the opportunity to spread the load and, even if you started mid-year, to finish with the others,” Kourtis says.

YOU WANT TO GET A HEADSTARTWhether you deferred for a year and want to get started early, or your decision to study again is a relatively recent one, the greatest advantage of mid-year study is surely that you don’t have to wait.

With recent studies showing thatalmost 30 per cent of workers now have more than one degree, more and more people are seeing postgraduate study as a way to stand out from the crowd. But as anyone who has ever tried to plan a home

renovation or other major commitment six months in advance knows, there will always be something to derail even the best laid plans. Mid-year enrolment means you can get started straight away and be in the study groove before those curveballs occur.

“If you’ve missed the boat in applying, it means you don’t have to wait for the new year to get started,” Kourtis says.

With Christmas and New Yearusually being a no-go zone for new commitments, beginning mid-year also means you have a bit of extra time to do your research, and ensures you’re not worried about changing preferences, accepting offers or deciding on subjects and majors at the busiest time of the year. Whatever you decide however, it pays to do your research before you sign on the dotted line.

“Do not take it lightly, going back to study is a big commitment,” Kourtis says.

A N G E L O K O U R T I SP E O P L E A N D A D V A N C E M E N T, W E S T E R N S Y D N E Y U N I V E R S I T Y

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MID-YEAR ENROLMENTS SPECIAL FEATURE

Undergraduatedates to watchJUNE ROUND ONE Apply by midnight May 23Offers made on June 8

JUNE ROUND TWOApply by midnight June 13Offers made on June 22

JUNE ROUND THREEApply by midnight June 24Offers made on June 29

JULY ROUND ONEApply by midnight July 6Offers made on July 13

JULY ROUND TWOApply by midnight July 12Offers made on July 20

For more information on applying to universities, visit uac.edu.au Sarah McRae is a university student who started mid-year and now juggles her degree with working full-time at

fashion/e-commerce site St Frock

Sarah’s new career takes off without delayFOR Sarah McRae, enrolling mid-year meant she could get started straight away on her new career.

“I don’t like wasting time and spending a year not working or working in retail wasn’t what I wanted,” says the 24-year-old, who is about to graduate from a Bachelor of Communications, majoring in Public Relations and Event Management at Western Sydney University.

Upon finishing school, McRae enrolled in a Bachelor of Design, majoring in fashion design, at the Whitehouse Institute of Design.

But while she loved the course, her experiences in the field didn’t live up her expectations.

“After I graduated, I spent six months doing some industry experience but I wasn’t happy and wasn’t feeling challenged enough,” she says. “I started dropping into agencies and helping out, so decided to go back and study PR.”

Western Sydney University appealed to her as it offered a compulsory internship program as well as the chance to study advertising alongside her major.

“I started straight away, it was quite perfect,” she says.

Knowing the importance of industry experience, at the end of her first year she contacted a local fashion and e-commerce boutique, St Frock, about completing a social media and marketing internship with them. She has worked for them ever since and now juggles a full-time job as their social media coordinator while finishing her degree.

“[Interning] has really been quiteuseful; one of my subjects at university has been social media strategy and coordination and I’ve been able to apply my knowledge quite a lot,” she says.

“I’ve been able to critique social media platforms a lot better knowing there are other similar platforms that I use every day.”

She says completing an internshipwhile studying has given her a different perspective to others in her degree. “It means I have different knowledge and a different way of thinking – they look at it as working for free, whereas I look at it as an education,” she says.

With only five weeks left before she graduates, she couldn’t be happier with her career choice.

“I’ll be staying where I am,” she says. “There are lots of opportunities and I want to keep doing what I’m doing for as long as possible.”

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