One of the factors in choosing a course will be whether you think you can achieve the ENTER score you need to get in.
If you’re worried that you might not get the score, contact the university to ask if they have special admissions schemes. These go under different names at each university, so you need to ask the admissions offices for information.
Most universities have these schemes to help you if you’ve had some sort of disadvantage that’s affected your schooling. Examples of disadvantage include living in a rural or isolated area, disability or serious family hardship. Such schemes take into account any disadvantage which may have affected your academic record at school. In many of these schemes, unis can allow entry to students whose year 12 score falls just below the usual entry score.
Research a variety of access programs at different universities. As a start, check out the following sites:
VTAC site: http://www.vtac.edu.au/seas/index.html
University of Melbourne: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/scholarships/ugrad/future/access.html
Monash University: http://www.monash.edu.au/study/access/index.html
Deakin University: http://www.deakin.edu.au/future-students/applications-enrolments/applications/access-equity.php
RMIT: http://www.rmit.edu.au/programs/applications/equity
Remember too, that you can begin a course with a lower ENTER requirement and apply later for a transfer.
Ann Marie
My score wasn’t high enough for law, so I did one year of straight arts (doing subjects like criminology, legal studies and Australian politics), got good marks, then was able to do an ‘internal transfer’ into the combined arts/law degree the next year.