TISC applications for university in 2020 open on August 5. Students who want to go to university will be asked to identify their preferred courses and preferred university.

There are five main universities that Year 12s traditionally choose between in Western Australia (and a number of courses that you can do online).

If you know some of the key features of these universities it may be easier to make your choice.

Notre Dame 

91.1% of Notre Dame undergraduate students were satisfied with the overall quality of their learning experience according to the Quality Indicators of Learning and Teaching (QILT).

EVERY UNIVERSITY WISHES THEY GOT THAT!!

Notre Dame is a Catholic University but you don’t need to be Catholic or Christian or even religious to go there, and the fees are comparable with other universities.

The point of difference is that Notre Dame does have a spiritual, values driven, caring approach to teaching and learning which underpins their interactions and decision making.  That’s why they are topping the QILT ratings.

It is quite a small university with 10,000 students and the vast majority of them are domestic students.

The university is in beautiful renovated old buildings around Fremantle.

Pastoral care and support developed for international students has been made available to help regional and remote students to settle in. The only shortcoming is the lack of Notre Dame student accommodation but the student support services people will help students to find accommodation to meet their needs.

 

Curtin University

Curtin is by far our biggest university with over 50,000 students. It seems like a city with business centres, shops, gyms, accommodation and bands and food trucks, art galleries and theatres.

I think undergraduate students could have a ball at Curtin, but the sheer size of of the place can be daunting. You need to actively work at getting engaged with the Curtin community, both social and academic, to make the most of your Curtin experience.

Curtin knows this and has invested in providing plenty of help for new students and for students with special needs,  but it is up to you to seek it out.

Because of the size of the university there are many opportunities available for students to extend their experience, in Australia and internationally.

Curtin is part of a knowledge precinct in Bently with CSIRO, Tech Park and the Pawsey supercomputer in the area. Staff and students actively seek to engage with industry to get knowledge and experience and do industry based research. It is number 2 in the world for Metals and Mining Engineering programs. This industry focus underpins the feel at Curtin.

Curtin seems exciting, dynamic and very cosmopolitan with lots of international students and with campuses in Malaysia, Singapore and Dubai as well as the one at Bentley and in Kalgoorlie.

ECU – Edith Cowan University

The Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching ranks ECU as the top public university in Australia for undergraduates’ student experience. You can feel the quality of the experience when you contact ECU for information. They get back to you. They try to help.

ECU started as a college for teacher training and gradually expanded its courses with WAAPA being one of the first ventures into new areas. Now WAAPA has a reputation as one of the BEST performing arts learning academies in the world.

ECU’s more recent expansion has been into engineering with significant investment into new facilities, international learning opportunities and strong demand for graduates.

ECU is pretty big but students are on the Mt Lawley and Joondalup campuses so it doesn’t feel overwhelming.

The buildings are great examples of design with some of the coolest architecture in Western Australia.

ECU is manageable and there is a strong student centric management focus which means students get help to succeed. There are many alternate pathways into ECU including the UniPrep program and experienced based entry.

People who didn’t think they could get into uni and succeed can are supported to thrive at ECU.

Murdoch University

Murdoch has recognised that the world is changing and that there is a disconnect between education and where jobs are emerging. It has introduced “adaptive expertise” as a learning spine being introduced across the university.

 

They are focusing on adapting traditional courses with the application of technologies. So History + STEM could result in machine learning that unearths previously unknown information about cultures. Journalism + STEM, as seen in the use of drones, is revealing what is happening in emergency or war environments.

Murdoch has a strong focus on getting girls into engineering. They have engaged with schools and support in industry to lift the number of girls entering this field which delivers 25% of the world’s CEOs.

Murdoch has the biggest percentage of international students in WA.

They are teaching students to think globally, to seek ways to apply technology to their work and to work collaboratively.

UWA – University of Western Australia

This is our oldest university. Many industry, political and community leaders in Western Australia went to UWA which gives strong links between UWA and leadership across the State.

The UWA campus is beautiful with Winthrop Hall being the most recognised symbol of “a university” in WA. The gardens, theatres and art gallery and its role as the initiator of the Festival of Perth make UWA a hub of culture.

UWA has positioned itself as the university for high academic performers and many high achieving school leavers identify UWA as their first preference.

It is aware of its low QILT satisfaction results and is supporting strategies like the Fogarty Foundation Edfutures initiative and consulting with experts in an effort to become more student centric in its approach.

CQU – Central Queensland University

This is a new comer to Western Australia and it is working hard to attract students from their traditional university pathways with courses in sonography and echocardiography which are new to WA.

The main campus is located near the bottom of William Street near Elizabeth Quay and they have set up study hubs in Busselton, Broome, Geraldton and Karratha. These are often on TAFE campuses.

Many of the students are mature aged, external students who make use of online learning, occasional face to face contact and phone calls to fit their learning around their work and other demands.

Although there are 20,000 students at CQU, they are spread across Australia and numbers in WA are still quite small.

Comparison

The comparison of student experience outcomes puts Notre Dame as a clear leader with
ECU also doing well.

Each university has different features that will impact on your choices.

What possibilities are open to you?

Subscribe to the insanely great In Focus Careers Newsletter to find out.

 

If you would like expert assistance in making your TISC choices contact me at Bev.J@infocus-careers.com.au