It collates In Focus Careers blog posts, resources and other mind maps for West Australian Year 12s who want to go to uni in 2023.
Notre Dame has its Getting Into Medicine information session on 3 May at 5.30 West Australian Time. Curtin has their information session on 9th May.
People who want to get into medicine in 2023 need to attend medicine information sessions to hear of course application procedures and they need to complete their UCAT applications.
Notre Dame, Curtin and UWA run medicine courses in WA.
If you missed the Curtin information you can find the video HERE.
If you missed the Notre Dame information session, search “Notre Dame Medical Student information videos” for a suite of helpful videos.
UWA has not planned an information session. You can find information about medicine at UWA HERE.
To get into medicine you have to score well on a University Clinical Admission Test (UCAT)
Students undertake the UCAT at a time they can choose between 1 July to 12 August.
There is a fee to undertake the UCAT. Concessions close on 10 May.
Applications close on 17th May.
Late bookings for UCAT
The late booking deadline is 31st May.
To see all dates go HERE.
There is a bank of tests that students should do to prepare for the test.
UCAT recommends:
you start by viewing the Preparation Advice and Resources before moving onto the Question Banks and Practice Tests and the Test Tools.
Training organisations that are not associated with UCAT offer additional training. UCAT has this to say about those organisations:
Commercial organisations will be using questions that are not necessarily of the standard you will encounter in the UCAT and this may distort your performance whilst practising. Screen views may be different and commercial organisations are unlikely to include the new question types, which you may encounter in your test. They may also not replicate the UCAT scoring and banding accurately and may give misleading indicators of your anticipated UCAT score.
Good luck to all of you who aim to get into medicine.
You can use the skills you developed when coming to high school to guide your transition from high school to uni.
Online Study V On Campus
Get your student number and connection to the internet sorted. You will be given instructions about how to do this around Christmas time with the offer that comes after the final TISC results come out.
If face to face classes are available on campus, go to them. Uni is so much more than curated information about different subjects.
On Campus Accommodation
If you CAN stay on campus, do that.
We want students to stay at the on campus accommodation, whether they are from South East Asia or South Perth.
Professor Harlene Hayne, Vice Chancellor Curtin University
There are people employed by residential colleges who have knowledge, networks and power to create an amazing university life for you. You will make friends for life, get help with study and create networks that will lead to jobs.
$$$$$$$$: Check accommodation scholarships HERE.
Public Transport
If you will be taking public transport to uni, figure out the best route and timetable and find out how to get your SmartRider ticket.
Tertiary SmartRider
Parking
Not being able to find parking when you are under pressure can break you.
Get your parking stickers/app during the holidays. Find where you can park and where to find parking during peak hours. Try to find free parking, although most good free spots will be taken by students who have been at uni for a while. 
Campus Layout
Go to movies, food van markets, play sport or join clubs on campus. Each baby step you make to become familiar with your uni will make your transition easier.
Walk around the campus. If you are doing engineering, go to the engineering building. Check out the room and lab locations. Find the library.
Whatever course you are doing, find your buildings and know where your classes will be held BEFORE Orientation Week.
If you aren’t certain which subjects to take, do a uni prep course – its free and it will help you to make better subject choices. You will be able to go to the same campus as your friends who are leaping into their degree straight away, and you will learn enough to be clear about what course you want to do before you start your degree.
Lectures, tutorials and workshops will be scheduled throughout the week. You choose your timetable.Your school timetable is a good model to follow when choosing your class times.
Treat uni like school. Organise your timetable so that you go to uni every day. Don’t be tempted to pack your scheduled times into a few days and just go during scheduled times. Spend your “free time” doing your research and assignments.
If you treat uni as a job, with a 40 hour week and some good study planning you are on a good path to success. Schedule breaks where you meet your friends and where you play sport or engage in club activities. A mix of work and play is what you need to have a great time at uni.
The friends you make at uni can stay with you for your entire life.
There will be so many people to choose from. If you go to Curtin, there will be about 50,000 people to choose from. If you go to Notre Dame in Fremantle, which is our smallest uni, you will have about 6,000 to choose from.
If you pick clubs or sports or volunteer activities from the amazing choice that is available, you will find friends there who have the same interests as you. You can join clubs during Orientation Week.
If you arrange to stay at university accommodation you will meet lots of new people there.
To subscribe email: Bev.J@infocus-careers.com.au
Pathways from High School Video Presentation for Senior Students
Get on track to uni in WA 2023
The content was just what our Year 12’s needed, and the timing is perfect.
Students can even take a copy home and watch it with their parents!!
Judy is an academic superstar who checks out the Bachelor of Applied Science (Honours) at Curtin, medicine everywhere, and Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours) at UWA. 
University open days are starting in March this year.
Going to a uni open day is like going to a show. There are food vans, exhibitions and demonstrations and interesting people to meet, who WANT to convince you that their course is fantastic.
Check out the Worksheets at the bottom of this post.
Start learning about life at university in Year 9. Check out the food vans. Listen to the music. Go into buildings and see the latest tech tools, computer games and research. See what workshops are on. Find the library, the shops and the toilets.
Explore and Experience Try stuff. There will be people inviting you to engage with practical experiences in their subject. It could be VR. It could be checking out the latest medical research, making a short movie using their studio. All faculties will have practical experiences for you to engage with. Do it now.
Get an authentic experience. Engage with current students. Build on what you have learned in years 9 and 10 visits by asking questions of both students, academics and staff. Check out presentations and exhibitions to see what you will gain most from and register for them, or just make a schedule of where to be and at what time.
This is it. You need to be able to build from your other Open Day experiences. You will know what faculties to visit, and you will have a range of questions to ask. By now you should have narrowed down your options and you will be able to ask specific questions about subjects, industry engagement opportunities, mentors, support programs etc. You will know which presentations and demonstrations you need to revisit.
Get on track for uni in WA 2023 is designed for parents of Year 12s so that they can help their kids to get into the right course, at the right uni, and make a smooth transition from school.
It is divided into 5 clear steps:Step 1: Making the right career choice
Step 2: Which uni is best for you?
Step 3: How to apply to university
Step 4: Money Matters
Step 5: Give yourself every chance to succeed
Get on track to uni in WA 2023 is designed to support you through you path to the right course in the right university in 2023.
You can get a copy HERE.
West Australians school leavers are checking out their options before they make long term plans. You may have read the Year 12 Gap Year Ideas and Tips for 2022.
Omio has sent me a link to their Gap Year Guides which delivers great resources to prepare for a Gap Year
The guide contains detailed information on:
You can find all the articles here: https://www.omio.com/travel/gap-year
Good luck with your plans for 2022.
To prepare for life as a university student in 2023:
You can Start Uni Now through CQU or enrol in the Murdoch Horizon Summer School. Both give low cost credits towards your degree.
Improve your chances of getting into the WA Academy of Performing Arts by doing a holiday program.
I wrote the Study Coach to help you to save time and get better marks.
You need great marks to:
Each ATAR subject area delivers ATAR success workshops throughout the year. Your teachers will tell you about them and I will put them into the Infocus Careers News as they are scheduled.
Check out study coaches and ATAR revision programs HERE.
Check out ATAR Revision Programs
There are five big universities in Western Australia. Check out which one is best for you.
You get the most information about courses by visiting the universities. Go to university open days. This Cheat Sheet will help you to get the most out of your day.
There are information evenings throughout the year. Keep up with the Infocus Careers News to find what is coming up.
There are career advisors employed by every university. Think of some questions to ask. Make an appointment and visit them.
Creating a portfolio of your work is just one alternative pathway to university. If you want to try for portfolio entry you will need to start putting your portfolio together.
Check out the alternative pathways to university in Western Australia HERE.
These tips help you to create a smooth pathway from school to uni:
Get career information curated for West Australians. Subscribe to Infocus Careers News.
When you leave Year 12 there are 3 main paths that you can take:
The Other Way
Taking The Other Way from school takes courage. Your friends will try to get you to follow them. They want you with them. By taking another way you may be challenging them to think twice about the path they are taking.
You parents will worry about you. It’s good to be able to tell them that you have a plan.
Finding what you are interested in is driving your plan. Taking a gap year provides opportunities to meet people, explore who you are, do different things and find what works for you.
A Gap Year is a Year of Discovery
Gap Year in Defence
The Defence Gap Year has a whole lot of advantages.
You get paid. You can save for a car, or travel. You can afford to go out and to buy cool clothes. You may learn about how to manage money. You will learn and about award rates of pay, overtime, sick leave and holiday pay.
You meet lots of new people from different places and find out about their lives. You will probably make friends for life with people you meet at this time.
You get to leave home without having to pay for rent, electricity and food.
You learn new skills. Trying lots of different roles and learning new skills will help you to decide what you like and don’t like, without spending time and money at uni or TAFE.
You find out about life in the army, navy or air force.
You can check out Defence Force Gap Years HERE.
Travel
LetzLive has opened up its Gap Year opportunities as a gap year assistant working in a boarding school in New Zealand.
Check out the programs provided by LetzLive.
Harvest Trail
The horticulture industry has relied on people from overseas to pick their fruit and vegies. It turns out the pay and conditions were shocking and Australians initially refused to take up the jobs. Things are getting better so check out the opportunities to travel Australia and become harvest trail nomads.
You can find Harvest Trail jobs HERE.
You can apply for Relocation Assistance HERE. Be careful, I heard it takes ages to come through.
Hospitality and Tourism
The boom in tourism within Australia is being slowed by the shortage of workers in resorts, coffee shops, motels, road houses and caravan parks.
Look for these jobs on sites like Seek or phone/email the local tourist bureau and ask where to find a job in the area.
If you are 18 you can earn more money serving alcohol than cleaning. You will need your Responsible Service of Alcohol certificate to be able to work serving alcohol.
If you can find a job in a resort or motel chain, take that, it is more likely to pay sick leave, holiday pay and superannuation. Wherever you get a job, make sure your pay and conditions are legit. Ring or email the Fair Work Ombudsman if you need to check.
Work on a Station
Can’t ride a motor bike or muster cattle?
Ellenbrae Station, halfway between Derby and Kununurra, sells thousands of scones to tourists who travel up the Gibb River Road every year.
All of the stations supplement their incomes through tourism.
If you can clean you can probably find a job supporting the station tourism industry. Look for jobs on sites like Seek.
Need Experience?
Once you leave school it is tricky getting work experience as employers aren’t insured to cover unpaid volunteers.
In Western Australia you can apply for volunteer work through Volunteering WA. People put in requests for volunteers to them and they place people and cover them through the Volunteering WA insurance.
The Volunteering WA people said that when you first start with them they are careful of the sort of work they let you do until you have proven yourself.
Free Tips
Check out Youth Central. It’s a Victorian Government site that has some good tips on taking a gap year.
There are more law graduates in Australia each year than the total number of lawyers in Australia.
It may take you years after you graduate to find a job where you practise law.
DIY Law
Not only are there too many law graduates for the job vacancies that are available, you can get advice on how to write your will online. You can file for divorce online. Artificial intelligence delivers instant information that law degrees take years to deliver.
People don’t go to lawyers if they can save themselves money by doing law themselves.
The cost of a law degree is now over $70,000.
The demand is down. The price is up. There is a glut of law graduates looking for work.
You might think again about doing a law degree.
If someone with a law degree applied for a job I advertised, chances are they would get an interview. The job probably wouldn’t demand law work but I would presume the applicant could problem solve, think of good wording for contracts and warn me of any dodgy stuff that was in paper work. Someone with a law degree would probably be a good employee.
On the other hand, someone with a business or commerce degree may be better for my business, AND their degree would have cost them half as much.
If you bought a car for $70,000 you would check out a few car sales places before you made your decision to buy.
All universities in Western Australia deliver law degrees. Pick two or three universities and make an appointment with career advisors. Check out what law degrees you can specialise in. Compare the different courses and support that the different unis deliver…. there is a big difference between the support provided by unis in WA.
Ask current students questions about the courses on Whirlpool.
Compare employment statistics for graduates.
Law degrees are great, but they are expensive and chances are you will never work as a lawyer.
