Mr. Lam Minh Khoa, Director of Admissions at the University of Melbourne in Vietnam, said that this is expected to be applied from next year's admission season. Previously, only students from specialized schools in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City were considered for direct admission to the first year instead of having to take a university preparation course.

"The University of Melbourne based on the 10th grade entrance exam scores and graduation exam scores of students from key schools over the past 5 years to select 10-11 schools with the best quality students," said Mr. Khoa.

According to the QS and THE World University Rankings 2024, the University of Melbourne is ranked first in Australia and 14th and 37th in the world respectively. The school has two intakes in July and February.

Mr. Khoa explained that the school expanded its direct admissions because it recognized the increasing demand for studying in Australia among Vietnamese students. In June 2022, Vietnam had more than 22,500 international students in Australia. This number increased to over 27,000 in July this year, according to data from the Australian Department of Education.

According to Mr. Khoa, the rate of Vietnamese students enrolling at the University of Melbourne before Covid-19 increased by about 10% each year. This number decreased but then recovered and increased by 40% compared to the pre-pandemic period. This year, the number of Vietnamese students applying to the school is 800, about 50% of which were accepted. Vietnam ranks 7th among countries with the most students studying at the University of Melbourne.

"Adding key schools to the list is also to diversify the student body. The school even reserves a certain number of places in some study programs for students from certain countries," said Mr. Khoa.

A representative of the University of Melbourne also said that the plan to expand the Vietnamese market existed before the Covid-19 pandemic occurred.

Mr. Khoa said that direct admission is based entirely on the average score of grade 12. Students on the list of selected schools with a grade point average (GPA) of 9.0 or higher and an IELTS score of 6.5 (no skill below 6) will be admitted directly to the first year of university. Those who do not achieve a GPA of 9.0 or study at schools not on the list must undergo a 5-9 month preparatory course if they want to study.

The University of Melbourne does not require extracurricular activities, standardized tests, or essays. That’s because the school receives tens of thousands of applications each year. This year alone, there were about 10,000 applications from international students. The admissions committee doesn’t have time to review each application with other components.

"The school wants to evaluate candidates based on real, reliable data and ensure accuracy. The selection process through essay reading and interviews is considered subjective by the examiner," said Mr. Khoa, reiterating that a profile with many awards or extracurricular activities does not give candidates an advantage.

A representative of the University of Melbourne admitted that GPA-based admissions have certain flaws, but also acknowledged that GPA gives a high probability of selecting the best students. In addition, Melbourne only selects excellent students from high-quality high schools, so the students' learning ability is guaranteed.

"Over the past 10 years, the school has seen that Vietnamese students have good learning ability and are diligent. The average annual score of Vietnamese students at the school is 70% or higher (on a 100-point scale)," he said.

The average tuition fee of the school is 40,000-50,000 AUD (over 600-780 million VND) per year, the medical program alone is about 100,000 AUD (over 1.5 billion VND). Every year, the University of Melbourne has 1,000 scholarships for international students. To be considered for a 50% and 100% undergraduate tuition scholarship, applicants need to have a GPA of 9.8 and a SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) of 1550/1600 or higher. Scholarships are considered from top to bottom until the scholarship is full.

Mr. Khoa said that the popular majors chosen by many Vietnamese students are Business, Economics (Business Administration, Marketing); Engineering, Computer Science (Computer Science), Communications, Psychology. The rest are divided equally into majors such as Health Sciences, Education...

According to QS 2022, the employment rate of University of Melbourne students after graduation is 90%. The school's survey over the past three years shows that the starting salary of new graduates is 60-70,000 AUD (940-1 billion VND) per year, depending on the industry, and after 3-5 years can reach 90-100,000 AUD (1.4-1.5 billion VND) per year, especially in the engineering and health sectors.

As of July, more than 710,000 international students were studying in Australia. Vietnam ranked 6th among countries with the largest number of international students studying here.

In addition to the University of Melbourne, some schools in the top 8 prestigious universities (G8) such as the University of Sydney, New South Wales, and Australian National University, also apply the policy of direct admission to Vietnamese students.

Dawn