Wednesday, August 13, 2008

How to choose your uni

In our latest e-newsletter, our own Professor David Macey (he’s known as “Dave” around the PSAC office) talked about what you should look for in a uni. He said it’s important to “try before you buy” – which is exactly what you can do between 10am and 4pm at Murdoch on Sunday 31 August!

Here are some things to keep in mind as you explore Murdoch... (or any other uni campus)

Don’t worry about which uni your friends are choosing.
Sure, you’ll miss them at first if you do choose different uni campuses, but it’s important that uni is all about what YOU want to do. You’ll stay in touch with your friends from school – and make new uni friends! So uni is really a chance to DOUBLE your Facebook/mySpace/real-life friends.

If you’d like to find out about some of the clubs you can join at Murdoch, visit our Student Guild Zone, in Bush Court – it’s open all day on Open Day. You can learn about life on campus and discover the clubs and societies you can join.

See how you fit in.
It’s important to get a feel for how you feel you’d fit in. So while you’re at Open Day, have a good look around, especially at the facilities where you’d be learning (e.g. our Moot Court if you’re interested in Law, or maybe our Vet School, Business Lounge or Chiro clinic).

While you’re at Murdoch, you can take a tour of our student accommodation to see the self-contained flats and landscaped courtyards in our three hectare village. Tours start from the Discoverers Information Tent at 1pm and 3pm on Open Day.

Most uni students find themselves spending a lot of time in the library and anywhere that serves food, so remember to check out these areas too. Plus, if you visit our library and explore our new Learning Common, you can complete a quiz while you’re there and enter a draw to win a Nintendo Wii!

Look for flexible courses that let you change pathways if you need to.
You might start a course that you don’t like as much as you thought you would, or perhaps you’ll get your second preference of course but there’s a way it can lead into studying your first preference course. Open Day is the perfect time to find out how flexible our courses are – so make sure you come with a list of questions and leave with a head full of answers!

Find out what student support services are available.
All the big celebrities have personal trainers, stylists and bodyguards – and first years at Murdoch have a First Year Experience Coordinator. They’ll give you all the support and advice you need to get your head around uni life and make the most of your Murdoch experience!

Talk to current uni students to find out how they feel.
Our first year uni students were in the same position as you last year! It might help you to find out how they made the decision to study at Murdoch – and generally how they’ve felt about their first year of uni. There will be real, live Murdoch students around on Open Day, or you can check out our first year blogs for a preview of some uni life experiences.

We’ll be releasing even more Open Day news over the next couple of weeks, so sign up to our RSS feed to make you sure you get the latest updates!

See you on Open Day!

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