Discoverblog: Open Day 2008 at Murdoch

TISC advice

2008-09-04T09:36:00.002+08:00

Make the most of your TISC preferences

One word you probably heard a lot of on Open Day (apart from “woooo!” when the bands were playing) was “TISC”...TISC applications, TISC preferences, TISC deadlines.

Welcome to TISC season! As you probably already know, TISC applications are now open until the end of September.

If you need help working out what to put where for your preferences, check out our TISC advice. You can also drop into PSAC office (that’s our Prospective Students’ and Admissions Centre) to have a chat about your options and find out the best way to structure your preferences to give you the best chance of getting into the course you’d really like to do.

Open Day 2008: The Final Chapters

2008-09-03T12:31:00.007+08:00

Here’s what happened on Open Day!

The bands have packed up, the fairy floss stall has been dismantled and the Bush Court bunnies have moved back into their favourite place on campus.

Looking at Bush Court now, you’d hardly know Open Day had happened...

Can you tell we’re just a teensy bit sad that Open Day is over? For those of you who came along, we hope you had as much fun (and ate as much fairy floss!) as we did. Most importantly, we hope you came away with a really clear idea of whether you’d like to study at Murdoch!

There were eleven thousand people here on Open Day – and most of them seemed to be at the "Trouble on Rottnest" Moot Court Debate and Wetlands Safari Tour – and then rocking out to Shihad at the end of the day.

Almost everyone* looked happy on Open Day – check out the pics! One of the biggest smiles came from the winner of the Panasonic 42 inch plasma TV, valued at $1,500! Congratulations Jessica!

*Some people had run City to Surf earlier in the day and just looked plain tired... until they dropped in to the Red Bull tent!

If you weren’t able to make it to Open Day, or you’ve thought of something you forgot to ask on the day, you can still find out everything you’d like to know about Murdoch. Just get in touch with our Prospective Students and Admissions Centre or use our clever online tool to help you figure out your life.

See you on Sunday!

2008-08-29T09:34:00.003+08:00

Everything is ready for Open Day...

There’s definitely a buzz of excitement around the whole campus as we count down to Sunday!

We had a back-up plan for undercover activities if it rained (and tips to help your fairy floss survive in wet conditions) - but the forecast is for a fine day and a top temp of 19C! So we've just shredded our "In Case of Rain" plans and our faculty recruitment officers are dancing around in the confetti...

If you need a reminder of all of the stuff happening on Open Day – get your hands on a copy of our program – or read through all the action outlined in this blog!

We hope you have a fantastic day and find out everything you’d like to know about Murdoch, as well as enjoy the entertainment, an awesome line up of bands, food and much more!

See you on Sunday!

(After Open Day, we’ll be announcing the competition winners, posting photos and generally outlining all of the best bits - so check back here in the week after Open Day for all the headlines!)

Our headline act...

2008-08-26T08:56:00.005+08:00

Look who’s going to be playing live in Bush Court!

We’re very excited about the line up of bands we’ll have performing in Bush Court on Open Day. Starting with Myles Vincent at 1pm, then we’ve got The Silents at 2pm, and then – our headline act:

Shihad will be performing from around 3.15pm!

These guys are awesome – and they’re everywhere:

They’re originally from New Zealand – where they’re currently in the running for “People’s Choice” in the Vodaphone NZ Music Awards!
Their seventh and latest studio album “Beautiful Machine” was recorded in Melbourne.
It was mixed in London (by Alan Moulder who has worked with My Bloody Valentine, NIN, Smashing Pumpkins, Jesus And Mary Chain!).
They’re coming to Murdoch on Open Day – on Sunday 31 August!

Check out their website – www.shihad.com for links to their Facebook groups, MySpace page and more!

Live bands in Bush Court

2008-08-25T09:50:00.008+08:00

Look who’s going to be playing on Open Day!

We’ve already let you know about a lot of the action, talks and entertainment happening around campus on Open Day – and we’ve been promising to let you know about our awesome line up of bands in Bush Court.

Drumroll please... here are two of the acts we’ve lined up to join us on Open Day!

Myles Vincent
1.00 – 1.45pm

As well as being well known on the WA band circuit, Miles Vincent have attracted a lot of attention on local and national radio airwaves. They played at Perth’s Big Day Out festival in February this year and won the Gozzy Rock ’08 comp.
They were featured on Triple J Unearthed... and Triple J said that Miles Vincent “mess pop and post-punk, creating sounds that stay with you long after seeing them live...”
They’ve received massive recognition and airplay for their single ‘Charlie’ – and they’re going to be performing live on Open Day from 1pm!
You can check out their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/mylesvincent

The Silents
2.00 – 2.45pm

These guys are a four-piece Western Australian act who write and perform songs that blend life, poetry and day-to-day living with a garage rock edge.
They’ve shared a stage with The Vines, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Mess Hall, Maximo Park and You Am I.
Their debut album is called ‘Things to Learn’ – which makes them the perfect way to round off your Open Day experience!
You can check out their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/thesilentsband

We’ll be announcing our headline act this week – so make sure you’ve signed up to receive our RSS feed to find out the latest Open Day news!

Parents and families

2008-08-22T09:17:00.006+08:00

There’s something for everybody on Open Day.

Open Day is not just for prospective Murdoch students. If you’re a parent or family member who’s thinking about coming along on Open Day (or if you’ve got a parent or family member who wants to come along), here’s just a taste of things you can do!

Find out about postgrad study options that can help boost your career, forge a career change or just expand your education horizons!
Enjoy some interesting info sessions in the Kim Beazley Lecture Theatre – including Surviving Year 12 – A Parent’s Guide. This was the most popular talk last year, so make sure you get in early to get a seat!
Take a tour of our campus and check out our student accommodation – you can find out more at our Discoverers’ Information Tent in Bush Court.
Enjoy a whole range of entertainment. We’ll have live bands, African drumming, an indigenous smoking ceremony and a line-up of demonstrations for you to watch.
You’re invited to get involved in any of the hotspot activities – check out the hotspot activities in Science, Business, Law, Education and more (or just scroll down for more details in our blog).

In the lead up to Open Day, we’ll be updating this blog with more news, so subscribe to our RSS feed to find out the latest!

Creative Writing Comp!

2008-08-21T16:45:00.002+08:00

Are you a budding writer? Get involved in our Creative Writing workshop and competition!

At Murdoch, our Creative Writing students are lucky enough to learn the craft from some talented writers including our own Simone Lazaroo, who somehow finds the time to be a published author AND teach people about writing techniques!

If you’ve got a flair for writing, don’t miss our Creative Writing workshop – it’s exclusive to Open Day! Here’s what you need to know:

Head to the morning workshop at the drama workshop (check out the program for exactly where this is)
During the workshop, you’ll write a story about new media (so you might like to start thinking of ideas now!)
The best story will win an iPod Shuffle and be passed along to our Drama students to be performed on stage in the afternoon.

So if you win, you’ll take home an iPod Shuffle AND enjoy the fifteen minutes of fame that only comes with seeing your work performed live! It’s a great achievement to add to your CV too!

Get creative on Open Day
Open Day is the perfect opportunity to learn how to match one of our courses to your creative passion! Our Social Sciences and Humanities school offers courses in Asian Studies, English & Creative Arts, Theology, Philosophy, Tourism and many more areas!

There’s going to be some fantastic entertainment happening outside our school – we’ve got Sumo wrestling, Indonesian Gamelan dancing, an indigenous smoking ceremony, drumming and martial arts and a Kendo Japanese fencing demo.

After you’ve checked out all of this entertainment, you can head along to Bush Court to watch an awesome line-up of bands perform live! Details of the bands soon, watch this space!

Media, Education and IT

2008-08-20T19:17:00.005+08:00

Don’t miss these exciting hotspots on Open Day!

There’s a lot of buzz around here in the PSAC office as we count down to Open Day – and the excitement is expanding to the streets of Perth! Keep an eye out for our Open Day ads on bus shelters and in newspapers near you...

Nazli, one of our Faculty Recruitment Officers, has started a “Days Until Open Day 2008” countdown in the PSAC office – and it’s no wonder she’s so excited. Nazli just let us know about some of the activities happening in the schools of Media Communication and Culture, IT, Social Sciences and Humanities, and Education on Sunday 31 August... and there’s definitely a lot of fun stuff in these hotspots!

>Check out our school of Media Communication & Culture

Check out our facilities – You’ll find us at the western end of the South Street campus, just before you reach the Worship Centre. Just be careful not to fall in the Chinese Garden pond! You can see our film and radio suites and editing labs, all equipped with the latest industry-used equipment and you’ll even get the chance to see a real life feature film being made!
Interested in games? Then hopefully you’ve already booked your place but if not, find out more about our Games Art & Design workshop on Open Day here…….we think there are only a couple of places left now so hurry up!
Meet some of our amazing staff – our own lecturer John McMullan, who is filming the bands for the Perth Bands Competition and Josh Whitkin, our brand new Games Art Design Course Creator who has over 15 years experience in the gaming industry who will be hosting our fantastic workshop!
Find out about the future of TV – Our media and IT experts are part of “itri ” or the Interactive Television Research Institute where they study TV’s changing landscape in audience research labs (using people, not rats).

Is your future in IT? Visit our IT hotspot on Open Day!

Find out about the Game and Simulation Research Group (GSRG) – Our academics, postgraduate students and Murdoch IT students are busy researching a number of projects including educational games, mobile games and entertainment and data mining.
Build & play computer games - Get creative in our very own Games & Simulation lab.
Pretend you’re in an episode of CSI – Check out how studying cyber forensics at Murdoch will teach you all you need to know about busting criminal hackers and fraudsters.
Compute your personality – Do some soul searching in one of our IT labs.
Learn more about your course options – We have a really exciting range of courses including Cyber Forensics, Information Security and Management, Business Information Systems, Games Technology and more!

Educate yourself about Education

Find out what it takes to be the kind of teacher who can change lives – Sure, the holidays are great but you really need to be patient, creative, ambitious, and willing to make an impression on the minds in your classroom. As a bonus for all of that hard work - teaching is very rewarding and can take you around the world!
Learn about the Centre for Learning, Change and Development (CLCD) - This operates within our School of Education and is run by a team of educators who love a challenge: they develop new strategies to improve learning.
Get active - Come and run on a treadmill, play Bocce or a game of volleyball. It’s the perfect way to chat to our teaching staff and find out all of your course options, including how you can combine our Sports Science degree with an Education degree.
Check out our interactive whiteboard display – traditional blackboards and whiteboards are almost extinct!

As you can see, there’s a lot going on around campus on Open Day!

Coming up – an Open Day creative writing competition in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities... and then the beginning of our band announcements. We can’t wait!
Stay tuned or subscribe to our RSS feed to get the latest...

2008 program launched!

2008-08-19T09:08:00.006+08:00

Download 2008 Program

Plan your day with details of all the hotspot info!

If you’ve been reading this blog wondering how you’re going to fit everything in on Open Day, here’s some great news!

We’ve got our hands on a version of our Open Day program – so you can start planning exactly where you have to be throughout the day. Here are some hot tips about this program:

When you arrive on Open Day, you can collect a hard copy from the Discoverers’ Information Tent.
Check out your favourite schools and make a note of the times and locations of the talks and tours you’re interested in. You can get your friends or family members (who might want to check out different hotspots or talks) to do the same, then use the map to work out a central meeting point where you can meet up later.
To join some talks and activities, you need to be wearing closed-in shoes, so look out for asterisks next to certain schools in the program!
As you read through what you’d like to do, make sure you allow enough time to get some food, check out the line up of bands in Bush Court or chill out in the Red Bull tent.
Don’t miss the bit about completing a registration card at some point during the day for your chance to win a Panasonic 42 inch plasma TV, valued at $1,500!

And if you need a reminder of how to make the most of your Open Day experience, re-read our post about planning your day on Open Day!

Murdoch OpenDayProgram 31/08/08 - Upload a Document to Scribd

The Science of Open Day

2008-08-14T16:40:00.003+08:00

Check out these Engineering and Biological & Environmental Science hotspots!

Remember that huge range of Science courses we offer? This post will complete the trilogy of fun, informative and inspiring Science hotspots you can check out from 10am to 4pm on Open Day! First of all, if you know that saving the planet will take more than just throwing your choc milk cartons into your recycling bin, don’t miss all the action at our Environmental Science hotspot...

Check out Biological & Environmental Science in the Loneragan Building

Fly a weather balloon – and learn how scientists measure climate change.
Go on a Wetland Safari – join one of the tours of our wetlands on campus. You’ll find out how to protect the habitat of the snake-necked turtle and other threatened species.
Visit our plant doctor – bring in a sick plant and have it diagnosed by our plant pathologist, and see how plants are injected with phosphates to protect them from dieback.
Find out how big your eco-footprint is – and the simple steps you can take to reduce it.
Enjoy a range of talks and demos – including DNA experiments, a Skulls and Faces discussion and facial reconstruction demo (using clay, not an actual face!), info about fish who swim upstream “ladders” to breed, microbial fuel cells and more!

You’ll also be able to find out details about our Biological Science and Environmental Science courses, and how you can mix learning by experience with laboratory and field work.

Visit our Engineering and Physical Sciences hotspots

Head to the Physical Sciences building and Bayliss Court – and check out our facilities for Engineering and Physical Sciences!
Find out how you can fast-track your engineering degree – we’re the only uni in Australia with an engineering degree you could complete in 3 years instead of 4!
Learn more about our new Physics and Nanotechnology course – you could get the knowledge and laboratory skills you need to work in this exciting and rapidly growing area.
Race hydrogen fuel cell cars – and see some Physical Science in action!
Join a solar sausage sizzle – there’s a pic of last year’s solar sausage sizzle above. This year we’ll use the same equipment and the same sun - but new sausages.
Check out a range of talks and demos – including finding numbers in bubbles, robotics, hot metal (not to be confused with heavy metal), fun in an engineering lab and a talk on Chemistry: Life, the universe and everything in between.

There’s so much to see and do... making the most of Open Day is a real science!

Coming up – where you should go on Open Day for info about our IT, Media Communications & Culture and Education courses! If you haven’t signed up already, sign up to our RSS feed here so you know as we release more news (including details of our live bands!) about Open Day!

How to choose your uni

2008-08-13T13:07:00.004+08:00

Find out what you should be looking for on Open Day!

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!

Here’s why Open Day is good for your health!

2008-08-12T15:36:00.004+08:00

In our last blog post, we said “we offer a huge range of Science courses” and that our lovely Jo (that’s her pictured up there) is going to be at Open Day to help you learn more about our Science courses. It’s all true... and now Jo has even more Science news to share about Open Day! This time it’s about the awesome stuff happening in Nursing, Pharmacy and Chiropractic Science...

Don’t miss our Nursing and Pharmacy tent

On Open Day, keep an eye out for the Red Bull tent with giveaways and a chill out area. But if you’re interested in studying Nursing or Pharmacy at Murdoch, then the tent you’ll really want to see is our Nursing and Pharmacy tent behind the ECL building.

Get a mock injury painted on your face – this one is not for the faint-hearted!
Test your blood pressure and check your cholesterol and glucose levels – we can’t work out whether it’s better to do this before or after you eat fairy floss from the stall in Bush Court... it’s your call!
Get tips on living a healthier lifestyle – again, before or after the fairy floss? Hmm...
Discover pharmacy – we’ll be making special moisturising creams for visitors to the tent (definitely after the fairy floss if you’re going to use it as a hand moisturiser!)
Get course and application info – find out how you can apply to study Nursing or Pharmacy at Murdoch and pursue a really rewarding career!

This is a pic from last year’s Open Day – looks like someone was overwhelmed by all the cool stuff happening in Nursing! Our Nursing friend might need some chiropractic work, so if you’re interested in studying Chiro...

Check out our Chiro course facilities

Visit our Chiro clinic on Open Day – check out our 13 treatment rooms and rehabilitation centre, and then see what’s happening outside the amenities building.
Watch a gaitscan – it will show you how our feet and ankles function.
Find out about our Chiro course and career pathways – it’s a relatively new career, so there’s a whole lot of exciting career opportunities in the industry!
Test your own body fat – and find out how healthy you are. Then see our info session about how to examine your posture... you’ll be walking taller after this!
Find out why strapping so important for support in sport – bandages are not just important to the Ancient Egyptians, we need them to help our athletes get the most out of their performance!

So, for all the info on Nursing, Pharmacy, Chiro and fairy floss you need, we’ll see you at Open Day from 10am on Sunday 31 August 2008.

Sign up for our RSS feed for even more Open Day news... including an announcement of our line-up of bands! Watch this space...

Talk to our animals, learn about lies and more!

2008-08-08T13:47:00.010+08:00

Before we get into our Vet and Psychology hotspots.....

We just need to tell you this! You know when something really exciting happens but you don’t want to seem like you’re bragging? Well it’s happened to us, but we’re so proud of it we just have to let you know – we achieved the top (five-star) rating for graduate satisfaction with the release of the 2009 Good Universities Guide. And we’re the only uni in Australia to achieve this 13 times in 14 years, so the Good Universities Guide has praised us for our consistent performance in this field. High fives all around! Anyway, on with the latest hotspot news........

At Murdoch we offer a huge range of Science courses – including Veterinary Science, Psychology and a whole lot more! Come along on Open Day to meet Jo. She’s our faculty recruitment officer for this area – and she LOVES all things science. Here’s some of the cool stuff that Jo has told us about Open Day!

Talk to the animals at our Vet and Biomedical Sciences hotspots

Be in our VCS 1.106 building at 11am or 1.30pm – for our course talks (given by humans, no talking to the animals yet). You’ll find out everything you need to know about courses in both Veterinary Science (which is consistently voted as the best Vet course in Australia!) and Biomedical Sciences (which includes Pharmacology, Pathology and Parasitology – and try saying that quickly!).
Take a tour of our Vet Hospital – tours depart at 11.30am and 2pm. You’ll see our animal surgery and animal recovery rooms – and of course, some of our animal patients.
Meet some more animals – see and touch some cattle, horses and sheep in our animal displays. (Jo pointed out that they’re real live animals, not the museum “display” kind that stay very still behind glass cases.)
Check out some amazing displays – see Fibre displays to help explain wool quality, a DNA display and a biomedical display about parasitology and pathology (just don’t try to pat the parasites).
Find out more about how x-rays work – and how they get used in Vet Science by our vets-in-training.

If you thought that this section was going to be full of “baaad” animal gags just because it contains info about the fun and interesting things happening in our Vet School on Open Day, we’ll “mooove” along..

Give some deep thought to your Psychology options...

Visit our Social Sciences building hotspot to see a mock counselling session – you’ll find out how the whole process works.
Drive a fully programmable car simulator – it’s part of our simulated driving research. No “L” plates required.
Meet a psychologist – and have your questions answered (questions about careers in psychology that is, any deep psychological questions about the dream where you swam to Rotto wearing your PJs and pink gumboots will have to wait for another time).
See a lie detection demo – psychological responses can be used in lie detection, check it out!
Find out about course pathways – and see where a degree in Psychology can lead to!

For more information about everything above, get to Open Day at 10am on Sunday 31 August 2008. You’ll be able to meet Jo and the rest of the team, find out everything you’d like to know – plus enjoy food, giveaways, entertainment and some awesome bands.

Keep watching our RSS feed for our more Open Day news! Coming up next – the Nursing, Pharmacy and Chiropractic hotspots you won’t want to miss!

Enrol now for your place in our Games Art & Design workshop!

2008-08-04T09:27:00.006+08:00

Book your place for our free Open Day workshop – 31 August 2008

Our Games Art & Design course is being launched in Semester One 2009 so we’re offering a hands-on “try before you buy” kind of experience for a small group of people at Open Day!

The workshop is going to be run by the man behind the course itself, Josh Whitkin (whose CV reads like a “Who’s Who” of gaming) – so at the risk of sounding like a brochure for a school excursion, the workshop is going to be fun AND educational!

There’s only a small number of place available, so you have to book now for your chance to get involved!

If you miss out on a place in the workshop, you can still come along to see what the workshop participants are doing. And if you do get a place in the workshop, you can invite your family/friends to drop by and see you in action!

Here’s another reminder of what you should do to get your place in the workshop:

BOOK NOW

And just in case anybody asks “But where will a degree in games lead you?” you can tell them that you can get the qualifications you need to work as a Concept Artist, Animator, Technical Artist, Character Modeller, Game Designer, Environmental Modeller, Character Animator, Game Play Tester or Lighting Artist. How’s THAT for career diversity!

See you at Open Day!

Law & Business hotspots announced

2008-08-01T13:45:00.000+08:00

Business in China, a debate about quokkas, travel to Europe and more!

Newsflash from PSAC headquarters! Our faculty recruitment officer Chelsea (that’s Chelsea’s pic in the banner!) just told us about some of the cool stuff happening in the Law and Business faculties on Open Day, so we have to share it all with you as soon as possible!

Check out all the action at our Law school hotspot...

Check out our Freehills Electronic Moot Court Bench – If your big dream (not the one where you win Australian Idol, the other big dream) involves battling it out in court as part of a legal team, make sure you check out our Moot Court. Located in our Law Building, it’s set up like a courtroom and it’s where our Law students get involved in international mooting!
Get involved in mooting – 12 of our Moot Court Bench members will be there to show you the basics of mooting. You’ll have the chance to debate and state your case on the topic: ‘Trouble on Rottnest’
Find out about our European Summer Program – It’s beginning in June 2009 and means you could combine Law study with overseas travel and still receive full accreditation! Tres magnifique! (That’s what someone in the PSAC office said.)
Meet our Murdoch Student Law Society (MSLS) – Dinner, camps or cocktail parties anyone? When you become a Law student, the MSLS is a great way to meet friends and get to know your uni classmates better!
Find out more about our courses and careers related to Law – If you want to be a trial or corporate lawyer, you probably want to apply to study Law. On the other hand, our Criminology course can lead to some exciting careers including work as a criminologist or community corrections officer.

And now we mean Business (the School that is)...

Check out the Business Lounge – It’s upstairs in the Senate Suites (off Bush Court) and it’s where all the Open Day action will be happening, including the seminars below.
Learn How to do Business with China…. in China – Find out all about our International Business: China Program from the Program Chair, Dr Yingchi Chu.
Meet a ‘China Returnee’ – He’s been there as part of our International Business program and has some amazing stories of his travels and experiences there!
Learn more about Business at Murdoch – Find out about our four teaching periods a year (so you can fit study into your working life and complete your degree sooner), our international academics who teach certain units and even our specialist postgrad degrees that can open doors to careers you might not have considered!

Whoa! Lots of info there, and that’s just some of it! Get to Open Day at 10am on Sunday 31 August 2008 and you’ll be able to ask Chelsea and the rest of the team questions and find out everything you’d like to know – plus enjoy food, giveaways, entertainment and some awesome bands.

Stay tuned to our RSS feed for our next Open Day hotspot areas!

Make plans for Open Day

2008-07-25T13:08:00.001+08:00

How to fit course info, talks, activities AND entertainment into your day

Plan your day in Murdochland...

If you’re lucky enough to have been to Disneyland, you’ll know that the best way to make the most of your experience there is to plan ahead.

You need to get to the Indiana Jones Adventure and the Haunted Mansion, take a few touristy photos in Mickey’s Toontown, get drenched on Splash Mountain, and then end up at the Parade of Dreams in time for the fireworks at night. Or something like that. Basically there’s so much to do that you need to plan ahead so you can fit it all in – just like Open Day at Murdoch!

Here are the fireworks from last year’s Open Day – and about 47 seconds after this photo was taken, the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate the lecture theatre. Oops!

We won’t have any oversized mice posing for photos but we do have fireworks (see above), at least 11 staff members with the surname “Jones” (but sadly no Indiana) and a looong list of things for you to fit into Open Day, including:

Campus tours to check out the working farms, hospitals, clinics, theatres and more. (You can also take a tour online before you get here, to help you work out where everything is!)
No fairytale princesses on floats, but a bunch of very cool bands performing live in Bush Court (we’ll tell you more about the bands in a future blog post!)
Competitions and giveaways (including free stuff from the Nova 93.7 Cassanovas)
Talks on courses, and general info on uni life, study help and more.
Entertainment and interactive fun stuff...more about a very cool workshop for our new Games Art and Design course next week....
“Hotspots” for each course area where you get involved in activities and demos and find out much more about that particular course area.

Visit Tomorrowland to figure out your life

Some of the talks and activities will be happening at the same time in different areas of the campus – so as much as you want to, you won’t be able to see absolutely everything there is to see.

If you’d like to narrow your options down to just one or two study areas, use our figure out your life tool today. Then you can work out where you need to be to get the most out of Open Day – and check out the hotspots we’re going to feature in more details in future blog posts!

Sign up to the RSS feed to get alerts as we release more details about Open Day.

Happiest place on Earth? We’ll leave that to our friends at Disneyland – but on Sunday 31 August 2008, we’re going to be the happiest place in Perth...

Open Day 2008 at Murdoch is so big it needs its own blog.

2008-07-18T16:59:00.000+08:00

We draw the line at giving it its own office... but it will be all over our South Street campus on 31 August 2008, from 10am until 4pm!

In the PSAC office (that’s Prospective Students’ and Admissions Office), we’re so excited about Open Day 2008 that we’ve been going through the photo albums and feedback forms from last year’s Open Day. Thousands of people came – and here’s what a handful of them said....

“This is a brilliant university!”
“Really good Open Day, I love Murdoch.” (We said: Awww, thanks! Group hug!)
“This is a very student friendly campus.”
“I got lots of help and narrowed my choices for the future.”

In fact, almost all of the feedback was overwhelmingly positive (although we’ll be honest, one person said “Vet school pony” and we’re still trying to work out what that means...).

It’s all about discovery

Whether you explore the largest university campus in Australia (that’s right – it’s ours!), get some answers about your future options at Murdoch (e.g. what kind of facilities there are for the course you’re most interested in), find your next favourite band or work out whether “vet school pony” is a good thing, don’t miss your chance to discover Open Day at Murdoch!

There’s seriously so much to tell you about Open Day that we had to set up this blog. We’ll be updating it (about once at week at first but more as the day gets closer!) to let you know all about the activities and hotspots* of the day. *Hotspots are what we’re calling the “must-see” parts of Open Day that relate to certain study areas.

We’ll be featuring some different hotspots, Open Day activities and the name of our headline band in future blog posts, so sign up to receive the RSS feed now and you’ll know all the news as it happens!

If you can’t wait that long and you want a preview of what life at Murdoch is all about before you get to Open Day, check out our first year bloggers.

Solar Sausage Sizzles, Singer-songwriters, Scientists, Stalls and Stuff at South Street

First of all, so you can find us on Open Day – here’s a map of where we are. You can catch a train (on the new train line), or a bus, drive your car and park on our campus or maybe see if the “vet school pony” is available to transport you...

Watch this space to find out more about Open Day 2008 at Murdoch!