It is never too early to celebrate the achievements of our 2022 graduating class.
At MLMC, students who complete a VCE Unit 3 and 4 Subject in Year 11 have the opportunity to apply to do extension university studies as their fifth VCE subject in Year 12. This is a fully-funded initiative so there is no university fee for students to participate in these tertiary studies.
This week the Careers team gathered our Year 12 extension students in the Barak Library to celebrate their success and share their experiences with the small group of adventurous Year 11s who are considering making applications themselves for 2023.
Year 12 student Josh Peels spoke about completing his two units from a Bachelor of Media and Communication at The University of Melbourne. Josh explained to the students that everything in his course was online, so he didn’t have to go on campus. This meant completing his units didn’t interfere with his VCE classes. Josh also explained that it was a good option for him as a fifth subject because it counted towards his ATAR as a 10% bonus score and no other VCE subject really interested him in the same way.
Annalise Roper successfully completed two units from a Bachelor of Criminology at Deakin University. She spoke very clearly about the transition benefits of doing these extension studies, explaining that it helps you understand what university will be like so it doesn’t seem so daunting leaving school for tertiary studies. Annalise also pointed out that the university year starts later than when Term 1 begins at MLMC. Because you are given nine periods a fortnight to complete the units, you can use those nine periods in the first month of Term 1 to your advantage to get really well set up in your other four VCE subjects.
Amelie Kercher studied two units from the Bachelor of Information Technology at Federation University. Amelie explained that the content of the first unit, IT Problem Solving, was a little dry, but the experience was worth doing overall because the second unit on Gaming Design was great and it really enhanced her skills.
Natalie Contebardo spoke about her experiences studying two units from a Bachelor of Psychology at Deakin University, while also taking the lead role in this year’s College Musical as Matilda. Natalie shared that it helps you test the waters of a course, so that you know whether it is what you really want to do after MLMC. If it is, then it’s a bonus, because you’ve already got two units finished and you’ll be one of the only students studying second-year subjects when you start university the following year.
Monica Mockiewicz also shared her experience as our first student to participate in the Prepare for La Trobe program. This is a new pathways program at La Trobe University open to VCE and VCE VM students in Years 11 and 12 to complete micro-credential subjects self-paced online throughout their final years of study. It is designed to be completed alongside a full complement of subjects and Monica was clear that she didn’t find the time management of this load as difficult as she thought it would be because of the self-paced nature. However, the grades from these studies don’t contribute to an ATAR like La Trobe’s traditional Achieve Plus university extension program. La Trobe will average your grades from the Prepare Program, calculate a GPA and give you a La Trobe Entrance Score which you can use instead of your ATAR to gain a conditional early offer into a course.
“I have aspirations of becoming a Japanese teacher, so I chose to apply to La Trobe as they offer Japanese as a part of their teaching courses. In order to ease my mind and secure a spot during my final year of high school, I enrolled into three micro courses; Thinking Critically, Academic Writing and Critical Inquiry. Along with the helpful teachers, these courses have assisted in preparing me for university-level work so that the transition from high school to university next year can be that much smoother.”
— Monica Mockiewicz
Monica’s completion of Prepare for La Trobe along with her active engagement in community resulted in her receiving a La Trobe Aspire conditional offer.
“This has given me the confidence to finish off high school with a positive attitude, because I don't need to stress about offers during December because La Trobe is where I want to go. Overall it has helped me get one step closer to my dream career.”
These students have shown initiative and courage to adventure out beyond into tertiary study, while still completing their VCE. They should be proud of the consistent effort they’ve applied to achieve their academic success. We certainly are very proud of them.
