Universities welcome the class of 2017

The Geelong College VCE class of 2017 received university offers last week and we offer our congratulations to this outstanding group of students.

College principal Dr Peter Miller was excited to see the broad variety of pathways chosen by the 92 per cent of the cohort who received one of their top two preferences.

“These students excelled academically and personally across a huge range of learning experiences and used that knowledge to shape their goals for the next few years,” he said.

“While ATARs remain important, we see university offers as a true reflection of the success of our year, and to have 92 per cent of our 2017 cohort receive their first or second preference and more than 99 per cent of those who applied receive an offer is a great outcome.

“Student leadership, co-curricular achievements and breadth of experience are taken into consideration by universities when offering places, and our VCE program, as well as our careers advice, helps students to prepare for and make good choices about their future studies.”

More than 29 per cent of The Geelong College class of 2017 will attend Melbourne University, with Swinburne and Monash universities the next two most popular destinations for further study for this group who have had dedicated career planning advice regularly over the past four years.

“Our Careers team help students to understand their strengths and passions, and to find a pathway that interests them through regular counselling, testing and analysis,” Dr Miller said.

“The result is that most of our students receive their first preference because they have realistic expectations of what their results will be and are advised of any opportunities to increase the likelihood of acceptance. Careers education, we believe, is a key strength of the College.”

The 137 students who received university offers will go on to study a huge variety of courses with Science and Engineering degrees being the most popular. Significant numbers will also enter Arts, Agriculture, Design, Media and Communication and Medicine courses. A number of students have also been offered places at universities interstate including the Australian National University in Canberra, Western Sydney University, the University of Newcastle, Griffith University, Charles Sturt University, the University of Adelaide, Flinders University, the University of Tasmania, UNSW, University of Sydney, James Cook University, Bond University and the University of Western Australia.

“Once again our students are aspiring to work in a broad range of fields and to study further from home due, in part, to their broad learning experiences at The Geelong College,” Dr Miller said.

“We wish them our best as they embark on the next part of their learning journey and look forward to seeing them make a mark in their chosen field.”