Celia Pompeani, who was this year’s dux at Coburg High School, said she felt a little nervous on Monday as she waited for offers to be sent.
The 18-year-old is part of the growing tide of students wanting to study health, and has applied to the University of Melbourne to study biomedicine.
Pompeani hopes to study biomedicine at the University of Melbourne.Credit: Chris Hopkins
When she received her ATAR score, she was so shocked she restarted her computer to check again. Expecting a score of 95, she received 99.15.
“Honestly, I just wanted something that reflected the amount of work that I put in throughout the year,” she said.
One thing Pompeani is looking forward to when it comes to studying is meeting people who share her interests.
“Once I start talking about biology, I won’t stop. I want to be in a learning environment where other people also want to talk about biology. They’re just interested and want to be there,” she said.
Health, society and culture and education are popular university courses among this year’s VCE graduates.Credit: Penny Stephens
Pompeani said she liked the University of Melbourne’s approach when it came to studying different areas of biomedicine before having to narrow her focus, and was excited about its biomedical precinct.
“I don’t know exactly what I want for my career, but I want to learn as much as possible,” she said.
“I mean, even if I don’t get in the course I wanted to, for me, there are other pathways and other options. There’s always another way around it.”
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Students who don’t receive an offer or who change their mind about their course can still change their preferences before the January round by logging into their VTAC account before 8pm on Tuesday.
Those who don’t get their first-round offer could still get into their preferred course in the second round. The next round of offers will be made on January 13, with more offered in February, which will be made to both year 12 and post-school applicants.
The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre said any students who needed support could contact their schools, tertiary institutions and VTAC Connect, which has help lines open until 8.15pm on Tuesday.
VTAC chief executive officer Teresa Tjia said students’ hard work was reflected in the offers they would receive on Tuesday.
“Celebrate this achievement with family and friends over the new year and share your excitement about the course you’ve chosen,” she said.
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