Firefly: the Australian Government is responsible for the HECS places, meaning that no British taxpayer dollars go towards Australian student education. That would be ridiculous, and would also only be possible if Australia was racking up some kind of trade deficit with the UK or wasn't independent from the UK anyway.
I mean, under the previous government public funding to the universities was slashed, hence this (problematic) over-reliance on international fee-paying students to fund the bulk of university coffers. It's all well and good but industry shortfalls wait on the other end. In terms of medical school, the seat numbers were increased and all these private institutions now have accredited medical programs, meaning that the year after I graduate, the hospitals are going to be flooded with several hundred more applications than they can handle. HMM.
Britain and Australia have other reciprocal benefits, though. A British citizen has access to full public health care under the Medicare scheme in Australia, and I *think* this applies the other way round too.
(p.s. I assume it's called Commonwealth-Supported only because Australia is a member of the Commonwealth, and the country's official name is the Commonwealth of Australia.)
Samy's link tothis article is an essential one to click on for anybody interested in pursuing medicine as a career, because as somebody who's about to graduate, I can tell you that this is something you will encounter throughout. A certain leading authority in neurosurgery criticised my course on the grounds that it didn't provide any opportunity to partake in formal lib arts courses- in fact my university has now changed the course so that it encourages breadth and arts subjects, in a similar format to the US system.
Likewise, the hospitals that I'm applying to encourage us to show the breadth of our activities and education by demonstrating what we do outside of medicine, as they already know what we do inside of it: documented activities in art, music, writing, sports, community work and various club committees are a big advantage, not only because they show breadth, but also because they show things that one does that others don't e.g. a medical student who breakdances enough to form an official university club around it is nearly unheard of around here. My extensive formal musical education (with levels as evidence) is a more typical demonstration of breadth... which means that many others will have similar qualifications, so if you want to stand out in that area, you simply have to be more advanced.
Think about this stuff sooner rather than later! For most of you who are in or are approaching high-school, it's a good time to start exploring what you can do, in particular, what you can do to give to the community: the big-note colleges and trusts for grants and scholarships love that kinda stuff.
...and if you're the type that sat around most of your days playing WoW, well, better think of a way to pad that CV >_>
Firefly: the Australian Government is responsible for the HECS places, meaning that no British taxpayer dollars go towards Australian student education. That would be ridiculous, and would also only be possible if Australia was racking up some kind of trade deficit with the UK or wasn't independent from the UK anyway.
It was the name that spooked me. With Britain being the head of the Commonwealth, thoughts about transantional university funding crossed my mind. Which seemed quite implausible, but you never know with New Labour. Well, never knew that is.
I mean, under the previous government public funding to the universities was slashed, hence this (problematic) over-reliance on international fee-paying students to fund the bulk of university coffers. It's all well and good but industry shortfalls wait on the other end. In terms of medical school, the seat numbers were increased and all these private institutions now have accredited medical programs, meaning that the year after I graduate, the hospitals are going to be flooded with several hundred more applications than they can handle. HMM.
The Tories are going for the classic raising tuition fees and lowering government subsidies. How they can do this whilst arguing equal opportunities is beyond me. Not to mention the number of rich idiots who will get into uni by default. But it seems we aren't the only ones with problems. That's reassuring.
Britain and Australia have other reciprocal benefits, though. A British citizen has access to full public health care under the Medicare scheme in Australia, and I *think* this applies the other way round too.
So what you are saying in practice is that British and Aussie tourists can go to each others countries, get paralytically drunk and be treated with no financial cost. At least that's the impression I get on our end from a Friday night in Shepherd's Bush. I sincerely hope us Brits are doing the Queen proud on your end of things.
And why would Britain be doing this? I'm uncertain on Britain and Australia's relationship, if you can't tell...
They used to be part of the Empire and are now part of the Commonwealth, a loose affiliation of countries with ties to Britain with a few financial implications. To put into context why I was so shocked, it would be like expecting the Italians to pay for the education of the peoples conquered by the Roman Empire. Kind of ridiculous.
If I were you I'd be happy that you received large amounts of government subsides to help pay for higher education here in America I might receive $10,000 if I'm lucky. I'm a white, middle class, male, protestant and you can't get any close to the epitome of American than that. With that said I have to work my @$$ off to get scholarships from my college and any other way I can. It's really quite unfortunate as it allows my dad to threaten me with public college; bastard.
If I were you I'd be happy that you received large amounts of government subsides to help pay for higher education here in America I might receive $10,000 if I'm lucky. I'm a white, middle class, male, protestant and you can't get any close to the epitome of American than that. With that said I have to work my @$$ off to get scholarships from my college and any other way I can. It's really quite unfortunate as it allows my dad to threaten me with public college; *******.
Here's a hint, we high schoolers happen to be rather slow, so that giant bulletin board, covered with scholarship offers, is left unclaimed, fill every single one of those (that you can of course) out, and trust me come 6/1 you'll get several scholarships simply because you're the only one that applied.
Samy don't take out your anger on me for your having a horribly regressive education system. Save that anger for the man. Or quit whining and go to a state funded uni. I hear they're more fun anyway.
So uhh...I just got my ACT results back... I got a 27 out of a max of 35 points. So whichever scores my college of choice wants, I got my SAT or my ACT for them to look at :P
I'm actually tearing up right now. I didn't think I did that great, but the results show otherwise.
Samy don't take out your anger on me for your having a horribly regressive education system. Save that anger for the man. Or quit whining and go to a state funded uni. I hear they're more fun anyway.
Someone misplaced their box o' compassion.
So uhh...I just got my ACT results back... I got a 27 out of a max of 35 points
It's out of 36? And that's not bad still in the top tenth percentile?
So what you are saying in practice is that British and Aussie tourists can go to each others countries, get paralytically drunk and be treated with no financial cost. At least that's the impression I get on our end from a Friday night in Shepherd's Bush.
Correct. Sadly I am well aware of the Aussie backpacker's reputation in Shepherd's Bush. I'd like to suggest that the Aussie backpacker out to have a riproaring time is a separate breed of Aussie altogether, but chances are they're the equivalent to our plentiful bogans. I somehow doubt that the Brits, with their characteristic tact and restraint, visiting Australia could pull the same off unless we imported, say, the entire body of Liverpool fans.
Save that anger for the man
Always tryin' to keep a ****** down!
Here's a hint, we high schoolers happen to be rather slow, so that giant bulletin board, covered with scholarship offers, is left unclaimed, fill every single one of those (that you can of course) out, and trust me come 6/1 you'll get several scholarships simply because you're the only one that applied.
Wise words.
Of course you could also apply for a really big scholarship and not tell anybody, and then realise come offers time that everybody else did exactly the same thing and only one of you got it. Awkward >_<
