Students set future course

First-round uni offers end nervous wait

THOUSANDS of Geelong students, including Bellarine Secondary College graduate Mackenzie Pennycook, were relieved to receive first-round university offers yesterday.

Deakin University offered 2272 students places to study in courses across its Geelong campuses.

Ms Pennycook was one of 1447 students offered a place at Deakin’s Waurn Ponds campus, while 825 students were offered a place at its Waterfront campus.

Ms Pennycook, an aspiring reporter, marked Deakin’s Bachelor of Journalism as her first preference and by 8am on Tuesday was already thinking about the subjects she’d like to complete.

“I kind of chopped and changed my mind throughout Year 12, but I always wanted to do journalism,” Ms Pennycook said.

She applied for a place at Deakin due to its proximity to her home and its striking campus. Ms Pennycook was also impressed by the university’s focus on ensuring graduates found suitable employment.

The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre released 52,973 offers to study on Tuesday, with 76 per cent of applicants receiving an offer.

While the overall application numbers declined by 3.4 per cent, Year 12 applications rose by 0.5 per cent.

Nursing, optometry, exercise and sport science were the most sought after Deakin Geelong degrees in 2018.

Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Gary Smith said demand for Deakin’s courses remained strong, with more than 12,000 students enrolled across both campuses.

“Deakin’s vibrant and diverse student community add enormous value to our entire region and as Victoria’s first regional university, we remain committed to the communities we serve,” Prof Smith said.

“It’s not surprising that we’re also seeing continuing popularity of courses in the health, technology and science fields, reflecting Geelong’s strength and reputation for innovation in these areas.

“Accordingly, exercise and sport science is the third most popular course this year among prospective Geelongbased students.”

Despite receiving an ATAR that made her “pretty certain” she would receive a first-round offer, Ms Pennycook was a bundle of nerves on Monday morning.

“I was really nervous and pretty excited when I got in,” she said. Second-round offers will be made on February 2.