To OP: it's not that the entry requirements are
increased for those who don't qualify for schemes like this, it's that they are
reduced for those who do qualify.
I find this so ironic. Really shows all the issues with SEAS and how ridiculous it is.
Don't rely on these nonsensical charity points. If you really want to get into your course, then work hard to get a 90, not an 86.
Just from my experience and chats with friends back when we were all figuring out what to do after VCE, of the people who wanted to go to uni, no one ever thought that we were
relying on schemes like these, but more
appreciative that they exist should something happen or whatever. I qualified for the Monash Guarantee, however, I didn't need it at all - yet, I'm appreciative that the system existed.
I go to a rural public school ranked in the bottom 30 in the state where the median ATAR is well below 50. Sorry if the truth hurts, but what students from schools like mine needs is not pity, but to be treated like everyone else. No bonus points, no special consideration.
SEAS is only effective in lowering these students' standards and expectations for themselves. Telling students like myself that we must have ""bonus points"" to be on an even playing ground is not what we need to hear. Thank you.
I understand schemes like SEAS and the Monash Guarantee can be interpreted both as 'relief' and 'pity' simultaneously, but no one is suggesting someone who qualifies for varying categories of SEAS or uni specific access schemes is not capable of being a 'high achiever'.
Last semester, I wrote a decently lengthy paper for an assignment on youth access to education based on social factors - class, gender, race, (dis)ability - and there is resounding support throughout academic literature spanning decades for the idea that something like socioeconomic status
alone can impact access to education and educational outcomes. That's the
truth.
It may not be what
you need to hear, but the fact that SEAS and uni access schemes exist may mean the difference for someone else.