VTAC Offers FAQ
Congrats to everyone that received an offer! Even if it’s not exactly what you’re quite hoping for, an offer is an offer and
that’s something to celebrate.
In this thread, I’m going to answer a bunch of the most frequently asked questions that come immediately after offers arrive. (It
is, after all, in the title of the thread.) If your question is fairly general and isn’t answered below, please post a reply and hopefully someone has an answer for you.
Questions: Q: I got my offer. Now what?Spoiler
We have a thread for exactly that! Check it out
here. You can also enrol, typically using the instructions provided. If you need help enrolling, please ask for help on the boards or ask the institute if it’s quite personal. You should also check out your new institute via the
Victorian university boards online.
A good start would be casing out the General University board and checking out the stickied (orange) threads, like
How university works and the
Mega University Guide. If you’re starting at Monash, a good thread to read is VanillaRice’s
2019 Monash New Students thread.
Once you’re all settled in, feel free to start a
university journal, if you haven’t already, to document your time there. You can also join in the appropriate chat threads and ask questions if you have anything you want answered, as always.
…but I got an offer that I don’t mind studying for a semester or two. What should I do?
Accept the offer and enrol as per normal. You’ll still be eligible for Round 2 onwards for any higher preferences e.g. if you received Preference #5, you will be eligible to receive Preferences #1 - #4, given that you fit all the prereq.s and other selection criteria. Keep a look out to see if you make it into Preference #1 in later rounds. Dates can be found
here.
If you do wind up with a later round offer, you can accept that and discontinue your previous offers before the census date to incur zero fees. If you need assistance with discontinuing, please contact or visit your institute.
If all else fails and/or you decide to take a different route, you can study for a semester or two and try to keep your grades up. If you’re really hoping to move elsewhere, you can transfer after a semester or two, depending on the desired course. The closer the course typically in name and/or area and the higher the grades you receive in your accepted course, the better your chances (usually).
…but I got an offer that I simply can’t stand (as in, I dislike this course more than cats hate large bodies of water). What should I do?
Preface: This is not what everyone will say, but purely my take. Most people would say take any offer you are given and transfer later. I would advise the same in most cases, but this scenario is a bit trickier…
Depending on the round, things may differ a little. As chances get progressively worse with each round (and significantly worse at that), I’d advise that you open your horizons a bit for now, accept your losses and see if you’re at all able to just stick it out for a semester or year, then transfer. You never know, things sometimes change when you study something at uni rather than at high school.
If it’s something that you know you absolutely abhor and would avoid faster than the plague, then you should probably ask below to see whether to accept or reject the offer. Please include your circumstances too, so we know.
If it’s Round 1, you might want to consider changing your preferences (see later questions). You might also want to consider an alternative path as a last resort, especially in later rounds. If you want to try an alternative path and have no idea where to begin, please ask below.
…but I didn’t receive an offer at all. What now?
Not the end of the world. Next round is coming soon, usually in a week. Chances are still reasonably good to get a place and usually VTAC and the institutes will try to give you something rather than nothing. Stay patient, hope for the best and check again in the next round. Good luck!
If all else fails, try another pathway to your intended career e.g. TAFE, Open Unis, colleges like Monash College, specialist institutes like SAE. You can ask below to see if we know any alternatives or what alternative might be best for you.
Spoiler
Each round gets progressively and significantly worse chances. This is especially the case if you missed the lowest selection rank without adjustments by quite a lot or don’t meet the prereq SSs, which use raw SSs. I can’t say for sure what the chances will be, but it’ll get much harder with each round. Please read previous question to see what course of action you should take.
Spoiler
Still accept the offer. Do not, I repeat, do not let your offer lapse. Each institute usually provides instructions, if not a link to instructions, for those intending to defer/ take a gap year with the offer. Please follow those instructions accordingly and read carefully.
If there are no instructions or you require help, please contact the institute or visit the campus and ask.
Spoiler
Usually you’d have to talk to your institute about doing this after enrolling, if there’s not a help page or instructions for this already. If you’re intending to study part-time and are receiving Centrelink payments such as Youth Allowance, be aware that studying part-time can often mean reductions in said payments and sometimes will ask whether you’re working or have a valid reason why you’re studying part-time (e.g. disability). If you are prepared or much aware of this already and are still intent on doing so, go for it and contact your institute to see what you can do.
Spoiler
You can still change your preferences to whatever you want, as long as it’s within the right timeframe (see below). If it’s after Round 1 or 2, you should be able to change your preferences before the following round’s due date. Just push whatever course you were offered to a lower preference and pop your new course preferences in the top preferences.
This recent thread discusses this a little better than I can explain, so give it a read.
If you’re indecisive, let us know down below and we’ll see if we can help. Try not to be too fickle and switch Preference #7 to Preference #8, but definitely change whatever you want for Preference #1, so that it’s accurate to what you want right now, even if it was your Preference #2 beforehand.
Spoiler
Maybe. Have a look at the date and see if it coincides with any window of preference changing time
here. For example, assuming you’re a domestic student (one applying in Australia) changing preferences between January 4 2019 4:01pm and January 25 2019 3:59pm, you’ll be in with a shot for February Round 1 offers i.e. Round 2 offers. (Note: These are only the dates for VTAC 2019 applicants i.e. mostly VCE Class of 2018 and prior students or interstate applicants who completed their equivalents in 2018 and prior.)
Spoiler
You can check when the next round is
here or below (please ignore the red box
That's just left over from when I used this for the last Change of Preference window before Round 1. Sorry guys.):
As stated above, if your VTAC offers question hasn’t been answered and is pretty general, please feel free to post below.
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