Melbourne University to enroll students from more Vietnamese high schools

Lam Minh Khoa, Country Manager of the University of Melbourne in Vietnam, said Thursday that the new policy would take effect from July this year.

Previously, only students from high schools for the gifted in Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City were directly admitted into the university without having to attend a university foundation program, a one-year program designed to prepare students for entry into the first year.

Khoa said that after 10 years of observing and assessing, the University of Melbourne found that students graduating from the 11 additional schools all had good academic abilities.

The decision was also made based on the entrance scores and high school graduation exam results provided by the Departments of Education and Training of various provinces.

To apply to the University of Melbourne, students from the listed schools need to have a grade point average (GPA) of the 12th grade at 8.5 or higher, a minimum English language proficiency at 6.5 in IELTS (with no skill below 6) or TOEFL iBT from 79 points, and PTE from 58 points upward, depending on the field of study, he said.

If not graduating from one of the 23 listed schools, Vietnamese students still have the opportunity for direct admission if they have a SAT score of 1320/1600 or higher, ACT from 28/36, and GPA from 8.8.

“This year, the university is applying this policy for the first time to four countries Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines,” Khoa said.

He said new policies allowed the university to expand opportunities for students while ensuring the quality of incoming students.

Universities in Australia typically select students based on scores. Therefore, when studying in high school or preparing for the SAT, students should strive to achieve the highest scores possible, Khoa said.

According to the 2024 university rankings by British company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the University of Melbourne is the best university in Australia and ranks 14th in the world.

The university currently has 52,000 students, including 600 Vietnamese.

Its tuition fees range from AUD$45,000-55,000 (US$30,130-36,830) per year, with study in medical and healthcare fields costing the highest.