Good question.

International students with A levels is easier than International/Local or PR students that holds year 12 qualification. However, I can't guarantee which quota is larger, you'll have to ask the university personally.

going to adelaide on wednesday!!! =D

I would like to know, are we allowed to bring sweets eg. jelly beans and skittles to australia? I know I will have to declare them, but is there any chance whereby the officers will not allow it?

lets say the officer does not allow you to bring in the sweets, can we just leave it at the airport for a few days and my dad will just collect from them and bring back to malaysia as he will be travelling with me to australia?

check the first page bro...

Please educate me, why are international students with A levels preferred over Australia's own year 12 qualification? I seriously doubt aussie universities will diss their own education's pre-u exams. it does not quite make rational sense.

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Added on February 8, 2011, 10:07 amAustralia, like the US, is unfortunately candy heaven. if you're going in as a student for the first time, it is advisable NOT to bring in any food unless it's absolutely necessary. Reason being, EVERYTHING is computerised now, and that one skittle will show up everytime you enter the country, and you will spend lots of time declaring your food EVEN when you say you have nothing to declare in future.

This post has been edited by podrunner: Feb 8 2011, 10:07 AM

Yes so long it is commercially packed or you packed it nicely.
And if you declare it. Sweets is ok in my opinion.
Regarding if you can take it back if they took it, I doubt you can do that, since customs handles heaps of things everyday, it would be a logistical nightmare for storage and tracking especially if it is a busy airport.

It depends if you met the requirements and the quota.
But to be honest most of my mates who did A-Level didn't really struggle in first year since majority of the content we learned in A Level before compare to our ausmat counterpart.
Granted all unis would like more full-fees paying students (international students) regardless of what pre-u you completed but they are limits to that and also it could be A Level students tend to finished their degree instead of dropping out(lost revenue) in my opinion.
Anyway apply early for your places then you have time to settle your uni accommodation and flight tickets, ones you get your COE.
When I applied for engineering the min points requirement for entry was 9 points out of 15 points full where A=5 points,B=4 points,C=3 Points and so on for A-Levels, meaning if you have 3Cs you will get an enrollment letter by the uni, such was the min. requirement then.

My QUT's lecturer share this with us



This post has been edited by Shooterz: Feb 8 2011, 01:15 PM

just declare you have food, show them all, and let them decide what they will allow........i have not had any problem bringing food in before........just avoid FRESH food of any kind..........

Hi. podrunner. It's not that Australian universities preferred international students with A levels over Australia's year 12 qualification. Let's take University X as an example. The minimum requirement for Medicine undergraduate with A levels is 15 points [ 3A's for 3 subjects] and to get 3A's are all depends on your effort during examinations. As long as you have 3A's or points that fulfill the minimum requirement, you're eligible to get an offer. For someone who holds an Australian year 12 qualification, he/she has to achieve the cut-off of let's say ATAR 98. Again, to get 98 means you have to be the top 2%. The problem with Australian year 12 qualification is that your final results are always unpredictable, depending on the entire batch's performance. To get A's in all subjects does not guarantee you to be in top 2%, assuming majority of the students are doing really well and vice versa. That's why most of my friends from the college who're pursuing for medicine in future would rather spend another 6 months sitting A-lvls exams. Australian year 12 qualification is good in developing soft skills and if you want a quick transition to universities. But as a former Aussie year 12 student, I seriously wouldn't recommend this for prospective lawyers, physiotherapist, doctors, dentists and any other courses that requires high-end 90's atar.

I hope that pretty much explains everything. It's all about eligibility. =D

This is very interesting. Can you show me sites to read up on this?

the answer is simple.........

the max one can get in a-levels was aaa.......

that translate into about atar 95 and above........

but you will really get NO offers with atar 95-98..........if we assume the distribution of students >95 is linear, 60% of aaa students should not have received offers as their atar is <98........but they may........

that's why a-levels is 'easier'........lots of 'weaker' students gets aaa (atar95 equivalent) and if they do well in the isat and interview may receive offers, over a stronger student with atar97 (still aaa equivalent) who was never in the short list and had no chance to shine at the interview......

this will change going forward, with the introduction of a* grade........there will be a revision of a-level cutoffs, and they may now want aa*a*, or even 3a*.........

it's already happening in uk.......imperial used to need aaa for their engineering courses........current offers is aa*a*............

Yeah sure. The link given below is a rough idea on your position in a specific year. This calculator [WACE] counts your best 4 subjects. Assume if you have 80 marks [A] in each subject, 4 subjects will total up to 320. Insert 320 and click calculate for your Atar. Try out a few previous years ago, especially 2007. You'll see the difference. A slight decimal points from the cut-off will reduce to no chances in enrolling the course of your choice.

Atar/TER Calculator

Another link shows the entry requirements for one of Go8 universities. UQ. Do take note on Pharmacy and other great professional courses.
Entry requirements

and International [including A-lvls].

For the second link, you may refer Tertiary Entrance Ranking 2010 for the replacement of Atar if I'm not mistaken, OP for Queensland year 12 holders.

I guess all Australian year 12 qualification holders are treated equally in terms of entry requirements regardless if you're PR, local or international. Not much of difference. OP holders have slightly higher requirements in order to standardise the level of education since every Australian state has different allocation of marks and certain differences in syllabus content.

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Added on February 8, 2011, 5:14 pmAgreed.

This post has been edited by immabee: Feb 8 2011, 05:14 PM

Thanks

Believe me, its a lot more common than you think. Back when I helped greet students from the airport I would know they were stuck when they didn't come out 2 hours after their flight landed. Invariably they were almost all Asians, and their English was questionable at best. I've had scenes where they think Quarantine is denying them their "right" to pork meat. They're trying to get their point by shouting in Mandarin and everyone's flustered.

I will admit it is hardly the best way to be welcomed to Australia, which is why I wrote what I wrote in the front page.

I can't put it any simpler. If you're going to bring fresh food, DECLARE the damn things. If they confiscate them, so be it. That is the reality of coming to Australia both as a tourist and a student. You can call it protectionism; the farmers call it pragmaticism.

There is little point asking us, because:
1) There is a link in the front page to AQS stating what can and can't be brought into Australia.
2) It really is a case by case basis. Sometimes my achar comes in, sometimes it doesn't. Luck of the draw. As I said, they're not very consistent.

On the other hand, I understand the pain of having your tea leaves, them herbs, birds nest, your grandmothers rendang, et al, confiscated. So don't bring them, or bring in small quantities. If they get through fine, if not, move on as a human.

I mean, if you want to come to Australia, and I know I'll sound like Pauline Hanson, try the local cuisine.

Endnote: Border Security is awesome. Seven consistently gets high rankings when they broadcast a new season. Get digital TV to catch up on the older episodes.

See also: http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s2876988.htm

Ok, thank you for elaborating! At thr end of thr day, it's how well one scores (plus ISAT + interviews). I was informed international students have a slight score "advantage" as all the unis want the revenue from full fee paying students.

One have to be in the Australian shoe to understand why they forbid import of plants and animal parts. Should a new disease or virus enter Australia, the economic lost could be enormous. Just think about it for a second.

hey guys!! leaving for adelaide tomoro night. just wanna check again... I DON'T NEED TO DECLARE ANYTHING RIGHT?!! i am bringing NO FOOD at all.

Don't mind dropping such a dumb question. For all these years you guys have been going in and out from Australia, what food have you guys declared and brought in to Australia safely? =D

All that is readable labels, even Sarawak Rice Wine & Tuak!

just arrived in aussie this morning. There was a tv cast at arrivals shooting a tv show on border security ^^"