More often than not, international students come to our firm with their first question “Can you please tell me what the best course to study in Australia is?”. Although Australia is one of the best study destinations in the world, which offers a wide range of courses at various level, determining which course to study depends heavily on your situation and ultimate goals of studying abroad. We can give you advice on relevant information, and you are the best person to decide what course would be best for you.
In this article, we will guide you through all the elements you should consider when deciding the course of study. We will also highlight important information that you need to take into account to prepare for your study journey in Australia and to achieve whatever goals that you have in mind.
Related: Popular course options (Study in Australia)
Steps to choose the best course to study in Australia.
Studying abroad is an exciting experience and a big milestone in life. Therefore, you should carefully plan you study at the beginning, especially when your ultimate goal is to obtain permanent residency (PR) in Australia. Not all courses can lead to permanent residence, and not all courses can allow you to work in Australia and earn experience after graduation.
In addition, you also should not choose to study a course merely based on its possibility of obtaining permanent residency. Australian migration law is complicated, and it is changing every year. Choosing a course solely based on the PR element might disappoint you if the law is changed in 2 or 3 years when you finish your course.
There are several steps you can take to finally come up with one course that is best suitable for you.
Step 1 – Determine your ultimate goal of studying in Australia
Each student might have different goal of studying in Australia. This can be either experiencing a world-class education system, exploring places in Australia and its culture, enhancing knowledge and skills, working and earning experience in a high standard work environment, or obtaining PR after graduation. No matter what goal you have in mind, you must have a detailed plan to achieve it in the future.
Step 2 – Self Assess to understanding your situation
After determining the goal, you should assess your situation to see whether you can achieve your goal. Your goal can be adjusted after this step so that it will be more achievable.
Understanding yourself is crucial in the decision-making process. Below are some questions that you should ask yourself, and the reason why we suggest that you ask these questions
| Questions | Explanation |
| 1. How old are you at the moment? How old will you be after your graduation? | This question is particularly important if you want to obtain PR after graduation. Most of the skilled migration program in Australia has an age limit of 45, meaning that if you are over 45, your chance of obtaining PR becomes very slim.
Your age can help to determine which course to study based on their duration to ensure that you will not reach 45 after finishing the course. You can disregard the age element if you do not wish to obtain PR in Australia. |
| 2. What is the budget for your study? | You need to have access to sufficient funds to cover your tuition fees and living expenses in Australia. You might have to prove that you have at least:
· AUD 21,041 – for the living cost; and · Amount to money to cover your first year’s tuition fee. |
| 3. What are your career prospects after graduation? | List out 3 – 5 occupations that you want to work as after graduation. |
| 4. What are you good at? What are you bad at? | Think about your strengths and weaknesses, and how they might affect your future chosen career. |
| 5. What have you prepared for studying abroad? | This might include academic background, English ability, soft skills etc. |
Step 3 – Do research on migration law to understand the potential of obtaining PR after graduation
After step 2, you will need to do your own research on Australian Migration law about how to obtain a student visa and whether you meet the requirement. If your goal is to pursue Australian permanent residency, you need to know if the occupations you want to do at step 2 can support you in achieving your goal.
Australian migration law is considered the most complex law in the whole Australian law system. It is because there is not only federal law, but also policy in each state/ territory. For people who do not have legal background or formally trained in migration law, it can be challenging to navigate the relevant sections/ policy.
Your best course to study
After the 3 steps above, you can consider and decide which course is the best for you to study, as demonstrated in the diagram below:
If you follow these steps, we believe that you can figure out what is the best for you.
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