[CjChris]

Hello.

Amid the craziness of packing and planning life in NZ, my youngest daughter is wondering about university in NZ.

She was originally only going to stay in NZ with us for a year, then return to the US for uni. I'm thrilled, of course, that she might be staying in NZ for the long term (and that uni there is cheaper than US by a long shot!) :raebanana

Can anyone give me any info about how difficult it is to get accepted in a NZ university, such as Victoria or Massey? She plans to live in Wellington region.

In the US, there are some universities that have very, very high benchmarks for standardized scores, grades in high school, and extracurricular involvement. Then there are other universities that basically have "open enrollment," meaning that while they review all your scores and courses, they pretty much let anyone in who applies (unless you are on academic probation at another school.) :uhoh

As an immigrant, for what tests (if any) will my daughter have to show scores with her application?

If any of you have children in the NZ university system or if you, yourself, are attending uni as an immigrant, I would love to hear your stories. PM me if you prefer.

Thanks!

Christine

[tigerlily]

I'm applying to a master's degree program at Vic. My impression about applications and enrollment is that it is much less selective than any US university- even state schools in the US require lots of testing and some essays. I'm being asked to show that my grades were good, and that I graduated and that's about it. And yes, it's much much cheaper, especially with PR. I think some types of programs in NZ are very hard to get into, with only a few slots available each year, so I guess it depends on what she wants to study. If she was to email the admissions office I think she would get some answers.
The process for my program is that application have to be in by Decemeber, then I have to be on campus in February to register for classes- which begin one week later.

Hope that helps a bit.

PS. I found the department secretary to be a wonderful resource, as far as helping me see when classes were scheduled and what I need to do to into the program. So if she knows what she wants to major in, that department could be very helpful to contact.

[anna_c]

For Victoria, you need to have a certain level of qualification, and after that it's essentially open entry. It owuld help to know what she wants to study. For example, for a BA the requirements are:

Academic Requirements:

High School Diploma plus an SAT score higher than 1100 with at least 500 in each of 'verb' and 'math' OR: an ACT score of 24 or higher.
English Language Requirements

None

These are not entirely inflexible, although if she didn't meet them they may ask her to do a pre degree course. There is a table here (http://http://www.vuw.ac.nz/international/Tools/admission_requirements2.aspx?Country=USA&Program=Undergraduate&Degree=Bachelor%2Bof%2BArts&Submit=View+Admission+Requirements) technically for international students, but it essentially applies for new migrants with PR

I've attended Vic as an international student and a migrant, and work for the international office (although I can't give you any official info in that capacity) so please PM feel free me with your questions.