Truth about BIT Co-op (1 Viewer)

[XF]

\\This is more so a rant so close this thread if you want )

Unfortunately I didn't make it in this year due to my atar and that's fine and completely understandable.
But what isn't understandable is that a lot of applicants only applied for this scholarship due to the funding and guaranteed work placement.
So many applicants also had med/law/engineering as first preference and only chose this as a backup..

As someone who has been involved in the I.T. industry for years and has gotten mainly As in information technology related subjects at school, this hurts a bit
I have a deep passion for I.T. and I reckon I would breeze through the course work, it would only be revision..
I passed both the application and even the interview stage and the interviewers were extremely shocked of my I.T. experience and passion to pursue a professional I.T. career at a young age but as soon as the atar came.. I got a phone call stating I was not accepted for the course.
Once again, people with no prior interest in I.T. or even faking one for the sake of a scholarship (quite sad) will be working alongside me in the I.T. industry while probably hating their job.
But job security matters right? I can't really blame them haha

 

[RyanT7]

Sucks to hear man, unfortunately like many things in life, this is the harsh reality

Keep focused and dedicated to your passion, which is IT in this instance, and don't let the fact that you didn't receive the ATAR required ever have any impact on how you carry yourself in the future

Chin up

 

[XF]

Sucks to hear man, unfortunately like many things in life, this is the harsh reality

Keep focused and dedicated to your passion, which is IT in this instance, and don't let the fact that you didn't receive the ATAR required ever have any impact on how you carry yourself in the future

Chin up

Haha, thank you for those few lines of wisdom, you couldn't have said it better.
Best of luck in your studies and career too mate!

 

[30june2016]

Lmao I get where you're coming from bc it was the exact same thing w the unsw coop for me (I wanted UNSW bc my family has always gone there so more of a tradition, got through all the rounds but due to my lower atar, I had to go through seeing my friends (with absolutely no interest in tech, only medicine) getting offers)

But yeah there are people in my course like that - they wanted to do the degree because of the scholarship and guaranteed internship - like you said, it's their belief that job security matters. That being said, there are also people who are genuinely interested and curious about the IT industry. They might not have much experience, but they have this curiosity around technology that drives them to their own definition of success - their willingness to learn rly inspires me bc I've become more slack and lazy about my own self growth.

So I guess this problem exists within all faculties and degrees - the ATAR cutoffs can be quite restricting with no regard for people and their passion.

Keep in mind that the co-op program is simply the normal IT with guaranteed internships attached to it - it's all just a big marketing ploy tbh. With your experience and passion, you can easily earn yourself some placements during your degree yourself - it would be more rewarding that way as well. There are so many opportunities out there for you. Keep it up and good luck with everything!

 

[brent012]

This is unfortunately the case for any course with some prestige. An extreme example is the Rhodes Scholarship which is probably one of the most prestigious scholarships in the world. There are people that apply for it purely for the prestige without a passion for either what they are studying or an understanding of what they are actually getting into: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2007/3/16/the-rhodes-and-harvard-opportunity-not/

If you were really keen on the UTS course and internships, then consider doing a BScIT at UTS and scoping out the sponsors for the UTS (+ UNSW BIS) co-op programs and applying for internships or part time jobs yourself (some of the sponsors definitely do this). If you think you impressed the interviewers, then try reaching out to them via linkedin or similar. Another advantage of that path is that if a space does open up in the BIT course (which happens, albeit rarely) they will fill the position with a BScIT student.

But also take the opportunity to reflect on what you want to get out of uni and what is the best pathway now the scholarship is out of the picture. For example, if you want to get into industry asap and study part time, UTS is a great choice. If you'd rather be a full time student and want a rigorous and theoretical course, maybe consider UNSW and Computer Science or Software Engineering rather than IT.

 

[the_matrix]

Hey I know this is a little late but if you do the BScIT with the Diploma it is pretty much the same as BIT - main difference is BIT requires you to take certain subjects which are not compulsory in the BScIT. The good news is that a lot of BIT students I know can't do anything technical for the life of them, two students found Programming Fundamentals hard which is the first programming subject you take for BIT/BScIT/B.CS/SEng and it is so damn easy that you are literally guaranteed a pass if you complete the labs, and if you do the additional labs you are guaranteed a high credit, and if you complete Part A of the assignment you are guaranteed a distinction!

So when if you end up in the same company don't you worry about them stealing your job because they most likely won't be able to do it and will probably end up as BA instead.

Also consider the Bachelor of computing science if you haven't already!

 

[Katsumi]

Keep your head up buddy. You can be just as if not more successful in the IT field without a co-op scholarship.

Use the frustration to drive you.

 

[seremify007]

\\This is more so a rant so close this thread if you want )

Unfortunately I didn't make it in this year due to my atar and that's fine and completely understandable.
But what isn't understandable is that a lot of applicants only applied for this scholarship due to the funding and guaranteed work placement.
So many applicants also had med/law/engineering as first preference and only chose this as a backup..

Same thing as accounting cadetships. Most employers try to weed it out during the interviews though to see if the candidates really actually want the job/cadetship vs just doing it as a backup.

When I was in your shoes it used to frustrate me greatly that there were people applying who had no real interest in accepting and would just take up a spot but such is the reality of life, and whilst I did manage to get one offer at the time, I remember thinking how selfish it was that they were doing it. But then on the other hand, looking back at it all, it's just rational behaviour and even if they take the spot but don't end up accepting, those employers/programs/etc will still need people and will just go down the list until they find someone who accepts. Just means it may not happen until later.