Hi, I got an offer for qut and Deakin for optom. Qut required 98 atar but Deakin 92. What's the difference and which should I take? Also wondering about job opportunities in Australia. Can u specialise as an opthamologist after finishing degree?
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Optometry offers (1 Viewer)
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Deakin and QUT have quite different courses. You probably know this already but you graduate a year and a half earlier if you go to Deakin because they have trimesters. Deakin also implements problem-based learning so everything you learn is very much integrated, while QUT doesn't do that as far as I know. I think QUT has longer clinical placements though, and they have their own student clinic. I'm not sure if Deakin has one. Last year I got offers from both universities but I chose QUT in the end.
I'm not too sure about job opportunities but I can't imagine that it wouldn't be quite good considering there are only 5 optometry schools in Australia and each only takes around 50 or less.
I'm not too sure about job opportunities but I can't imagine that it wouldn't be quite good considering there are only 5 optometry schools in Australia and each only takes around 50 or less.
QUT is a 5 year program (3 yrs of Vision Science & 2 yrs of Masters). Apparently this year the cut off for QUT was an OP1 (atar 99). If you wanted to become an ophthalmologist, you'd have to do Medicine (so complete GAMSAT in your 2nd & 3rd year). I heard that 1st year Optometry at QUT is quite useful for the GAMSAT Test, since it is a general science course- if you're interested in that. I got offered a place for QUT Optometry too! I heard, not sure how much truth there is to this, that the Deakin Course is run by a specsavers guy, so once you finish that you're more likely to find a job at Specsavers. Apparently job prospects in Australia for Optometrists are good at the moment, but could drop in the future since there are new schools hoping to open up Optometry schools, which could potentially oversaturate the field. And then there's the whole deal about Specsavers and other chain stores opening up, potentially making Optometry more retail-based & competitive if you're hoping to go into private practice. It's still a very hard course to get into (well it seems so at QUT, UNSW, UniofMelb & Flinders - atar of 99+ and sometimes umat/gamsat). Hope this helped!
Maybe because you studied a LOTE subject or a Maths C equivalent?But also I got 97.3 atar. Don't know how I got in.
Just wanted to add that at QUT you'll meet heaps of people in your first year because it is quite generalised so there will be classes shared with pharmacy and podiatry students, as well as others. In fact, last year, which was my first year, I didn't have any Optometry people in any of my labs or tutorials. I'm not too sure if this is the case with Deakin.
MichaelPoops
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This is quite a late reply lol.
Deakin's optometry course required an ATAR of 95.15 for 2015 applicants. The ATAR will likely go up as student intake continues to decrease in order to minimise oversaturation of optometry graduates.
How do I know? Previous year groups have a cohort around 90 students and an ATAR cutoff hovering about 92. This year, we had 72 students.
Deakin's optometry course required an ATAR of 95.15 for 2015 applicants. The ATAR will likely go up as student intake continues to decrease in order to minimise oversaturation of optometry graduates.
How do I know? Previous year groups have a cohort around 90 students and an ATAR cutoff hovering about 92. This year, we had 72 students.
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