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How to get into Australian National University

How to get into Australian National University

For Undergraduate (UG) and Masters (MS) degrees

 
The Australian National University (ANU), located in that nation’s capital territory of Canberra, consists of seven academic colleges. Established as a postgraduate research university, it began undergraduate programs in 1960. It now has 25,500 students, admits over 10,000 students each in undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) programs, and employs over 3,000 staff members. Online sources put the acceptance rate at ANU at 35 percent, with 50 percent of students from overseas.

Six Nobel laureates and two Prime Ministers (Bob Hawke and Kevin Rudd) have been associated with ANU. It was ranked 24th in the 2020 QS World University Rankings (1st in Oceania) and 49th in THE World University Rankings 2019 (2nd in Australia). ANU has the one of the highest average teacher-student ratios among Australian universities, according to the university.
 

ANU programs

ANU has a number of undergraduate degree programs in its faculties of business and commerce; engineering and computer science; law and legal studies; health and medical studies; arts society and culture; and natural, physical, and environmental sciences.

To mention a few topics dealt with under these programs: Business and commerce covers topics such as accounting, business administration, ethics, international business, and marketing; engineering covers advanced computing, algorithms, artificial intelligence, electronics, mechanical, robotics, etc.; health and medical studies cover biotech, medicine, public health, transitional medicine, etc.; art, society, and culture cover American studies to world literature; law and legal studies cover commerce, economics, human rights and political sciences; and natural, physical, and environmental sciences cover astronomy, astrophysics, environmental science, immunology, microbiology, and zoology.

“Flexible double” options are also available, which allow students to study two UG programs at the same time and graduate with two qualifications. “Flexible vertical double” options include a UG and a PG degree in one program, letting students gain two qualifications in less time.

Postgraduate and research programs give an opportunity to students to go deeper into their areas of interest. ANU also offers professional development courses for scientists and science teachers, policymakers, diplomacy and foreign affairs professionals, national security practitioners, legal professionals, public and population health professionals, and for the general public and professionals.
 

Admission requirements

You can apply for only one program, but you can change your program preference once before the application deadline closes.
 

Undergraduate admissions

Applications from international students are assessed in a three-stage process: eligibility check, ranking, and outcomes and offers.

In the eligibility check stage, applicants are assessed whether they have the minimum requirements, such as completion of senior secondary studies or an equivalent of an Australian bachelor’s degree, and percentages and grade average—from ISE or other All-India secondary school examination percentages—with varying requirements for different UG programs at ANU.

Once your application is found complete, the next stage is ranking you along with others who have applied for the same program on the basis of your academic qualifications.

ANU uses your academic qualifications to give you an ANU Selection Rank out of 99.95. The selection rank is used to evaluate whether you meet the minimum requirements of your preferred program.

You can also apply using predicted results if you are only currently completing your secondary education (details of which are available on the ANU website). Your English language competency score will be used as a tie-breaker in case of tied ranks.
 

Postgraduate admissions

For postgraduate programs, once your application is found complete, ANU uses a seven-point GPA scale, and all qualifications that you submit are converted into this common scale.

Provisions for assessing applicants who are only completing their final semester have been made (by excluding the final year of study), but any offer made is condition based on the completion of degree.

To maintain diversity and encourage exemplary students from across the globe, ANU allocates ranks equally to applicants from all regions, provided they meet the minimum requirements, including English language requirements.

In case of tied ranks, your performance in your last two completed semesters and your English language competency score will be used, in that order.
 

Outcomes and offers

In stage 3 of UG and PG admissions, ANU will make you an offer to study at the university if you are successful in any of the three rounds of an intake. In this case, you will receive a Letter of Offer, which will state when you need to accept the offer. The university does not accept deferrals, but you can decline an offer and submit a new application for a later intake.
 

Documents with application

For UG admissions, you will need proof of education qualifications, English language proficiency (based on citizenship, completion of education qualifications in the English medium, successful completion of English language tests such as TOEFL and IELTS; see link); academic transcripts showing completion of studies, proof of work experience or other documents for certain programs that require them, and official ID (birth certificate, passport, citizen documents).

Documents have to be in color and should not have been resized. Certified copies are not necessary as ANU will complete the verification by itself.
 

How to apply?

As an international applicant for UG or PG admissions, there are three options to apply to ANU. In the first, you can apply to most degrees at ANU through two student intakes—Semester 1 (Semester 1 2020 applications closed on December 15, 2019) and Semester 2 (Semester 2 2020 closes May 6, 2020, to take this year as an example; applicants must confirm current dates on the ANU website).

There are three assessment rounds in each semester, and if you apply in the first round, you have three opportunities to be assessed and accepted (see details under “UG/PG admissions,” above, as well as the ANU website). The application fee is A$100 (the exchange rates were US$0.69 and INR 49.64 on December 14, 2019).

In the second option, you can apply to programs that have specific application processes and admissions requirements, such as bachelor’s programs in music, health science, philosophy, etc., master’s programs in applied cybernetics, clinical psychology, etc., executive master’s in public policy, and doctoral program in medicine and surgery, to name a few. The application fee is A$100.

If you are completing an International Baccalaureate (IB), you should apply through the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC).
 

Accept or decline an offer

You can accept your offer by completing the personalized Acceptance & Payment Advice form attached to your offer letter, and scanning and emailing it to ANU or by mailing it to ensure that a copy reaches the relevant ANU address by the deadline. You need to submit the tuition fee deposit indicated in your offer letter.

You can decline an offer by sending an email to ANU Admissions with your name, date of birth, and application details. You may be eligible for a full or partial refund of the tuition fee deposit.

Before your program’s scheduled commencement, you will receive an email with your ANU student ID number and password and details of enrolling for classes.
 

Cost of attendance, funding

The tuition fee depends on the program and student category. For example, the annual tuition for the four-year Bachelor of Advanced Computing (Honours), offered by the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science, is A$47,880. External sources put the annual fees for BSc programs (three to four years’ duration) at A$37,000-A$39,000, BBA (three years) at A$46,000, MBA (18-24 months) at A$40,000-A$45,000, MIM (two years) and MFin (one year, six months) at around A$46,000, and MS (24 months) A$32,000-A$43,000.

A single student living away from home in Australia is estimated to require a minimum of A$471 a week, or A$ 24,442 a year (according to the Australian Government guidelines) for accommodation (ANU provides various types of accommodation for UG and PG students as well as alternative housing; 5,000 students lived on the campus in 2018), food, utilities, and entertainment; a spouse or partner A$ 7,207; and a child A$3,086. Actual expenses may vary depending on the individual’s lifestyle.

Initial establishment cost may involve rental bond (A$A$640-A$890), two weeks’ rent in advance (A$320-A$500), electricity, gas, and phone (A$260-$510), and household items such as furniture and linen (A$610-a$650), bring the total approximate cost to A$ 1,830-A$2,550. In addition, students will need to pay the premium for mandatory overseas health cover ranging from A$609 for a single student to A$2,138 for a dual-member family and A$3,300 for a multi-member family for 12 months.

The Australian Government, donors, and external organizations provide fund many scholarships for both international and dome9stic students on the basis of student type, study level (UG, PG, etc.), interest area (business and economics, engineering, etc.), and selection criteria (academic merit, financial hardship, etc.). Scholarship can be A$1,000 to higher amounts, tuition fee waiver, or tuition fee discount.
 

ANU advantage

  • Location in Canberra, Australia’s government capital
  • Ranked among the top universities in the world
  • High student-to-faculty ratio
  • High research impact based on research citations per faculty member
  • Good number of scholarships for international students

 
Also read:
How to get into the top universities
Best business schools in Australia
International student life in Australia: What to expect
 
References: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24