Tips for selecting options for
next year
Some things to think about...
• It is ok to not know exactly what you will be!
Most people do not know what to be when
they are still at High School
Up until their late 20’s many people are still in
the exploration phase of their careers. This
involves exploring interests and abilities and
investigating opportunities.
TIPS FOR YOUR CHOICE
Develop your self awareness
• Combine your
»Interests
»Values
»Ability
»Career Ideas
Complete
the future
education
plan in your
option
booklet
To make your subject choice
“You do best when you can trust your inner
compass and recognise the directions that are
right for you”
- Dr Heather Carpenter Your 21st Century Career
Investigate
• Gather information to make an informed
decision
• Research your options and make sure that
you are keeping them broad if you don’t
know what you want to do!
Talk with
• Family members
• Friends
• School – Form Teacher, Subject Teachers,
Deans, Careers Advisor
• Career Services
A useful resource
• Career Services website
– Interactive tools
– Career Quest
– Subject matcher
– Skill matcher
– Section for students to help them with choosing
subjects
Making the decision
• Some things to work through:
1. What is it you want to achieve?
2. What can you do to achieve this?
3. What are your options?
4. What are the consequences if you were to
choose one of the options?
5. Make the choice!
UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE
INFORMATION FOR SENIOR
STUDENTS
• All universities are different so you will need
to check out different entry requirements.
• All universities require ‘University Entrance’
as is shown with the circles in your option
booklets
• Otago University is a very common
destination so we’ll look at what they require
for University Entrance:
2 pathways
Option 1 = Preferential Entry
(straight from school)
• Be over the age of 16 and gain University Entrance
PLUS one of the following:
• Level 2 with M or E
• Acheive an entry score of at least 140 points for
NCEA Level 3
• have accepted a place in a residential college owned by
or affiliated to the University of Otago
• have accepted a University of Otago undergraduate
scholarship
• be a Māori applicant, or a Pacific applicant of
Polynesian or Melanesian descent, who holds or is
studying towards a New Zealand university entrance
qualification
140 points?
• These are able to come from up to 5
APPROVED subjects
• Each ‘A’ gets 2 points, a ‘M’ credit is worth 3
points and an ‘E’ 4 points
• It is important to keep track of your credits
and how many points you’re achieving
throughout the year.
Option 2 – Competitive Entry
• If you are over 16 and gain University
Entrance but not one of the above criteria
you will be offered places in order of priority,
subject to the availability of places in their
nominated programmes.
Some other Uni Examples
• Canterbury University – standard University
entrance
• Victoria – most courses 120 points, some
140 points
• Massey – 120 points
• Auckland – a range of ‘points’ required
depending on the course – 140-180
COURSES WITH OTHER
REQUIREMENTS
Health Sciences
• This follows on to careers like becoming a
doctor, dentist, physiotherapist, pharmacist,
medical laboratory scientist
• This is a first year course which is competitive
entry in to the second year.
• Highly recommended subjects at Year 13 are
Chemistry, Biology and Physics
• Also recommended are English and Statistics
Teaching
• You need University Entrance plus
completing a separate application form plus
an interview
• There are no specific subjects you must take
however, good communication skills are
essential
• It is also important that you involve yourself
in the community (this looks good on your
application)
Veterinary Science
• This is a course that you can only do at
Massey University
• Competitive entry in to the second half of
the year
• Recommended subjects for Year 13 are
English, Physics, Biology, Chemistry
Nursing
• This is a degree offered through Polytechnics
• You will need to take English, Biology and
Chemistry
• Very competitive entry. You need to do well
in Biology and Chemistry.
• If you are serious about Nursing you may
need to look at places to study other than
here in Dunedin (e.g. Nelson, Christchurch,
Invercargill)
Architecture
• Can be studied as a Bachelors qualification at
Victoria University or Auckland University
or Unitec (also in Auckland) (Landscape
architecture is also offered at Lincoln
University)
• Highly recommended subjects are Graphics,
Physics, Calculus
• Art, Computing, Statistics, English and
Technology are also useful subjects
• Auckland University requires a portfolio of
work on application
Design/Fine Arts
• Portfolios of work are usually required for
entry to these courses along with University
Entrance
• Useful subjects include Painting,
Photography, Graphics, Design (textiles),
Hard Materials Technology, Computing,
Media Studies (if you are looking at
communication design)