Is it mandatory to have physics and chemistry scores in your transcript when studying in Australia?

Some Vietnamese teachers said their students' applications to study abroad were rejected because of insufficient scores in physics and chemistry. Is this true?

International students in Australia - Photo: NO BORDERS

In the article Lost in the elective subjects - Part 1: Consequences of 'choosing dishes on the tray' posted on Tuoi Tre Online on November 27, 2024, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhiep, principal of Chu Van An High School ( Hanoi ), shared that many students who intended to study abroad after graduating from high school had their applications rejected by foreign universities because they did not study physics and chemistry at high school level.

In addition, also in this article, Professor Do Duc Thai, editor-in-chief of the 2018 math program, also said that in Australia alone, at least 5 major universities refuse to accept students who do not study physics and chemistry at high school level.

So, are Australian universities requiring physics and chemistry scores in their study abroad applications? How should we understand this issue?

To clarify this issue further, on November 28, Tuoi Tre Online spoke with Mr. Pham Hoang Phuc - an expert from FIGO Group Study Abroad Company, who also served as a representative of Australian schools such as Massey University, University of Adelaide College, University of Newcastle College, Kaplan Business School - to explain more about this story.

Mr. Phuc explained that most universities still focus on admission criteria that combine the overall grade point average (GPA), English proficiency (based on international language proficiency tests) plus extracurricular activities and projects that students participate in. GPA here is usually the average score of 3 years of high school.

For example, the University of Western Australia (UWA), one of the eight Go8 universities in Australia, has different admission criteria depending on the field of study. For most of the economics majors, UWA only requires GPA, IELTS and SAT scores.

International students studying at UWA - Photo: UWA

In addition to considering the overall GPA, some schools and majors may require considering some component subject scores, often called prerequisite subjects.

For example, for engineering or computer science majors, UWA requires students to complete four prerequisites.

Similarly, Curtin University also applies prerequisite requirements, but only to certain specific fields of study. For example, for biomedical science, the school requires students to have a strong background in chemistry.

Mr. Phuc said that prerequisite subjects are often determined by universities to be related to the field of study. For example, if you want to study chemistry at university, they will consider the student's chemistry score in high school.

Requiring prerequisite subjects that are different from the field an international student wishes to study is very rare, for example, if a student wants to study economics but the university requires to see the student's chemistry or physics scores.

Mr. Phuc gives an example of some rare cases: A very few schools that train in Business Analytics or Supply Chain are also likely to require physics in addition to math because the admissions office wants to see that the student has a strong enough computing foundation.

Or if you want to study Supply Chain and go deeper into Process Engineering, you may need to consider the chemistry and physics scores, to serve the direction of studying process optimization in factories (medicine, chemicals, food) later. But in short, it is still very rare .

In general, Australian universities are still applying simple admission criteria such as GPA and IELTS based admission, which is the focus for high school graduates in Vietnam.

In particular, students from specialized schools are often given priority with lower required scores than students from non-specialized schools.

Not enough points in prerequisite subjects to study abroad?

According to Mr. Phuc, this does not mean that students will have to give up their favorite subjects. Universities in Australia are creating many conditions to support international students.

Specifically, almost all schools offer "diploma" or "degree transfer" programs. This can be understood as the first year of university, because the training time is equivalent (one year) and the cost is not significantly different.

Mr. Phuc advised against some inaccurate information that could cause parents and students to make hasty decisions, such as focusing on studying physics and chemistry even though university majors do not require it.

Therefore, to avoid this risk, parents and students need to carefully research when receiving information about studying abroad and requirements from schools.

Parents and students can refer to the university handbook which is updated annually on the official website of the schools.

At the same time, parents should discuss and verify information with experts experienced in studying abroad consulting.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/du-hoc-uc-co-bat-buoc-diem-mon-ly-hoa-trong-hoc-ba-20241128125241577.htm