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I've received quite a few questions about why I personally chose Auckland over Otago, and it's getting to that time of the year when you're deciding on applying for first year uni, so I thought it best to breakdown my reasons and explain it in a post.
I have (mostly) listed them in the weighted order.
1) I was awarded a University of Auckland scholarship.
It wasn't much - the Jubilee award at $2000 per year for 3 years, but it was my main persuader.
2) I didn't want my UMAT score to be so heavily weighted.
I hadn't done a practice one in Year 13 (which quite a few students choose to do), but I had heard about it being highly variable and difficult to excel in.
2a) Auckland had an interview, Otago didn't.
The flipped of reason 2, I just want to say that even now, I'm not amazingly confident at interviews. In fact, I was quite awkward in social situations, but I had done quite a few job interviews, and felt more confident about it.
I felt that the interview would be a good way to communicate how you could be a better candidate over someone else, whereas grades and UMAT don't allow that personal aspect. The interviewer would be able to see you as a person, rather than just a ranked number.
3) Physics was a core in Otago (I think), but not in Auckland.
I didn't do Level 3 physics because I hated it in Level 2, so I knew I wouldn't do well in it at uni and would rather just do it, than have it count for much.
4) It was close to home.
My family live in Auckland, and in my first year, I was very happy to stay at home, where I could still leech off them :p
I didn't have a permanent job, and just couldn't bear the thought of a huge student loan due to living costs.
I also knew that 1st year would be tough, so I appreciated the thought of coming home to a cooked meal, and having laundry done (now that I've experienced living alone, I truly appreciate how much my parents helped me).
4a) Jobs
Following on from reason number 4, I had begun doing a bit of tutoring and had some students in Auckland, so I knew that if I stuck around, I would have some source of income.
5) I didn't want to do health sciences.
In Otago, you have to do heath sciences as your first year. I was really good at English essays in high school, but I didn't want to do assignments at uni. I didn't think it was my strong suit. Personally, I knew that I was more academic, and would do better answering a test to prove my knowledge, rather than spending time researching and writing assignments. I also hate referencing...
6) Auckland had a back-up option.
Since I was doing Biomed, I knew that if I didn't get into Med at Auckland, I could do Optom and that was my back-up. I didn't want to do Health Science as a degree, because I don't think I'd be good at it, and it's more admin rather than clinical.
If you have any further questions regarding decision-making, just ask! :)
I have (mostly) listed them in the weighted order.
1) I was awarded a University of Auckland scholarship.
It wasn't much - the Jubilee award at $2000 per year for 3 years, but it was my main persuader.
2) I didn't want my UMAT score to be so heavily weighted.
I hadn't done a practice one in Year 13 (which quite a few students choose to do), but I had heard about it being highly variable and difficult to excel in.
2a) Auckland had an interview, Otago didn't.
The flipped of reason 2, I just want to say that even now, I'm not amazingly confident at interviews. In fact, I was quite awkward in social situations, but I had done quite a few job interviews, and felt more confident about it.
I felt that the interview would be a good way to communicate how you could be a better candidate over someone else, whereas grades and UMAT don't allow that personal aspect. The interviewer would be able to see you as a person, rather than just a ranked number.
3) Physics was a core in Otago (I think), but not in Auckland.
I didn't do Level 3 physics because I hated it in Level 2, so I knew I wouldn't do well in it at uni and would rather just do it, than have it count for much.
4) It was close to home.
My family live in Auckland, and in my first year, I was very happy to stay at home, where I could still leech off them :p
I didn't have a permanent job, and just couldn't bear the thought of a huge student loan due to living costs.
I also knew that 1st year would be tough, so I appreciated the thought of coming home to a cooked meal, and having laundry done (now that I've experienced living alone, I truly appreciate how much my parents helped me).
4a) Jobs
Following on from reason number 4, I had begun doing a bit of tutoring and had some students in Auckland, so I knew that if I stuck around, I would have some source of income.
5) I didn't want to do health sciences.
In Otago, you have to do heath sciences as your first year. I was really good at English essays in high school, but I didn't want to do assignments at uni. I didn't think it was my strong suit. Personally, I knew that I was more academic, and would do better answering a test to prove my knowledge, rather than spending time researching and writing assignments. I also hate referencing...
6) Auckland had a back-up option.
Since I was doing Biomed, I knew that if I didn't get into Med at Auckland, I could do Optom and that was my back-up. I didn't want to do Health Science as a degree, because I don't think I'd be good at it, and it's more admin rather than clinical.
If you have any further questions regarding decision-making, just ask! :)
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