Transition and Orientation Programs: School staff

Working with schools

Transition and Orientation Programs is available to provide information sessions for school students, and occasionally parents, to help prepare students for the transition from school to university. The sessions are interactive, encouraging students to think about how different university might be, what to expect and how to prepare themselves.

Session content

Sessions can be tailored to suit the needs of your students and address the issues commonly experienced by graduates from your school. Apart from a discussion of specific services available at the University of Melbourne, the information we give is deliberately generic so that students can benefit regardless of which institutions they are interested in.

What is transition?
The differences and similarities between school and university.
The myths and truths about university.
Discussion of common transition issues: what to expect in first year.
An outline of services and events to help students adjust to university.
Advice on how to start preparing for the transition while still at school.

The length of our presentations depends on how much information you would like covered, though a standard talk is between 30 and 60 minutes.

Session Features

Viewing of 'First Year at Uni' - a short film about life at university, where current students and staff answer school students' questions.
Availability of current students to speak to the group about their experiences of first year.
Plenty of time for students to ask questions about university life.

What don't we cover?

Specific information on course offerings, ENTER scores, prerequisites or admissions enquiries. While we can answer general questions in these areas, schools requiring this kind of information should contact Marketing and Recruitment for information about organising a tour or presentation. We can liaise with Marketing if you would like both course and transition information.

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Organising a Presentation

On and off campus visits organised through both Transition and Orientation Programs and Marketing and Recruitment need at least one month's notice.

Information sessions are offered in a number of ways. Most schools opt to have the session on the University's Parkville campus, usually as one segment of a visit organised through Marketing and Recruitment. This way, students can have all of their questions about university answered by the appropriate people. Such visits can include a hosted campus tour, or an opportunity for students to explore the campus with a self-guided tour. Bringing students on to campus to experience its facilities and people is also a great way to familiarise them with a university environment.

For information about booking a visit through Marketing and Recruitment, please see their Campus tours and school visits website or contact the Schools Programs office on (03) 8344 4736. If you would like the Transition Program to provide a session as part of your visit, please let them know while making the booking and they can contact us.

Alternatively, if you just want a Transition session, you can contact us directly. Daytime visits are preferred, although we can occasionally accommodate evening sessions if you would like to invite parents. We encourage school groups to visit the campus but we are able to visit schools if necessary. There may be some costs incurred for travel to and from the school.

What is the best time of year?

This is up to you and how your curriculum is structured, though we do recommend speaking to Year 12 students before their VTAC applications are due, so that they can use what they learn in their consideration of what course and university to choose.

We can give presentations at most times of the year, except for the beginning of January to mid-March, when our work is focussed on programs for commencing university students.