Australian Universities - the gap in Australia's potential

Many of you who know me will know that I am currently traveling around lots of universities picking out which one I will attend for my proper law degree.

During my travels I've realised one key thing; academics as Australia sees it is entirely flawed. When I

Foleys bookstore - haven for academics!

applied for Australian Universities they asked for one thing.

My grades.

My entire academic year was spent with the dreadful realisation that my entire legal future depend upon a single number, one decimal too low and I'd be struck out of the contest.

Generally I welcome competition, finding it to be a rousing challenge that encourages all players to strive to present their best. Yet throughout the year I observed myself and my peers facing what was an increasingly obvious set of biases. Some were in our favour and some were against.

Australia operates several complex systems of education, but all have some similarities. If you don't understand or recognise what I describe, don't worry- chances are it's different in your state, or no one ever told you.

As a student studying third year law and high school I spent many hours traveling between academic institutions. I had a passion for law and it grew throughout the year as it fostered by my university. They were a wonderful beacon of support and I owe them many thanks and gratitude; my issue is not with the universities, the institutions or the people within them but the poorly way in which the system is applied.

So what am I proposing?

Those in America or Europe have the fantastic opportunity to provide a letter.

Generally known as a personal statement these little excerpts usually sit at around 400-500 words and provide some insight into the applicant's reason for applying.

For law, which is fast becoming Australia's new throw-away degree, this would be an invaluable method of assessment. Not only can you consider students based on aptitude, but also on drive and passion. Many of my peers are choosing to study law – but about 1% actually intend to join the legal force.

Why then are they studying law?

Many claim that understanding the law gives them fantastic grounding in other careers. Never mind that they'd be better served in management and economics or politics course which gives them a working understanding of law and it's implications upon society.

Personally, I think we have so many students changing degrees and feeling unsatisfied because universities are simply drawing students out of a hat and plonking them down where ever they see fit.

No longer do we see students considering seriously what they apply to study. As the options are so flexible that if you really truly wanted you could migrate all they way from english literature to specialised medicine.

Is this fantastic?

No.

There are arguments for increased flexibility- but I'd have to reply to all of those – I've never seen so many Australians with a lack of passion. The question 'what do you want to be?' is answered with laughs and 'I'm only young, I don't want to be tied down.'

This mentality is devastating to our young people. Not only does it create a culture where knowing where you want to go in life at a young age is strange, almost comedic, but it prevents exploration. From reception to year 11 students stroll through, introduced to various careers in short brief meetings. Some students may do work experience – but no one takes that seriously.

And in the end, you could have worked as hard as you could, doing work experience, speeches, seminars, reading, and none of it would matter.

The universities will never see that work, nor will they be interested in it. The future will literally rest upon how you compare to the rest of your country. A reasonable thing when you consider you do want the best and brightest in attendance...but do they always show up in high school?

And why would the best students put effort in at high school? Consistent reminders that their futures are far-far away and continuous reminders that choosing a career now will 'only tie them down' ensure no student bothers to put effort in. High school seems like an endless desert, in which every work sheet is just a time filler until the final year.

So why do I bother to write about this now?

In foreign high schools the students I've met have been encouraged from middle school to find a topic of passion. Students have started up news letters, podcasts and even contact great researchers in a bid to be their assistants. Lo and behold, they have been successful. They are not tied down – and while their system is far from perfect it does provide students with empowerment.

Universities also receive the personal statement, this statement shows off all the work they have done in their field of passion.

Then the system truly becomes a competition as students throw not only their academic scores into the ring but experiences, revelations and future aspirations. Universities suddenly have the blindfold removed and they can piece together a cohort that will not only help each other to succeed but will bring prestige and pride to a university.

I hope in the future, universities around Australia will begin to implement the use of personal statements.

Currently, as a recent graduate I feel that Australian schools are failing to foster the maturity and potential of other students. Therefore forward thinking and well developed universities must implement the personal statements into their application processes in order to find the students that are not only academically brilliant but possess a passion or aspiration that the university will be proud to help them achieve.