Exclusive Interview: JMC Academy Australia Offers Scholarships For All Courses
Study in Australia: Shiksha spoke with Peter Gainey, the Director of International Services, at JMC Academy in Australia about how it is for Indian students to join their institute in Australia.
Australia is one of the most sought-after study-abroad destinations for Indian students. Shiksha spoke with Peter Gainey, the Director of International Services, at JMC Academy to know about the various creative courses the institute offers and how it is to study at this institute for international students.
Here are the excerpts from the interview:
Q: What makes your university attractive to international students, especially for Indian students?
A: Everything we do is related to the creative industry so we are quite unique in that way. We have a cohort of international students which is about 12% of the total population. So it's really for students who are looking to get an education and a different perspective on creativity and jobs related to the creative industry.
The students who come to us for eg - for film and television production courses are really looking to know about the Australian viewpoint. Also, our facility is very strong, we are in three cities, and we have four or five large audio recording studios on each campus. So, that's something that not many institutes have.
Q: Which are the most popular courses at your institute
A: We have around 10 bachelor's and master's degrees. Our most consistently popular course is Audio Engineering And Sound Production, which is first and second in Film and Television Production and the third are the courses related to music, contemporary music performance, songwriting and music production.
Q: What are the unique academic courses and research opportunities at your institutes?
A: We do not research as it is a creative institute and our degrees are very practical. Our master's degree does contain the research components but we are not a research institute.
Q: How does your institute support international students through orientation, and cultural integration and how does it help them overcome their language and academic barriers?
A: The last question is first, so they already need to evidence their language proficiency before they are admitted to the course.
Q: So is there any minimum language requirement for admission
A: Yes, in the IELTS score, it should be a minimum of 6 for undergraduate degrees and for masters it is 6.5. In relation to orientation, we do three types of orientation, one is online before the students enter our country, the second is the general orientation with all the domestic and international students together when they arrive in Australia and the third one is the specific international students orientation.
Q: Is there any scholarship, and funding opportunities for international students?
A: We have a range of different scholarships. We got Merit Scholarships which are based on students' high school scores, which are their academic performance in the home country, then we got Ambassador Scholarships, which are large scholarships for students who participate in events and work with us in Australia, doing out our commercial work with international students. We also got an Academic Excellence Scholarship for students based on their performance in their courses.
Q: Are these scholarships available for all courses?
A: Yes, these are available for all courses on all campuses.
Q: Do they need to apply separately for these scholarships?
A: For the Ambassador Scholarships, which is larger, the students need to apply separately, for Merit Scholarships, we will identify those students, when we see their grades, if they are eligible, we will advise them to apply for the process, but we sort of take the driver seat.
Q: Is there any internship opportunities available or can they also work while they study to get some experience?
A: The internships are built into all the degrees, in semester 5 and 6, at the end of the course but the participation really is tied to the academic performance, so they need to have a certain GPA and also the recommendation of the Head of Department.
Q: What about the placements once they complete the course and internship?
A: We don't do that, often it's students who have done an internship and have done well, and the company continues with them.
Q: How do you ensure that international students are included and valued and do not feel left out in their campus life while they are studying at JMC Academy?
A: We have got staff members whose role is to look after the enrolled international students and ensure that they are integrating and not having any problems.
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