Admissions-Southern Cross UniversityAdmissions-Southern Cross UniversityWe hope you have already read the GTE interview tips on our website and that you have looked at the two videos “Worried about your GTE interview” and “GTE Interview examples” on the same page. This information is essential to help you prepare for your GTE interview and it is extremely important that you go through it before you attempt your GTE interview. There is a lot of information on our web page designed to help you prepare for your GTE interview. But we wanted to give you more.
Your GTE interview is designed to ensure that you are ready for study in Australia and that you are prepared to answer any question that may be thrown at you about your reasons and motivation for studying here. You cannot pass your GTE interview without preparation and research.
Generally speaking, students only get ONE chance to do a good GTE interview.
Reasons you may fail your GTE interview:
The Admissions Assessor who will be conducting your GTE interview is looking to see how well prepared you are. Each question they ask will be given a score and the total score for the GTE interview is 150 points. You must achieve at least 87 points to pass your GTE interview. The Assessor will be watching and listening carefully to ensure that you are not reading from a script, that you do not have anyone else in the room with you during the interview, that you are not quoting from ‘memorised’ responses and that you are actively thinking about the questions being asked and answering the question that you are asked – not what you think the interviewer wants to hear. You cannot score a pass mark in a question if you give simple, unthoughtful responses.
Your interview should be ‘live’, ‘dynamic’ and ‘thoughtful’. This means that you should be spontaneous – listen to the interviewer and thoughtfully answer the question you were asked. It is very easy to pick up students who have memorised responses because the response is never really exactly what we are looking for. What we are looking for in a GTE interview is EVIDENCE of your REAL reasons for wanting to study your proposed course in Australia at SCU. If you have thought about this before deciding to study here, your honest answers will result in you getting a good score. If you haven’t thought about why you want to come to Australia to study or if your reasons for doing so are not genuine, it is likely that you will not be considered a genuine applicant.
It is all about being able to explain your reasons, showing thoughtful and detailed responses and evidence of research.
I have seen visa refusal notices where the visa officer states that the student was ‘reading’ during the interview or that that had ‘memorised large pieces of information that were not relevant to the questions being asked’ or that the student provided ‘generic responses’ or ‘common responses’. This basically means that your interview is not your own and that you are simply repeating something that you have read or something that someone has told you to say. My biggest tip is that you DON’T just say what everyone else says.
Your GTE Interview is YOUR story – no one else can tell it like you. It is all about your being honest about your reasons for wanting to study here and how that will help your future.
What you are expected to know:
You will be expected to have done some considerable research. After all – you intend to study at an Australian university and research is something you are going to have to get used to here. The education style in Australia is all about critical thinking and being able to explain your reasons. Your GTE interview is no different. It is a sign of maturity and genuineness to be able to critically explain your reasons.
You will be expected to know the structure of your course, the core units and electives. You should be able to name at least some of the units and explain why you are interested in studying them. You should be able to explain what you know about your university – NOT just repeat what you have read on a website, but to explain it and what research you have done. You should be able to tell us about your campus, why you have chosen that campus, where it is located and what is near it and what facilities it has. You should have thought about how much your course and living costs will be for the duration of your studies in Australia and realistically how long it will take you to earn that money back after you graduate – this is called your ‘return on investment’. Students who say they can earn their expenses back in 1 or two years have very obviously no idea about the cost of their education and the employment and salary conditions in their home country. You will also be expected to know something about Australia – what research have you done into this country and its culture and lifestyle? Again, your responses must show that you have carefully researched – not just repeat things you have heard.
It is all about seeing how genuine you really are and whether or not you have carefully thought about and prepared for your studies in Australia.
So – prepare well for your GTE interview. Read all of the information we have prepared for you on our website and watch the two videos. Don’t assume that you can pass without preparation. If you do all of this, your chances of visa approval also increase because you will be more prepared to show the Department of Home Affairs that you are a genuine student who is coming here for the right reasons.
Good luck! If you have any questions about your GTE interview, please feel free to respond to this post and we will respond.
