Been watching this thread for a while, I am a first year Swinburne aviation degree student, so from my experience here is some facts and advice:
3. can u minimise your time spent in the course by continuing classes during holiday breaks as a cadet? i know that normal uni students are offered the choice to finish faster by going to them
According to the course planner which is on the password protected Swinburne student site the Associate Degree Qantas Cadets continue flying training and theory class through all holiday breaks, in order to finish in 18 months. The 3 year course cadets and other aviation students do not as many of the aviation subjects are not offered during the holiday breaks and so they are in it for the full 3 years.
1. for the Qantas Swinburne bachelor of aviation, i heard that 2nd to 3rd year uni students are offered places in the cadetship. if this is true, does any1 know is it only the best students are offered places depending on spaces available due to dropouts?how many places are offered and do they approach u or u have to go and apply for it?
At the information night there was a tiny hint at the prospect of standard Swinburne aviation students being able to branch into the cadetship.
Being a Swinburne student does not give you any advantage over anyone else when it comes to the cadetship. Even though the degree students and the 3 year cadets do the same subjects there is no link up, and you simply can't transfer over. You still have to apply to Qantas over the internet like everyone else, and do all the same testing and interview stages. Several first year students applied for the cadetship, and all failed at either stage 2 or stage 3.
I'm doing the Swinburne one next year griffy, after failing the Qantas cadet ship stage two assessments.
Take this next comment as a peice of advice, not as an attack on yourself. Don't get yourself into the Swinburne degree, simply because it is what the Qantas cadets do. It is a long course and tough one from an academic point of view. You have to do the degree because you want it, not for any other reason. I know this comment sounds dumb, but everyone contemplating the Swinburne course should think long and hard about it. I have seen several guys, all with fantastic piloting skills, struggle in the swiburne course over the year. They will one day make great pilots, but not great academics. The course costs a lot of money in HECS, the uni subjects are expensive and it is vital that you know what you are getting yourself into.
At the information night there was...
Don't believe anything you hear at the information night. A lot of the figures about there rates of employment after the course are made up. The fact that they have many lecturers from the industry can be a double edged sword. Many of the lecturers know there stuff back to front, and there great guys, but there not teachers and it can make the course quite difficult. There is also next to no help for struggling students.
I hope that I have answered some of the questions posted by other members of this board. Think long and hard before you join Swiburne. Overall it is a good course, but it just doesn't suite some people. Doing it, 'because it's what the Qantas Cadets do', is not a good reason and if you find it is not for you, then you can end up in a large financial hole.
Anyway, if anyone has anymore questions about the course, don't hesitate to ask
