Accounting Grad to Cookery

ChefMa · April 2018

Hi everyone! Gusto ko lang po malaman if possible po ako makakuha ng Student Visa at makapasa sa GTE if I'm an Accounting Major Graduate and magtetake ako ng Commercial Cookery course sa AU. Ano po maiaadvice niyo para makapasa po ako sa pagkuha ng Visa.

ChefMa · April 2018

Share naman po yung mga nakakuha student visa even if yung natapos nila and work exeperience is hindi parehas sa kukunin na course sa OZ. Thanks po

batman · April 2018

@ChefMa I think need mo provide ng very convincing (SOP) statement of purpose.

ChefMa · April 2018

@batman should I incorporate my work experience at sa alam ko sa Accounting po para mas convincing ang sop?

athelene · April 2018

@ChefMa I think what @batman means is that you can clearly explain why you want to study Cookery when your background is Accounting. The two are very different in terms of skills and knowledge required. If you can make a good case to explain the career change, it would be possible for you to get a student visa.

aspirant0508 · April 2018

Hi @ChefMa accounting grad din ako. Gsto ko naman aged care. Sa ngayon sobrang hirap ako mkakuha ng scholl na magoffer ng admission sakin. Even napakstrong ng statement ko. Napaka strict kasi ng mga collges especially sa melbourne. If you reallg want. Sa Brisbane ka hnap.. ung agent ko dami sya connections dun kc dun sa nkatira. As for me, I need kasi Melbourne based dahil dun nakatira sponsor ko. Pero if you can find an agent na maghandle ng case mo. It would be possible. U just need to strategised..

ChefMa · June 2018

@aspirant0508 hi po. Nakahanap na po kayo ng school na nag offer po ng admission? Ako po kasi mukhang mahirap maghnap school na gusto mag bigay sakin ng offer din

aspirant0508 · June 2018

Hi. Yes po @ChefMa . Actually grant na visa ko. Yung agent ko ung naghanap for me. Queensford College po ung nagbigay sakin offer. I know a lot of pinky po na cookery dun nagaral.

angelcheng · June 2018

@aspirant0508 Hello po, I'm planning to study din po ng cookery. My kausap na din po ako agent, gusto ko lng po sana iask kung how much po ba estimate na magagastos nyo from application hanggang mkapunta na po aus? If you don't mind po. Wala po kasi ako makita na infos kung magkano need ilabas na money. Thanks po

angelcheng · June 2018

Sorry po pala kung mejo out of topic ung question ko,

athelene · June 2018

@angelcheng There's plenty of info on how much you will spend, you apparently have not looked around enough. I think I've written a response to this question somewhere but I don't remember where, so I'll try to write it all over again and hope I don't forget any major info. Please note that these estimates are the MAJOR costs associated with getting a student visa, I didn't include minor costs like bank certificate fees (Php 100 sa BDO) or certified transcript (around Php 400 sa UST), which you may have to spend on if you are required to get them (I didn't).

The bulk of your expenses would be coming from your tuition fees and living costs. From DHA's website, you'll need about AUD 20k for a year's living expenses. Universities don't require proof of financial capacity nowadays, but I'm not so sure about TAFE or vocational schools (there might be a thread about that somewhere in the forum).

Tuition fees vary depending on the institution--since you're going for cookery, you'd most likely go to a vocational school, where tuition fees might be up to AUD 15k a year (the culinary schools I've checked out at education fairs quote the cost of the whole 2-year program, and it's around AUD 28k or more--going for Le Cordon Bleu Sydney's Certificate III costs AUD 36k).

To get an eCoE for student visa application, you'd typically be required to pay the deposit stated in your offer letter (typically tuition fees for the first semester). For example, your whole program costs AUD 28k for an 8-term program at Ad Astra (4 terms per year), you might be required to pay AUD 3500 for the first term to get your eCoE (but of course it's better to have the next few terms' fees on hand so you don't have to worry too much about finances once you get to Australia). Other culinary schools might offer programs spread over 3 terms or 2 semesters per year, so your deposit will differ based on the fees of your first term.

Once you've decided on your program and school, check their requirements for admission. For me, applying to university didn't cost much except for IELTS (around Php 10k), since I had most of my documents on hand na--original and certified transcript, diploma, etc. If you don't have them, you'll be shelling out some money to get them from your university. If you don't meet the minimum English proficiency requirements on your first English test, you'll of course have to spend more, so ideally you nail it the first time around para once lng mag-eexam hehe (muntik na ko madali sa IELTS Writing). Since you're applying via education agent, there's no need to pay application fee or anything.

Once you get your admission/offer letter, you'll need to decide on your OSHC arrangements (International students are all required to have health insurance to get a visa). Your school can help you arrange your OSHC, or you can also arrange it yourself. For a single 26-month coverage, OSHC will cost you around AUD 1000 to 1200. It will cost you more if you're traveling with dependents.

Next you'll apply for your student visa, which will cost AUD 560 (at the time of writing). Then DHA will request for your health exam; if you're living in Manila it may range around Php 6k depending on the Panel Physician (I'm not sure of exact cost here since I did mine in Taiwan for NTD 3k).

Once you get your student visa grant (yay!), you'll have to book your flight to Australia. I bought my Cebu Pacific one-way Manila-Sydney ticket 8 weeks before my intended flight, and it cost me about Php 12k, no food, with seat selection, and with 40kg of baggage allowance (medyo promo kasi kaya mura hehe). Expect to pay more when you buy your ticket close to your flight date (less than 4 weeks before intended flight) or pag hindi sale/promo.

So in summary:

IELTS Php 10k
Tuition fees (let's go for one semester's fees) AUD 7.5k (rounded up to Php 300k)
Living costs (1 year) AUD 20k (rounded up to Php 800k)
OSHC AUD 1500 (Php 60k)
Student Visa Fee AUD 560 (Php 22k)
Health Exam cost Php 6k
Plane Ticket to Australia Php 12k

Total: Php 1.21 M

Of course, this estimate will vary if you are not required by the school to show proof of financial capacity or if your tuition fees differ. This estimate is just for you to have an idea how much money it involves to study in Australia.

aspirant0508 · June 2018

@angelcheng it costs me around 600k all in.. Sa Queensford I think certificate course valued at 7k aud and it depends sa length na usually 52 weeks or may 26 weeks din. Nkapackaged course ako kaya my visa is 2 yrs. Dun sa agency kasi na nagprocess sakin, partner kasi sila ng school ko so they dont ask me for financials. Assesstment Lvl 2 din so pinagprepare lng aq din ng show money just in case c.o will ask.