About 40 year 11 and 12 students from Tasmania, the ACT and NSW spent the day touring the campus and learning everything from the importance of basic life skills such as separating whites from blacks in the wash, to preparing financially and making the most of academic opportunities offered to regional students. 

CSU prospective student advisor Katy Fardell said it was especially vital for future CSU students to come and experience campus culture and life in Orange, given most were from metropolitan areas and, in many cases, were the first in their family to attend university. 

“The sessions are designed to be hands-on and actually give them a taste of what it’s like to be at university, not just sitting through a PowerPoint [presentation] on the course information, to reflect what they’d do as a university student at CSU,” Mrs Fardell said. 

“University life is very different. Students are taken out of their safety net at home and they need to prepare academically, financially and with those life skills that can make that transition a little easier.”

“It’s a huge decision. Hopefully now students and their families will have a little bit more understanding about CSU, their courses and university in general, and be able to make a more educated decision when they are putting in their applications.”

Applications to study the four undergraduate CSU Orange courses - clinical science, dentistry, pharmacy and physiotherapy - open in August. 

ashlea.pritchard@fairfaxmedia.com.au