I wanted to reach out to let you know about our discretionary entrance options at Media Design School. We recognise that this has been an incredibly challenging year for students, especially those navigating NCEA at Levels 2 and 3. The pressures of attaining University Entrance and submitting applications for further study next year are no doubt more intense than ever.
With that in mind, we’ve decided to bring forward our discretionary entrance period in the hopes that we can alleviate some of the stress. This means those students who have excelled at Level 2 and in their internal assessments could be accepted into one of our Bachelor’s programmes solely based on their performance so far.
We’ve collated the key criteria for both Year 12s and Year 13s below should you wish to share it with your students. We’re also hosting an information session on Saturday 19th of September at 11am where you and your students can find out more about the process and ask any questions you may have about applying to study at Media Design School.
Discretionary Entrance Criteria
To be eligible to apply for early discretionary entrance into a Bachelors Programme at Media Design School for 2021, students should:
- Have, or be on track to have, an Excellence endorsement in art/design subjects at Level 2.
- Have completed, or be on track to complete, Literacy and Numeracy requirements; I.e., 10 credits in Maths at Level 1 and 10 credits in English at Level 2 (5 reading/ 5 writing).
Year 13 students may be eligible for early unconditional discretionary entrance.
Students will need to supply a portfolio and letter of intent as part of their application.
If students are not awarded discretionary entrance for 2021, they will be considered based on whether or not they achieve University Entrance (UE) in Year 13. If they do not meet UE requirements upon completion of their Level 3 studies, they will automatically be awarded a supplementary offer into our Digital Creativity Foundation Programme as a direct pathway into an MDS Bachelor’s programme in 2022.
Year 12 students may be eligible for early discretionary entrance. This offer will be conditional on completion of Level 2 and an excellence endorsement in Art/Design related subjects.
Students will need to supply a portfolio and letter of intent as part of their application. It is also highly recommended that students considering early entry into tertiary studies supply a letter of recommendation form a high school faculty member.
If students are not awarded discretionary entrance for 2021, they will automatically be awarded a supplementary offer into our Digital Creativity Foundation Programme as a direct pathway into an MDS Bachelor’s programme in 2022.
Given the additional pressure brought on by Covid-19, we’ve brought forward our application period and will be accepting applications for discretionary entrance from September 1st. We hope this will help to make planning for 2021 as stress-free as possible for those students who are looking to pursue a career in digital design and creative tech.
To learn more, please join us at our virtual Discretionary Entrance Information Session.
When: Saturday 19th September- 11am
Register here: https://app.livestorm.co/media-design-school/mds-discretionary-entrance-information-session