A decade into the Melbourne Model, young graduates give their assessment

Different route: the University of Melbourne's generalist degrees are still sought after but some graduates find the uncertainty of progress to postgraduate degrees, such as medicine and law, difficult. Photo: Joe Armao

A decade ago, the University of Melbourne took a wrecking ball to its curriculum.

Almost 100 undergraduate degrees were abolished and replaced with six generalist degrees, as the 162-year-old university underwent the biggest restructure in its history.

You get halfway through … and realise that you have to do a whole lot more study before you have a career in anything. 

Dr Ary Sudarmana

You can still study law, engineering, teaching, nursing and medicine, but these are now postgraduate degrees – you need to complete an undergraduate degree first.

The media dubbed the new structure "The Melbourne Model", while a dean from arch rival Monash infamously called it "one of the best things to ever happen" to his university.

But the dust has long settled and Melbourne Model graduates are now finding their way in the world. The Age rounded a few up to ask them whether it was all worth it.

Breadth before depth

Making it compulsory to complete a generalist degree before deciding on a specialist field was new in Australia, but not in America and Europe where it has long been accepted wisdom to broaden one's horizons before hot-footing it to the rat race.

Jake Robinson wasn't like many of his peers, who had "very set ideas of what they wanted to do and where they wanted to end up".

"Coming from the perspective of someone who really didn't know what they wanted to do [the Melbourne Model] definitely worked," says Mr Robinson. He discovered a love of the media during his arts degree, and pursued this interest through a masters in global communication.

After a stint as a production editor and journalist for Private Media, owner of online publications Crikey and SmartCompany, he's now a freelance journalist and editor.

Broadening students' horizons is part of the Melbourne Model's DNA – it's compulsory to study subjects from outside one's chosen discipline.

For example, an arts student must study subjects in a discipline such as science or commerce.

These are called "breadth subjects".

First-year doctor Ary Sudarmana relished the opportunity to to study French and music as breadth subjects as part of his biomedicine degree.

"I feel like a more well-rounded person and a happier person than if I had gone straight down the medicine pathway," he says.

The university says breadth subjects allow you to "gain knowledge and understanding across a broader range of disciplines, enabling you to develop insight, experience, and new ways of thinking".

The truth is that there is nothing new about this feature, even in Australia.

Generalist degrees around the country have long permitted students to study a significant number of subjects from other faculties.

The main difference is that at Melbourne, it's compulsory.

Cameron Patrick is studying a Master of Science (Mathematics and Statistics) at Melbourne, but arrived via a bachelor of science from a Western Australian University.

"The Melbourne degrees are very much less flexible," says Mr Cameron, whose undergraduate philosophy studies counted toward his bachelor of science at the time.

Mr Cameron, who tutors undergraduate science students, says he's witnessed many undergraduates using the breadth component as an opportunity to undertake "bludgey" subjects.

Matilda Dixon-Smith, who arrived with the intent of focusing on creative writing, admits to finding breadth subjects nothing more than an inconvenience.

"A lot of people didn't want to waste time on subjects that weren't relevant [to what they wanted to do]."

But management consultant Josh Licence says his breadth subjects were highly relevant. As a prospective Masters of Engineering student, he was required to study engineering subjects as part of his commerce degree and these satisfied the breadth requirement.

"Those who do the commerce engineering pathway are going to have a different experience of the Melbourne Model than someone who went through biomed or … something else," says Mr Licence.

In response to criticisms from students, in 2011 the university reduced the number of compulsory breadth subjects from six to four.

"The feedback we receive from students is that the breadth component is one of the key reasons they decided to come to Melbourne. They really value that opportunity," says University of Melbourne Provost, Professor Margaret Sheil.

Degrees of anxiety

An ATAR of 98.85 is more than is required to gain admission to an undergrad medicine degree at other universities.

Not so at Melbourne.

Last year's clearly-in score of 98.85 for the bachelor of biomedicine, the most popular precursor to the postgraduate Doctor of Medicine.

But completing the biomed degree is no guarantee of admission. As if the pressure of VCE wasn't enough, another competitive selection process awaits after third year. Applicants are shortlisted for interview based on their undergraduate marks and their performance in the Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test.

"In my final year, there was a lot of anxiety amongst all of the biomed students," says Dr Sudarmana.

"And at that stage everyone was saying 'why did we do this?'"

But he says the vast majority who worked hard succeeded in getting into medicine one way or another.

"That might have meant … doing their postgraduate degree interstate or at another university in Victoria," he says.

Entry into the postgraduate juris doctor law degree is similarly competitive.

Professor Shiel says the university is "very conscious about providing targeted support for all students who feel under pressure at key times during the course of their studies."

Freelance journalist Jake Robinson says many of his schoolmates went to different universities to avoid the risk of not being admitted to a postgraduate program, but he had no problem making the transition from a bachelor of arts to a Masters of Global Communication.

"I knew the sort of [postgraduate] degree I wanted to get into would be easier to get into than some of the other ones."

Admission to a master of education was similarly straightforward for Ms Gouws, although the university has since implemented TeacherSelector, a web-based tool assessing traits such as 'emotional stability, conscientiousness, perseverance or grit and openness to views of others'.

Mastering a masters

Being a bachelor degree graduate may have been enough 20 years ago, but these days they're a dime a dozen, says Josh Licence.

"Having a piece of paper that says 'masters' hopefully differentiates you from those who just have a bachelors degree," says Mr Licence.

Yet he concedes that the content of his engineering masters degree is very similar to an undergraduate degree: "The title is the main difference."

Ms Gouws has a similar perspective. "I would have learned the same information [in an undergraduate teaching degree]," she says.

She sees benefit in being more mature and well-rounded when learning a profession, but says four-year undergraduate teaching degrees have advantages too.

"I would have had more time for consolidation and more time to solidify content knowledge," she says.

"I worry sometimes that the [1.5 year] postgraduate masters in teaching leaves that time for reflection and consolidation by the wayside."

Mr Sudarmana speaks glowingly about the quality of his postgraduate Doctor of Medicine degree and the benefits of a preceding generalist degree, but says other pathways have merit too.

"I think in the end it's up to the individual to be honest … I've met plenty of colleagues [from other universities] that are just as well-rounded."

Time-consuming and costly

The Melbourne Model often means more time studying compared to an equivalent undergraduate degree. For Dr Sudarmana, this meant three years undergraduate and four years postgraduate study.

"You get halfway through … and realise that you have to do a whole lot more [study] before you have a career in anything," he says.

Other universities offer five-year undergraduate medicine degrees.

"It's significantly shorter but you really need to know that's what you want. I wasn't in that position and I would say a lot of people when they're 17 wouldn't know 100 per cent if medicine was for them," says Dr Sudarmana.

Ms Dixon-Smith says she wasn't initially worried about the extra time because she enjoys studying, but the grind eventually took its toll.

"Toward the end of the degree I was pretty sick of being at uni, partially because I was half in the workforce at that point. It wasn't anything specific to the degree itself, but it is a long time to spend at uni," she says.

And the cost?

"The money is vexing, particularly because I'm in an industry where I'm not likely to make very much money at all. To think about having a quite large HECS debt that's eventually going to come out of my wages is a bit disappointing," says Ms Dixon-Smith.

Jake Robinson is enjoying the confidence that comes with having a masters but is unsure whether the cost was worth it.

"I don't really know whether it's going to be worth it in a monetary sense in the long term," says Mr Robinson.

Ms Gouws is also in two minds about whether the time and cost was worth it: "Looking back on it now…I'm going to say yes to time spent but no to cost."

But Mr Licence remains sold on the merits of his pathway.

"I know people have differing opinions but from my point of view I ended up getting a better outcome: a [bachelor and] masters in the same net period of time as doing two bachelors [degrees]."

Of course, if by the end of third year you're getting tired of it all, there's nothing stopping you from taking your bachelors certificate and going job hunting.

But for some, this didn't feel like a realistic option.

"If you do want to go straight into the workforce it's hard to do that," says Ms Dixon-Smith. "The Melbourne Model [undergraduate] degrees are so broad and so general that you do need specialised postgraduate experience to get a job."

Dr Sudarmana feels similarly about his biomedicine degree.

"If I hadn't gotten into medicine after biomedicine I would have been left out in the cold."

Meet the graduates

Matilda Dixon-Smith

School: SCEGGS Darlinghurst

Undergraduate: Arts

Postgraduate: Master of Publishing

Vocation: Writer, editor, bookseller

"[Publishing] is a tough industry to be in … it's hard to get a full-time position. There's a pretty high saturation of people at the same level as you trying to get not that many jobs."

Jake Robinson

School: Brighton Grammar

Undergraduate: Arts

Postgraduate: Master of global media and communications

Vocation: Freelance journalist and editor

"I didn't have a set idea of where I wanted to end up when I decided to go to Melbourne Uni, and I don't think I exactly know now, either. I've just tried to do the things I like doing and on balance … I'm heading in a direction which suits me."

Josh Licence

School: Bendigo Senior Secondary

Undergraduate: Commerce

Postgraduate: Mechanical Engineering

Vocation: Management consultant, Deloitte

"It's actually quite common [to recruit] engineers for consulting roles because if you've gotten through engineering you have a problem-solving capability, although communications and soft skills [are important] too."

Ary Sudarmana

School: Xavier College

Undergraduate: Commerce

Postgraduate: Mechanical Engineering

Vocation: First-year doctor, Sunshine Hospital

"It's a busy lifestyle as an intern and first-year doctor, but that's what you sign up for. I'm hoping to become a paediatrician and will be starting as a paediatric trainee at the Royal Children's Hospital next year."

Marzanne Gouws

Undergraduate: Methodist Ladies College (Perth)

Undergraduate: Arts

Postgraduate: Education

Vocation: Drama teacher, Princes Hill Secondary College

"We've got a lot of teachers graduating who can't get ongoing positions, myself included. I've been working part-time for the past two years because there just aren't any ongoing positions in the inner city."

Weighing the costs

Melbourne Model pathways generally take longer and are more expensive than comparable undergraduate pathways (examples below).

Course (Melb Model in bold)                  Cost                                           Duration (in years)

Bachelor Arts/Bachelor Education         $25,024                                      4 
(double degree)

Bachelor Arts + Grad Diploma            $28,152- $31,280                      4-4.5 
or Master of Teaching (Secondary)

Bachelor of Medicine                             $52,200                                      5

Bachelor Biomedicine                         $66,515.25                                 7
+ Doctor Medicine  

Bachelor Commerce/Bachelor              $52,470.25                                  5 
Engineering(double degree) 

Bachelor Commerce                           $56,357.63                                  6
+ Master Engineering (Civil)

* Fees and durations are estimates only and will differ depending on subject choice and study load.

Not all places in University of Melbourne postgraduate degrees are Commonwealth supported. Full fee places are significantly more expensive (Approx. $39,000 more for teaching; $69,000 more for engineering; $218,000 more for medicine).

High achieving school leavers may be eligible for guaranteed entry into certain Melbourne Model postgraduate degrees, conditional on completing the required undergraduate degree. 

Some degrees may require students to study intensively to meet published timelines. Contact universities for further information.

Gary Newman blogs at uni101.com.au