ATARs & Career experience - should I proceed with my application if selected? (Australia)

[Gin_OCE]

Hi all! Just call me Gin

This year, I've decided to enter the DV lottery from Australia, but I am a bit concerned regarding my educational background. While I completed HS in 2014, there is no ATAR score on my VCE certificate. I am unsure as to whether this would disqualify me in spite of it being evidence of completing highschool. I have looked over 9 FAM 502.6-3(c) which doesn't mention anything about particular scores, only the eligibility to apply for colleges

I also have close to a decade of working in the IT industry & a relevant TAFE Cert IV (Vocational School, effectively) which I completed in 2023. I believe a lot of my experience would fall under O*NET 15-1232.00 and I intend to present that working experience.

My main questions are as follows:

> With my above circumstances in mind, but to be as safe as possible, would my highschool certification alone suffice if all else fails?

> Is it even worth mentioning my Cert IV? In Australia, mine, along with my work experience, has been enough to qualify me for a Bachelor's degree, I have had acceptance letters proving as such too.


Thank you for reading!

 

[RossL]

I used a Queensland Senior Certificate from 1996 at my interview. The Certificate did not show my OP score (that's Gen X's ATAR), it was accepted by the Officer and my Green Card issued. No questions asked. I think you will be OK with your VCE showing 12 years of education completed.

 

[Gin_OCE]

I used a Queensland Senior Certificate from 1996 at my interview. The Certificate did not show my OP score (that's Gen X's ATAR), it was accepted by the Officer and my Green Card issued. No questions asked. I think you will be OK with your VCE showing 12 years of education completed.

Thanks for the response!

I've also enrolled for a bachelor's degree, specific to my career, at a few different universities and been accepted on all of them due to relevant work and life experience, something I'm hopeful will help my case if the VCE cert alone is not accepted.

Can I ask which year you had your GC issued?

 

[RossL]

Thanks for the response!

I've also enrolled for a bachelor's degree, specific to my career, at a few different universities and been accepted on all of them due to relevant work and life experience, something I'm hopeful will help my case if the VCE cert alone is not accepted.

Can I ask which year you had your GC issued?

My Green Card was issued March 2024.

I do not have a Bachelor's Degree. I have a couple of TAFE Diplomas and 20 years of work experience. They only checked my High School Certificate, that was enough.

Reddit forums are full of people's battle stories to find IT work in the USA right now. You may need a Bachelor's Degree to get your foot in the door, but does it need to be one that leaves you with a HECS debt? Check out WGU (Western Governors University) programs. You need to be a LPR to enrol, it's something you could do after getting a Green Card.

 

[Gin_OCE]

Thanks for the insight, it's good to know this was quite recent too, I had heard there were some sweeping changes in the early 2010s (however, I think that was more related to alternatives to school completion which shouldn't have been admissible to begin with).

I've seen the stories on Reddit too, and without disclosing too much; the niche I'm in has luckily been far less subject to the layoffs which have been hitting the overall IT sector for the past few years. If I'm fortunate enough to land a GC, I'm fairly optimistic that I won't have too much strife finding work. Barring that, WGU sounds exactly like what I'd be enrolling in, younger me would've been dying for something like this to exist in Australia too!