University of Otago

Otago is the country's oldest university and its health sciences school — medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, physiotherapy — is the largest. Entry to the clinical programmes is through a competitive first year rather than directly from school.

Dunedin is a student town in the old sense: the university dominates it, rents are among the lowest in the country, and almost everything is walkable.

Otago's health sciences route is the distinctive feature of its admissions, and understanding it matters before you apply, because entry to medicine, dentistry and several other professional programmes is decided after a shared first year rather than at the point of admission.

• Completed Class 12 from a recognised board for undergraduate entry, with the subject prerequisites the programme lists — chemistry, biology and physics carry particular weight for the health sciences route.
• Admission to the health sciences first year does not guarantee a place in the professional programme that follows. Selection into medicine, dentistry and the related programmes happens on first-year performance in a shared and competitive cohort.
• A recognised bachelor's degree for postgraduate entry, with the cognate background the programme requires.
• English evidence through IELTS, TOEFL or another accepted test, at the level set for the programme and higher for the health professions.
• Complete transcripts and certificates, plus a statement of purpose for postgraduate applications, and references and a research proposal for research degrees.

If your aim is a health profession here, plan for the first year as a selection year and confirm the current selection criteria with us before committing.

Otago charges international students per programme and bills on the papers you enrol in for the year, so the figure that matters is the one published against your own programme and year of entry.

• The division and discipline set the level. Humanities, sciences, commerce and the health sciences are charged at clearly different rates, and the health professional programmes are at the top of that range.
• The health sciences route has a two-stage cost. The shared first year is charged at its own rate, and the professional programme that follows, if you are selected into it, is charged at a considerably higher one. Budget for the full pathway rather than the first year.
• Compulsory charges outside tuition — the student services fee, approved insurance for the length of your visa, and equipment, uniform or placement costs on the clinical programmes.
• Clinical years may be taught away from Dunedin, at the university's other health teaching sites, which brings its own relocation and accommodation cost.
• Fees are republished each year, so a multi-year programme should be budgeted with increases assumed.

Dunedin is a cheaper place to live than Auckland or the Australian cities, and that difference is a real part of the comparison. Work from the published programme fee and living cost estimate, and ask us to confirm the current figures.

Otago runs entrance awards for international students alongside divisional and departmental awards, and its doctoral scholarships are the most substantial support available.

• International entrance awards, assessed on academic record, some considered from the admission application and some requiring their own submission.
• Divisional and departmental awards tied to a subject, published by the division rather than centrally, including awards within the health sciences and the sciences.
• Donor and endowed awards with narrower criteria — a field, a region, or demonstrated involvement outside study.
• Doctoral scholarships, typically combining fee support with a living stipend, allocated in competitive rounds and normally arranged alongside a supervisor.
• New Zealand government international programmes, administered nationally and applied for separately.

Support within the health sciences is generally attached to the professional programmes rather than to the competitive first year, so do not plan the first year on the assumption that funding will cover it. Confirm what is available for your stage before you apply.

Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and Dunedin is built around it. The campus sits immediately north of the city centre with student flats filling the surrounding streets, which makes it the closest thing in the country to a classic student town.

• Student life is concentrated rather than dispersed. Because so many students live within walking distance of the campus in the North Dunedin flats, the social life of the university and the life of the neighbourhood are the same thing.
• Residential colleges for first-year students, a long-established part of the university with their own dining, tutoring and traditions, applied for separately from your course; flatting follows in later years.
• The health sciences first year shapes the cohort. A large shared and competitive first year creates an intense study culture, and study groups form early out of necessity.
• A full clubs and societies scene across academic disciplines, cultural and national associations, performance, debating and volunteering, with a strong tramping and outdoor club presence.
• Dunedin and the south — a cold southern climate, Victorian architecture, the Otago peninsula and wildlife on the doorstep, and the Southern Alps and Fiordland within reach for weekends.
• A smaller international community than Auckland's, and a smaller city, which suits some students well and others less.

Dunedin winters are genuinely cold and student flats are often poorly heated. Budget for heating and warm clothing from the start.