Are some of UNSW's cutoffs lower then published + UAC question? (1 Viewer)

[brent012]

Im posting this in general because there are basically 3 faculties im asking about haha, ive heard before that with UNSW's combined courses such as Commerce/Science, Engineering/Commerce the ATAR cutoffs are sometimes lower then what they publish. I really want to do either comp engineering or comp science combined with commerce but it seems likely ill get an atar of mid-high 80s which even factoring in hsc plus bonus marks (all 5 are attainable for me id say) will put me a bit short of the 96.7 atar required. What im wondering is should i also put down commerce/information systems (also 96.7) as my third option or will that somehow negatively affect my backup options (which i dont mind, just would prefer unsw) at UTS which would then be 4th and 5th? What are the chances that id get an offer for one of those 3 combined courses at UNSW if my atar without bonus marks was like 87?

 

[Lolsmith]

Most double degrees aren't artificially inflated, afaik, so no. That means that they won't accept below a cutoff and the cutoff is likely to fluctuate next year.

However they do have artificially high cut offs for both software engineering and computer science at UNSW. Myself being a prime example of such, I had an ATAR of 82.30 and got into Software that had a published cutoff of 91. No bonus points, no nothing.

The way preferences work is you are offered your highest preference that you qualify for and nothing underneath that. So if you qualify for any of the UNSW courses, you will be offered which of them you are accepted into.

Personally I would say it would be unlikely that you'd be accepted into any of those double degrees. Personally, you're probably better off choosing a single degree and then attempting to transfer to the double in your second semester or second year. You can do this if you get good (Distinction average should be a minimum) marks, but that isn't easy.

 

[kaz1]

Im posting this in general because there are basically 3 faculties im asking about haha, ive heard before that with UNSW's combined courses such as Commerce/Science, Engineering/Commerce the ATAR cutoffs are sometimes lower then what they publish. I really want to do either comp engineering or comp science combined with commerce but it seems likely ill get an atar of mid-high 80s which even factoring in hsc plus bonus marks (all 5 are attainable for me id say) will put me a bit short of the 96.7 atar required. What im wondering is should i also put down commerce/information systems (also 96.7) as my third option or will that somehow negatively affect my backup options (which i dont mind, just would prefer unsw) at UTS which would then be 4th and 5th? What are the chances that id get an offer for one of those 3 combined courses at UNSW if my atar without bonus marks was like 87?

If you got an ATAR of 87 and if you get max bonus points you'll be treated as a 92 which I reckon would be a good chance. Also I know a few people that do Engg/Comm with an ATAR in the high 80s so you definetly still have a chance.

 

[brent012]

If you got an ATAR of 87 and if you get max bonus points you'll be treated as a 92 which I reckon would be a good chance. Also I know a few people that do Engg/Comm with an ATAR in the high 80s so you definetly still have a chance.

Wow ok cool - so high 80s in Eng/Comm at UNSW? Where they all from the same year?

Also what i have to know for sure now is, would there be variation in the ACTUAL atar cutoff in the three combined courses (i.e. should i put all 3 down?) and secondly if i have the ATAR for UTS would it be possible that i miss out since it is 4th on my list? I'd really like to do a combined degree and i dont think id be able to transfer between courses/dont want to go to that trouble.

 

[tambam]

Wow ok cool - so high 80s in Eng/Comm at UNSW? Where they all from the same year?

Also what i have to know for sure now is, would there be variation in the ACTUAL atar cutoff in the three combined courses (i.e. should i put all 3 down?) and secondly if i have the ATAR for UTS would it be possible that i miss out since it is 4th on my list? I'd really like to do a combined degree and i dont think id be able to transfer between courses/dont want to go to that trouble.

From what i understand, and answering what i THINK you're asking, you will get an offer for whichever course is highest on your list that you qualify for with your atar.

However, you can then apply for second round offers, which could be for:
1) If your atar cut-off is a bit too low to qualify for first-round offers, you could be offered a place in second round. Eg. I've heard of people getting into law at unsw last year with ~99.4 atar.
2) If you got into one preference on your list, but would actually like to do another one that is lower on your list, which your atar qualifies for.

And also, atar cut-offs tend to stay around the same, but do fluctuate, because they're based on demand.

 

[brent012]

From what i understand, and answering what i THINK you're asking, you will get an offer for whichever course is highest on your list that you qualify for with your atar.

However, you can then apply for second round offers, which could be for:
1) If your atar cut-off is a bit too low to qualify for first-round offers, you could be offered a place in second round. Eg. I've heard of people getting into law at unsw last year with ~99.4 atar.
2) If you got into one preference on your list, but would actually like to do another one that is lower on your list, which your atar qualifies for.

And also, atar cut-offs tend to stay around the same, but do fluctuate, because they're based on demand.

What i want to know is if i get the cut off for my 4th option, but not the first 3 is it possible that i would somehow miss out on that because i had it down so low? Also if i accept an offer in first round for that 4th option (i.e. something at UTS) does that rule me out from getting an offer second round for one of my first three options?

 

[Shadowdude]

If you get the cut-off for the 4th option AND there are still places available, you're getting an offer. Simple. If there are no places left, then you keep going down the list until you have a course where you meet the cut-off plus have spare spots.

And if you accept an offer in the first round for your 4th preference, you are eligible to get offers for your 1st, 2nd and 3rd preference in future rounds. People often switch their preferences around between offering rounds so they can see what other offers they get.

 

[brent012]

If you get the cut-off for the 4th option AND there are still places available, you're getting an offer. Simple. If there are no places left, then you keep going down the list until you have a course where you meet the cut-off plus have spare spots.

And if you accept an offer in the first round for your 4th preference, you are eligible to get offers for your 1st, 2nd and 3rd preference in future rounds. People often switch their preferences around between offering rounds so they can see what other offers they get.

Alright cool thanks, does anyone happen to know if Engineering/Business at UTS is likely to fill up quick? Id hate to not get into UNSW and miss out on UTS as well because i put 3 unsw combined courses when i should have put two.