From what I've seen from the boredofstudies forum as well as people in real life, UOW isn't really seen as a university that people aspire or "want" to go to, unlike universities like USYD, Maq, UNSW, etc..
Why is this? Wollongong Uni seems to be a great uni, from what I've heard and seen of it.
because of the people that go there.
I know people that got in with unconditional early entry and like "failed" their HSC
Also, I was speaking to a friend of a friend a while ago about how we feel stupid at Uni because our friends are smart and then she said something and then "yeah, my friend is super smart, she got like 93 or something" (at UoW) and I just tried to not be a dick about it and say "well, everyone in my group of friends got easily above 95… except me." (awkies)
So, I just feel that there is more of an intellectual surround at unis like USyd, UNSW, etc. and also sometimes there is more on offer at those universities too, like the great law, arts, maths, science, psychology, and music faculties at USyd (and the con) and the great engineering, science, design, and media faculties at UNSW (among others).
Also, sometimes the coursework you get to do is better at those unis, and exchanges and stuff. Like, I know USyd has a very good exchange programme with links with many good overseas universities, and UNSW has some very good excursion-y coursework as part of some of their degrees.