Entrance to UWA

[Tebbutts]

My son will be applying to universities in Perth for Jan 2014. His first choice is UWA. He should have enough "points" to get the minimum ATAR score for the degree that he wants to do. My question is, if he gets the minimum ATAR required, do you automatically get in to UWA, or is that just the minimum amount to be considered for entrance and doesn't necessarily mean that you will get in?

Of course, with the confidence of youth, he thinks he will definitely get in (and hopefully his final Matric marks will end up giving him a very high ATAR score), but I just want him to be prepared for the idea that he might not be accepted at UWA.

[Bams]

Interesting post, following this and the comments..

Wishing you the best.

[AndreaL]

I'm actually not sure, but know that my niece applied at 3 different Queensland Uni's and luckily got accepted at her first choice.

You generally apply and a first round of offers is issued and then a second round of offers, you could contact them and ask, details at bottom of page

http://www.studyat.uwa.edu.au/undergraduate/apply

[Enrica]

The minimum ATAR does not guarantee you a spot. There are a limited number of places , and naturally the higher the ATAR , the better your ATAR.

What does your son want to study?

[Tebbutts]

He is hoping to do a BComm. He is getting good marks so far this year, but I am hoping he will get even better marks in the final exams. Those are the ones that go off to TISC. Enrica, I seem to remember that your kids have also studied over there. Do you know if it is quite competitive getting into UWA? Or would you compare it to, say, getting into UCT versus Stellenbosch here in SA?

Thank you for the replies!

[Drought]

There are two things to consider when looking at university entry: the first is the minimum ATAR for entry to any course at the specific university- for UWA this is 80. (Bearing in mind the ATAR is a rank, not a percentage). The second factor is the indicative ATAR- probably the simplest way to describe this is to think of it as the cut-off to get into a specific course e.g minimum ATAR for course A is 80, but indicative ATAR is 85 - so you can apply with an 80 ATAR, but only those with an 85 or higher ATAR were offered a place ( based on previous years allocations).

In the case of the BComm, the indicative ATAR for 2014 is 80, so basically what it means is that it is not a very competitive course. Although an 80 ATAR will not guarantee a place, it is highly likely you will get a place given the indicative ATAR.

Here is a guide from UWA with regards to SA matric and converting to an ATAR-

http://www.studyat.uwa.edu.au/undergraduate/admission/school-quals/atar-conversions

The Year 12 students over here have already started their applications for first round offers ( these applications close by the end of September) this is done via TISC or the Tertiary Institutions service centre- lots of useful information on the website www.tisc.edu.au.

UWA regards itself- probably rightly so- as the premier university in WA. It works on a slightly different system to the other universities-essentially you enrol in a broad discipline area, complete an undergrad. course and then specialise. This is similar to the big name universities across the rest of the world.

In terms of being competitive to get into- the minimum ATAR to apply for study at UWA is the highest of all the WA universities- some have minimum ATARs as low as 55 for a particular course ( roughly an average of 46% for the 4 best subjects completed at school) , compare this to an 80 ATAR- or an average of 62% for the four best school subjects.

Basically UWA wants the best students, so sets a high entry level.( relative to the other universities). I would suggest though that the university selected should be based on the specific course of study, rather than the perceived status -( UWA students are sometimes accused as being snobs, but i don;t think that bothers them too much!) some of the other universities have excellent faculties ( for example Environmental Sciences at Murdoch).

I won't bore you any more, but happy to answer what I can with regards to the universities in Perth.

[Tebbutts]

Thank you Drought! You seem to know a lot about UWA! I hadn't heard of the indicative ATAR before. You have really helped to put my mind at ease. His ATAR from June results was over 80 and he is expecting to do better at the end of the year, so it seems we have more than a good chance of getting into UWA. We have already applied to 2 of the residences at UWA, so now we just need to get his university application off.

I see you were originally from East London too? Quite a few of us over there it seems.

[Drought]

Yup! East London born and bred- (although had to leave to go to uni- the Rhodes uni branch was only just starting up when I left)- It takes a bit of explaining initially that it is a whole different place and continent to the other east London! I grew up on a farm on the PE side of East London- very much amongst the pineapples out there! don't know any other East Londoners, but then have not actively searched either!

Most students here in Perth still live at home, so the idea of living in a res. is not that common, but certainly highly sought after ( for the locals it is an affordability thing).

Let me know if you need any other info in the meantime and all the best to your son for his final exams- the year 12's over here have about 5 weeks to go before their final school exams( for most sat during their October holiday break) and then their external exams start in the first week of November. After that its schoolies week- which is not a topic worth going into if you are older than 30, but very exciting if you own a liquor outlet........

[Tebbutts]

Thanks again, everybody for your replies! Much appreciated!