BlogUniversityHow to Get Into any University Course with a Low ATAR

How to Get Into any University Course with a Low ATAR

Want to get into a University course but received a low ATAR?

Even if you didn’t make the cut-off, it’s still possible to study your desired degree!

In this video, I’m going to explain exactly what you need to do if you didn’t get the ATAR you wanted and how you can still follow your passion despite this! 

Take a Breather
Option #1: Make it Your First Priority
Option #2: Transfer
Option #3: Pathway Providers

Take a Breather

The first thing that you should do is pause and take a deep breath.

When you receive a low ATAR and think you won’t get into your course, it’s really easy to get overwhelmed and think, oh no, I’m not going to have options.

“What am I going to do? I’m a failure. I’m not going to go to uni. I’m not going to be able to do my pathway.”

Thinking like this isn’t going to help at all!

So what you need to do is take a deep breath and relax so that you can start thinking strategically about how you’re going to maximise your potential for getting into University.

Once this is done, you cant take a look at your options:

Option #1: Make it Your First Priority

If you want to get into a course even though you’ve got a low ATAR, the thing you’ve got to realise is that the government has changed the way that your university applications work.

In the past, universities had a cap to the number of students they could take. It’s why the ATAR existed. If they could only take 200 students, they needed to work out which 200 to take.

Now, the Australian government cut some funding for universities, and in return they said, we’re going to move to a demand-driven model for student intake. 

This means that universities can actually take as many students as their infrastructure can support.

This means that the ATAR becomes a lot more flexible because, from the university’s point of view, they can actually take more students.

Now, if you go to uac.edu.au you’ll often now see an ATAR range.

This range shows the ATAR that’ll guarantee entry, the lowest cutoff and the median cutoff offered.

Generally, it’s a 5-10 ATAR point range that exists.

If you are in this range, there’s great news.

It means that even though you missed the guaranteed cutoff, you’ve still got an opportunity to get an offer for that course.

If you’re in that range, you put down the course that you want to do as your number one preference even if your ATAR’s below the cutoff.

By putting it as your number one preference, you may actually get into your desired course with a low ATAR.

It might not be in the first round, but most likely in the second or third.

This is maximising your potential for getting into that degree and multiple students get into their desired University Course like this every year!

Learn more about the average ATAR here!

Option #2: Transfer

Is your ATAR below that ATAR range of 5 to 10?

If this is the case, you may be thinking:

“There’s no point, I can’t put that as a preference. I’m not going to get in.”

This means you need to think of alternate pathways to into your desired course DESPITE your low ATAR. And there are so many ways.

The first thing you could do is look at entering a similar course at the university you want to attend.

If you do this, you can transfer within your first or second year!

For example, let’s say you want to study a Bachelor of Commerce and you missed out.

If this is the case, you could get into a Bachelor of Business and do similar subjects so they can transfer across when you want to change to your desired course.

Now of course to do that, you need to do well at university. You’re going to need to typically get at least a credit average in your results.

However, it’s still a very effective way of getting your foot in the door and that’s what matters!

Option #3: Pathway Providers

Now, it could be that your ATAR is too low to get into a similar course but you still really want to go to University.

In that case, what you can do is look at Pathway Providers.

For example, UTS Insearch enables you to go and study in what’s called a foundation course.

That foundation course basically enables you to do first-year with extra support and guidance and then you actually jump into a degree in your second year of university.

That’s right, it’s like you’ve missed no time at all.

Find the pathways programs to some prominent Uni’s here:

University of Sydney

University of New South Wales

University of Technology

University of Western Sydney

Macquarie University

This is a great alternative pathway to get you into your dream course and will save you a lot of time!

Every University has a Pathway Provider. If you do your research, there’s still a strong possibility that you can get into your desired course even with a low ATAR!

Unsure about how to apply for university? Check out our guides for NSW and Queensland!

Need more help getting into university?

We provide personalised consulting and mentoring with our team to help you answer the big question, “What am I going to do with my life when I finish school, and how do I get there?”

We can help you get your university preferences together, choose your university, apply for scholarships and more!

To find out more and get started with an inspirational tutor and mentor get in touch today! 

Give us a ring on 1300 267 888, email us at [email protected] or check us out on Facebook!

45,861 students have a head start...

Get exclusive study content & advice from our team of experts delivered weekly to your inbox!

AOS Website Asset 2

Want to get into your dream course?

Discover how we can help you!

AOS Website Asset 1