Sydney Life

On the blog, we spend an awful lot of time talking about alternative options for students who don’t quite make the UAI cut off for the course they want. You can do this, that, and the other, and still get in. However, there are probably some of you out there who had a different response. Rather than getting a UAI below your ideal, you’ve got one significantly ABOVE what you expected. And this is where it can get tricky, I know. I’ve been there.

This time a year ago give or take a few months, when I filled in my UAC preferences, I assumed that my first preference was simply beyond the realm of possibility. It was just a “in the amazing event of” option. I never realistically considered doing it. The rest of my courses I thought were all far more achievable. So, when it came to the knee-knocking UAI day, I was amazed to find that I’d actually managed to get into my first option. Then came the conundrum that I’m sure some of you will be facing now: my UAI is high enough, but SHOULD I do it?

This is where the personal introspection begins. You need to decide whether or not that course will provide you with what you want to learn. Degrees which have a lot of kudos, like law, are no good if you hated legal studies. They’re no good if you don’t have any interest in studying law. Why do a degree you know you’re just going to hate? Better to take a degree that requires a lower UAI , but allows you to study what you want.

In my case, a friend who had completed his first year of arts/commerce at uni had failed most of his subjects, largely because he was completely uninterested in the content, and had only taken the degree because he got the UAI. What I’m saying ultimately is, just because you got a UAI of 100, and you CAN do law, medicine, or advanced astrophysics of black holes as they pass through Hawking radiation waves, if you’re not interested in the subject, you probably SHOULDN’T do it. Remember, there is no shame in taking a degree below your UAI.

And if you still can’t decide after my sage advice, come to Information Day on January the 3rd. Hundreds of academics in a room, imparting to you their wisdom of years. What more do you need?