'We had a teary thing': Why you shouldn't panic over an ATAR disappointment
ANNA Nguyen didn't tell her mother about her disappointing score for three days. But two years on, she's delighted she had to take a different path.
Emma Reynolds@emmareyn
news.com.auDecember 16, 20162:33pm
How is the ATAR calculated?
Anna Nguyen was devastated by her ATAR result.Source:Supplied
WHEN Anna Nguyen received her ATAR score, she was horrified.
It was far lower than she had expected from her HSC results, and at 67.4 - while far from the worst score, it meant she could only get into her ninth-choice university.
Two years on, the 19-year-old is more than halfway through a double degree at University of Technology Sydney and says she's glad she had to take a different path.
"I thought, 'I can't go do what I want'," she told news.com.au. "I was really nervous and anxious. I was thinking, 'My mum's going to freak'. I had this traditional Vietnamese/Asian upbringing where your parents are the first to see your results. I would have died."
Anna didn't tell her mother about her disappointing result for three days, while she worked out whether she had an alternative to starting the degree she had put last.
"It wasn't even a course I wanted, I just put it in for the sake of it," said the graduate from Mackellar Girls Campus in Manly Vale, NSW. "I looked into online UAC [Universities Admissions Centre] options. I did a bit of research, called a careers adviser to ask, could I do anything? He gave me a few path ways.
The Sydney student waited three days to tell her 'teary' mother that she hadn't got in to her top eight course choices.Source:Supplied
"There's TAFE, you can go to the uni provided and do an external transfer if you get a good GPA. With a few diplomas in other places, you could get maybe 50 per cent counted towards any university, but you might have to do a course again."
She eventually found UTS:Insearch, another path way into her preferred university that would give her 100 per cent credit towards her desired degree.
Anna finally told her mother the truth, but now she had an alternative plan in place. "We had a bit of a teary thing. I could have done better, I didn't try as hard as I could have. She was happy I found something to do rather than wallow."
UTS:Insearch students can go straight into their second year if they get the grades during their first 12 months of study, and the course has a high success rate.
And Anna, who is now studying for a Bachelor of Science in IT and Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, says she wouldn't change what happened for the world.
"You've got a lot more hours compared to the classes you get at UTS, it helped me get used to uni life. Honestly speaking, I haven't talked about my ATAR or HSC results," she said.
"All of us feel it's a kickstart to get what you want, make the most of it.
"I think it was a lot better than if I'd had to go into the first year, it's a tight-knit group, it feels like a little family.
Even if you don't achieve perfect scores, like Westall secondary college students Ilia Kucherov (99.85) and Matt Yang (99.75), there is still hope. Picture: Chris EastmanSource:News Corp Australia
More than 69,000 HSC graduates in NSW have had their ATAR results released this week. Male students fared better in the top-tier results, but female students were better on average, according to UAC. Of the 46 students who received the top ATAR of 99.95, 33 were male and 13 were female, but the average ATAR for boys was 66.55 while it was 70.45 for girls.
The news is full of stories about students with perfect scores, but many will miss out on their preferred course, often because of the confusing impact of scaling in determining their ATAR. But there is still hope for those who don't get the results they want.
"It's important that students don't discount their chances of getting into a course based solely on their ATAR and last year's cut-off,' said Kim Paino, general manager of marketing and engagement at UAC.
She said some students may feel like there is no chance of studying next year because of a lower than expected ATAR but there are many other options available, including foundation or path ways programs that can lead to entry into a degree course.
Shocked by your final results? Share your story with emma.reynolds@news.com.au.
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