What is so bad about low-atar courses?

[eileen.wu]

hello! I go to a selective school where there is all this 'prestige' and 'woah' factor with high atar courses. I am a relatively high achieving student that is estimated for a 90+ atar. I am kind of torn between a 95 atar course and an 80 atar course, which I think is mostly impacted by my instilled judgement that low atar courses are not as good as the higher ones. Help? I am interested in both courses but think the 80 atar course will benefit me better in the long run...how do I get rid of my stigma towards low atar courses?

[Sine]

hello! I go to a selective school where there is all this 'prestige' and 'woah' factor with high atar courses. I am a relatively high achieving student that is estimated for a 90+ atar. I am kind of torn between a 95 atar course and an 80 atar course, which I think is mostly impacted by my instilled judgement that low atar courses are not as good as the higher ones. Help? I am interested in both courses but think the 80 atar course will benefit me better in the long run...how do I get rid of my stigma towards low atar courses?

Well, technically there isn't really a difference apart from higher ATAR courses being more sought after. So a high ATAR requirement is more a reflection of how a lot of people with high ATARs want to do that course - rather than it being a "better" course. Also, no one can objectively say one course is better than another because it will always depend on the individual.

Some people will say that you are wasting your ATAR if you get 95+ but go for a 70 ATAR course but if that 70 ATAR course was the course that you wanted to do the most it obviously isn't a waste because it got you where you wanted to be. Have a read of the following about wasting ATARs -  https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=180227.0

There are plenty of people who have done courses with ATAR requirements 15-25+ below their actual ATAR.

[DrDusk]

The atar cutoff is based solely on demand vs seats for a particular course. When there's lots of demand, the atar cutoff is higher. At the end of the day it's your life to live, and it's worth living the way you want to. You will regret it if you choose a course just because it has a high atar cutoff.

I mean just look at Eddie woo. He is so famous and successful now and decided to go into education from James Ruse, where I think he said he was the only one to do so. The only advice I can give is to follow your heart.

[Coolmate]

Hey eileen.wu!

I agree with what Sine and DrDusk have said. Just adding onto what DrDusk has said, I would also suggest that aiming for a higher atar may open more opportunities for any courses avaliable for any university. For example, getting a 70 atar, may not mean you will be able to get into a course needing an atar of 90 (Excluding Bonus Points), whereas if you got an atar of 90 then you may be accepted into university courses with an atar cutoff of 70.

But as always whatever you feel is the best choice of university course then that could be the right way to go.

I hope this helps guide your decision!

Coolmate