Selection Adjustment Ranks to get into uni courses

[marina_t]

Hello can someone please explain this to me. I am aware that some Unis like Monash have this thing called the selection adjustment rank that can boost your ATAR according to SEAS, your performance on certain subjects that are not prerequisites to the course etc. So for example, for Radiography and Medical Imaging it says that one of the selection rank adjustments is:

A study score of 35 in English equals 2 aggregate points. A study score of 40 in English (EAL) equals 2 aggregate points per study. A study score of 30 in Health And Human Development, Physical Education or Psychology equals 1 aggregate point per study. Overall maximum of 6 points.

Does this mean that if you get above 30 for HHD and above 30 for Psych for example, you get 2 aggregate points added overall (1 aggregate point for getting over 30 HHD and one for getting over 30 in Psych) OR does it mean that for each of these subjects you get over 30, you get 1 aggregate point added to each of your other studies (so 6 aggregate points if you get over 30 in HHD  + 6 more if you get over 30 in Psych). Because it says that if you get a study score of 40 in EAL, it equals 2 aggregate points per study, which means 12 aggregate points if you did 6 subjects, but then at the end it says that you can only get an overall maximum of 6 points so idk can someone please explain this thanks!

[Bri MT]

I read this as "per relevant study" so if you did English and Lit & scored 35 in both, you'd get 2 aggregate points for each, or four in total.

But let's say you got 35 in Eng Lang, Lit, English and psych, even though that adds to 7 points you'd only get 6, due to 6 being the overall maximum.

[AngelWings]

Hello can someone please explain this to me. I am aware that some Unis like Monash have this thing called the selection adjustment rank that can boost your ATAR according to SEAS, your performance on certain subjects that are not prerequisites to the course etc.

Original Version (This is incorrect. Please see "EDIT" and "Corrected Version" spoiler below.)

Hm... kind of.

What these subjects are called are 'middle band subjects', so if you found any information on these, this is what they're talking about. Basically the 'selection adjustment rank' adds 'points' to your overall ATAR once you receive it for this one preference. So in this situation, Monash would rank you against everyone else with a preference for Radiography with these adjusted ATARs + SEAS and such. This would be different for each course you're attempting e.g. your adjusted ATAR for Radiography at Monash =/= adjusted ATAR for Science at Melbourne or even Monash. 

For example:
Scenario 1
Let's just imagine you got an ATAR of 89.95, which IIRC, just misses Radiography's clearly-in ATAR by a little. Let's say that you do well in English (mainstream) and get yourself a 37 raw SS, then also do well in both HHD and Psych, each getting a 33 raw SS. The uni will determine that you have an adjusted ATAR (i.e. 'selection adjustment rank' as you said) of 89.95 + 2 (from English) + 1 (for HHD) + 1 (for Psych) = 93.95. This works until you obtain the maximum (i.e. 6 extra aggregate points) or until all your bonuses are 'used up' (i.e. you have no other subjects that fit in these categories you listed in bold. In this instance, I've demonstrated the latter, but let's make a new scenario.

Scenario 2
Let's say you did all the subjects with the same scores as Scenario 1, but now add in EAL, ending up with a 42 raw SS and Phys Ed, where you got a raw SS of 31. (This is totally made up, so don't quote me on this.) This would add another 2 (for EAL) + 1 (for Phys Ed) = 3 aggregate points to your adjusted ATAR, but since you got 4 additional aggregate points from Scenario 1 (so the total should've been 7 additional aggregate points), you'll only get a a bonus of 6 aggregate points, since this is their cap. So while you should've receive an adjusted ATAR of 89.95 + 7 = 96.95 for your achievements, due to the maximum of 6 points, you'll only get a maximum adjusted ATAR of 95.95 in this hypothetical situation. (Which IIRC, should get your through the clearly-in ATAR anyway for Radiography.)   

Hope this makes sense.


Note: Miniturtle posted as I was typing this, but I'm leaving this as it's a bit more detailed.

EDIT: Marinta_t and Miniturtle pointed out correctly that it's actually the aggregate that changes, not the ATAR itself (which I completely forgot about, so thanks Marina_t and Miniturtle!). I'm leaving the original post above in a spoiler, because I don't want to tamper with this post too much. I've corrected this post and its calculations in the following spoiler, which I've called 'Corrected Version'. Corrected Version should now be accurate. Anything that was wrong has a strikethrough effect and anything new (and should be now correct) is underlined. Any other notes are made outside the quotes. Really sorry I've misled everyone!

Corrected Version

What these subjects are called are 'middle band subjects', so if you found any information on these, this is what they're talking about.

Side tangent (but relevant): Middle band subjects can also be called "subject bonuses" and several other names.

Basically the 'selection adjustment rank' adds 'points' to your overall ATAR cumulative aggregate that forms your ATAR once you receive it for this one preference. So in this situation, Monash would rank you against everyone else with a preference for Radiography with these adjusted ATARs aggregates + SEAS and such to form a new 'adjusted ATAR' based on the new aggregate, which they'd correlate with the aggregate to ATAR data for the year you received your ATAR* (correlations between aggregates and ATARs for 2017 here). This would be different for each course you're attempting e.g. your adjusted ATAR for Radiography at Monash =/= adjusted ATAR for Science at Melbourne or even Monash.

* This is how I understand this. Alternatively, it might use the aggregate to ATAR table for the closest year (i.e. someone applying to begin uni in Sem 1 2019 will have their ATAR considered with the aggregate to ATAR table using the data from the VCE Class of 2018, regardless of if they were VCE Class of 2017/ earlier or 2018). I'm not entirely sure here and would recommend you ask your intended unis about this, if you're super worried.

For example:
Scenario 1
Let's just imagine you got an ATAR of 89.95 as a VCE Class of 2017** student (i.e. aggregate of 158.55 in 2017), which IIRC, just misses Radiography's clearly-in ATAR by a little***. Let's say that you do well in English (mainstream) and get yourself a 37 raw SS, then also do well in both HHD and Psych, each getting a 33 raw SS. The uni will determine that you have an adjusted ATAR (i.e. 'selection adjustment rank' as you said) cumulative aggregate of 89.95 158.55+ 2 (from English) + 1 (for HHD) + 1 (for Psych) = 93.95 162.55, which gives a new 'adjusted ATAR' (i.e. 'selection adjustment rank' as you said) of 91.60. This works until you obtain the maximum (i.e. 6 extra aggregate points) or until all your bonuses are 'used up' (i.e. you have no other subjects that fit in these categories you listed in bold. In this instance, I've demonstrated the latter, but let's make a new scenario.

** I know you're VCE Class of 2018, but this is the most recent data we have at the time of posting, so I'm using that throughout Scenarios 1 and 2. Reminder that this is merely an example.
***I realised later that this is actually higher now. I was remembering what it was back when I applied through VTAC in 2014 for uni start in Sem 1 2015, which was a clearly-in ATAR of ~91-92. Sorry about that!

Scenario 2
Let's say you did all the subjects with the same scores as Scenario 1, but now add in EAL, ending up with a 42 raw SS and Phys Ed, where you got a raw SS of 31. (This is totally made up, so don't quote me on this.) This would add another 2 (for EAL) + 1 (for Phys Ed) = 3 aggregate points to your adjusted ATAR cumulative aggregate from Scenario 1 (i.e. 162.55), but since you got 4 additional aggregate points from Scenario 1 (so the total should've been 7 additional aggregate points), you'll only get a a bonus of 6 aggregate points, since this is their cap. So while you should've receive an adjusted ATAR of 89.95 aggregate of 158.55 + 7 = 96.95 165.55 (i.e. an 'adjusted ATAR' of 92.85 using the 2017 data) for your achievements, due to the maximum of 6 points, you'll only get a maximum adjusted ATAR of 95.95 aggregate of 164.55 (i.e. 'adjusted ATAR' of 92.40 using the 2017 data) in this hypothetical situation. (Which IIRC, should get your through the clearly-in ATAR anyway for Radiography.***)   

Hope this makes sense.


Note: Miniturtle posted as I was typing this, but I'm leaving this as it's a bit more detailed.

[marina_t]

ok that makes sense thanks heaps!

Also one more question. Say for instance I get above 30 for both psych and hhd and above 35 in english (that's 4 aggregate points) and assuming I get an ATAR from 95-95.95, will I still be able to get into the course? Because the lowest selection rank for that course is 97.9 (after adjustments have been made), but then it also says that people with an ATAR of around 87 after adjustments still got in but I'm assuming that's with SEAS (which I didn't apply for).

Hm... kind of.

What these subjects are called are 'middle band subjects', so if you found any information on these, this is what they're talking about. Basically the 'selection adjustment rank' adds 'points' to your overall ATAR once you receive it for this one preference. So in this situation, Monash would rank you against everyone else with a preference for Radiography with these adjusted ATARs + SEAS and such. This would be different for each course you're attempting e.g. your adjusted ATAR for Radiography at Monash =/= adjusted ATAR for Science at Melbourne or even Monash. 

For example:
Scenario 1
Let's just imagine you got an ATAR of 89.95, which IIRC, just misses Radiography's clearly-in ATAR by a little. Let's say that you do well in English (mainstream) and get yourself a 37 raw SS, then also do well in both HHD and Psych, each getting a 33 raw SS. The uni will determine that you have an adjusted ATAR (i.e. 'selection adjustment rank' as you said) of 89.95 + 2 (from English) + 1 (for HHD) + 1 (for Psych) = 93.95. This works until you obtain the maximum (i.e. 6 extra aggregate points) or until all your bonuses are 'used up' (i.e. you have no other subjects that fit in these categories you listed in bold. In this instance, I've demonstrated the latter, but let's make a new scenario.

Scenario 2
Let's say you did all the subjects with the same scores as Scenario 1, but now add in EAL, ending up with a 42 raw SS and Phys Ed, where you got a raw SS of 31. (This is totally made up, so don't quote me on this.) This would add another 2 (for EAL) + 1 (for Phys Ed) = 3 aggregate points to your adjusted ATAR, but since you got 4 additional aggregate points from Scenario 1 (so the total should've been 7 additional aggregate points), you'll only get a a bonus of 6 aggregate points, since this is their cap. So while you should've receive an adjusted ATAR of 89.95 + 7 = 96.95 for your achievements, due to the maximum of 6 points, you'll only get a maximum adjusted ATAR of 95.95 in this hypothetical situation. (Which IIRC, should get your through the clearly-in ATAR anyway for Radiography.)   

Hope this makes sense.


Note: Miniturtle posted as I was typing this, but I'm leaving this as it's a bit more detailed.

[marina_t]

Thanks for your explanation this makes sense

I read this as "per relevant study" so if you did English and Lit & scored 35 in both, you'd get 2 aggregate points for each, or four in total.

But let's say you got 35 in Eng Lang, Lit, English and psych, even though that adds to 7 points you'd only get 6, due to 6 being the overall maximum.

[AngelWings]

ok that makes sense thanks heaps!

Also one more question. Say for instance I get above 30 for both psych and hhd and above 35 in english (that's 4 aggregate points) and assuming I get an ATAR from 95-95.95, will I still be able to get into the course? Because the lowest selection rank for that course is 97.9 (after adjustments have been made), but then it also says that people with an ATAR of around 87 after adjustments still got in but I'm assuming that's with SEAS (which I didn't apply for).

Short answer: yes.

Let's go with the bottom of your estimate (95 ATAR before adjustments), then Monash will consider you as a 95 + 4 aggregate points = 99 ATAR after adjustments, which is higher than the 97.9 clearly-in ATAR. So the chances of getting in are pretty good.

Side note: Just to let you know, you can modify your post using the "modify" button on the top right of your post in future to add/ edit information. You can also use multiple quotes in any post.

EDIT: Please see my previous post for changes in calculations as a result of my mistake. But it should be pretty close. Still leave this as Preference #1 if it's what you'd really want to do. 

[marina_t]

It says here your ATAR after adjustments if you get 95 is only around 96 ://

[vecece]

Hi,

Does this works for any other degree such arts or science?
Also, where did you find that on the Monash website?

Thank you

[Bri MT]

It says here your ATAR after adjustments if you get 95 is only around 96 ://

So this can be explained by rather than points being added directly on your ATAR (which is what it might seem like) these points get added to your aggregate.

What generally happens in your ATAR calculation is they add your study scores together (but only 10% of 5th and 6th subject) to form your aggregate; if your aggregate is higher than 95% of the state you get a 95 ATAR. If it's higher than 80% of the state you get an 80 ATAR etc.


What Monash is saying is: before they calculate what they're going to say your ATAR is, they add up to 6 points to your aggregate (not your ATAR). 6 points on your aggregate might be quivalent to "beating" another 6 percent of the state, but it also might be higher or lower. To check this, you'd need to either look at VCAA statistics, use an ATAR calculator, or the site you've taken a picture of.


Aggregate can also have a non-VCAA meaning which is why we didn't pick up that this is what they were talking about straight away

Hope this helps

[Maya24]

Hi,

Does this works for any other degree such arts or science?
Also, where did you find that on the Monash website?

Thank you

Yes, it works for all universities. Subject bonuses can be found on the vtac course search on their website.

[vecece]

Thank you Maya !

[AngelWings]

It says here your ATAR after adjustments if you get 95 is only around 96 ://

So this can be explained by rather than points being added directly on your ATAR (which is what it might seem like) these points get added to your aggregate.
-snip-

Oh for goodness' sake, I forgot all about this! Terribly sorry about that!
Marina_t and Miniturtle are right. (Thanks guys!) It should be using the cumulative aggregate that's used to calculate your ATAR.
I've gone back and corrected my first post in this thread to ensure that the post and its calculations are accurate now. Second post should've followed first post's calculations.

Hi,

Does this works for any other degree such arts or science?
Also, where did you find that on the Monash website?

Thank you

Exactly as Maya24 has said, yes. You can find this under the "Selection rank adjustments" section in the "Admissions Criteria for applicants with recent secondary education (current year 12 students)" section near the bottom of the page when searching for courses through VTAC Course Search.