Screwed up Year 12 but want to get into Engineering/Computer Science

[Ashurbanipal]

Hey guys, I was hoping to get some kind of advice and encouragement. I want to study Engineering/Computer Science at UNSW (https://degrees.unsw.edu.au/engineering-honours-computer-science/) which requires an ATAR of 93, but I've basically screwed myself over this entire year and I'm pretty stressed out right now. Here are the averages of my internal assessments for each subject and my ranks:

Studies of Religion: 71.36% - Rank 23/38
Standard English: 55.5% - Rank 28/87
Mathematics General: 57.25% - Rank 26/75
Software Design and Development: 85.25% - Rank 2/10
Ancient History: 73.25% - Rank 7/17

I threw these marks into an ATAR calculator and ended up with 55.5... I'm not sure how much I can really improve in two weeks time.

Basically, I've really screwed up. I know my marks aren't that bad, but I really doubt I'd end up with an ATAR of 80 or higher. I feel like a complete failure, I started year 12 telling myself that I'm going to study hard and put in a lot of effort and I had the goal of getting a 93 ATAR but I've been lazy and barely studied this entire year. I mostly only studied during my study periods and sometimes during lunch times at school where I could stay focused but when I got home I usually ended up becoming extremely sleep for some reason and usually fell asleep, getting very little done. I was always behind on homework, especially for Maths. My Maths results could be better, but I paid little attention in class in Year 10 and 11 (wasn't really focused for any subject in previous years as well) as I didn't really care about school back then and I'm lacking a lot of basic knowledge which I basically had to teach my self throughout the year. My trial results were very bad for all subjects since I was sick during trials. I was at home for the first two days of trials and I ended up having to do Paper 1 & 2 on the same day. I had a crazy headache throughout my Maths exam and I left my history exam half way because I was to sick to even do it so I had to get estimated marks for both subjects. The only subject I did fairly well in during trials was Software which I got 81 in, but I could've done better in that too had I not been sick.

I was just wondering if anyone could suggest to me any alternative ways to get into Uni. FEAS requires an ATAR between 83 and 92.95 so thats basically out of the question. I think I'm probably going to have to do an extra year of studying at some kind of college before I can actually get into my course, however I think I heard my careers advisor say that it's possible to do a Bachelor of Arts and choose the same subjects as the degree you want to do and then transfer to second year of your desired degree if you get good marks, but I'm not really sure how the whole process works. If anyone can suggest some suitable colleges to apply for or some other ways of getting into Uni next year I would greatly appreciate it. I feel as if doing an extra year could be beneficial as I could brush up my Maths skills and learn some Physics so I can make my life at uni a bit easier.
Thanks!

[fantasticbeasts3]

Hi!

First things first, don't give up just yet! Give the HSC your all, because you don't know what's going to happen. I can't really give advice on what kind of ATAR you'll be getting but you have time to improve, and we're all here to help on AN :-)

As for transferring into other courses, most of the time you need a 75 WAM (distinction average) to transfer. I don't know about transferring from Arts to Engineering but you can take a look at the handbook to see how that works. You can also look at UNSW Prep 17-19 which has an Engineering pathway. With this, I think you complete a few courses and the credits contribute to your end degree. If you want to do a double degree with Computer Science you can transfer into that later (I think don't quote me on this).

Another option is going to another university with the same course but lower ATAR cut-off and transferring mid-year or at the end of the year.

I hope this helps - all the best!

[owidjaja]

Hey there,
This is why I never use an ATAR calculator- it's misleading and it's never accurate! Your ATAR is dependent on how hard the paper is, how well your cohort performed and how well you did in the HSC exams because your HSC moderated marks will help determine your ATAR. So don't be disheartened by an ATAR calculator!

Instead, work hard in the areas you don't do well in! Use your holidays for that and when it's a couple of days before your HSC exams, go full out studying for English. Even if you don't get the course you want to get into, there are pathways, as FB3 has mentioned.

Hope this helps!