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Let’s start with a quick public service announcement: Early bird UAC Preferences are due on Friday 28^th September! If you haven’t put your preferences down by this date, you’ll have to pay about $120 extra. That is $120 you could spend on HSP’s or soft serve cones, so be organised and get your preferences in ASAP! Remember, even if you aren’t 100% decided yet, you can change your preferences until about a month after your exams, with no penalty!

So, that said, there are definitely some of us who haven’t gotten our preferences in yet, and even more who have their preferences in, but aren’t sure whether they are what will be kept or not. The preference system, while simple in principle, can be a little confusing, and there are lots of dates and things to remember. But it’s all good! This is your one stop shop for everything you need to know to get your UAC Preferences sorted.

What Are Preferences?

If you are still a bit confused about exactly what the heck is going on right now, that’s cool. Let’s simplify it.

So what you are giving to UAC is a list of preferences (six of them at most). This list represents the courses (see a heap of courses here) you want to get into next year. You are saying, “I really want to get into Preference 1, but if not, I’ll take Preference 2, but if not, I’ll take Preference 3…” and so on.

After your exams are done and your ATAR is assigned, your universities will be looking to get some awesome graduates into their courses. They have a set number of students they want to take, and they want the best students that they can find. The university goes to UAC, gets a list of everyone who has preference a particular course, and chooses who to offer a place to.

However, UAC will only offer you a place to the highest preference to which you are accepted.

Think of it this way. UAC picks up your folder, hands it to the first preference on your list, and says, “You want them?” The uni says, “Yeah nah, not at the moment.” So UAC gives your folder to the second preference, and they go “Yep, want them!” UAC writes that down, and sends it to you. That is an offer round.

So even if your lower preferences wanted to make you an offer, they can’t – Because your second preference accepted you. In this way, you only receive an offer for the highest course in your preference list that will take you.

What Is An Offer Round?

The system has changed a little this year (for the better, I reckon) – Offer rounds now start before Christmas! Well, technically offer rounds have started already – But those are mostly for early offer schemes.

The first round of offers after you receive your ATAR are released on December 20th, and there are more going into January and February. In each of these rounds, you receive an offer to the highest preference that accepts you, as discussed above. Universities generally broaden their criteria round to round – So even if you miss out in one round, you might get in for the next one!

Can I change my preferences between offer rounds?

Yes, you absolutely can. Each offer round has its own cut-off dates for preference swaps, be aware of those before you do any switches!

What Should I Do With My Offer?

When you receive your offer, you should accept it. Doing this does not obligate you to study at that institution or in that course, it just secures your place. Then you can be considered in subsequent offer rounds as normal, if you are hanging out for a higher preference. UAC recommends, when you receive an offer:

Accept it, following the instructions given by the institution
Remove that course from your preference list to prevent it interfering with your other preferences

In subsequent rounds, if you receive another offer, you handle that in the same way. If you accept another offer, you’ll need to withdraw from the earlier one.

Am I automatically accepted into my course if my ATAR is higher than the cut-off?

No – Not always at least!

Usually when you read the ATAR cut-off for your degree, it represents the minimum ATAR that a 2016 graduate (so a first year uni student now) attained to get into your degree, excluding all sorts of fancy extras. If has absolutely no bearing on the requirements for you to get into the course next year, it is merely an indicator. Those cut-offs can vary wildly depending on who applies for the degree, and how many places are on offer.

What if I don’t get an offer?

UAC will contact you if you aren’t offered any places after the January 12th round, and explain why you weren’t offered a place in each of your preferences. From this point, you can change your preferences for subsequent offer rounds as necessary.

So what’s the strategy to maximising my chances of getting my first preference?

There isn’t one! The ‘strategy’ is to do what you would do normally; list your courses in the order you want them. You’re never more likely to get an offer for a course because it was your first preference, or less likely because it was your last. All preferences are given equal treatment, in order, as you’d expect. There is no system to play here…

Unless, and this is important, you are going for a scholarship or early entry program. These differ from institution to institution, but they may require you to set something as your first preference for eligibility. For example, UNSW had to be my first preference to be eligible for my scholarship. Make sure you are aware of these requirements heading into the latter half of the year!

In this case, your strategy would be to set a course high in your preferences if you want a scholarship for that course. If you don’t receive it, put your preferences back in normal order for a subsequent round. Easy.

Of course, you shouldn’t let a scholarship be the only reason you pick a degree lower on your preference list! Whatever the case, be aware of what is required.

How Should I Order My Preferences?

Put the course you want to study most, in the highest slot. Put the course you want to study second most, in the second slot. And so on. It’s really that simple.