Here’s What You Need To Know About Changing Your Preferences For Uni

November 8, 2017

36 2 minutes read

Thinking aboutChanging Your Preferences-

If you’ve applied for university for 2018, you might be a bit nervous right now. Getting your results and making your final course decision can be tough.

Once upon a time, students had to wait weeks or months between receiving their results and being offered a place, but now the ‘Powers That Be’ have made some changes to dates and everything happens much quicker than it used to.

What does this mean for you?

If you’re finishing Year 12 in 2017 and have applied for university, it means that you’ll only have a little while to change your preferences once you’ve received your marks before the main round of offers.

This year, results are released on these dates, and the option to change your preferences in some states for the main round closes only a week or so afterwards.

State	Admissions Centre	Results Released	Change of Preferences Closes
NSW & ACT	UAC	15 December	17 December
Victoria	VTAC	15 December	20 December
Queensland	QTAC	16 December	18 December
WA	TISC	19 December	4 January
SA (&NT)	SATAC	19 December	4 January

Don’t freak out – there are still ways to change your mind later on (and a number of uni students change degree-paths during their degree – it’s not unusual and you’re never ‘locked-in’ to finishing anything) but it’s a good idea to think about changing your preferences once you know what your results look like.

Why would you change your preferences?

You got a better mark than you expected, and want to apply for a more competitive course
Or, you didn’t do as well as you’d hoped to, and want to change to a more realistic course
Perhaps you’ve changed your mind in the time between applying and getting your results, and want to go down a different path
A new (and more appealing) course has just become available. Or you recently found out about a course you didn’t know existed
Sometimes universities choose to cancel a course, and you may want to replace it

It’s a big decision, but now you have more information (i.e. your results) it’s wise to rethink your options.

To help you make the best choice, many universities hold special ‘Change of Preference’ sessions (sometimes they’re called ‘Info Days’) where you can get one-on-one advice and find out about your options.

You’ll also find lots of information about university preparation courses, extracurricular activities, accommodation services and alternative entry pathways.

We’ve put together a list of all the upcoming Change of Preference Sessions, so you can pop them in your diary today –

Australian Catholic University – Know Your Options Sessions

Ballarat, Brisbane & Melbourne – Monday 18 December

Canberra & Sydney – Friday 15 December

http://www.acu.edu.au/about_acu/our_university/contact/events/know_your_options_information_sessions

CQ Uni

Sydney & Melbourne – Friday 15 December

Brisbane & Online Chat – Monday 18 December

Adelaide & Perth – Tuesday 19 December

https://www.cqu.edu.au/campaigns/open-days

Deakin University

17 December, 11am – 2pm: Melbourne Burwood info session