WITH an alarm clock set for 7.30am sharp on Thursday morning, Merewether High School graduate Marcel Forrer breathed a sigh of relief as they read their acceptance letter on the Universities Admission Centre website.
The 17-year-old was one of many students across the Hunter waking up to find out if they had secured a spot in their dream tertiary course in the December Round 2 offers for study in 2024.
While thousands of students have already secured a place at university through 14,000 early entry offers, December 21 marked the first ATAR-based offer round.
It was an early Christmas gift for Marcel, who uses they/them pronouns, after they scored an ATAR of 97.65 and received an offer to study a four year double degree of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Advanced Studies (Dalyell Scholars) at the University of Sydney.
"It feels amazing. I actually knew I was in with a chance last week when the university rang me to tell me my adjustment factor meant I would get in," they said.
Students had until 11.59pm on Friday, December 15, to finalise their course preferences for this round and they said they were in a constant battle on what to do.
"I think I changed my preferences twice. I was tossing up in my mind if I should put a low ATAR course first that I was definitely going to get but in the end I just thought I should aim high."
Marcel said they felt incredibly relieved to have the official offer letter and were ready to start making plans to move to Sydney.
"I feel very good today now that I have the offer letter - it's all in print and it's beautiful."
"I was always striving to go to that university and I want to study Chinese. I'm very happy it's transpired that way because it [the course] will hopefully help to accelerate my learning and make it easier for me to travel overseas, which I'm really excited about."
While the University of Sydney's Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws and UNSW Sydney's Bachelor of Double Law are popular, health continues to dominate as the most popular field of study for 2024.
UAC statistics based on the preferences of more than 69,400 applicants show 24.5 per cent of elite students listed a health course as their first preference.
Combined Bachelor of Medical Studies/Doctor of Medicine at UNSW Sydney maintains first position with 1,481 applicants, including Merewether High's Braiden Stanborough putting this course at the top of his list.
"I got an ATAR of 99.25 and it was enough to get me an offer for an interview at UNSW and now it's just riding on how I went in that compared to other applicants," he said.
Mr Stanborough will find out if he's officially secured a spot in his preferred course on January 11, 2024 when Round 1 offers are released.
"It would be everything that I've been working for over the last more than 12 months, ever since I started my accelerated Biology course in year 10," he said.
"The blend of problem solving and patient care is what appeals to me. I really love science and maths and have always been curious about how the human body works."
St Francis Xavier's Christian College graduate Lucas Stace has received and accepted an offer for a position to study at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) after weighing up options.
"I had about four different options. I thought I'd finish school and get a trade, because that's what all my mates were doing," he said.
He said halfway through year 11 he realised his marks were opened doors to more options and considered going to university and study law.
"I got early entry into law at Newcastle, then I got early entry into law at Notre Dame in Sydney, so that was my plan B if I didn't get into acting. But then the start of year 12 I realised I really wanted to do acting," he said.
Mr Stace scored an ATAR of 79 and said he was happy with his marks, but even happier with his offer at NIDA.
"Pretty surreal, pretty unreal - it's insane. The guy told me they had a place for me if I was still interested. I said 'if I'm still interested?! Of course I'm still interested.'"
Mr Stace is in Germany for the next month and will make the move to Sydney early next year.
Sharing course popularity this year is Doctor of Medicine at Western Sydney and Charles Sturt, Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine at the University of Newcastle and University of New England, the Bachelor of Nursing at UTS and the Bachelor of Science/Doctor of Medicine at the University of Sydney.
Society and Culture (including law) is the second most popular field of study, with 20.6 per cent of applicants listing a course as their first preference.
Management and Commerce is the third most popular field of study with 12.6 per cent of applicants choosing a course in this area. The most popular course in this field and second overall was Bachelor of Business at UTS with 956 first preferences, followed by Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Sydney with 742 first preferences.
Applicants have until 11.59pm on Thursday, January 4 to change preferences to be included in January Round 1 offers. Applications for study in semester 1 are open until Friday, February 2.
