Hi all! After receiving my ATAR last December, I got an ATAR in the low 80s and wanted to do physiotherapy, however, did not make it into any universities in Sydney. I did however make it into CSU physiotherapy. Although this ATAR is considered to be decent OR good to some people, I couldn’t stop feeling the need to almost throw up every day as I looked at the results compared with everyone around me (Family and friends who are doing crazy high ATAR course like dentistry and doctors or studying in a prestigious uni which pressured me in a wrong way) even though I knew that this shouldn’t bother me too much, it just made me feel uneasy (My cousin mentioned later helped me recovered, so I’m fine right now).
Before making this post, I asked a few people for advice or thoughts on what I should do and wanted to ask online, for your opinion on my questions asked near the end and the topic question.
My cousin who graduated in bachelor of physiotherapy at USYD told me that at the end of the day a degree is a degree, and that when looking for a job they will most importantly look at how well you did in university and interview. He also told me another 2 options that I could look into.
- Other option 1 : Take a pathway degree into postgrad which will take possibly 6 years (3/4 years of a bachelor exercise sport or physiology). HOWEVER, this will not guarantee me a position into the master’s degree as it is very competitive and I’m not sure if I will have a long motivation to study if I ever choose this option. PLUS a master degree could be very expensive AND could be very hard to pass which could then lead to a more expensive pathway.
- Other option 2: Do a different backup degree (wish not to reveal for now, staying anonymous as possible) that I don't mind and transfer in the first year if I do well, HOWEVER, he strictly told that I should never bank on this (Sounding as if it was almost 95% impossible). IF I don’t make it into physiotherapy, then I can keep this for the next 3 years and get a job afterwards. He didn’t say taking the bachelor of exercise sport or exercise physiology was a bad idea, BUT, he just said that it’s a better degree to take in job demand wise AND my greater passion (current) in this degree than exercise sport. I’m not sure if I’m correct, but I believe you cannot do a postgrad physiotherapy. (Speaking of passion, I wouldn’t be sure if I would enjoy or keep my passion in a degree I am doing in the next few years, although he told me to volunteer around and see how others work, but for now I want to decide on which degree to study this year)
I asked another family friend (Talked to his parents with some information about him, it was a one-time chat, wasn’t super close) who is currently in his 4th year physiotherapy at CSU and said it was a good experience, however, it leaves me to question “Why didn’t he try really hard in his first year and transfer back to a closer uni near Sydney, was it really that hard or you didn’t want to?”, which leaves me to think about what my cousin from USYD said that “Transferring is really hard”.
Relating back to the topic of this post, CSU is really far away from home and I am aware of many personal issues (Emotionally, physically, etc.). I am fine with the accommodation, living on campus and all, but I really don’t know how to feel about living far away from Sydney, it feels as if I might lose or miss something during those 4 years out of Sydney. I am aware of the ranking of the uni and how “not prestigious” the university is but then again, my cousin said its nothing to worry about, so I think I’m completely fine with that part.
To sum up about this post, I feel that there is more questions to this topic and want to ask for public opinions or personal experiences.
- How hard would it be to transfer into a competitive course, is it just like what he described (95% impossible)? How much effort would it take for a low 80 atar student put compared to the HSC (2x,3x or more?)
- If you were me (Reading all this long post), what do you think you would do or something else instead?
I hope this also helps other students out there as well so thanks for reading this long post.
Before making this post, I asked a few people for advice or thoughts on what I should do and wanted to ask online, for your opinion on my questions asked near the end and the topic question.
My cousin who graduated in bachelor of physiotherapy at USYD told me that at the end of the day a degree is a degree, and that when looking for a job they will most importantly look at how well you did in university and interview. He also told me another 2 options that I could look into.
- Other option 1 : Take a pathway degree into postgrad which will take possibly 6 years (3/4 years of a bachelor exercise sport or physiology). HOWEVER, this will not guarantee me a position into the master’s degree as it is very competitive and I’m not sure if I will have a long motivation to study if I ever choose this option. PLUS a master degree could be very expensive AND could be very hard to pass which could then lead to a more expensive pathway.
- Other option 2: Do a different backup degree (wish not to reveal for now, staying anonymous as possible) that I don't mind and transfer in the first year if I do well, HOWEVER, he strictly told that I should never bank on this (Sounding as if it was almost 95% impossible). IF I don’t make it into physiotherapy, then I can keep this for the next 3 years and get a job afterwards. He didn’t say taking the bachelor of exercise sport or exercise physiology was a bad idea, BUT, he just said that it’s a better degree to take in job demand wise AND my greater passion (current) in this degree than exercise sport. I’m not sure if I’m correct, but I believe you cannot do a postgrad physiotherapy. (Speaking of passion, I wouldn’t be sure if I would enjoy or keep my passion in a degree I am doing in the next few years, although he told me to volunteer around and see how others work, but for now I want to decide on which degree to study this year)
I asked another family friend (Talked to his parents with some information about him, it was a one-time chat, wasn’t super close) who is currently in his 4th year physiotherapy at CSU and said it was a good experience, however, it leaves me to question “Why didn’t he try really hard in his first year and transfer back to a closer uni near Sydney, was it really that hard or you didn’t want to?”, which leaves me to think about what my cousin from USYD said that “Transferring is really hard”.
Relating back to the topic of this post, CSU is really far away from home and I am aware of many personal issues (Emotionally, physically, etc.). I am fine with the accommodation, living on campus and all, but I really don’t know how to feel about living far away from Sydney, it feels as if I might lose or miss something during those 4 years out of Sydney. I am aware of the ranking of the uni and how “not prestigious” the university is but then again, my cousin said its nothing to worry about, so I think I’m completely fine with that part.
To sum up about this post, I feel that there is more questions to this topic and want to ask for public opinions or personal experiences.
- How hard would it be to transfer into a competitive course, is it just like what he described (95% impossible)? How much effort would it take for a low 80 atar student put compared to the HSC (2x,3x or more?)
- If you were me (Reading all this long post), what do you think you would do or something else instead?
I hope this also helps other students out there as well so thanks for reading this long post.
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