Rachel Bunder

Keiraville student Rachel Bunder took the stress out of the HSC through the University of Wollongong's Early Entry program.

Early Entry gave Rachel a new focus on HSC

When Rachel Bunder sat for the Higher School Certificate last year, she didn’t feel the stress most of her schoolmates were under.

The St Mary Star of the Sea College student from Keiraville already had a guaranteed place at the University of Wollongong through the Early Entry program, but that didn’t stop her achieving an impressive University Admissions Index score of 93.4.

Now studying a double degree in Mathematics and Computer Science at UOW, Rachel said knowing that her first preference for university study was guaranteed changed her focus on the HSC.

“The pressure was off, so I could concentrate on the subjects I liked and that would help with my university studies – Maths, Computers and Physics – this meant that my study time was used to reinforce knowledge I already had rather than worrying” Rachel said.

UOW’s Early Entry program is designed to take the stress out of the HSC.
.Applicants learn if they have been successful about three weeks before the HSC – considerably reducing stress levels for the successful applicants.

Rachel was happy to talk about the Early Entry program to help inform this year’s HSC students of the opportunities it presents.

“Applying for Early Entry is very straightforward,” she said. “And it’s a good idea to work hard for the Trial exams, because strong marks in the Trials will help in the assessment.”

Early Entry is open to all Year 12 HSC students and is not only geared towards gifted students. The program assesses students’ suitability for university based on your trial HSC results, portfolio and an interview. You will be offered either a guaranteed place or a place that is conditional upon your achieving a certain result in the final HSC exams. As identified by statistical analysis of Informatics students, Early Entry students generally obtain a greater UAI than students with no Early Entry Offer. Also once at UOW, these students achieve a greater average mark overall AND generally achieve better results in their subjects.

Early Entry is available at UOW through the Faculty of Informatics which delivers degrees in Maths, IT, Computer Science, Electrical, Computer & Telecommunication Engineering. Early Entry is also offered in the Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Science and some degrees in the Faculty of Health & Behavioural Sciences.

To find out more about the UOW Early Entry program and its requirements visit the website www.uow.edu.au/prospective/early_entry.html or phone 1300 367869.