So anyway I got my ATAR of 95.40... and my top four preferences are (with 2009 cutoffs):
B Science (Adv Maths) - Sydney - 98.00
B Science (Adv Maths) - UNSW - 96.40
B Science (Advanced) - Sydney - 95.00
B Science (Advanced) - UNSW - 94.00
Now based on this I can only get to my third and fourth preference. Obviously, I'd really like to get into my Advanced Maths course preference. However, I was nominated by my school for the UNSW Academic Award so I can get into my second preference.
I talked to a current Sydney Uni student and he said to me: "Don't go to UNSW! Sydney is prestigious! Prestige! Prestige! Go for the prestige!"
So my question is: should I go for the prestige (thereby taking the Science Advanced and 'ensuring' - somehow - I get admission into Advanced Maths by superior marks in my first year) or should I go for the degree (that is, taking the AAA offer and going into UNSW that way)?
Now the UNSW course for Advanced Maths is 4 years and Sydney's is 3... and that confuzzles me because to my mind: "Same degree name. Same stuff." But others, actual university students, don't seem to share that sentiment. And so I get confuzzled... <_<
Also, sorry if this is in the wrong place...
I would recommend you to choose the uni you wish to go to.
I can't say much about UNSW courses but at Usyd, you can quite easily transfer to adv maths from adv sci, i think, so it doesn't really matter if you get into adv sci or adv maths.
Course wise, at usyd, the only diff between the two is that in adv maths, you are forced to do a maths major and electives which you can use to do a 2nd major.
In adv sci, you can do the SAME thing. It's just that there's no restriction that you need to do maths except in the 1st year (1st yr maths is compulsory for 1st yr sci students).
and I have never studied science at UNSW but in my honest opionion, usyd sci is pretty solid, good courses and challenging tests/exams
and TSP program (which unsw is said to have copied so they have it too but oh well) [i can't guarantee the truth of this myself but usyd academic said it lol, with evidence, although can't remember the evidence]
I'm sure unsw has good courses too although there's apparently this compulsory component for adv sci which comprises something quite useless (heard from a friend at unsw, can't remember details, but think it might have been about scientific method? not sure), but except that, from my observation of youtube unsw elearning channel, etc, they seem great.
oh yeah, another thing, honours is optional at usyd, compulsory at unsw, it doesn't matter if you were going to do honours anyway, but if you may do something else after 3 yrs of sci, may be a problem.
Both should be awesome anyway.
and finally, i acknowledge that I would have positive bias towards usyd coz i go there but at least gave true statements lol
time for unsw sci students to have a say about why unsw is better