Difference between Low-ATAR and High-ATAR courses?

[Kekemato_BAP]

I'm reading this Macquarie guide and it shows a bunch of courses with ATAR cutoffs.
What makes a certain course a high cutoff like "B Business Administration with B Laws" with 96.00 compared to "B Business Administration with B Commerce- Pro Accounting" 81.00?

Does doing a low-ATAR admission course make you look bad or the course bad? Do employers know?

Kinda curious... 

[K888]

Basically, ATAR requirements for a uni course are mostly based on supply and demand for the course - how many people apply for the course, and how many places there actually are in the course. Each year, there are varying amounts of students applying for a course, and only a certain amount of offers that can be made for a course (some courses have a strict amount of places, some have only a general sort of range of places usually offered).

The reason courses like medicine, law, dentistry, etc. have high ATAR requirements is because of the sheer number of people applying for a limited number of positions. The cut-off gets so high, so more people see it as super prestigious due to the increased difficulty of entry, and then want to apply to study that course, so then there's more applicants, and if my explanation just made sense, maybe you can see that it becomes a bit of a cycle.

When you get to uni, they don't care what your ATAR was, just that you are in the course. This was actually the first thing said to my cohort on the first day of uni - paraphrasing, it was essentially: "You're in the course now, we couldn't care less about what your ATAR was, or whether you had to do another course to get into this one, or anything else. You're all in this course, so you're all equal".

Generally, most employers don't care which uni you went to. What they care about are your skills, etc. After all, what good is an employee going to be if they're useless at their job?
I think there are a few exceptions, the main one I've heard about is law (law students, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) - some firms might have a preference for graduates from a specific uni, etc. But in the majority of courses, they don't care. What they care about on your resume is the degree, not the place it was obtained at.
I think this is particularly relevant in careers that are regulated by a professional body and require a specific course that is accredited with that organisation to be completed (speaking from experience, this is seen a lot in healthcare). Because all the courses have to meet the accreditation requirements, they're very similar, so you see even less bias in the workplace over the place the degree was obtained at, if any.

The only reason a course with a lower cut-off may look bad is because of people's perceptions. It doesn't actually make it any less of a legitimate course, or any easier compared to other courses. If a course with a lower cut-off appeals to you, don't be afraid to apply for it!

(I've also heard from some sources that ATAR cut-off is partially to do with the "academic standard" unis believe is necessary for the course, however this is something I've only read in a few places and personally, my careers advisor at school never mentioned it, so if it's legit then it's not a big factor. If someone has any more info on this, please chime in)

I hope that this has helped somewhat, if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask! I would also recommend having a chat to your careers advisor at school, they can walk you through so many things and can be one of the most helpful resources for you in VCE

[jakesilove]

I'm reading this Macquarie guide and it shows a bunch of courses with ATAR cutoffs.
What makes a certain course a high cutoff like "B Business Administration with B Laws" with 96.00 compared to "B Business Administration with B Commerce- Pro Accounting" 81.00?

Does doing a low-ATAR admission course make you look bad or the course bad? Do employers know?

Kinda curious... 

Definitely just about supply and demand, as K888 has outlined above. More demand + limited supply = higher ATAR cut off. Thus, scores required for Med, Law etc. Courses that are difficult to teach (ie. Med, with the various pracs/experience required, maybe some engineerings etc.) will have reduced supply, courses that 'often' result in higher-paid jobs will have increased demand. It's all a numbers game.

What does that mean? First, an ATAR is not necessarily indicative of the difficulty of a course. Second, you should be doing whatever you're passionate about, NOT what has the higher ATAR cut-off, because that cut-off is essentially meaningless. It would be like buying a deluxe $26 burger when the only thing you want in the world is a big mac.

[MisterNeo]

It would be like buying a deluxe $26 burger when the only thing you want in the world is a big mac.

This is gold. 

[EEEEEEP]

(I've also heard from some sources that ATAR cut-off is partially to do with the "academic standard" unis believe is necessary for the course, however this is something I've only read in a few places and personally, my careers advisor at school never mentioned it, so if it's legit then it's not a big factor. If someone has any more info on this, please chime in)

That is true. Some universities do believe that it is necessary for the course, but it can be attributed to marketing.  One example of this is UNSW. http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/general/unsw-applies-minimum-cut.

While UNSW does state it explicitly, other GO8 universities (aka the top unis) may not state it explicitly but may have such a policy too.

"Low" Atar courses set the bar low to attract as many students as they can, but this is due to the fact that they cannot compete with older and much more highly recognised universities.

As for if low ATAR courses make you look bad... it can. At many top tier law, accounting and IB firms, most people that get into their graduate jobs do come from a GO8 uni. When I went to assessment centres and job interviews, GO8 universities made up 75-90% of the people attending. Non Go8 people made up around 10%.

In due course it is best to go to a GO8 uni or do a higher ATAR course as some employers do have bias. THat is something that you cannot control
P.s. This is not meant to offend anyone but this is just a grain of reality.

[K888]

In due course it is best to go to a GO8 uni or do a higher ATAR course as some employers do have bias. THat is something that you cannot control
P.s. This is not meant to offend anyone but this is just a grain of reality.

I'd argue that this is only relevant for some courses/fields. So, if you're planning on doing a course in that field, maybe consider that and definitely do some research (or potentially see if you can even have a chat with some employers prior to putting in your preferences - it's probably best to hear it from the people that actually are responsible for employing people!), but I think people should definitely not restrict themselves purely to Go8 unis.
There are definitely plenty of fields where they don't have a preference for the uni you attended (I've found this is the case in a lot of healthcare courses, particularly allied health and nursing).
There are also definitely some fields where employers prefer non-Go8 unis, or where the course run by the non-Go8 uni is of better quality. _{(And I just realised that this has completely derailed into talking about Go8 vs non-Go8, good job me)}

[heids]

Fuck that.  There was a 40-point difference between my ATAR and the course I went into. I've been told it's a "waste" and I honestly don't care.  I dunno, I feel like it's all part of the fakeness of the system.  You succeed in life (whatever that means) through your own level of character, values, passion and drive, not through the particular course you went into.  To some extent 'playing the system' is effective, but... I guess I'm just strongly anti-status-quo lol.  Your ATAR simply doesn't matter to employers anyway; it's a much less important number than VCE portrays it in the longer term (and I don't even mean across your whole life, but a 'long term' of about five years lol).  And anyway, if your employer cares about stupid shit, then you're probably better not working in an organisation like that anyway.

Alsooooo, ATAR cutoff is a contrived figure anyway: they often try to make it look as high as possible, while in reality over 50% of people they admit got below the ATAR cutoff (it varies between unis).

[Aaron]

Agree w/ both K888 and heidi

I think the whole 'GO8 bias' applies to certain occupations only and is a load of rubbish for others.

Does doing a low-ATAR admission course make you look bad or the course bad? Do employers know?

.... No. Seriously? Is someone really going to judge you based on 1-2 years of your life pre-adulthood, where you are prone to make poor choices and decisions? I did pretty bad at school.. i'll admit that. I was admitted to a Bachelor of IT which required a 55 ATAR to get into at the time. The course content I got through is essentially equivalent to that of a university such as Monash in the same discipline. I ended up with a HD WAM and got into a masters at Monash through perseverance, dedication and interest in the course I chose.

I might have gone to a "shit" uni (in comparison to a GO8) to begin with, but I am happy with my life and the achievements that I have obtained to date. I now have a Masters from a GO8.. So yeah.

It is absolutely rubbish to suggest that a low ATAR course is somewhat less than a high ATAR course. Choose the course you think will best suit your needs. Employers in general will value work experience, volunteering etc much more than simply a GO8 badged degree. It is my view that a bachelor's degree itself is not enough to secure a job without some form of other achievement to enhance you.

In terms of will they know - they will know what uni you go to, given you have to include this on your CV etc.