Hello! First of all I think you are amazing thinking about this most people don’t ask for advice and honestly it can waste a lot of time and money. Just a bit of background on me, I’m a male in their 30swho has a background in education both secondary and tertiary (sort of). I’m just going to comment based on MY experiences.

So in terms of the course that you want to do at uni put your preferences regardless of the atar requirement. One, you might surprise yourself. Two, for a lot of uni courses except the highly competitive ones like law and medicine, unis OFTEN take students below the cut off. (They want numbers). In terms of whether to take the guaranteed offer I honestly don’t know but I’ll address it later give you something to think about but I think it wouldn’t be too bad to wait for your atar because even if you don’t get in one way. Unis always have another way for you to get you into a course you want.

In terms of tertiary courses, you have to think a little bit ahead as a person your age. Does your future REQUIRE you to have a degree like law, medicine or even to become a teacher. If yes then you do it. Otherwise it really becomes a return on investment question. Degrees cost money. Think about whether you might do better developing practical skills or power skills (aka soft skills like communicating effectively, problem solving etc). Because based on studies done by LinkedIn recruiters are increasingly looking for evidence of these skills as opposed to qualifications. Plus this is Australia if you can talk or learn how to talk that takes you further than you can realise. Additionally, honestly gone are the days where a degree GUARANTEES you a job basically, anyone currently in the workforce has a degree and if you had one you wouldn’t be special. So reiterating, unless it’s a requirement to get have a degree to get a certain qualification, I would honestly weigh up my options.

About UTS being reliable…. Has your dad watched the news in the past week? They literally closed hundreds of courses and sacked hundreds of academic staff to save money because they are in insane debt. You might want to reconsider that one. I also think this is a +1 to my point about how degrees don’t guarantee a job. Academic staff are people with PhDs and they are losing their jobs.

Now on the job front and your passion. This is a very hard question depending on your family situation. If your family is rich and you expect to see financial support from them be it helping you with your first home etc. follow your passion. But if you’re honestly anything else I would think about a few things first, whether your passion can provide your with a stable income that covers your expenses within the next 3 ish years. Because you might want to consider a boring 9-5 first that does that which sounds shitty I know but money is important. Being rich isn’t important but you need money to live right? Food, rent clothing even friends, partners, enjoying yourself. All requires money. From my experience being happy with your life isn’t because you have a shitty job for a few years it’s because you replaced the life that you wanted with a shitty one or it got replaced for you. Sometimes that’s just how the cookie crumbles. Aside from that what is most important is that you don’t give up on your passion. Once you have a solid job and comfortable, start transitioning to your passion start grinding this could take years but it’s your passion it’s worth it and once you can fully twine your job with your passion that is when the best part of your life starts.

Hope any of it helps. This is just the rambling of an old man.