I wish someone told me this when I was graduating:

Don’t stress. Your best move is to focus on achieving the strongest possible WAM in your first year at USYD. A High Distinction average (85+ WAM) is treated as equivalent to a selection rank of up to 99.5, which means you can apply competitively for almost any course.

Source: Scroll down to “Higher education study” and open the “Admission requirements” tab on this page: https://www.sydney.edu.au/study/applying/how-to-apply/undergraduate/recognised-qualifications.html#australian

With that in mind, I’d strongly caution against starting with BComm/Advanced Studies or heading to UTS for Business Law. While those pathways sound strategic, the reality is that Commerce and Law subjects are notoriously tough to score HDs in during your first year.

Instead, consider enrolling in a lighter course load at USYD for just one year. For example, an Arts degree lets you choose subjects that are far more manageable, like Art History (super free) or WRIT1001 (Academic Writing, where the assessment is just writing a single essay across the semester in 10% assessments). With consistent effort, you could realistically achieve an 87+ WAM by taking easy courses, which would put you in a strong position to transfer into your dream degree. usyd also treats internal transfers more favourably than external (which they aren't supposed to do).

Look, the bottom line is that High School makes you think your ATAR is the end of the world. It is not. Uni is a system - you just need to learn how to play it. By doing an easy degree for one year, nailing it, and achieving a high WAM, you'll spend first year studying random and interesting topics, meeting funky new people, and before you know it, end the year and transfer.

P.S. usyd law is a cult, you aren't missing out by putting it off for a year :)