MORE young Australians are choosing higher education than last year, new figures reveal.
A total of 87,981 people have applied for undergraduate study through the University Admissions Centre, compared with 87,822 at the same time last year.
With main-round offers being released later this month, it will be a nervous wait for recent high school graduates who hope to get into their course of choice.
In most cases this will be determined by a tiny difference in marks to make the cut into traditionally popular courses, such as medicine.
The battle will be a bit more relaxed for Vaibhav Chandani, 18, of Carlton, who sits comfortably with an Australian tertiary admissions rank of 99.25.
As dux of Marist College Kogarah, he is confident.
"A 99-plus is a great mark. I'm happy with it. I knew it would be above 99," he said.
"The stress and nerves got to me but I kind of expected it after the hard work. There was competition between friends but we also helped each other."
The aspiring engineer wants to follow his father's footsteps in engineering — a high-demand career that he plans to study at the University of NSW.
"Everything in today's world is automated so I'm interested in electrical engineering and computer science.
"I want to go through university quickly and get straight into work."
Main-round offers will be released on Wednesday, January 21, at 6pm.
