For careers advisers
The independent way to choose a course
A free comparison site where a student picks a study area and sees every course in it across 37 universities, sorted by whether they are likely to get in: Eligible, Possible or A reach, from the real lowest rank and lowest ATAR that got an offer. Adding an ATAR is optional. Three short questions (where, how, what matters most) then sort the list by fit, and any of them can be skipped. They shortlist, compare side by side, and share the link with parents, or with you.
What it runs on
Official public data, cited on screen: course facts and ATAR profiles from Course Seeker, quality and outcomes from the Australian Government's QILT surveys, completion and attrition from the Department of Education. Nothing invented; anything estimated is flagged; gaps say “not reported” rather than pretending. The full source-by-source detail is on our methodology page.
Why it exists
The official tools refuse to rank. Course Seeker's results are deliberately randomised, and ComparED shows raw percentages without synthesis. Students are left to do the judgement themselves, so most fall back on prestige and postcode. My Shortlist does the step nobody else will, and keeps two questions apart that other sites blur: can I get in, and does it fit me. Fit is shown in words (Strong, Good or Some fit), only after the student has said what matters, with the reasons written out. Every fit label has a “Why this match?” you can open.
The independence commitment
No university can pay to change a ranking or how well a course fits a student, structurally rather than as a policy promise. No advertising. Free for students, parents and schools, permanently. The method is public, and the site says plainly that the fit judgement is ours, not QILT's, and we never show it as a number because the data does not support that precision. How we stay independent.
Six things your students won't get anywhere else
- Lowest rank, lowest ATAR and median rank, dated, so the lowest can't masquerade as “what it takes”. Curtin's Bachelor of Commerce, 2026: lowest rank 65.15, lowest ATAR 60.05, median rank 80.38.
- A plain-English ATAR explainer: rank versus mark, selection rank versus ATAR, why last year's number is not next year's cut-off. Written for a student and a parent at the same time. How ATARs really work
- Staying power: nine-year completion and first-year attrition for every university with a history to report (the newly merged Adelaide University has none yet), with the honest caveat about who a university enrols.
- Who you'd study with: intake size and the real admission-pathway mix, including “at least N% got in without using an ATAR”.
- Three-year outcomes: employment and salary well after graduation, not just the four-month snapshot.
- Distance from home: name a nearest town (under “Edit answers” on the results page), rank “Close to home”, and every campus shows how far away it is. Built for regional students.
Guides to share with students and parents
Free, no sign-up, each checked against official sources and dated on the page.
Access schemes
If hardship, illness, caring or other circumstances affected Year 11 or 12, an access scheme can lift your selection rank. Who can apply, what evidence you need, and every state's deadline for 2027 entry.
What if you change your preferences?
Results dates, change of preference deadlines and offer rounds for 2027 entry in every state, with the rules for reordering your preferences. Checked against each admissions centre.
What if your ATAR is lower than you expected?
Your ATAR isn't the end of the story. Find out what your selection rank means, whether you should change your preferences, what other pathways you can try and what happens in later offer rounds.
What if you don't get an ATAR?
No ATAR doesn't mean no uni. Find out about access schemes, VET qualifications, diplomas, uni preparation courses, STAT, portfolios and other pathways – and what they look like in your state.
What will the degree actually cost?
What you'll be charged for a degree in 2027, how HECS-HELP lets you pay nothing upfront, when you start repaying, how indexation works, and what the 20% debt cut did. From StudyAssist and the ATO.
Completion and dropout rates: what they mean for you
How many students finish a degree, how many leave in first year, and why the numbers differ so much between universities and between students. From the Department of Education's own figures.
What's covered
Every study area, 2,500 undergraduate courses at 37 universities. Every course listed publishes an ATAR, shown with its year, and carries real QILT figures. A course that publishes no ATAR isn't listed. Compare a whole study area.
Honest limits, upfront
- The only courses we leave out are those that don't publish an entry rank we can stand behind.
- Medicine and dentistry are handled differently. Their pages say plainly that entry is usually a rank, an admission test and an interview weighed together, and send you to the admission centre for the current detail. There are only 8 medical and 15 dental courses, because most medical schools don't publish an entry rank at all: entry there isn't rank-ordered.
- Some areas are small because the data is. Veterinary science has 5 courses, pharmacy 12, tourism, sport and hospitality 6 (most of those don't publish an entry rank we can stand behind) and social work 40. The count is always on screen, so you can see it before you rely on it.
- Tasmania is not covered. UTAS's published ATAR data is from a 2022 collection, and we would rather show nothing than something stale.
- Creative arts: many creative arts courses publish no ATAR, because entry genuinely runs on portfolio and audition, so they aren't listed. The site says so on every creative arts course.
- A course is only as current as its admission centre. Each ATAR is shown with the year it was collected, and those years differ by state.
- We publish no student reviews, because we can't verify them. Accounts are optional, email plus first name only, and the whole site works without one; nothing on a student's device is tracked.
The 20-minute classroom activity: “Build your shortlist”
- (3 min) Everyone opens myshortlist.au on their phone and taps a study area. The next page asks where they want to study: pick a state, or “Anywhere, or online”. Under it, open “Know your ATAR?” and add their ATAR, or a realistic estimate, then tap “Show … courses”. No accounts, and their ATAR and preferences never leave their device.
- (5 min) On the results page, open one course and read its “Can I get in?” panel aloud to a partner: the lowest rank, the lowest ATAR, the median rank, and where you sit. Ask: why is the lowest not “what it takes”?
- (3 min) Back on the results, tap “Tell us more”. It opens “How do you want to study?”, then “What matters most to you?”, and “Know your ATAR?” if you skipped it. Answer, skipping any you don't care about. What moved to the top? Do you agree with it?
- (5 min) Shortlist three courses: one “Eligible”, one from a university you'd never considered, and one “A reach”. Open the shortlist and find one number that surprised you. Someone always finds the completion-rate spread, or a gap between the lowest ATAR and the median rank.
- (4 min) Tap “Share my shortlist” and send the link home: the conversation with parents starts from real data instead of reputation.
Discussion prompts: What does a “lowest ATAR” actually measure? Why might a university with lower entry ranks have higher teaching scores? What would change your mind about a course? What is the difference between being able to get in and a course being right for you?
Talk to us
Email us at advisers@myshortlist.au. We'd rather have your criticism than your endorsement, and we answer everything.