Pathways to other programs

A guide to program transfers and alternative offers

At ANU we recognise that students have varied interests that may change over time. Courses that you take during one program may inspire you to change to something more specialised. You may also wish to generalise and take different and varied subjects. 

In instances where you are not eligible or competitive enough to receive an offer to your first program preference, ANU may make you an offer to an alternative program, that can potentially be used as a pathway into your original program preference. 

The program transfer process can help in these situations. Students who have met a certain set of criteria are eligible to apply to transfer from one program of study to another. Information on how to apply can be found here.

Example one:

After Year 12, Samantha's first preference was for the Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics (BPPE) but unfortunately she did not meet the admission requirement (selection rank). She received an offer for the Bachelor of Arts (BARTS) instead, which she accepted.

In her first year of study she received advice from the College student office about course enrolments and she enrolled in the same courses that she would have taken had she been enrolled in the BPPE. She studied hard and achieved a really good GPA at the end of her first semester which was above the minimum GPA required to transfer into BPPE. Based on this excellent performance Samantha decided to apply for internal transfer from BARTS to BPPE during her second semester.

In her second semester she continued her excellent progress and ended up with an overall GPA which was above the minimum GPA required to transfer into BPPE. Her transfer application was then assessed and she received an offer to the BPPE. Once she was officially in the new program, she was eligible to claim credit for the courses she had completed in the BARTS.

Example two:

Arjuna applied for the Master of Finance (MFIN). He unfortunately was assessed as not meeting the published minimum admission requirements for the program. He was offered the Graduate Certificate of Finance and Actuarial Statistics (CFAS) as an alternate program, which he accepted.

After taking advice from the College Student Office he enrolled in four courses that were listed in the degree rules for the MFIN. He submitted a second application for the MFIN while enrolled in his CFAS. He worked hard during this one semester program and achieved a GPA which was above minimum admissions requirements for MFIN and thus was assessed as being eligible for admission to MFIN, commencing in the next semester. After accepting his offer, and commencing in his new program, he was eligible to claim credit for the courses he had done in the CFAS.

Example three:

Kim is a domestic student who completed year 12 in Australian education system and achieved an ATAR equivalent score of 93 (excludes adjustment factors) and received an offer to their first preference, the Bachelor of International Relations.

In their first semester of study they took an elective course in development studies and a Chinese language course and they enjoyed these so much they wanted to change their degree to be able to focus on both of these disciplines. Because they already had the minimum selection rank for a Bachelor of Arts (ATAR equivalent score of 80) they were able to apply to transfer during Semester 1 to commence in their new degree of choice in Semester 2 of their first year if the transfer application is successful.

You are encouraged to speak with your Academic College for more advice on what transfer options are available to you.

Note that any previously received selection rank adjustment factors are NOT included in the assessment of transfer applications and that all names and programs used in the examples are for demonstration purposes only. The admission requirements can change from year to year.