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Abstract
Entry to the Bachelor of Agricultural Economics (BAgrEc) program at the University
of Sydney is consistently less competitive than that for the Bachelor of Economics
(BEc) and Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) programs. Given that students in the
BAgrEc program undertake units in common with students in the BEc and BComm
programs, it is of interest to examine the importance of school performance and first
year university in the determination of success at university. This paper takes information
for nine cohorts of BAgrEc students and tests their performance in first-year core
subjects against the university entrance ranking, school English and mathematics
marks, gender, and type of school. The paper then uses the same information to predict
which student characteristics at entry level are likely to lead to students completing
the degree program. The implications of the analysis are explored.