For Lanah Watters, language is far more than just a means of communication - it is a key to understanding individuals and the evolution of their culture.
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On Wednesday morning, the Maitland Grossmann High School graduate received the news that she had been accepted to study linguistics and language sciences at Macquarie University.
"I'm very happy to have my first choice accepted," she said.
Ms Watters' passion for languages saw her study French as an elective in junior high school and Italian for the HSC.
"I'm very interested in languages and international cultures. I'm interested in how speech affects a culture and how it evolves in everyday life. Also, how speech distinguishes groups and cultures; how it really characterises an individual's and group's make-up," she said.
She said she was attracted to the three-year Macquarie University degree because of its strong focus on language and linguistics.
"The (Macquarie) degree really focuses on speech and language and how it affects a person. It focuses on that much more than some other degrees do," she said.
Ms Watters was among thousands of prospective students who received university offers on Wednesday.
Newcastle Grammar School graduate Emma McGrath received an offer to study biomedical engineering at the University of Sydney. While her first preference was medicine, Ms McGrath said she was happy with her offer.
"I enjoyed those sorts of subjects (health and science) at school so studying it at uni is a natural progression," she said. "I'm going to see how I like biomedical engineering. I'm definitely thinking about doing the UCAT (University Clinical Aptitude Test) again or looking at postgrad study if I feel I still want to do that later."
And like many other Hunter school leavers, Ms McGrath will be heading to Sydney.
She was looking forward to the opportunities and challenges ahead.
"I've always wanted to move out of home when I go to university and challenge myself and have that independence that comes from being away from your parents for longer periods of time," she said.
But St Mary's Catholic College Gateshead graduate Jacob Armit was happy to stay in Newcastle.
Mr Armit received an early offer, which he has deferred, to study chemical engineering at the University of Newcastle.
"I'm pretty set on staying around my family and where I grew up. I didn't feel the need to move," he said. "I know a few people who have done engineering at Newcastle and it seems like a good pick. I'm keen to work and travel a bit this year. I didn't want to rush from the HSC into uni."
Universities Admissions Centre general manager of marketing and engagement Kim Paino said NSW universities had made 35,811 offers as part of Wednesday's main round, an increase on the 34,700 offers made last year.
'Even though we've had lots of early offers already, this is the first offers that have been made to Year 12 students based on their ATAR," she said.
"This includes not only NSW HSC students who received their results last week, but all Year 12s across Australia who have been waiting on offers to courses that rely on ATAR for entry."
Universities have also released the Lowest Selection Rank (previously known as a cut-off) required for entry into each course. This information will be available on UAC's website when offers are released and can be used by applicants looking to change their preferences for the offer rounds still to come.