Out of 66,689 applicants only 44,469 were offered places in the first round.

Monash University, Australia's largest university, which has 55,000 students in six domestic and two overseas campuses - Kuala Lumpur and Johannesburg - made 8585 main round offers last week, compared with 8154 last year.

A Monash University spokesman said the university received more Government money to fund more places for 2010.

"This year, applicants showed a strong interest in medicine, law and double degree courses.

"Strong interest in law/arts, engineering/arts and education made scores competitive.

"The lowest score making the main offer was 99.35 for straight law and 98.3 for engineering/law."

Those who missed out on main round offers shouldn't despair, according to the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre.

There are two more offer rounds still to be made, with the second on February 5.

Applicants have until midnight tomorrow to change their preferences.