Depends on the degree. If you put a lot of work into year 12 and come up with an ENTER/ATAR of 90 or something, and then decide to go for a course like Arts then it could potentially be more relaxing than VCE/HSC, but it will vary. Picking more of a slack or dud uni for that course will make it more relaxing.
Picking a weak major for the course will make it more relaxing.
Aiming for Passes over HD's will make it even more relaxing.
On the flipside, you do nothing in HSC/VCE and barely show up. You get an ENTER/ATAR of 60 and realise once at uni that in fact high school was an absolute shithole and that you thrive on a uni environment and in fact find it easier.
Mmm so true. I got an ATAR of 95.85, missed out on law by 1 so I'm just doing Arts (Int. Relations & French) this year and gosh, it is so much less stress. I guess because I'm very interested in the content it doesn't feel like study or anything, whereas at school there was a wide range of subjects, some I wasn't as interested in and thus needed to work harder on them. Also, I think if you get into good habits during Year 12 (starting essays early, wide range of research including books and journals, continuos revision throughout the semester etc) then the transition into uni, at least first year, isn't that big a shock. From what I've seen so far, those people that are always complaining on facebook about the amount of uni work they've got or whatever are usually the ones who didn't care until the end of year 12, got into a dodge course at a dodge uni, and now realise that if they expect to pass they actually have to do a lot more than they were doing.
Really, it's an individual thing - if you like what you're doing, can stay focussed and organised then you'll probs find first year is fine and wonder why you worked so hard at school.