Hello everyone. I am a recent high school graduate. I am enrolled at the University of Maryland, College Park. However, recently I received an offer to study Bachelor of Genetics at the Australian National University. I am enrolled at the neurobiology program at UMD. The Australian National University is consider to be the best university in Australia. However, I am having a hard time choosing because I have to be far away from home. The tuition for both of these institutions are about the same. I could use some useful suggestions.
Where do you plan to live after graduation? US, go to UMCP, Australia, ANU.
stick with UMD.
I honestly have no idea about where I want to live after graduation.I am thinking about a career in research so I might go and get a phd in the future. But I have not thought of a location.
Perhaps you can do your undergrad at one - UMD - then PhD at the other.
What is your status in the US? Are you a citizen or legal permanent resident alien? If you are in another category, it is important to know that Australia’s work permission for international students and for recent graduates of Australian universities is friendlier than the US policies.
Why did you apply to this Australian university? Was it just a random whim, or is there a research group there that you really want a chance to work with?
@happymomof1 I am a citizen. I applied to this university because I lived in Australia during my elementary school years and my older brother graduated from this university. Also, this school has outstanding faculties in the field that I want to study.
If you’re an American citizen, UMD makes more sense unless you have a compelling reason to go to Australia.
@PurpleTitan I am interested in your thinking. Could you elaborate more on why UMD makes more sense? Does prestige of the institution and faculties count as compelling reasons?
If you’re American and will work in the US straight out of undergrad, UMD would simply provide better support for that than an Aussie uni (obviously). Granted, if you plan to go to a PhD program, then it’s not that big a difference.
But if you want to enter a health field in the US and get a health degree (MD, DO, DDS, etc.), it makes pretty much no sense to go to a non-North American uni as you would have to take courses in the US anyway in order to apply.
Also, are you in any honors college/program at UMD?
@PurpleTitan I got into global communities program at UMD
I’d go to Australia. I can understand why logistically it might be better to go to school in the US, but the experience of living in Australia for a few years could more than make up for that. And ANU is a very good school, probably at least as good as Maryland. The one downside is that Canberra isn’t the most exciting city in the world.
@simba9 Which school do you think has better academics, ANU or UMD? I really like the quiet lifestyle of Canberra, it is a perfect place to focus on academics. What could the experience of living in Australia give me?
@simba9 in terms of QS and Times higher education rankings, ANU has better results than UMD. But I am wondering if the ranking has nothing to do with the education that I will be receiving.
Something like QS ranking will tell you nothing about the quality of the undergraduate education you will receive.
If I’m not mistaken ANU just got ranked #20 of Universities in the World. Not bad. If your brother went there I am sure you know the environment. Canberra is a great college town and a really smart town. I know many many kids who go there at the moment and they all have embraced it. It seems to have a really good vibe on all aspects - very welcoming, academic - holistic is the best way to describe it. I know nothing about UMD - I’m sure it’s a great school so maybe it is just a case of location, location, location. Good luck with your decision.
UMD is a lightrail ride away from DC so it wins on that account (although College Park itself isn’t the best, the campus community is strong and offers a lot.)
QS measures research output and graduate level programs. So it’s not applicable to undergraduate.
ANU lectures and peers will be great but there’s very little of the community and seminar learning you’ll find at a top us flagship 's honors college.
If you got into one of the honors communities at UMD that’s what I’d pick. However you could ask both to defer, spend a year with your brother in Canberra, perhaps apply for a WHV, make up your mind later?
@MYOS1634 I am currently at Canberra right now. I flew from the US a couple days earlier. I am going to talk to Professors and discuss this with them. I am very grateful to have everybody’s valuable and constructive suggestions!
I can’t say. I’d guess they’re pretty close, but what you end up learning is mostly about the effort you put into it rather than the school you go to. Go to whichever school you feel more comfortable at.
ANU would be closer to what you’d have in grad school. Less community and more specialization. Undergrad as purely a preparation for grad school.
I guess I’d do undergrad at UMD to benefit from the advantages there (especially since you got one of the honors communities) and grad school at ANU to get the best benefits from both