<p>Crowding is not a problem in Canberra.
You can literally drive for 10 kilometres and see nobody.</p>
<p>Yeah Canberra is definitely not a crowded place!
If you want to get out of the whole city life then its definitely a great place to study in. Its got a lot of funky museums as well- [Questacon =D], memorials, scenery, and you can go skiing in the winter [well thats in thredbo but its close] so that i guess is a plus.
And places such as ANU arent too hard on the entry levels compared to Sydney Uni but that could always change on the course you're considering of doing.</p>
<p>The PhB sounds really interesting..</p>
<p>Canberra seems intersting, but what about the cost of living as oppose to Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne?</p>
<p>I would say Canberra is in the middle with regards to cost-of-living. I don't have a reason - just an intuitive guess, as Sydney and Melbourne are pretty much packed cities, while Canberra and Brisbane are less populated. You get the odd rip-off here and there, but that's to be expected in a city.</p>
<p>Yeah, i figure that Canberra should be a tad cheaper than Sydney or Melbourne since it doesnt have the same population but if there is a difference i dont imagine that it would be a big one. The only cost issue i can think of is if you need to get out of Sydney with a car since the price of petrol has gone up but other than that its sort of the same</p>
<p>Add to that the cost of driving to Sydney every weekend.
Everyone leaves Canberra on Friday afternoon and returns on Sunday evening.
The only way to stay sane in Canberra is to leave it as often as you can.</p>
<p>Is there any job recruitment being done in Australian Universities?</p>
<p>The usual investment banks, management consultancies and major law firms recruit at Sydney University and University of New South Wales. However, if you go to places like Macquarie University or University of Western Sydney, you are out of luck.</p>
<p>Sounds like Uni Melb and ANU don't have any?</p>
<p>Well, ANU has one of the best law schools in Australia - recruiting would clearly occur here ('specially since our current Prime Minister is a graduate of the uni).</p>
<p>I just heard this today, by word of mouth, that ANU has one of the best International Relations programs in the world; I'm not sure if it is substantiated or not.</p>
<p>ANU from what university officers said when they came to my high school a couple years back is a rare choice for top students in Australia. Most in selective high schools tend to go for UNSW or USYD which are vastly superior to Singapore universities based on the quality of undergraduates, research, achievements and alumni( even the Singapore papers which inflate every modicum of local success is rarely able to print any stories of real achievements by local universities).</p>
<p>The belief that Australian universities are not up to scratch is due to the fact they are eager to accept foreign students even with poor grades but are able to pay full fees. This arises from the focus of building the tertiary education sector as a key export industry; which it has become ($9.2 billion in 2006 if I'm not mistaken). </p>
<p>Truth is Sydney and UNSW have achieved significantly more than NUS but because a student with BBC is rejected by NUS but accepted by UNSW there is a misconception that they are weaker. Another key factor for Australia is that it is arguably the best country in the world to live in which Singapore is far from being. It regularly uses its riches to copy key features of global cities such as Sydney or New York. It is perhaps the most inured to globalization so if you enjoy study, work and shopping then more power to you. This is not an attack on Singaporeans but generally if they can't hold on to the false belief that they have the best education system in the world or one that only ranks behind Harvard and Oxbridge than what would they have? </p>
<p>Another thing is that few Australian go abroad and most top students don't even apply to top U.S universities or Oxbridge. Such is the confidence in the quality of life and the quality of UNSW or USYD even in comparison to the Harvards of this world. What is also important in keeping top Australian students is the Commonwealth Fee paying scheme which basically thanks to Singaporeans and the like, Australian students for the most part are paying half if not less than what is considered 'full' by attending a local university. There was an article on Sydney</a> Morning Herald - Business News, World News & Breaking News in Australia that reported on foreign students with poor English being passed just so that they continue their education to essentially pay for the Australian students and well, help the local economy. </p>
<p>A choice of an Australian university should be made based on the quality of alternative education which is truly on available in the U.S or U.K and in the upper echelons of those institutions at that. The lifestyle and culture in Australia should also be considered as well as the costs. Admittedly Singapore is a much cheaper place to live in but they do discriminate against Westerners whereby Americans and Australian students studying in primary/secondary schools are charged much higher school fees than other foreigners. I would imagine Singapore universities will not differ greatly from this approach and from ex-alumni of NUS that studied medicine, they are unable to gain recognition for their degrees in other countries but this may by misleading. </p>
<p>The reputation of Australian universities to basically answer the topic question is varied across the world. In South-east Asia is where its reputation is in doubt but in other more notable regions (Americas, Europe, East Asia and etc) there is much respect afforded to Australian qualifications.</p>
<p>¨Sounds like Uni Melb and ANU don't have any?¨</p>
<p>Melbourne University is pretty good.
However, ANU is a super-safety for most kids.
Of course, the top students in the state avoid it and go to UNSW and USyd instead.</p>
<p>bearpooh, what do you mean by "super-safety"?</p>
<p>One possible explanation is that ANU doesn't delineate its UAI cutoff marks as much as the others do, so it seems on paper easier to get into ANU than, say, USyd or UMelb. It all depends on popularity in Australia. If UQ is the most popular university in Australia, then it will be hardest to get into (even considering that admissions is for particular degrees, not the university). ANU isn't extremely popular for the fact that the nightlife isn't as vibrant as Sydney or Brisbane.</p>
<p>Mickeydean:</p>
<p>I have not seen a single post on this thread that picks on Australia as a lesser country. As a Singaporean, I feel obliged to contest your unsubstantiated arguments. Could you please validate the points you made as follows:</p>
<p>1)UNSW or USYD are VASTLY SUPERIOR to Singapore's Universities, based on quality of undergraduate, research, achievements and alumni. How do you justify this assertion?</p>
<p>2)Australia is argubly the best country in the world to live in which Singapore is FAR FROM BEING. Again, you assert without evidence.</p>
<p>3)"They (Singaporeans) hold on to the false belief that they have the best education system in the world or one that only ranks behind Harvard and Oxbridge. If not, WHAT WOULD THEY HAVE?" How in the world did you come to the conclusion that singaporeans hold on to this belief? And why the attack on a developed country that most obviously have a multitute of accolades recognised by other nations?</p>
<p>4)"They (Singapore) do discriminate against Westerners": I have not verified if your statements, but even if it's true, how does charging a higher fee for foreigners (especially for financially developed nations like Australia and US) constitute discrimination? Does the US or Australia not charge a different fee for foreign students?</p>
<br>
<p>bearpooh, what do you mean by "super-safety"?</p>
<br>
<p>ANU is easy to get into even for Law while USydney and UNSW are rather challenging to get into.
Here are some entry requirements for Law The numbers given are the University Admission Index (These are basically percentiles )</p>
<p>Law at USyd: 99.7
Law at UNSW: 99.5</p>
<p>Law at ANU : 95 </p>
<p>Law is generally done as an undergraduate degree in Australia and is very, very competitive. Only undergraduate Medicine is harder to get into. 95th percentile is hardly challenging. For less popular/prestigious courses, very weak students with UAIs in the 70's and 80's can get into ANU. That is why ANU is a super-safety for a lot of kids.</p>
<p>The general impression in Australia is that the Singaporean universities are as good as our best universities ( USyd, UNSW, UMelb, UQld).Most of the overseas students who come here are from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and other places where the educational systems are a little challenged. </p>
<p>The fact that doing a degree in Australia virtually guarantees them Australian residency and an Australian work permit is probably another factor attracting students from the less developed nations.</p>
<p>bearpooh, the UAI is also an indicator of popularity. ANU's location is not as popular as Sydney for many of the NSW students, so they migrate to UNSW and USyd. They are not indicators of course difficulty. I know one of my cousins, who is now at USyd studying Law, said almost everyone in her graduating class preferred USyd to ANU because of the location of the two unis, not because of the degree prestige.</p>
<p>Medicine is hard to get into because it is the university that sets the cut-off, not the students. If all the 99.00+ students in NSW applied to ANU law, it would potentially only be accessible to thoe with scores of 99.80 and above.</p>
<p>UAI cut-offs range from year to year, depending on the popularity of the course. It used to be very difficult to gain entry into a basic Bachelor of Science anywhere (like Law is now) - now, it's a safety degree for just about anyone. Top students rarely even think about applying for a Bachelor of Science anymore.</p>
<p>The whole thing builds upon itself. You only need about 300 99.00+ applying to a Science degree to increase the cutoff, and then people start viewing it as more prestigious, and so more apply, until the number of top students exceeds 50% of the course slots. The UAI cut-off would increase dramatically. That's just an example though.</p>
<p>The general rules in Australia for residency are also more accommodating - one of my friends right now has British and Australian parents, and was studying in high school in Britain for several years and completed his A-levels there - but they wouldn't allow him to apply as a domestic student (international fees are exorbitant there), whereas here in Australia he was considered a domestic student and so applied and got in here.</p>
<p>beaten to it by limnieng, especially on points 1, 3 and 4.</p>
<p>Australian universities only have themselves to blame for their dismal reputations in Singapore. It's a natural result, as you have mentioned, when you take in 2nd or 3rd tier candidates because of their ability to pay. I don't see how Singaporeans are to be blamed for it.</p>