Hi I am an American high school student who is about to begin applying to colleges in the upcoming months and I was considering applying to university in Australia. What are the differences between Australia and the United States in regards to university? Are Australian universities more expensive or does it depend? Which city is best Melbourne or Sydney? And if you have any other information on applyig/ going to university in Australia please let me know!
Sydney feels a lot like SanDiego, Melbourne’s more like Boston. Weather is very different too.
It’s been quite a while since I was in grad school in Australia but here are a few basics. The academic year runs roughly from February to November. At my uni students lived in “colleges” but classes were university wide. We had the British system of lectures combined with smaller tutorials. The formal examination at year end carried a lot of weight. I was the only American in my program, and getting used to that was somewhat stressful.
Judging from your moniker, Sydney might be the better choice. (Best beaches IMHO are Tamarama/Bronte.) Both Sydney and Melbourne have International Houses, which are great places to live. Sydney Uni IH is conveniently located on City Road, with incredible views of the city. New South Wales Uni recruits pretty heavily in the US, I think. Also consider Queensland Uni in Brisbane, and ANU in Canberra.
If at some point you are not sure whether you want to apply and enroll directly, consider doing a year abroad there first, from a US university. A whole bunch of students from Rollins came over while I was there, and had a great experience. Arcadia College has long-standing, well run programs in Australia, and many colleges and universities accept those study abroad credits.
I found it to be a very meaningful experience. The academics were great. I travelled a lot in between terms. Met tons of great people. By all means do it!