Down Under

<p>Does anyone have any information about universities in New Zealand or Australia? I'm not talking about study abroad, rather a full degree. How would universities there rank with universities in the US and Canada (specifically looking at University of Otago and University of New South Wales)?</p>

<p>All I know is that college there is highly specialized, really short, studying basically only your major.</p>

<p>Reportedly (according to <a href="http://www.go8.edu.au/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.go8.edu.au/&lt;/a&gt;), Australia's "leading universities" are:</p>

<p>The University of Adelaide
The Australian National University
The University of Melbourne
Monash University
The University of New South Wales
The University of Queensland
The University of Sydney
The University of Western Australia </p>

<p>On occasion I have talked to some Australian graduate students, and it happened that all of them had been undergraduates at the University of Sydney (which they claim has a better reputation than Sydney's other major school, the University of New South Wales; but they could be biased, of course).</p>

<p>In New Zealand, my guess would be that the University of Otago is regarded as a (the?) top university. The University of Canterbury also seems like a good place for undergraduates (judging from some notable alumni and faculty members that I have heard of).</p>

<p>I am interested in studying in Australia too. I would reccomend you check out the site: <a href="http://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.studyinaustralia.gov.au&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Halt the presses...</p>

<p>According to <a href="http://www.auckland.ac.nz/cir_visitors/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.auckland.ac.nz/cir_visitors/&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/p>

<p>'The University of Auckland is New Zealand's pre-eminent research-led University'.</p>

<p>It is also home to 32,000+ students (whereas any other school in New Zealand has less than 20,000), so I'd wish the best of luck to anyone who decides to go there as an undergraduate.</p>

<p>Another school, Massey University (comprising three branch campuses), seems to distinguish itself from the other places mentioned above primarily by its emphasis on pre-professional programs (including New Zealand's largest business school), and distance ('extramural') learning. How necessary these emphases are for a worthwhile undergraduate experience remains in question. (More info here: <a href="http://aboutmassey.massey.ac.nz/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://aboutmassey.massey.ac.nz/&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p>