<p>I'm in my junior year at the University of Arizona, though in all likelihood I probably won't graduate until after the Fall semester of 2014. I've always in the back of my mind been kind of interested in going to Australia (Melbourne, preferably), though I'm starting to get more serious about it now because one of my friends went to study abroad in the Netherlands and said he loved it. Is it too late for me or could I still find time to go? My major is biology and I was planning on going into some form of graduate school after graduating.</p>
<p>You can study abroad over the summer?</p>
<p>How about going to Australia after graduating? They do Work & Holiday visas for US citizens that allow you to work there for up to a year. I’ve done it on the equivalent visa for British citizens, which I did before I started my degree, and it’s great fun 
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<p>[Visa</a> Options - Working Holiday - Visas & Immigration](<a href=“Department of Home Affairs”>Department of Home Affairs)</p>
<p>You can always talk to a study abroad advisor, they’ll be more help since each school has a different policy. At the school I go to we only have the option of going during our junior year. The only thing I can think of why you might not be able to next year is because of application deadlines, but you can always check on those with an advisor. </p>
<p>If not, you could always see if you could do an internship or something similar in Australia after you graduate!</p>
<p>Some of you mentioned doing it after I graduate, but I’d really rather do it during my undergraduate studies. I checked online and the only restriction for studying abroad is that you can’t do it during your freshman year (I think that’s standard everywhere). The application deadline for Spring 2013 is in October, so I’m good with that too. Here’s some more questions I had:</p>
<p>1.) Would it be better to go during the Spring or Summer of 2014? I suppose there’s trade-offs for each. I have yet to go on a “legit” college Spring Break trip so I was kinda hoping to do that my senior year (although I am going on this medical humanitarian trip to Honduras this year), and if I went during the Summer wouldn’t I have a tough time trying to watch the World Cup because of the time differences? </p>
<p>2.) Where would be the best place to go in Australia? I was thinking about Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, but are there any other places I should consider? Preferably I’d like to go someplace that has the following qualities: a nice campus, a “clean” city, beaches nearby (wouldn’t mind learning to surf), warm weather, and a good nightlife. Also, let me know if you think there’s any places worth making a trip to go see while I’m over there.</p>
<p>3.) Something else I was wondering about was whether or not they organize some sort of events over there where everyone studying abroad can meet each other? In other words, do you really have to go out of your way to meet people? I just wouldn’t want to be on my own over there not knowing anyone.</p>
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<li><p>It depends on where you’re studying. The tropical north has its wet season (best avoided) from December to March, or so. The temperate south has its summer from December to February and its winter from June - August. It never actually gets uncomfortably cold in winter though, unless you go up into the mountains. Watching the World Cup will depend on which World Cup you mean (FIFA, rugby, basketball, cricket…) but you may be able to find an expat bar that is showing it. You might also like to get into Aussie Rules (VIC, SA) or rugby (NSW, QLD).</p></li>
<li><p>Brisbane is a nice place to live (I lived and worked there for two months) but it’s a good hour’s drive away from the beach, and it has precisely two tourist attractions (XXXX Brewery and Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary), so it doesn’t sound like it’s what you’re after. It remains quite warm all year round. I was walking around in shorts and a t-shirt in the middle of ‘winter’ (although I did see a local wearing gloves and a scarf at the same time, so I think there’s a certain element of what you’re used to). </p></li>
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<p>Sydney is a great place to live, but like all large cities can be relatively expensive, especially for rent. However, the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk is one of my favourite places in the whole world, even if Bondi is vastly overrated. </p>
<p>Melbourne is a nice city, although out of the three it was the one I saw least of. It’s the least warm of the three and not famous for its beaches, though they do exist. However, if you’re into snowsports, then Mt Buller is a ski resort a ~3 hour drive away from Melbourne. I’ve been, and whilst the skiing isn’t going to rival the Alps or the Rockies, it’s still good fun. </p>
<p>You should definitely make time to go up the East Coast whilst you’re in Australia. You can buy a hop-on hop-off Greyhound bus pass (I know there seems to be a stigma about them in the States, but in Oz they’re really comfortable and having travelled on both I can say that they are much, much nicer, cheaper and more frequent than the backpacker-only Oz Experience buses. You also come into contact with so many locals that you’d never otherwise meet - everyone from weatherbeaten old farmers who told me very proudly that they’d “never seen snow and didn’t want to either” to an aboriginal lady who heard my accent, and asked me if I’d heard about the riots that were then occurring in England… even the backpackers seemed more friendly on the Greyhound). Some of my favourite places that I visited along the way were Fraser Island, Whitsunday Islands, Gagaju Bush Camp (not a classic, but I absolutely loved my time there), Asylum Hostel (Cairns), Bondi - Coogee walk, Blue Mountains and the Great Barrier Reef. You might also like to go to the ‘Red Centre’ - the three tourist attractions near Alice Springs, which are Uluru (vastly overrated), Kata Tjuta (vastly underrated - I’m a devout atheist, but it has a very strange feeling to it that I can only really describe as being spiritual) and Kings Canyon (beautiful, though I believe it has recently been hit by bushfire, so it may take a while to recover</p>
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<li>That’s something that will depend on the university that you study abroad at, although a part of me says that you should try and socialise with the locals. I would imagine that you will meet the people you live with, and can join a society e.g. [Clubs</a> and Societies - Find a Club](<a href=“http://www.usuonline.com/Find_a_Club/Default.aspx]Clubs”>http://www.usuonline.com/Find_a_Club/Default.aspx)</li>
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