New Zealand Universities- Battle to the Death

Applying to College
1

<p>So I'd like to hear pros and cons or experiences of Universities around New Zealand. I think my top two are the Universities at Canterbury and Wellington, so I'd be thrilled if anyone has been,has children that have been, or live there and could share any juicy details. I picked those two based on academic offerings, not location. Otago and Auckland feel free to assert your dominance as well! Perhaps there's something there I've overlooked. Like awesome-ness, or something.</p>

<p>Also, how easy is it to travel around middle ear-i mean, NZ as a study abroad student? I wouldn't mind doing some traveling after the semester ends, given I have time and the bank account isn't all dried up.</p>

<p>Oh, and when I was looking it seemed like one, or maybe all the schools are on trimesters? How does that compute if I'm coming from a school with semesters?</p>

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<p>Hi.</p>

<p>I live in Christchurch and can share some thoughts about NZ Universities.</p>

<ol>
<li>Univ. of Canterbury - Christchurch
Major strength is Engineering, (No Medicine or Health Sciences). Located in Christchurch, one of two universities in the city. ChCh is flat, with hills in the south. If you like mountain biking or cycling on the flat plus would love to endure ChCh’s world famous winter frosts and smoggy early mornings, than go ahead. ChCh is very dry in winter but occasionally has snow in Aug/Sep. ChCh is nice and quiet, with great public transport.</li>
</ol>

<p>2 Univ of Otago - Dunedin
Major strength Medicine (NB This is the only Medical school in the South Island, however there is no engineering at this Univ.)
Colloquially known as the party university. Nationally known for wild party’s and wreck less behavior (contributed with the Univ. of Canty) . AKA ‘scarfies’. Very Isolated Univ. The only reason Dunedin exists is because of the Univ. International travel requires you to mainly travel to ChCh or AKL. If you love cold weather and a bit adventurous, try Otago.</p>

<p>3 Univ of Victoria of Well. - Wellington
NZ’s most livable city. It’s my favourite city. Urban and known for frequent earthquakes. Don’t worry, they are mostly minor ones. Your usual univ. but no Medicine or Health Sciences. Humanities is the major strength. Surrounded by a beautiful harbour and mountains, the national captial is the perfect place to study. Temperate weather with a rare chance of snow. International Travel is to Australia and the South Pacific only, otherwise you’ll need to fly to Auckland or Christchurch. If your that urban cosmopolitan person with that humanities itch and love friendly Wellingtonians, try Victoria.</p>

<p>4 Univ of Auckland - Auckland City
Major strength Science/Medicine
NZ best ranked Univ., with a sub tropical environment with all of your university disciplines. Known for the Americas Cup as the sail city. Int. Travel - excellent. New Zealand’s largest city. If you can’t survive the cold but still want that Kiwi experience try Auckland.</p>

<p>Travel - Auckland to Wellington is roughly 10 hours, depends which way you go and by what means of transport. Christchurch skiing is 90 minutes away. It’s quicker and cheaper to fly around the country, but if your adventurous try buying a cheap Japanese car under NZ$5000.</p>

<p>Academic Year
Semester 1
End of February (24th Onwards) til May/June </p>

<p>Semester 2
June/July to November</p>

<p>No NZ univ that I know of operates under trimesters
Summer school may be the appropriate word for an additional semester, but isn’t compulsory</p>

3

<p>Yeah, I guess maybe it was the summer school thing I was interpreting as it’s own semester…</p>

<p>This really helps, thanks for the inside info. :)</p>