<p>Hey all, I'm a US college student who wants to go abroad to Australia next semester (semester 2 for Aussie Universities, fall semester in the US). I've applied to and been accepted at both UNSW and UQ. However, I have nooo idea about either college. I'll be going by myself (I'm sure there'll be others from my school going abroad to both places, but I don't know who they are as of now, and I don't have any friends who are going to be in Australia at all) so I'd really like to meet people. </p>
<p>Stuff to keep in mind:</p>
<p>-Is either school mainly a commuter school so that there won't really be many people for me to hang out with in the evenings/on weekends?</p>
<p>-Housing at the uni's!! I'm kind of worried about UQ, actually, because I'll only be there for a semester and from what I understood, on-campus housing is only for those who will be there for a year (contract length a year, can't shorten). Am I wrong about that? And for UQ, off-campus seems to be pretty much I get to Brisbane and find a place to live. UNSW seems much better in that sense - the study abroad office has apartments for international students coming for a semester.</p>
<p>-Just overall city life - stuff to do. I know Sydney's bigger, so there may be more to do there, but how is Brisbane? </p>
<p>-Beach stuff - since I'll be there from spring to summer, how warm can I expect it to be? I doubt it'll be beach weather when I get there, but by the time November comes around would it be warm enough to go to the beach occasionally? Since Sydney's further south, I'm guessing it'll be somewhat colder there, but if I do go to UNSW, would it ever be warm enough between the months of July and November to go to the beach?</p>
<p>If anyone could answer any of those questions and give me any more input on which university I should go with, that would be amazing. Thanks much!</p>
<p>Hi there.
I am a student at University of Sydney at the moment and I have friends that attend both UQ and UNSW.
First things first. Australian universities are much bigger and more impersonal than the majority of universities in the US. Expect overloaded lectures and tutorials as well as students who commute between part-time jobs, university and home. Universities in Australia have been chronically underfunded meaning that they can no longer provide the services for students that they might have in the past.
That conceded, UQ and UNSW are two of Australia’s most well respected universities with large, diverse student populations.
Personally, I’d recommend UNSW, but maybe that’s just because I love Sydney and I think Sydney is a better city than Brisbane. The enticement of the beach alone should be reason enough not to go to Queensland. Sydney warms up in the spring, certainly enough to go to the beach. The water will be cold but there’s always heaps of people there. On that note, UNSW is in the eastern suburbs (i.e. close to beautiful beaches like Bondi, Coogee, Tamarama and Bronte) which I think is an advantage. It’s about a 30 minute bus ride into Sydney City from UNSW and is well connected by public transport. The areas surrounding the university like Kingsford and Randwick have lots of great (and cheap!) cafes and eateries. Plus, you can pretty much walk to the beach!
If UNSW is offering accomodation - TAKE IT! Unless you can get guaranteed accommodation in Sydney, I reckon Brisbane is a better option (less people, cheaper cost of living in general). Rental accommodation is hard to come by and very expensive so I think a university-run ‘International House’ would be better.
I think people over-estimate what a university exchange in Australia would be like. I met a girl last year on exchange from Canada who had a rotten time. She was living in a share house and found it extremely hard to meet people. That said, if UNSW or UQ has a really good program and activities for international exchange students and you’re willing to be really outgoing, then Australia can’t be beat.
I love Sydney. Brisbane doesn’t hold a candle to it.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help, claire! I’ll definitely keep what you said in mind. I have another couple of weeks, so I’m hoping to keep asking around and to get a wide range of responses. I’m definitely not going to make my decision based on the beach - it was just something I wanted to know. Anyway, a lot of students at my university go to UNSW and the people I’ve talked to say they had a great time, so hopefully the Canadian girl you met was an exception…</p>
<p>Whilst I do think she was an exception, I think exchange students in Australia have to be uber-willing to go out on a limb to meet people because most exchange students don’t have the ‘comfort’ of in living in a dorm where you’d be surrounded by an instant group of friends.
Sydney is really great and in my opinion, the beach should be a deciding factor!
Brisbane is just a bit too suburban and not cosmopolitan enough for me. Besides, you can visit Brisbane on holidays without it costing too much. Most of the tourist attracts worth seeing in Queensland aren’t actually in or near Brisbane (i.e. the Great Barrier Reef, Daintree Rainforest etc). Maybe you should do the quintessential backpacker trip up the coast from Sydney to Brissy. If you do, go to Byron Bay. It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Definitely check out the websites of both unis and try in get in touch with people who have studied there. A friend of mine at UNSW introduced me to an exchange student friend of her’s last year, so maybe UNSW has the exchange thing down better than Sydney.
Good luck!</p>
<p>And when I say Sydney in the second last sentence, I mean Sydney Uni!
If you have anymore questions about Sydney specifically, just ask!</p>
<p>Brisbane sucks. Sydney is the best city in Australia. Be aware though, UNSW and UQ are overloaded with students. UQ is known for accepting interstate rejects, i,e, some people who can’t get in to a medical school in NSW go to Queensland.</p>
<p>There are so many sites that tell you about the atmosphere/environment around colleges/universities in the U.S, I wonder why there aren’t any about Aussie Universities!</p>
<p>there are, only difference being you won’t know what we’re talking about once we tell you about the environment/atmosphere around aussie unis</p>
<p>@ st.g.i.dragons - you won’t know what we’re talking about once we tell you about the environment/atmosphere</p>
<p>Why? Whats so unusual about Aussies that the world cannot understand? I’m thinking about applying to University of Sydeny and Macquaire University myself. So, it would help me a great deal knowing about the sydney atmosphere! Thanks you. :)</p>
<p>I am a local at USYD and UNSW is **** compared to USYD of course. I’ve met an astonishing number of Americans on exchange and they have all loved it in Sydney. In fact my flatmate is an American dude from Tampa Bay but he has graduated and has permanently moved here (so there is that danger of falling in love with life here). Sydney is more cosmopolitan than Brisbane and has lots going for it but suffers from the problems a large city would. </p>
<p>Australian universities are generally underfunded and due to this accept many sub-par students from Asia who are usually rejected by their home institutions but they are crucial to our economy. Education is Australia’s 3rd largest export industry so you can expect to be confused when your in some parts of the CBD of Sydney especially in and around Chinatown where you’d be forgiven for thinking that your in Hong Kong or other parts of Asia. Sydney’s atmosphere is therefore hard to generalize. You will find a myriad of different people but in general most locals are easygoing and friendly. </p>
<p>Generally speaking, the University of Sydney is world-class and this is especially true for Law, Arts and Medicine (this according to a reputed vascular surgeon). The commerce and engineering suffers a bit due to the idea of ‘giving everyone a fair go’ such that there is no intention of allowing USYD to grow as a premier institution. UNSW and ANU have grown in engineering and research, respectively, out of this Australian attitude that is dead-set against elitism. It might be detrimental to our long term future but who is to say? </p>
<p>In short, if you are indeed coming from Pakistan then expect to pay a lot and choose your university based on your intended degree. Macquarie isn’t bad but I don’t know much about it besides the fact that I wouldn’t go there. </p>
<p>Adnan and noodles, you would both have two different experiences in Sydney (or Australia) but for the most part I’m sure most of us would say you’d have a really good time.</p>
<p>I reckon UNSW> USYD for certain things. USYD is better for most of arts/humanities as well as law and soc. sciences.</p>
<p>UNSW pwns for engineering and also for the natural sciences.</p>
<p>Thanks bondispaceman. That really answered alot of questions for me. :)</p>
<p>Well, my intended course is commerce. I was thinking of Macquaire as my safety. So far, from what I’ve seen (or read, for that matter), I just love University of Sydney! … but you said that its not “as” good for commerce. Would you please tell me a little more about that?</p>
<p>Also, do you know of any internationals around, especially the ones from South Asia (from my part of Asia 
) ? Thank you so much.</p>
<p>I don’t do commerce and my opinions therefore have no weight but most of the brighter local students or those with good marks even if they aren’t actually bright usually do commerce in a combined plan. Commerce and a Science degree or Commerce and Law. They take an extra two years but you get two degrees and in fact I don’t know any local student doing just a commerce degree at USYD. </p>
<p>For some reason most students intending on doing commerce tend to flock to UNSW which is probably 80-90% Asian. There are many south Asians at most universities in Sydney but obviously there are those that are Australian and those that are not. I know many ‘curries’ as they like to be known but I can’t say I know any who are directly from South Asia. The cricket, food and numbers of South Asians would make it a relatively easier transition for you I would imagine compared to other possible destinations. </p>
<p>UNSW is better for engineering and is more popular for commerce but for everything else, USYD has more significant research, faculty and better local students (in terms of diversity and academics). Mind you, USYD has the highest requirements for engineering entry including the 99.65 UAI for Aerospace engineering but this is not a good way of comparing quality of education of course.</p>
<p>Apart from academics, how would you compare both the universities, bondispaceman? Considering faculty, career-placement, housing & dining, social scene, facilities, student body and even, the prestige.</p>
<p>USyd is more closer to the central city of Sydney than Mac. Mac is a bit far into the west of Sydney and is more in the residential side of sydney where as Syd uni is in the heart of things. </p>
<p>Unlike american schools most students are commuters, (no real need to stay in campus nor is it normal to do so) so don’t expect a lot of dorm related activities. Most students will go home after their classes. At most unis that is. </p>
<p>student body? i’m not 100% sure but any courses that requires high marks to get in, it will be dominated by asians (i’m not being racist as i’m one myself). </p>
<p>but overall both unis are pretty decent, sydney being one of the hardest to get into in the region for most classes. </p>
<p>Prestige and career placement? name wise a diploma from Sydney uni is better than Macquarie. But thats just my opinion</p>
<p>The only thing is Sydney tries to put on airs of pretentiousness…often :(</p>
<p>They have some neo-gothicised buildings, whihc look cool and all. The they have the terrible physics building which looks like it was made in the early 1800s and then repeatedly bombed by napalm.</p>
<p>But for some reason, they have these mad Law facilities, but not sciences, which is ironic, since law is just some reading, while science you NEED state of the art equipment to get proper training and results…</p>
<p>^^ I’d like to see st.g.i.dragons respond to this one. :D</p>
<p>By the way, thanks guys! :)</p>
<p>talha_adnan</p>
<p>what do u mean respond to this one??</p>
<p>umm. nevermind. Anyway, thanks guys. I’ll definitely look into USYD. I really appreciate all your posts. :)</p>