This extends to all you Aussies/ anyone who knows about the universities in Australia 
I’m contemplating whether or not I should bother applying to an Australian uni. If I did, I would be applying straight out of year 12 from the States. I have a few questions:
- Would you say it’s worth going to Australia for three years of education vs. four years of education in the US? Why?
- I’ve heard UMelb and USyd are the two I should aim towards since they hold the best rankings in the country. Is this true and if so how hard it is to get in to either university? What are the minimum SAT score requirements?
- Do you know which university has the best linguistics program?
- Is Australia really as expensive as everyone says it is, say, compared to living in Los Angeles?
- How different is it there (Perth, Melbourne, Sydney) compared to a city like LA?
- I want to go on gap year. Is it common for applicants to defer their first year?
- What are the most highly recognized unis internationally?
- Is a degree from Australia recognized if I happened to want to move back to the US to continue my education?
- Do the universities have special policies for admissions regarding homeschooled students (taking into account I went to a private high school for year 9 and 10 but year 11 and 12 are being completed through an online school)?
- Do Australian degrees have any real recognition overseas? Will I be getting my money’s worth by studying there?
- What’s the thing you like best about living there (if you live in Australia)?
- What are the major differences in American college and Australian uni?
Thank you in advance for taking your time to read and respond!
Ok here’s the thing- if you can get into an American college that’s around USC level or even UCLA level or higher, don’t even think about coming to Australia, the price tag isn’t worth it for a similar and/or inferior education. In Australia, we don’t have a full on unique campus culture like that of many US colleges, because many students commute to school (the idea that you attend the best school you get into regardless of location doesn’t seem to click with Aussies, simply because for the majority of cases, the school name/prestige doesn’t hold as much advantage. You get similar opportunities graduating from any national university). If you go to Australia, you should do an extra “honors” year of study to make your bachelor’s degree a full four years, because I’ve heard that an Australian education isn’t really recognized by US employers, especially if you only complete 3 years. This could also pose an issue if you were to apply to American graduate schools. In response to your question, the Australian university entrance requirements are frankly, a joke. We can’t even find enough local students to fill the spaces in our universities (which are quite large, University of Melbourne had 42653 students in 2014) so that the international student percentages are ridiculously high (most of them are rich students from Asia, so they can assist in funding). I remember reading on the University of Melbourne’s website that the minimum SAT cut offs were like 1800 for some degrees, and up to 1900 for biomedicine etc. which isn’t very high compared to the average SAT scores for top US colleges. Don’t worry about getting in, it should be a breeze if you’re mildly intelligent and hard working. Australia is expensive compared to LA, San Francisco from what my American relatives say, and it’s common for students to take a gap year here. I don’t think an Australian education is that great at all to be honest (that’s why I’m on this site applying to US colleges) as I’ve found it to be quite lackluster in general.
As for what I like most, it’d have to be the environment. We have bountiful space and beautiful national parks, and there’s not as much gang violence and crime relating to guns (strict gun control in Australia). However, the tradeoff is that Australians are quite laid back and easy going in general, which means that they have an attitude towards life and values that you may find a little incomprehensible. If you’re a disciplined and hard working student, I’m sure you’d thrive and take advantage of opportunities here (while enjoying minimal competition- relative to top US colleges of course). If you’re easily distracted and influenced by your friends, coming here may not go too well. Different cultural values and atmosphere I guess (less of that harsh competition, but not as intellectually challenging).
- Is it worth it? I can’t tell you. In America, you pay $65k a year for four years for a liberal arts degree… and do what? I don’t know. Probably everything. Or nothing. Going to an American college is an amazing experience, though, and any student who has done an exchange in the US will tell you that what US colleges can offer is incredible. The tuition fee @ Melbourne, though, is steep for international students, so I don’t know if it would be worth it. If I were you, I’d simply attend an American college, because it would be a better experience and you would definitely get more for your money, not just fund the study of Australian students.
Like, I think it all depends on your future plans. If you are going to study linguistics, I don’t think that even a Harvard degree would help THAT much for giving you solid returns, unless you go into business or finance, which a certain Princeton woman, majoring in English, I know is doing.
-
Like other posters have said, don’t worry about getting in. The minimum standard for international students is ridiculously low. I couldn’t believe it when I had looked it up about a year and half ago.
-
Don’t know.
-
Living in Melbourne or Sydney is ridiculously expensive. So probably like $22k a year minimum?
-
I think it is an easier, chiller way of life. Kind of west coasty.
-
Ask your university. I’m sure you can.
-
Melbourne, Sydney and ANU are well recognized.
-
Yes. You may apply to grad schools in the US. They will definitely take you seriously, but you will probably have to take the honors year.
-
Don’t know.
-
My parents have degrees from Melbourne and Sydney, but they also have one each from Oxford, and have found their degrees received well. I mean, it really depends on what kind of profession you are looking to go into. These degrees would very much be recognized in Asia, if, say, they were on business or economics or something. Or at NGOs and stuff, for mostly anything. In Australia itself is a different matter. Going to work in the US with a degree from abroad or even from the US is usually challenging, simply because of the competition to get a work visa in the first place.
-
Not in a position to tell you.
-
America will give you more support, if not for any other reason than that you would be paying for it.
All in all, yes, a degree from Melbourne or Sydney will get you more recognition abroad than a school like mine, Reed, but I would never have paid that much money for Melbourne as opposed to my school, which truly offers the kind of education I want and the support I need. The concept of worth can be such a subjective question, to be honest.
So my first question would be ‘why Australia?’ It is clearly not b/c ANU & Melbourne have pretty well ranked linguistics programs, b/c from your questions you don’t even know that. Nor does it seem likely that you are really that interested in the admissions process (this google: university melbourne international requirements admissions plus exactly 2 clicks, brought up this: GPA 3.2 and SAT 1800-1850 / ACT 26).
My guess is it sounds like a fun adventure. In which case, my second question is, who is paying for this adventure (at about USD$22K for tuition + room, board, books, transport, etc)?
A surprising number of schools have good study abroad programs in Australia- maybe that would be a good way to scratch that itch?