University of Melbourne

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I am currently a student of UMelb and am interested in how the uni is perceived internationally, particularly in Asia. UMelb has a high proportion of international students (mostly from Asia), and in my course BCom, roughly 50% are internationals. </p>

<p>Would you rank UMelb above mid-tier US unis?
What about its standing in relation to the leading schools of Asian countries such as HK, Singapore, Japan?
Do Asian employers look highly upon graduates with degrees from Australian unis?</p>

<p>Discuss</p>

2

<p>University of Melbourne is actually quite a good university. Majority of the time it is ranked in the top 100 universities of the world and sometimes even in the top 50.</p>

3

<p>As an Australian (from Sydney) who has lived abroad in the US, I would have to say my perception of UniMelb is not at all positive (though I have quite a few sydney friends who are going there next year, and quite like it). Two reasons:

  1. Entry mechanism: 100% based on ENTER/ATAR leads to a dismal spread of students, with none of the same dynamic student bodies that you’d find over in the US. The only positive part is that UniMelb has eliminated undergrad Med and Law, which is an excellence move to stop foolish high scorers choosing them for the sake of it, rather than genuinely wishing to pursue such a career.
  2. They have implemented a disgraceful system called the “Melbourne Model” that is on the one-hand intended to emulate the US system, but in fact still maintains the vocational focus of the Australian system. The very fact that there are degrees in ‘Commerce’ and ‘Environments’ seems to contradict the intent of the Melbourne model, with a pathetically low number of ‘breadth’ courses compensating for this very insular focus.</p>