<p>Ive recently realized how highly ranked the australian universities are. Ive been looking into three of them. Australian National University. University of Sydney. And University of Melbourne. So i have some questions... Whats the environment like? Are the people friendly overall and what is it like for international students? What is the community like? What is there to do? If anybody currently goes there or did what was your overall experience like? also how hard was it to get in? Any extra info would be great? Thanks... PS i also know that they are all within a close distance of the ocean... What are the beaches like?</p>
<p>Try here:</p>
<p>[Study</a> Connect Study In Australia StudyConnect.com](<a href=“http://www.studyconnect.com/forums/index.php?]Study”>http://www.studyconnect.com/forums/index.php?)</p>
<p>just to make some generalizations:
ANU is a really good university but it’s located in Canberra so most people spend most of their time studying.
USyd and UMel are big and you won’t feel any real sense of community like you would on an American campus. The quality of teaching leaves much to be desired but if you wisely use the resource available you can still get a decent educational experience. Life in these two cities is pretty good, of course. And you pay about the same amount of money as you would to an American college (approx. 35,000 AUSD tuition fees + living cost which is high).
Major reason you should consider Australia : legal Drinking age is 18!!!</p>
<p>The Australian higher education system is vastly different to the one you have. In terms of getting an offer, this will often (but not always) be dependent on academic merit alone (i.e. ATAR, our equilvalent to SAT). Most universities have a separate cut off requirement for students from overseas educational systems, or at the very least, do have some method of converting scores. You will find that ATAR cut offs range from 50-99.95, the latter ATAR being required for entry into Combined Medicine at USyd. Combined Law degrees at USyd and UNSW were 99.70 and 99.65 respectively. Business degrees (often called Commerce degrees) are around 95.5 and 96.7 at USyd and UNSW respectively. The ATAR cutt offs are usualyl significantly lower at UMelb, ANU etc, but cut offs are determined on the basis of supply and demand. Regardless, the smartest students in Australia do usually come from NSW because of its extensive academic selective school system, most of whom go to USyd/UNSW. If you want to find out more about the cut off requirements, visit the UAC at [Universities</a> Admissions Centre (UAC) - Apply for Australian tertiary study](<a href=“http://www.uac.edu.au/]Universities”>http://www.uac.edu.au/)</p>
<p>Also, don’t be persuaded by rankings. Unlike the States, no Australian university has a national reputation - they only have regional reputations. Nobody in New South Wales gives a rats arse about UMelb, and likewise for those in Victoria about USyd/UNSW. Most students don’t really regard ANU as being in the same league at UMelb, USyd, UNSW and UQld. As we all know, rankings are influenced heavily by research output and that is what ANU predominatly does. That isn’t to say ANU is a great university - they have great facilities, professors, environment etc., but rather you won’t be able to experience the same academic rigour and social life at the aforementioned four universities.</p>
<p>Following on from that, if you’re looking at internships or graduate positions, the same applies about regional reputations. Assuming that you go to USyd/UNSW, business, commercial law, mathemathical and other quantitative positions are dominated by UNSW graduates. Everything else goes to USyd. In a way, you could say that UNSW is Australia’s MIT/Chicago/CalTech whilst USyd is Australia’s Yale/Princeton. Employers seldom recruit from other states. Personally, I would avoid ANU and choose from eithr UMelb, USyd or UNSW, depending on what you want to major in. ANU/UTS/Macq/UWS/UOW are seen as the university for students who didn’t make it into USyd/UNSW.</p>
<p>Finally, the overall social scene is usually regarded as better at USyd, whereas UNSW is seen to have the best events of the year. UNSW is about 10-15mins away from the beach, whilst USyd is about 30-40 minutes away. Both not that far.</p>
<p>@jieunni</p>
<p>I agree with jieunni, i’m a current student in usyd and i’m trying to transfer to canadian university. Personal preference aside, university in sydney would be A L O T different from uni in canada/american… lectures, professors, classes etc. </p>
<p>most importantly, if you plan to work in usa, a canadian/american uni would be more suitable and recognised</p>
<p>I can only speak for Uni of Melbourne buuuuuuut:</p>
<p>There’s a lot of ethnic diversity - many Asian/Indian students - though nobody lives on campus other than interstate/international students. People are very friendly yet there isn’t the social scene on campus like any American colleges.</p>
<p>It’s fairly close to the ocean, though for fairly nice beaches you have to go a bit further around the bay and if you want surf it’s a good hours drive. </p>
<p>In terms of entrance, it IS most based off of your ATAR, which is a solely Australian based thing, similar to what you might do in terms of APs. I’d imagine that your SAT would not be of much impact on admissions, so focus on GPA/APs. Depending on what you want to study, it’s good to have done AP classes given that is a similar standard to Australian high school - especially in calculus and chemistry.</p>
<p>So if the main things (as of now, i still have a ways to go before i actually figure out what college I’m going to) Im looking for in a college, is great access to the beach, amazing education, great town, and an awesome social scene I should probably stick to canada/Us?My first choices so far (location wise) are Vancouver and maybe Victoria Canada. Seriously whats not to love about canada though? lol. I think the real reason I was drawn to the Australian colleges was because It seemed like it had all these things… Let me know what you think. :)</p>
<p>Just a correction to one of the above posts, SATs are accepted as alternative entry scores for some institutions. For example, [How</a> to apply for the Sydney LLB - Domestic students - Future students - The University of Sydney](<a href=“http://sydney.edu.au/law/fstudent/undergrad/apply_local.shtml]How”>How to apply - The University of Sydney)</p>
<p>You’re really lucky in the sense that international students have cut offs below what the local student needs to attain. The contrast to this is that you have to pay international full fees which are about 24k a year.</p>
<p>With respect to your post, UNSW has all that you ask for. Many students who live too far away to commute often liften in the Coogee/Bondi area - those two areas being famous in Australia for its beaches. USyd takes just a little longer.</p>
<p>The thing with social scene is that it is really different to the States. We don’t have fraternities and sororities, but this doesn’t mean the social scene is lacking. If you asked Australian students what those were, they probably wouldn’t know, only because we have other student societies to make up for it.</p>
<p>Australia is great place to study. I’m going on exchange later this year to the States and I’m really excited about that, but I’ve been previously educated abroad in the United Kingdom and the States. It’s a good experience. However, if you do want to go back to the United States to work, I think a university like McGill would be better recognised. I’d be hesistant to say that Australian universities are internationally reknown. UNSW/ANU/USyd/UMelb really only have influences in the Oceanic/Asia region.</p>
<p>Happykid has been plotting ways to get back to Australia ever since a family vacation there. One thing that she has looked at for the colleges she is applying to (all in the US), is whether or not any Australian unis are on the list of regular exchange programs. That could work for you too.</p>