I second the recommendations of Texas and Maryland and add Michigan (Ann Arbor isn’t a huge city but the school is in the Big 10 for sports and has a very good academic reputation).
When you say Michigan, do you mean Michigan State University?^
I second Texas and Maryland. Perhaps UC Berkeley (aka “Cal”).
Michigan = University of Michigan (not sure whether or not it is on your list).
Yes, Michigan is the University of Michigan,and it is on the list for UNSW students, for certain programs.
You need to go back through the list and eliminate any with restrictions that you don’t qualify for. Some appear to be limited to specific institutions in Australia, and many are restricted to specific major fields of studies or university divisions. For example, it looks like Cornell would not be an option as the only divisions participating are ILR and HumEC. To the best of my knowledge, neither offers your major.
Once you have that adjusted short list, post it here so we can give better advice.
I will eliminate all the uni’s I don’t want to go soon. As for now, I don’t think I can go to university of Michigan since they don’t have the right courses/subjects for my major, however, Maryland does. Now, does Maryland have a good academic reputation or is it just average or below?
Maryland has a good reputation, though nobody would classify it as an elite institution.
So I’ve narrowed the following down based on being located on East Coast (I think, please verify for me).
Georgia institute of technology
University of Maryland
University of virginia
Cornell university (they have a few related courses)
Emory business school
George Washington university
Georgetown university
University of Connecticut
I’ll just need the help of you guys with finding the uni that ticks off most of my preferences:
- a uni close enough to a city just so i can visit as i want to study and sight see. I don’t mind travelling 30 mins - 1hr
- has an football stadium that is often used
- has pretty good campus life (nice people in dorms and uni students around campus are nice)
- has pretty good parties (I should be 21 when I come over)
- a uni that is academically recognised is a big plus too
Virginia and Cornell are not within 1 hour of a big city.
Emory and George Washington don’t have football teams.
I still think you should throw in Miami. It has one of the more famous football programs in the country, has a reputation as a party school, and a good academic reputation.
By the way, on the list I sent earlier, are there any unis near NYC apart from nyu.
http://www.international.unsw.edu.au/partner-universities?field_country_tid=609&field_ug_pg_tid=927
That’s the link to the list.
No. I’m guessing U Connecticut is about 2.5 hours away. That would be the closest.
What main city is close to university of Maryland?
Washington DC is 30mn by light rail. From DC you can easily get a train to Philadelphia (and, for a break, NYC ). In addition, you’ve got bus routes (bolt, megabus)
This is important because not all cities and towns have train stations in the US, so if you wish to travel it’s something else to check into.
Maybe some of the thought processes in this old thread are relevant:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1932262-where-to-go-on-exchange-in-the-us.html
Georgia institute of technology - decent school, don’t know much about it though
University of Maryland - not BAD, but not great. Football is big.
University of virginia - good school, but the football team is trash. Not an urban campus
Cornell university - very difficult to get into, not urban, not big party school, not into football
Emory business school - don’t know enough about emory
George Washington university - decently urban
Georgetown university - super urban. You will undoubtedly feel in DC. Good business school
University of Connecticut - don’t know much about UConn
Hey there!!
I’m also from Australia and i go to Monash University in Melbourne. I just started a thread with the same questions as you. Last year i got into University of Miami for exchange, but i rejected it. A real new, nice university and so modern, good party life too, but its not what i was looking for. I don’t know what you’re into other than east coast, partying and football, but i like football and would really like to rush a sorority, so I’m going for midwestern towns rather than big cities or the east coast. UNSW has way more options than we do. Anyways, If Michigan is one of the options, 100% go there. I’ve watched loads of university videos and especially MSU - they party so hard, and if your university is like mine, where on exchange all you need to do is pass, then your social life is bound to take most important role! Anyways, MSU also has a real good curriculum and subjects i was looking through! + the Spartans ROCK! Goodluck fellow Aussie 
Internationals who are there for a semester only can’t rush a sorority. Sororities have a long process, rush lasts about a semester, some (especially in the South) require recommendations from alumnae, so no sorority would invest the time to rush a woman who’s doing it for cultural discovery rather than to actually join.
Note that football season is August to December only so you have to make sure your time abroad matches that if you wish to attend, and you need to buy your tickets very early as they may run out quickly.