Studying as an international student in Australia

Original post by shaunaclune19

Hi, I'm an international student looking to study Undergraduate psychology in Australia. At the moment I am looking at Melbourne (Monash and University of Melbourne).

What is life like as an international student and what are the advantages and disadvantages of living as a student in Melbourne?

This is a UK site so you may not get many responses. See if the uni has student life pages and maybe a students union?

Reply 2

Im not an international student but an Au native, with friends in Melbourne - as far as I'm aware its a very good life, full of things to do. Melbourne is incredibly international, but its also quite socially left wing so you'll probably have a great time! Even the architecture is quite nice, I'm from Perth and we suffered the 70s brutialism which Melbourne avoided somewhat. I would go to Uni Melb if I were you, Monash etc. has less of a strong reputation. Feel free to ask anymore questions!

Reply 3

Original post by ladyread

Im not an international student but an Au native, with friends in Melbourne - as far as I'm aware its a very good life, full of things to do. Melbourne is incredibly international, but its also quite socially left wing so you'll probably have a great time! Even the architecture is quite nice, I'm from Perth and we suffered the 70s brutialism which Melbourne avoided somewhat. I would go to Uni Melb if I were you, Monash etc. has less of a strong reputation. Feel free to ask anymore questions!

Depends on the course, Monash has a better reputation for international law and some other fields. Most academics I've talked to from Victoria usually say that there isn't much difference between Monash and Melbourne... It just depends on where you like more and your chosen field. Of course reputation in general is a different story as you have pointed out.

TL;DR: Don't think Monash is a bad choice but agree with what you said :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 4

Original post by wolfmoon88

Depends on the course, Monash has a better reputation for international law and some other fields. Most academics I've talked to from Victoria usually say that there isn't much difference between Monash and Melbourne... It just depends on where you like more and your chosen field. Of course reputation in general is a different story as you have pointed out.

TL;DR: Don't think Monash is a bad choice but agree with what you said :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Oh totally with you there! Law at Uni Melb though, even out of state, will look better. Plus due to the short life force of Aus unis, anything sandstone is a good sell. However, a warning is that Melb does come with the rampant snobbery, it's sort of our version of the Oxbridge wars and the stereotype does have some grounding in reality. But once again, thats the kind of thing you get with any sandstone uni - the presumption that anyone who didn't go into an elite uni must have been an idiot.

Disadvantages of living in Melb

•

Cultural snobs. Disclaimer: I am from WA, we don't get along with the Eastern States much at all, so I am salty. But snobs really does stand.

•

Expensive. Kind of like mortgaging a kidney to live there, but once again, thats pretty much every Aus capital.

•

Public transport is fair, but if you're from a big place like London or Singapore, its going to look sad. Once again, it's very good for Australia, its just responding to our population and enormous urban sprawl.

•

Drinking culture is huge in general, but once again that depends where you're from. It's an Australian thing.

•

AFL wars. An Australian thing.

•

Pretentious rep.

•

People do tend to stick with friends from high school or friends they make in class - in general students are much less likely to live on campus at any Australian uni, so it can take longer to make friends. Saying that, my best friend of several years now became close to me in my first week, while others I met by accident.

•

Be ready to commute. I'm not sure if there's really a large amount of student accommodation, but either way Australia is commuter country. I travel 40 mins by car just to get to uni, and thats the nearest one to me.

•

Class difference still lurks, just harder to notice.

•

Indigenous relations wars. Super gross. S**t hits the fan around Australia day every year.

Advantages

•

ARTY AS ANYTHING. If you like art, culture, music, good food (although sell another organ to afford it, and it can be sometimes overrated) this is the place for you! Really a joy, and lots of international stuff happens there

•

Super multicultural

•

Very very left wing, with the Greens party having some sway (they rarely have any sway in Australia, except in the Senate.)

•

Very pretty - kept a lot of the Victorian and Edwardian stuff, and kinda clean? From what I hear its a much of a muchness, one friend who went to uni there said Melbourne was a bit gross, others say it just depends where you are.

•

Uni options - everywhere

•

Relatively cheap to fly to other Eastern States

•

Much less pollution than other capitals around the world.

•

Edit: also forgot, the natural sites of Australia are without compare.

An overarching thing to point out is Australia is exceptionally pricey to live in. If you can deal with that, you will have a lovely time.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 5

Original post by ladyread

Oh totally with you there! Law at Uni Melb though, even out of state, will look better. Plus due to the short life force of Aus unis, anything sandstone is a good sell. However, a warning is that Melb does come with the rampant snobbery, it's sort of our version of the Oxbridge wars and the stereotype does have some grounding in reality. But once again, thats the kind of thing you get with any sandstone uni - the presumption that anyone who didn't go into an elite uni must have been an idiot.

Disadvantages of living in Melb

•

Cultural snobs. Disclaimer: I am from WA, we don't get along with the Eastern States much at all, so I am salty. But snobs really does stand.

•

Expensive. Kind of like mortgaging a kidney to live there, but once again, thats pretty much every Aus capital.

•

Public transport is fair, but if you're from a big place like London or Singapore, its going to look sad. Once again, it's very good for Australia, its just responding to our population and enormous urban sprawl.

•

Drinking culture is huge in general, but once again that depends where you're from. It's an Australian thing.

•

AFL wars. An Australian thing.

•

Pretentious rep.

•

People do tend to stick with friends from high school or friends they make in class - in general students are much less likely to live on campus at any Australian uni, so it can take longer to make friends. Saying that, my best friend of several years now became close to me in my first week, while others I met by accident.

•

Be ready to commute. I'm not sure if there's really a large amount of student accommodation, but either way Australia is commuter country. I travel 40 mins by car just to get to uni, and thats the nearest one to me.

•

Class difference still lurks, just harder to notice.

•

Indigenous relations wars. Super gross. S**t hits the fan around Australia day every year.

Advantages

•

ARTY AS ANYTHING. If you like art, culture, music, good food (although sell another organ to afford it, and it can be sometimes overrated) this is the place for you! Really a joy, and lots of international stuff happens there

•

Super multicultural

•

Very very left wing, with the Greens party having some sway (they rarely have any sway in Australia, except in the Senate.)

•

Very pretty - kept a lot of the Victorian and Edwardian stuff, and kinda clean? From what I hear its a much of a muchness, one friend who went to uni there said Melbourne was a bit gross, others say it just depends where you are.

•

Uni options - everywhere

•

Relatively cheap to fly to other Eastern States

•

Much less pollution than other capitals around the world.

•

Edit: also forgot, the natural sites of Australia are without compare.

An overarching thing to point out is Australia is exceptionally pricey to live in. If you can deal with that, you will have a lovely time.

The AFL rivalries are really a thing... I generally support Western Bulldogs when I watch :wink:

though my best friend prefers Sydney Swans :tongue:

I guess we can't be friends now? xD

That aside... I heard for international students, we don't really have the best academic reputation anyways due to our entry requirements being much lower than Aussies. (Though I heard the entry requirements for some unis were lower due to changes in educational standards in certain states... unsure about the truth of this though)

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 6

Original post by wolfmoon88

The AFL rivalries are really a thing... I generally support Western Bulldogs when I watch :wink:

though my best friend prefers Sydney Swans :tongue:

I guess we can't be friends now? xD

That aside... I heard for international students, we don't really have the best academic reputation anyways due to our entry requirements being much lower than Aussies. (Though I heard the entry requirements for some unis were lower due to changes in educational standards in certain states... unsure about the truth of this though)

Posted from TSR Mobile

Honestly I'm a Freo Supporter and things with Eagles supporters get...messy. So no you cannot be friends!!

OOh which country are you coming from? Australia its per state and uni - like if you go to ECU, you're going to supertafe (aka British equivalent being supersixthform). My university used to be super lame when it started in the 90s, now its one of the top ranked in the country.

Reply 7

Original post by ladyread

Honestly I'm a Freo Supporter and things with Eagles supporters get...messy. So no you cannot be friends!!

OOh which country are you coming from? Australia its per state and uni - like if you go to ECU, you're going to supertafe (aka British equivalent being supersixthform). My university used to be super lame when it started in the 90s, now its one of the top ranked in the country.

Aww didn't know AFL was taken that seriously :redface:

but I suppose that makes sense :lol:

though I do think AF is kinda a funny sport :tongue:

Taiwan and nah I decided not to go to Australia for uni. Ah that makes sense :smile:

per state and uni that is. That's like a lot of Aussie unis tbh like many are like under 50 years old and are excellent: Curtin, UTS, RMIT, come to mind (James Cook as well for biology?)

Reply 8

Original post by wolfmoon88

Aww didn't know AFL was taken that seriously :redface:

but I suppose that makes sense :lol:

though I do think AF is kinda a funny sport :tongue:

Taiwan and nah I decided not to go to Australia for uni. Ah that makes sense :smile:

per state and uni that is. That's like a lot of Aussie unis tbh like many are like under 50 years old and are excellent: Curtin, UTS, RMIT, come to mind (James Cook as well for biology?)

afl is a very odd sport! if you ever visit fremantle after a derby, wear a helmet. everyone has alcohol. war has been declared.
ah yeah most asian countries have us all headscratching - partly from the third world country (i know it’s super racist) assumption, and our education standard is really high anyway due to people having to go to school or learn a trade.

that is true, although it’s discipline related. for eg i wouldn’t really go to curtin for an arts course, i’d rather pick uwa or notre dame (i went to the latter because uwa was haemmoraging staff and their students were ego maniacs that i knew). but curtin for science is exceptional! big problem is stupid QS and Times rankings, which often don’t include non research geared institutions such as Notre Dame - ND isn’t even on thestudentroom listing for australia *smh*

for an aspiring oxbridge candidate, i really hate elitism without foundation.

for the OP @shaunaclune19 i would check https://www.gooduniversitiesguide.com.au for the best assessment of any university you’ll get in australia. it covers a lot of the stuff times and QS doesn’t.

Reply 9

Original post by ladyread

afl is a very odd sport! if you ever visit fremantle after a derby, wear a helmet. everyone has alcohol. war has been declared.
ah yeah most asian countries have us all headscratching - partly from the third world country (i know it’s super racist) assumption, and our education standard is really high anyway due to people having to go to school or learn a trade.

that is true, although it’s discipline related. for eg i wouldn’t really go to curtin for an arts course, i’d rather pick uwa or notre dame (i went to the latter because uwa was haemmoraging staff and their students were ego maniacs that i knew). but curtin for science is exceptional! big problem is stupid QS and Times rankings, which often don’t include non research geared institutions such as Notre Dame - ND isn’t even on thestudentroom listing for australia *smh*

for an aspiring oxbridge candidate, i really hate elitism without foundation.

for the OP @shaunaclune19 i would check https://www.gooduniversitiesguide.com.au for the best assessment of any university you’ll get in australia. it covers a lot of the stuff times and QS doesn’t.

Sorry for the late reply, haven't visited the site in a couple of days :redface:

I'll keep that in mind when I visit Australia! Yeah from what I've seen from Aussie friends, your education system is well structured in a lot of cases.- I think higher education institutions really just want money from us internationals that's why some international students may be sub par :/

Like everything is discipline related :tongue:

I agree, international rankings often use methodology that undervalues non research geared institutions or even smaller institutions.

I don't think many Aussie unis are on the TSR listing for Australia and really for students from the UK, most go to the "Big 5" if they go to Australia. I can check the listing to make it more comprehensive :smile:

As a former Oxbridge candidate and a person going to an uni with a reputation for elitism... I agree.

Reply 10

Original post by wolfmoon88

Sorry for the late reply, haven't visited the site in a couple of days :redface:

I'll keep that in mind when I visit Australia! Yeah from what I've seen from Aussie friends, your education system is well structured in a lot of cases.- I think higher education institutions really just want money from us internationals that's why some international students may be sub par :/

Like everything is discipline related :tongue:

I agree, international rankings often use methodology that undervalues non research geared institutions or even smaller institutions.

I don't think many Aussie unis are on the TSR listing for Australia and really for students from the UK, most go to the "Big 5" if they go to Australia. I can check the listing to make it more comprehensive :smile:

As a former Oxbridge candidate and a person going to an uni with a reputation for elitism... I agree.

Our ed system is incredibly well structured, v broad which some see as a benefit? some as a low point, it depends!

thank you! we do get quite a few american students coming to my uni surprisingly, partly because we have a campus in sydney.

did you decide not to go to oxbridge?

Reply 11