Australia

[baer]

Hi,

I've been a member of this forum but I didn't find enough information about the universities in Australia. This year I applied to two australian universities (University of Western Australia and UNSW@ADFA). For UWA you can find some information (ranking and its education quality in web). However, I didn't find anything about ADFA campus of UNSW. In addition, I need information about the cities where these universities was founded (especially which one is more suitable for an overseas graduate student regarding living expenditures, accommodation, public transportation, etc).

Thanks for your help.

[new_to_kin]

I'm an Aussie living in Canada. Canberra is an easy city to live in, though it would be handy to have a car (transit not good). ADFA is the defence forces uni, everyone must march around campus (literally) and salute profs if they are ranked. My Dad has done some guest teaching there. Personally, i wouldn't go to ADFA. Most people there are enlisted and have to do training etc. If you're not doing that you'll be in the minority.

UWA. Perth will prob be on par with Canberra is terms of cost of living, but the public transport is good. Better climate, better beaches. BUT it's a long way from anything else in Aus so if you want to travel for fun, it's a long way and expensive to go anywhere. It's like living in Alaska except warm (in terms of isolation).

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more specific questions. Is there a reason you didn't apply to the more highly regarded places? USyd, UNSW, Uni Adelaide, Monash, UniMelb?

[baer]

First thanks for your valuable information. As I know, in Australia a PhD candidate must first find a suitable supervisor who will guide his/her postgraduate research. However, I could find only two academic staff willing to supervise me. In addition, I think that it is too late to apply to scholarships for the next semester commencing in Jun 2012. Therefore, I have no other chance (except Queen Marry London) if one of these universities offer a place for me. I think that being a part of the army is impossible for people not citizen of that country. In this case, could you tell me what do you explicitly mean by saying that I will be minority? Finally, according to some realiable instutitions (The Times, QS , etc) UWA is at least as good as UNSW and better than USyd and Adelaide in engineering and also ADFA in Canberra is a campus of UNSW. Could you rank ADFA by comparing it with any university in Canada or US?

[new_to_kin]

Firstly, are you even sure that they would accept you for a mid-year entry? The academic year begins in March in the Sthn Hemisphere. When I looked into a PhD there it wasn't possible as there were some compulsory seminars that only took place t the beginning of the year.

UWA is a good uni, but it is in Perth - a nice place but inconveniently located. It will depend on your field which uni is better, but I would normally rank USyd over UNSW.

Here's the deal with ADFA. All of hte undergrads will be cadets. Hence the fact that is the Defence Force Academy. It would be like going to West Point. Everyone will be in uniform and they march around campus. Yes, you get a degree from UNSW, but it is not the same institution. Just like if you go to the Australian Institute of Sport you also get a UNSW degree. I didn't even know that there was a PhD offered by ADFA. You cannot rank ADFA because it is not an institution that you can just apply to - it's only for the armed forces. That is why I would be VERY wary of going there.

I know tuition and living will be an issue as typically there are only a few scholarhips for international students (local students do not pay tuition for research degrees). It is also not standard to provide a stipend or a TAship as local students can get Austudy - a govt living allowance. It's just not inbuilt into the system as it is in nth America.

If I had to compare UWA to an American uni....maybe something like UCSB or Illinois Champaign-Urbana. A second tier school in a regional location. I would compare USyd and UNSW to top schools - Columbia etc. We don't have any schools that are high and above the others like Ivy Leagues, but USyd, UNSW and UniMelb are probably as close as you'd get to the most prestigious.

If you're into engineering then I would look at: UNSW, UTS, USyd, UniMelb, UAdelaide, Monash, UQld.