What Students Say
Likes
- Professors and lecturers are approachable. They have knowledge and always ready to help you out when you go upto them after lectures or set aside different meeting times
- Infrastructure is really good. Enough systems in the student hub, laptops for rent, and university is open 24x7
- Everything has a good process and flow to it. There's different buildings for different streams, and all the help and assistance is localized within, so its easy to ask for help when it comes to studies or enrollment or study plans.
Dislikes
- Teaching assistants aren't always very knowledgeable. They are the ones who usually grade the assignments and reports if not the main professor.
- Course content of the program that I was in and the way classes are conducted doesn't really teach a lot. There isn't much emphasis on hands-on learning and the workshops are pretty much do it yourself.
- The number of rooms available to have team meetings or just study rooms isn't enough for a group. There are limited and usually have to book them online.
Course Curriculum
6
- The difficulty of my course isn't that bad, considering I have prior knowledge of Computer Science. I have batchmates who have never done computer science and they found it to be quite difficult. The assignments are also a bit challenging, as well as the final exams, which are written. The courses do involve a bit of both, with theoretical written exams as well as coding/project-based assignments
- The most positive aspect of this course is the professors are very helpful. They are always ready to help out and you can give your assignments to them to review before the actual submission to get insightful input.
- The negative aspect is that the teaching assistants aren't always the best. They don't know much about the course or subject and therefore don't really answer our questions properly when we ask
- Depending on how many classes you take up in the semester. Taking up 4 courses for the semester would result in having 4 lectures a week (1-2 hours) and workshops for those courses (1-2 hours)
- On average, it can be 2 hours a day of classes. It's based on availability of lecture rooms
- Average number of students can vary again. If it's master's-only courses, it can be anywhere between 60-200 students (200 if it includes a course that Bachelor's can take up as well). At least 30-50% students are Indian in my enrolled course
Admission Experience
- For Australia, I applied to a total of 6 universities
- University of Adelaide -> Admitted
- University of Technology, Sydney -> Shortlisted & Confirmed Admissions
- Australian National University -> Shortlisted & Confirmed Admissions
- Melbourne University -> Rejected (Profile not good enough)
- RMIT -> Shortlisted & Confirmed Admissions
- UNSW -> Admitted
- I wanted to choose the University of Adelaide because it is in a regional territory, and this would give me an extension on my visa. I also had friends and some people I knew there. I also got a scholarship which helped reduce the overall tuition fees.
- Admission process was straightforward. It was handled by IDP, and I just had to provide my documents.
- IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 6 on all bands.
- Accepted exams are IELTS, PTE, and TOEFL. Overall, the admission experience was good. No highlights to share. Semester 2, 2023 (July) intake. No factor as such; that was the earliest I could apply after my resignation from work
- Admission process took about a month. I handed all my documents to IDP and they took care of everything. I got the offer with the scholarship a month later and I accepted it.
- There is no detailed timeline for this, as once the documents were handed over, nothing else was required. IELTS was given much earlier.
Faculty
8
- The faculty-to-student ratio is approximately 1:50. I am not accounting for the teaching assistants. I believe it doesn't really affect the quality, as the lecturers address the lectures in class and students can approach them for any questions after the lecture or separately after sending a query to their email.
- Teaching methodology is straightforward. They have prepared slides and they teach us out of that. The course content and assignments are good enough to prepare you for understanding the fundamentals of the course. It might be a bit outdated and more effort would be required to actually get a job outside of uni study to secure a job.
- Their are faculty members who have networks and working closely with them can help expand your network and outreach to get references for jobs
- The lecturer for Machine learning subjects, Dr Bernard Evans, is one of the best lecturers. He knows a lot and teaches in a way that keeps students engaged
Campus Life
6
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The university has about 3 campuses
- North Terrace is the main one
- Roseworthy is another
- Waite is the third one
- The main campus, north terrace, has all facilities like libraries, sports, medical and student rooms, tutoring groups, computer systems to use or rent, 24x7 security
- Major festivals of all religions like Eid, Christmas, Diwali, Chinese New Year and lots more, are celebrated widely. They happen in the main lawns
- There are various groups and newsletters for sports such as basketball, football, soccer, cricket, and even things for non-physical sports, which could be hiking, literary book clubs, or chess clubs.
- There are student organizations that are elected to run the university's YouX group (a group which provides services to students) and follows a whole election process as well
Part Time Jobs
- So, depending on the course, TA positions are available. If you're asking for the course, it could be anywhere between 2 and 8, depending on the type of course and number of students
- And the competition is between 10-100 students applying for TA positions within that course.
- There is no RA or DA position. Pay Range for TAs are 50 per hour
- Other on-campus jobs would be working with laptop security and assisting students with the whereabouts and locations of certain buildings or general inquiries. Any on-campus job is paid the same, so 50 per hour
- According to the visa, 24 hours a week is allowed
- It is quite challenging to get on-campus part-time jobs since a lot of people go for that
- Anywhere between 24-33 per hour. Some people even work cash jobs so that might be less, but legally, you should earn like 24-25 minimum. It is difficult to get part-time employment if you don't speak english well, unless you're okay doing cash jobs and working in restaurants and cleaners. Seek and Indeed are the best places to look for part-time jobs.
- The process would be applying through the portals; they'll get a call back and then you head in for an interview. You give the interview and if they like you, they will give you the offer, which you will have to sign, provide legal verification documents for and provide referees for as well.
Placement
4
- I'd be going out on a guess here, but I would say about 30-50% secure jobs within the first 6 months currently.
- Average salary for someone in my program can be around 70-100k per year
- Finding jobs after graduation would be online websites like Seek, Indeed, Graduate Programs, LinkedIn, and Networking Events
- A batchmate of mine worked part-time from the moment she started at an IT company, so she was fortunate to have been placed in a field of her study. Most other people are not working in IT related fields or are not working at all and have to apply for jobs through the portals mentioned before.
- Major companies would be RSM, Susquehanna Group (SIG), Optiver, PWC, Accenture, and Charmonix IT.
Accommodation
Off Campus
6
- I found my accommodation online. The UniLodge website and the booking were straightforward.
- When I first stayed, it was 290 for 6 months, then 250 for the next 1 year, then 280 for the next 1 year. This includes everything (water, electricity, and Wi-Fi).
- I was looking for accommodation below 300 per week and I filtered it according to the room types. There were Scape, Yugo, Suites, and UniLodge, and this was within my budget.
- For Future students, find a place within the city for 6 months, then you can see if you want to continue staying in the city (little more expensive) or sub-urbs (cheaper but further away)
- My accommodation is 1 km away from the university, in the city centre. So it's very easy access to anything for groceries, lots of restaurants, and public transport.
Exams
- IELTS, TOEFL, and PTE are the english exams that are applicable.
- Identity documents and school/college documents are required. No LOR, SOP or CV required for admission.
- There was an interview but that was not required, as I attended the IDP seminar for australia studies and the representative said I didn't need to give an additional interview for the 30% scholarship
Fees
- The entire course was 100,000 AUD. I got a scholarship of 30%, which brought it down to 70,000 AUD.
- There is accommodation that is separate; that is around 250-350 a week, depending on where you are staying and the room type. I paid 250-300 a week for 2 years.
- Fees are paid for every credit you take for that semester.
- My monthly expense which includes rent, living, and utilities, is 1600-2000 AUD per month.
- So 250-300 for Rent per week and 60-100 a week for food/groceries; Utilities like mobile bills are 25 per month
- Eating out and shopping could be anywhere between 100-400 AUD per month, depending on how often you go out. So overall, 1600-2000 AUD
Scholarship
- I received a scholarship of 30% called the Global Citizens International Scholarship. It is based on your undergraduate degree grades
- There was no amount; it was 30% but it would come to around 30,000 AUD of the entire tuition fees.
- Most of my batchmates received the same scholarship.
- I'm unsure about the actual amount, but I'd say at least 30-50% receive the scholarship.
