What Students Say
Likes
- Firstly, USYD has a very beautiful campus that gives Hogwarts vibes
- Next, I would say the learning environment, the university provides like access to library and learning hubs 24/7
- Some aspects of my course curriculum that gave the practical exposure in the fields I'm specializing in
Dislikes
- Old fashioned assessment methods: I didn't expect pen-paper exams when I joined the university. I genuinely believe that this is completely waste of time and efforts - some better assessments methods that are more practical in nature should have been included
- Limited support from Careers office: They just wanted to follow the predefined methods instead guiding on a personal basis as per the profile of the student. I was quite disappointed whenever I went there
- Boring Lectures - some lecturers just deliver the lectures by reading the slide content majority of the time
Course Curriculum
6
- Difficulty level was not that much - students can easily pass the course - just have to be consistent and attend the workshops/tutorials
- More of a mix of both - theory and practical (assignments)
- I have mentioned both positive and negative aspects in one of the prior responses
- Timetable is flexible - there are so many options available, and students can schedule their own timetable as when they want
- Average number of students - not sure of that, to be honest but in finance course, more than 1000 I guess
- Majority of the University students are Chinese, then some Indians and then other nationalities - but mainly Chinese in my course - around 20% Indians
Admission Experience
-
I applied to around 5-6 colleges from the group of top 8 universities in Australia and got the acceptance letter from every university I applied to. Below are the colleges:
- University of Sydney
- University of New South Wales
- Australian National University
- University of Adelaide
- RMIT
- Monash University
- University College Dublin (was planning for Ireland earlier)
- Firstly, the admission process for this university was very quick and this university was ranked better than other universities at that time when I was applying. Its employability rank was another factor, Plus the location was premium and I have been aware of the work-life balance and some other factors from one of my relatives living there.
- Admission process was quite sorted; I took help from an agent to apply here - I just shared all the required documents (the normal academic ones) and it was done - I received the optional acceptance letter and then I just had to attempt the IELTS exam and get the minimum score required.
- Only IELTS is needed and 6.5 is the minimum score required. No challenges as such
- I applied for the July intake, as I was working beforehand and had a notice period of 2 months to serve in that company.
- Admission process started in January and was completed within 2 months. By march, I had the final letter of admission and then I started the visa process, which further took one month, which included the collection of all the documents needed and then applying for student visa. I remember, I received the visa around 21st April 2023
Faculty
8
- Not sure about the faculty-to-student ratio - in lectures there can be more than 100 in a lecture theatre but in a workshop, max capacity is 30 students
- Teaching Methodology depends on person to person; I have encountered some great teachers who focus on the real-life aspects of the course but have also seen some who just read from the slides, and then they are done.
- The answer can be yes or no - it depends on the students and how well they network with the faculty members
- I admire one of my finance professors the most, as he helped our class to know more deeply how the corporates work instead of just teaching as per the course guidelines - he designed our project as per what's the industry standard, not as per the academic guidelines - so that's what stand out to me the most
Campus Life
10
- It has so many campuses - I can't list each and every one, as I only used to go to the business school majorly
- Every facility mentioned is available - sports, library, cafes, and yes, medical services too
- USU FESTs at the beginning of the semester and multiple other events at so many locations conducted during the semester
- I used the badminton court and gym mostly
Part Time Jobs
- NO IDEA about these questions of part-time opportunities, as I haven't tries for any
- Pay range - again no idea at all
- Other on-campus opportunities - casual roles from Student Life, USU, and the Business School - that's what I know
- Max Hours - 48 hours per fortnight
- I have never tried to apply for the on-campus opportunities!
- It depends on the person where they want to work - students with experience (like me) try to get professional jobs in their field but do work in casual roles as well in retail/hospitality/food industry. then I would say getting part-time job as well is quite difficult for international students. I used platforms like Linkedin/Seek to apply for the part-time job I did - Earnings depends on the industry they are working in!
Placement
2
- Majority of the students secures employment within 6 months of graduation
- Average salary range is around 70-90K AUD per annum (not that much)
- Platforms like LinkedIn, Seek, Indeed are helpful applying for for the listed jobs and increasing the network
- Companies that hire graduates - EY, KPMG, GT, Deloitte, McKinsey, PWC and many more
- But overall I can't comment on this and I have been looking for jobs myself!
Accommodation
Off Campus
6
- I opted for off-campus accommodation, but I stayed with my cousin for the entire first semester so won't be able to answer this question in detail but after the first semester I tried to apply for the on-campus accommodations, but they were majorly on a waitlist, so I randomly checked flatmates and started going on inspections and finalised one!
- Mine was around 30 mins walk from Campus
- Also, for the recommendation, apps like flatmates and facebook marketplace are useful to find an accommodation within your budget.
Exams
- IELTS/PTE was required for master's program at USYD
- All the documents mentioned - Statement of Purpose, CV and Letter of Recommendations—were needed to complete the admission process at USYD. Along with these, academic documents were also required - 10th Marksheet, 12th marksheet, bachelor's degree certificate, DU Transcript, provisional certificate from college.
Fees
-
Semester Vise Fees - It increases each semester, and I remember there are some student amenities fees as well each semester. For me, it was overall around 21-23K AUD per semester - so around 90,000 AUD approximately in total
- Monthly expenses - around 2,500-3,000 AUD
- Rent - 1200-1800 AUD
- Transportation - 150-200 AUD
- Grocery - 400-600 AUD
- Phone Bill - 30-40 AUD
- Other Expenses - 100-200 AUD
Scholarship
- Yes, there are some scholarships available - one that was easily received was 20% of the tuition fees discounted - that most of the students received. But there were 2 separate scholarships as well for 5,000 and 10,000 AUD that students have to apply for separately.
- One of my batchmates received this Sydney-India Scholarship (I don't remember the name exactly)
- 20% of tuition fees - majorly all of the international students who apply generally receive this one!
- Not sure about the other two, as I didn't get any.
