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March 29, 2024, 06:45:54 pm

Author Topic: American with Questions  (Read 1038 times)  Share 

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adam0302

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American with Questions
« on: September 27, 2010, 12:49:20 am »
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Alright so as the title says I'm American. Recently recieved a conditional offer for July 2011 entry into policy studies. Got a couple questions that I hope people can help me answer.

1. Anyone familiar with policy studies, economics, or anything in the social sciences....How is the teaching? Research oppurtunities for undergrads? Workload?
2. I know this question is really repetitive, but whenever I see the question answered it's never really an in-depth answer. What is Canberra like? Obviously I would be there to study but I wouldn't want to get bored in my freetime. What's a typical night like? Typical weekend?  I'm pretty big on cycling, is canberra cyclist friendly?
3. Is it fairly easy to get from canberra to sydeny? I know it's around 3 and a half hours...but is it reasonable to go to sydeny for the weekend maybe friday to sunday? How do people go about getting there?
4. I'm kind of mixed on housing. Basically it's between unilodge or something like bruce hall. I could really go either way for catered or self-catered. At first I was kind of leaning towards one of the traditional halls...but unilodge caught my attention. Any experience with unilodge?
5. If I were to go self-catered can you help me get an idea of what I would spend on food for the week? Here are my eating habits in the US. I eat at a restaruant 2-3 times a week (decen restaruants in canberra by the way?). For breakfast I either have ceral with milk, granola bar, or eggs. For lunch I usually have a sandwich, with meat, tuna or a spread. For dinner I have chicken or beef (fish if it's fresh), rice (or something along these lines), and then vegetables. I'll snack throughout the day...protein bar, fruit, etc. What do you think I'd end up spending per week on food? If you can't answer this, could you maybe post the cost of common foods...I'm just trying to get an idea of how much money I would need.
6. What is the reputation of ANU in Australia? Back here in the states, for the people who are familiar with international unis, ANU has a very strong reputation above the rest of the 8. But from a bit of reading a lot of people in Australia say ANU is sometimes a bit behind sydney and melbourne. This is fine with me. My question is, for employment prospects is ANU about the same as sydney and melbourne, or is it a bit behind (in Australia specifically)?
7. Because the seasons are switched in the US, we are on a completely different academic year schedule. Our year starts in August and goes through december. We have a break and then start up again at the end of January...then finish in may. (hence why I would be starting in July) I just want to make sure I understand the academic year in Australia. Start in febuary and end in june. Then start in July and end in October? Is this correct?

Any insight is greatly appreciated!!
« Last Edit: September 27, 2010, 01:00:16 am by adam0302 »

Gloamglozer

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Re: American with Questions
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2010, 04:09:10 am »
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For questions 1-6, Eriny, /0 or humph will be able to answer those questions confidently.  For question 7:

Yes, you are pretty much correct there.  In a university where they have two semesters, the first semester usually starts at the end of February or at the start of March and it ends roughly at the end of May or at the start of June.  Then you have Swotvac and then exams.  Semester 2 usually starts in July/August and ends in October/November.  During the each semester, you will also have "mid-semester breaks" will last 1-2 weeks depending on the university.

Bachelor of Science (Mathematics & Statistics) - Discrete Mathematics & Operations Research

Eriny

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Re: American with Questions
« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2010, 11:53:27 pm »
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Canberra isn't so bad. Really. Everything you might need is either on campus or a 15 minute walk into civic - that includes doctors, newsagents, supermarkets, movie cinema, bookstores, pubs/bars/clubs, etc. People say that it is dull, and I suppose that's quite true, but when you live on campus alongside about 4000 other students, there are lots of things to do. Colleges have about 4 events per week, and your best friends are only down the hallway. The buses are actually fairly reliable too and it is a good place for riding a bicycle because it is so flat.

I've done a lot of social sciences, and ANU is a really great place for it. It's in the capital, so a lot of policy work gets done in Canberra. I've heard rather mixed things about the economic lecturers, but there are a lot of good social sciences lecturers, particularly in later year subjects. A few times I've had lecturers who have written 20 books on the subject they are lecturing and they are usually really engaging. Not always, of course there are dull boring lecturers too.

If you book online and early, you can get a bus to Sydney for $15 and lots of people from Sydney bus/drive back for weekends, particularly long weekends. In all likelihood, you could make a friend from Sydney and stay with them, or at least get a lift from them. You can also fly to Sydney relatvely cheaply, but I think the bus is a better option because there's less messing around at airports. The bus station is in walking distance from the uni.

I personally quite like UniLodge, and they do have people there for pastoral care and for organising events and such, so it's not unlike 'traditional' halls and colleges. And the fact that rent is actually going down next year makes it a really enticing option, and in fact I've applied to move there. The other halls are really good too. Realistically, all the halls offer pretty much the same things at comparable prices apart from Fenner and B&G being self-catered only. I think you can be happy in any of those places, but most people say that for catered, Burgmann and Bruce seem to be the best. I'm not sure whether or not it is true.

I'm in the Burgmann postgrad village this year, so I have some experience with self-catering. Restaurants in Canberra are by and large quite expensive but there are some really awesome cheap ones too like Asian Noodle House (they have awesome laksas) and Happy's (Chinese food mostly). I usually go out about once a week and probably get lunch in union court once or twice a week, the rest I prepare in the kitchen. I probably spend $25-$30 a week on groceries just for me and probably another $25-$30 eating out. I eat mostly pasta, minced beef, chicken, steak and rice and vegetables like spinach, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, etc. This option is much cheaper than catered accommodation.

ANU is a great university, but particularly for research. We are ranked top in Australia according to some rankings and second according to other rankings, so it's really up there. As a graduate, your employment prospects would be pretty much the same as a Sydney/Melbourne graduate. The average starting salary for an ANU graduate, I believe, is about 44k.