USyd or UNSW for Science (maybe biotech)

[Said You Look Like Trudeau]

Hi all,
I know uni starts in 2 weeks. Does anyone have any advice on UNSW vs USyd for me? I'm leaning towards UNSW but am still considering USyd heavily. Some background: was going to do premed, but I liked the look of health sciences better until I was told there were little job prospects so I decided on biotech, but am open to immunology, pathology, neuroscience, and a few more. Double majoring is something I'd like to do, else otherwise learn some programming at the minimum.

UNSW - Bachelor of Advanced Science (Honours)
Pros:
- course is pretty open in first year
- good environment
- they offer Biotechnology

Cons:
- I live south of Wollongong, so long commute
- did not offer a once off scholarship
- doesn't have data science as a secondary major, and I'd have to increase my degree up to a year to double major in stats which looks bad anyway
-There's no guaranteed professional accreditation of the Biotech major, like at UoW
-Trimesters are scaring me, and according to the student centre is likely to lengthen my degree

Usyd - Bachelor of Science/ Bachelor of Advanced Studies (advanced)
Pros:
- perceived networking is better?
- seems like an intense environment, might persuade me to work harder
- commute is better for me
- did offer a once-off scholarship
- Does have data science, and can double maj in 4 years
- Honours is 36cp instead of 48

Cons:
- I prefer UNSW's atmosphere
- No specific "biotechnology degree", but "genetics and genomics" looks similar?
- Also doesn't really list the accreditation

Any advice would be appreciated!

[RuiAce]

In my very biased opinion, UNSW without any question.

And now for a proper response. I'm looking at this and thinking that the scholarship for USyd is quite tempting, and you sound like you would much prefer data science over statistics. You seem to list more cons and fewer pros for UNSW so that's pointing at something quite significant.

The UNSW environment certainly is very nice, but I don't know if that would be what I'd look at most when deciding on a university. My only incentive to pick UNSW would be if there really ARE more job prospects by picking that option, and you feel way more comfortable having that safety net. Which isn't an unjustified opinion, but it'd be what I'd have to consider the most (especially since there's always the talk of you're gonna find a job provided you like what you do anyway)

[The Special One]

Same same.

Pick the one that's closer to you

[jamonwindeyer]

Pick the one that's closer to you

With respect, picking a university purely for the travel (or lack thereof) is an awful way to make a decision about where to invest $30,000 and 3-4 years of your life!

To the OP, it sounds like UNSW seems more tailored to what you want to study in the primary sense, but USYD has those additional skills you want - And the scholarship is nice icing. Trimesters are unlikely to lengthen your degree, and could even make things more flexible, but the decision of semesters vs trimesters should definitely play a role in your decision

I don't think you can make a wrong decision here - Both are great institutions, both are great courses, you'll come away from either highly employable. Being able to do Data Science and being given a scholarship might be enough to tip you to USYD - Make sure that "Genetics and Genomics" has everything you want and need!!

[The Special One]

I don't think you can make a wrong decision here - Both are great institutions, both are great courses, you'll come away from either highly employable. Being able to do Data Science and being given a scholarship might be enough to tip you to USYD - Make sure that "Genetics and Genomics" has everything you want and need!!

Yeah my point exactly. So OP should pick the one closest to them.

[Potatohater]

Like Rui, I also have the biased opinion of USyd (even if I havn't actually started there yet)
Actually though, I say this because as previously mentioned, you have more pros for USyd than for UNSW, and more cons for UNSW than USyd. Also, you do have a scholarship which is not something everyone gets. In the end though it comes down to what course you want to do more. eg. for me, sure, Western is infinitely closer and I could have earned a scholarship but ultimately the course I wanted to do was at USyd. So I reckon make the actual course the deciding factor.

[Said You Look Like Trudeau]

Thank you for your insight.

How bad would it be if I started off at Usyd and if I hated it transfer out to UNSW in second year considering science is quite general in first year?

[AngelWings]

Thank you for your insight.

How bad would it be if I started off at Usyd and if I hated it transfer out to UNSW in second year?

These guys can correct me on this, but often, if there are very similar units (subjects) you can actually just transfer succesfully with almost no hitches. Just make sure you do a credit transfer. In the worst case scenario, you'll just have to stick around uni for one more year. (Sometimes that's not a bad thing.)

Also, if you want to talk genetics, genomics or biotech, I'm available via PM. I've done an extended major in genetics at Monash. Won't be so handy in the NSW uni sector though, as I don't live there.

[The Special One]

These guys can correct me on this, but often, if there are very similar units (subjects) you can actually just transfer succesfully with almost no hitches. Just make sure you do a credit transfer. In the worst case scenario, you'll just have to stick around uni for one more year. (Sometimes that's not a bad thing.)

Also, if you want to talk genetics, genomics or biotech, I'm available via PM. I've done an extended major in genetics at Monash. Won't be so handy in the NSW uni sector though, as I don't live there.

Yes I don't live there either but I've seen he units and they're quite similar across the board.

I really recommend OP picks the one closest to them. Scholarships can be earned at any uni so I wouldn't personally choose a uni based on that alone.

[RuiAce]

Thank you for your insight.

How bad would it be if I started off at Usyd and if I hated it transfer out to UNSW in second year considering science is quite general in first year?

I'm with Angelwings here. It really isn't that bad at all.