Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Study Abroad in Australia or New Zealand

I am a student and am thinking about spending next semester in Australia or New Zealand. I am a political science major and enjoy art, culture, and most of all food. Any advise on the best play to study would be great.

ClimbGuy, What are your options and preferences re. the available courses and your off-campus interests? Aside from climbing. :D

One difference in most of Australia is that most students live off-campus. However in my experience, an exchange would mean you are living on campus.

Thus a university with a great on-campus life is something to consider. Is the University of Sydney on your list? If you prefer a smaller town location, is the Unversity of Wollongong (1 hr from Sydney) or Newcastle (2 hrs...) on your list of options?

The location and environment of Wollongong is beautiful - worth a good look, whatever you decide, and close to lots of sporting activities if you want to make the most of the outdoors.

Outside the standard universities you'd also have the Catholic universities on the list - and as a very long shot, Bond University on the Gold Coast.

Hope this helps. I think you'll love it here as a student. :)

University of Sydney is on the list so is Wollongong and New Castle. While I could be talked into something else I think I would rather be in an urban area.

My schools contacts with IFSA bulter. A full list of campuses are here:
Australia: http://www.ifsa-butler.org/programs/australia/
New Zealand: http://www.ifsa-butler.org/programs/new_zealand/

In the upper right hand corner there there is a list of schools. In readint the details the program offers on-campus housing but I am going to try and opt to live off campus. One of the major downsides to living on campus is you are requred to buy into a meal plan which would prevent (or make a lot more expensive) to enjoy the food.

I spent 6 months at the University of Otago.
Wonderful place and a very good school.
If you like adventure sports, the Otago area is excellent. And for more thrills, Queenstown is just a couple of hours away.

In the three stints I've spent as an exchange student in different countries, I've only spent one week living on-campus (well, maybe not exactly "on-campus", but at least university owned. I stayed at "F*ck Towers" at UCSB while waiting for the previous occupant of my apartment to move out. Good times with clueless and cute freshman California girls :))

I like adventure sports, but I really want to be in a city.

thanks for all the help.

I went to Uni in Sydney (UTS) graduated 2004.

I would suggest UNSW or U Sydney. UNSW is by far the best university in Sydney/NSW so you will get quality learning and it has a pretty good collegiate feel, Sydney is probably in a bit more interesting location close to Newtown, which has some pretty good restaurants that are cheap to (I did a year of Arts at Sydney). I noticed UTS (University of Technology) is also on the list. I would tend to avoid it. Thats where I got my degree and to tell you the truth whilst it is an excellent school academically, it is probably also the most sterile of all the campuses in Sydney, there is really no socialising, in 3 years there I do not have one person who I still speak to from Uni. Come to think of it I don't think they have a Political degree anyway.

Macquarie Uni is also good but abit far out of the action especially if your using public transport and what to live abit central to where things are happening.

If you need anymore help PM me or post here.

Bensyd, I'll try and keep my posts here for the benifit of the community.

As a political science major I was debated between being in Canberra at ASU or in Sydney. How do the two cities compare?

Also, overall is there a "best school" in the country and if so which one is it?

thanks for all the help.

I did my master at Bond Uni on the Gold Coast and absolutely loved it.
I don't think they have much in regards to political science though.

Canberra is a bit of a regional centre, not really a city to be honest

I went to UNSW and certainly it and Sydney are a level above the rest of the universities in sydney. ANU is very well regarded, particularly for pol sci, and the other top uni's in aus would be monash and melbourne. I suspect ANU would be the best for your course but it is in the suckiest location, I won't comment on the melbourne unis as I don't know them well enough but unsw has more of a leaning towards applied courses while sydney has more of a leaning towards the arts. To be honest I think in terms of the coursework you won't have an issue with any of them so the choice will more come down to whether you want to live in winter (melbourne), a country town (ANU), the beach (UNSW) or inner city (Sydney). If I were you I'd go for Sydney and live in a share house off campus in newtown.

If I were you I'd go for Sydney and live in a share house off campus in newtown.


How are the beaches in Sydney? Also, how far would be I be from outdoor activities?

As for the off-campus how far is newtown from the main campus?

I like adventure sports, but I really want to be in a city.

thanks for all the help.

Then take NZ off your list. Christchurch is small and Auckland is not very interesting. NZ has great scenery, adventure sports and more 'culture' but OZ has better big city life.

Make sure your semester falls during their summer (the northern hemisphere's winter).

Then take NZ off your list. Christchurch is small and Auckland is not very interesting. NZ has great scenery, adventure sports and more 'culture' but OZ has better big city life.

Make sure your semester falls during their summer (the northern hemisphere's winter).

Uhhh Wellington is best place for political science in NZ ;) has a lot of art & culture, and is much more interesting than Canberra IMHO.

Beaches are excellant in sydney, arguably the best of any city in the world. Personally I think the northern beaches are better than the eastern suburbs beaches but you really don't want to deal with the hassle of commuting from the northern beaches to U Sydney or UNSW every day.

What sort of outdoor activities? While U Sydney is inner city it still has football fields, parks etc and the like around (and in) it, it's not as densely populated as a new york, chicago etc style inner city.

U Sydney is on the northern edge of Newtown so you could easily be 5 mins (or less) walk from campus

Canberra is a bit of a regional centre, not really a city to be honest

I went to UNSW and certainly it and Sydney are a level above the rest of the universities in sydney. ANU is very well regarded, particularly for pol sci, and the other top uni's in aus would be monash and melbourne. I suspect ANU would be the best for your course but it is in the suckiest location, I won't comment on the melbourne unis as I don't know them well enough but unsw has more of a leaning towards applied courses while sydney has more of a leaning towards the arts. To be honest I think in terms of the coursework you won't have an issue with any of them so the choice will more come down to whether you want to live in winter (melbourne), a country town (ANU), the beach (UNSW) or inner city (Sydney). If I were you I'd go for Sydney and live in a share house off campus in newtown.


I have heard that ANU has a fantastic 'uni town' atmosphere, and I'm sure you could have a great time down there, but on its own Canberra is abit boring. Although iirc there is a fantastic Turkish restaurant down there my parents always rave about it they have friends down there who they visit and always include a trip to it.

Sydney over Canberra definitely. Newtown is a good suggestion. You may also want to try Glebe - anywhere in the inner west would be fine for the commute really if you are close to the train.

I spent 10 months in Christchurch doing post graduate school.

Its a great place, and the whole of the south island is right there for you to explore!

I love Wellington, but it's a town, not a city. Sydney U (essentially downtown) or UNSW (beaches). Or Melbourne U (relatively laidback city).

i bumbed into someone with my Australian study abroad book in hand and they told me they had a good time and U of Queensland in Brisbane. Could someone please tell me a little bit about the school/area?

I have found the study abroad office to be really unhelpful. They are nice but just don't know anything. FT is much better.

I'm a Brisbanite and did my Masters at UQ. Did my bachelor at QUT.

What do you want to know about Brisbane / St Lucia in Particular? There seems to be a lot of US students at UQ vs the other Brisbane unis. Lots of things to do in and around Brisbane, and plenty of students around St Lucia area. Plenty of accomodation options around too, especially with the new Eleanor Schonell Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Schonell_Bridge).

I'm a Brisbanite and did my Masters at UQ. Did my bachelor at QUT.

What do you want to know about Brisbane / St Lucia in Particular? There seems to be a lot of US students at UQ vs the other Brisbane unis. Lots of things to do in and around Brisbane, and plenty of students around St Lucia area. Plenty of accomodation options around too, especially with the new Eleanor Schonell Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Schonell_Bridge).

What the area is like, what do people do with their free time/weekends? How is the school?

I preface my comments by saying that I live in Canberra and am slightly biased towards the city as I find it and ANU to be right for my needs. i have attempted to be as objective as possible below.

Just thought I would weigh in here. I am currently doing my university application and am seriously considering POLS as a major. Considering the schools (ANU in Canberra, UNSW and USYD is Sydney and Melbourne Uni), I would say that there are serious pros and cons with each. ANU and Canberra is smaller than Sydney, which means that the entertainment scene is smaller (though still pretty good). The student population on campus is relatively small and classes are smaller than the other unis. I and many others consider the research focus of ANU to be beneficial to students who are in later years. I assume you are 3rd or 4th year, if so then ANU will have a lange number of opportunities available due to the number of political and governmental institutions in Canberra. The Sydney universities are both very ood. While ou will be in larger classes and lectures the quality of education is still considered to be of reasonable quality even if you have less access to researchers. That said, the opportunity to have a great student life is much larger in Sydney. Sydney has more nightspots and the larger population that allows for more entertainment options. It is also closer to the beach if that is your thing Canberra on the other hand is a 3-hour drive from the coast. Accomodation costs in Sydney and Canberra will be similar though central/near-central Sydney will probably run a little higher. Melbourne is also a good school. They have a reputation as a quality school though I know a little less about them. melbourne as a city is known by most outside of Sydney (because Sydney always thinks it is the best) as the cultural capital of Australia and as the food capital of Australia. I would vote Melbourne as being more liveable than Sydney though Sydney may be better for an exchange student.

I'll just give my picks in a few categories which might help you to see the strenths of various options. Note that I have separated Culture and Entertainment.

Quality of Teaching: ANU
Educational opportunities: ANU
Entertainment in City: Sydney (Either USyd or UNSW)
Culture: Melbourne
General Liveability: Melbourne
Student Life: Sydney
Overall: Sydney @ USyd

Good luck with your decisions.

I am down to unsw or HKU (Hong Kong). With a 3.0 I was told that my shot at getting into ANU and USyd where a long shot.

At this point I need to decide which country I would rather be in. I think I am leaning toward Australia.

Since classes don't start until early march I am thinking about going out a few weeks early and backpacking around. Can anyone recomend a a few destinations?

Get yourself either a Rex air backpacker pass (http://www.rex.com.au/Backpacker/default.aspx), Greyhound Bus pass (http://www.greyhound.com.au/bookings/passSelect.aspx) or Countrylink railpass (http://www.countrylink.info/travel_passes) and do the entire Eastern Coast.

Kangaroo Island and King Island are a few places where the Rex airpasses will really shine. And of course there are all the standard backpacking places e.g. Fraser Island, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Byron Bay, etc.

Get yourself either a Rex air backpacker pass (http://www.rex.com.au/Backpacker/default.aspx), Greyhound Bus pass (http://www.greyhound.com.au/bookings/passSelect.aspx) or Countrylink railpass (http://www.countrylink.info/travel_passes) and do the entire Eastern Coast.

Kangaroo Island and King Island are a few places where the Rex airpasses will really shine. And of course there are all the standard backpacking places e.g. Fraser Island, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Byron Bay, etc.


I was looking at the rex pass at it states that the pass is "Subject to "W" class availability." How high a fare class is W? Will tickets be hard to book?

I have been doing some research and it sounds like the Backpacker rail pass is the way to go. I found a site (http://www.railpass.com/new/passes/pass/backtracker_rail_pass.asp that will sell a 6 month pass for 290USD. It is only $125 more than the 14 day pass. I figure for a little more I might as well get a pass that is good the entire time I am there.

I was looking at the rex pass at it states that the pass is "Subject to "W" class availability." How high a fare class is W? Will tickets be hard to book?

I think it's the same class as the frequent flyer redemptions. Maybe someone on frequentflyer.com.au or this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=499176) here will help.