Canadian engineering student studies in Australia

In our interview with a civil engineer, Greg mentioned that he had done his master's of engineering science from the University of New South Wales in Australia. We thought you might be interested to learn more about Greg's experiences down under.

Stephanie: What made you think about studying in Australia? Why did you decide to study in Australia?
Greg: When I was first considering doing a master's degree, I went to a graduate school fair. The fair featured recruiters from graduate schools from all over the English-speaking world. The recruiter from UNSW did a good job and showed me that his institution had a program that catered specifically to my needs. I also chose to study in Australia because it has a favourable exchange rate with Canada and because it's fun.

Stephanie: What was school in Australia like compared with schools here - did you notice any major differences?
Greg: My program was designed for people who are studying part-time while holding down a job (although I was studying full-time). The courses were delivered either as night courses or in blocks with all of the lectures for a course being given in three days with assignments due several weeks later. From what I could tell, the undergraduate engineering program was delivered in roughly the same way it was at Waterloo, where I did my undergrad degree.

Stephanie: Where did you stay?
Greg: I found a house to share with other people via the university's housing service.

Stephanie: How much did it cost? Did you get any financial aid?
Greg: My total cost for nine months of study (I crammed 12 months of courses into nine months) was approximately $8,000 CDN. I won a scholarship from the university for full tuition worth $18,000 AUD. If I hadn't gotten a scholarship, it would obviously have added significantly to my costs. Tuition rates for foreign students are usually quite high (especially in Australia where education is a major source of export revenue).

Stephanie: What was it like studying in another country? How easily did you adjust to life abroad? What were the major cultural, social, etc. differences that you learned to live with?
Greg: Other than the course delivery method, I found studying in Australia to be very similar to studying in Canada. There was a bit of an adjustment period while I was getting used to Aussie accents, slang, humour, getting up to speed on politics etc.

One thing I didn't like about it was immediately being seen as an outsider (at least in my own mind) as soon as I opened my mouth.