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"Sydney is less expensive than New York City. It is similar to other major US cities like LA and Chicago. I took travelers’ checks and used my home checks to open an account in Sydney at a local bank. The only problem was that the US check took 30 days to clear. I would probably have brought more in travelers’ checks to initially use from my account. I did also use my ATM card from home, but I got charged for that. If I could have redone it, I think I would have put money in my Citibank account, so I could just take larger sums of cash out when I went to downtown (the only ATM) since I was there so much anyhow. I was also surprised that AMEX was not accepted very widely." |
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Food: $60/week
Housing: $110/week
Books: $150/semester
Phone: calling cards, calls are cheap
Entertainment: $40/week
Postage: $150/semester
Local Transportation: $15 (went downtown frequently)
Airline ticket: $1500 (+ Taxi from airport to campus)
Independent travel: $3500/semester |
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"Apartment or Study Abroad Housing recommended"
"Cost: about $110/week"
"Ate out & cooked meals" |
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Workload: Easier, about the same as Stern
Grading: Easier, about the same as Stern
Classroom Climate: Very much like Stern, modern facilities, same types of lecture halls
Classroom Format: Seminars, Lectures, and Group Projects
Teaching Style: Overhead projectors and PowerPoint |
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"Everyone was friendly and helpful. I participated in one event of the Wakeboard club and one event of the Scuba Diving club. There were a huge variety of clubs. In particular there were a lot of Asian clubs. With all my site-seeing though, I didn’t really feel like I had time to commit to anything for the semester. The campus is also huge, so it is not very often that you run into someone you know. The Aussie students, I found, did not join many clubs. They were more focused on international students, hence the Asian clubs." |
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"Bring: Summer clothes, Winter Coat, Swimsuit, Towel…other necessary items. If you plan to do backpacking or hiking, bring hiking boots and a hiking backpack. But, it's not really essential, these items can be easily purchased in Sydney."
"Don't Bring: Too much stuff. Qantas will charge 100 dollars for every extra bag. If I were to pack again for the trip, I would bring one full suitcase and one empty one. There is a lot of bring back."
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"English and an ear for the Australian accent." |
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"My favorite class was Marine Environment because we had 3 field trips to places around Sydney to observe the marine environment in action."
"I would not recommend the History of Australia Since WWII since not knowing much about the pre-WWII background of Australia made the class pretty confusing."
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"Culture shock is minimal. It depends on whether you are living with Australians or with fellow exchange students down at Coogi beach. Living with Australians was a lot of fun and a highly recommended experience. The only real culture shock is the local vernacular and the Australian slang which is easy to pick up. It's great to ask questions too. Don't be afraid to." |
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"Home" at Darling Harbour, Melbourne and Brisbane. Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Botanical Gardens, Manly Beach, Bondi to Coogee beach walk, Aquarium, Surf camp, Blue Mountains |
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"Firefry Thai restaurant (Chinatown in Sydney), Eateries around Sydney and Randwick, Chopstick at the Randwick. Spot Wallaby Bar – Darling Harbour, Pontoon – Darling Harbour, Three Wise Monkeys – George St.and Liverpool, Scubar – Eddy & Pitt." |
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"I would say I probably did the most budget travel because I went to the student/backpacker travel agents and got information. I did a lot of comparison and found that it is cheaper to plan your trip yourself. Virgin Blue, Jet Star, and Qantas are the major carriers. Virgin Blue and Jet Star are like the Jet Blue of America, but sometimes Qantas has cheaper flights. They have sales every now and then of incredibly cheap flights, but they are very hard to get. I’d say booking in advance saves the most on plane tickets. I wouldn’t recommend renting a car b/c the distance between Sydneyand any other city is like 10 hour drive at least and my friends had some problems with car rental places charging for dents they didn’t cause. Around Sydney, I just took the bus and you can buy tickets at convenience stores in 10 trip tickets for half off the normal price b/c of UNSW’s discount for showing the student card. Going out to the suburbs of Sydney is probably best in a train. They’re very easy to take." |
