Looking back, I can recommend a semester abroad at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne to everyone. Since my uncle emigrated to Australia many years ago, I wanted to study there for a semester. When I was looking for a suitable university, I found Swinburne Uni on the MicroEDU homepage because it is one of the universities that starts relatively late compared to the other Australian universities and therefore does not start at any There is overlap with the German semester.
The application then went really easy because I just filled out my documents and sent them to MicroEDU , Lisa and the rest of the team then did the rest of the work for me. Even if I had any questions, I could just call and always received competent and friendly advice. Visit educationvv.com to get information about University of California San Diego student exchange program.
After a short time I had my confirmation and I was able to book my flight and apply for the visa. You can apply for a visa via the Internet and the next day I had an email with the visa, which is only issued electronically.
Since I majored in Australia, I initially had some problems with my university in Germany with the course selection. After switching courses for the third time, I finally had my courses. For my main focus I had Financial Information Systems and Management Accounting and then I also had Intercultural Communication.
I chose to live right in the dormitory on campus. Even if there are cheaper alternatives, I have never regretted this decision. Unilodge is located directly on campus, which means you have to walk about 2 minutes to go to the lectures and there are many shopping opportunities, and the train station is right in front of the building. It was also a very good opportunity to make friends with Australian and international students.
But Swinburne University also offers many activities for international students to get to know the other international students, such as pub crawls, international dinners and various parties. I have also taken part in various excursions from “the real experience”, such as to Philip Island.
The course itself is different than in Germany. Basically you have a lecture and a tutorial or seminar for each subject, with most of the tutorials and seminars requiring attendance. If you were present at at least 80% of the appointments, you received a certain number of points (between 5 and 10 points for me), which you were included in the final grade. In Management Accounting, the exercises that you should do every week up to the tutorial were also checked, which then earned up to 10 points.
In the subjects Financial Information System and Management Accounting, I also had an exam in the middle of the semester and an exam at the end of the semester, with the last exam only counting 50 points (out of 100 points in total).
At Intercultural Communication I didn’t have any exams, instead I had a group presentation that made up 20% of the overall grade and two large essays (40% each).
The professors and tutors are all very open towards international students and are happy to explain terms that are not understood. You are also welcome to ask questions after the lectures or by e-mail, these are answered in a very friendly and detailed manner. Overall, one can say that the relationship between professors / tutors and students is much more personal than in Germany. For example, in the Management Accounting lecture, our tutor gave us his home phone number in case we had questions about exam preparation.
I’m still impressed by Melbourne today and I definitely want to go back to Australia. Melbourne is a cosmopolitan and diverse city that has everything to offer. No matter if restaurants, clubs, bars, parks and sights. You never get bored in this city and there is something for everyone. The Australians are very friendly and helpful. If they hear a foreign accent, then they are interested in the origin. All in all, it is very easy to get into conversation with other people on the street or in the tram, unfortunately you don’t know that in Germany.
But the rest of Australia is impressive too. With other international students I did an outback tour with a caravan from Darwin to Alice Springs and then I was in Tasmania, on the Great Ocean Road, in Ballarat and on the east coast (Cairns, Brisbane, Surfer’s Paradise and Byron Bay).
In conclusion, I can only say that I enjoyed every single day in Australia. Unfortunately the semester passed too quickly, but I will think about my experiences for a long time. All of the people I met in Australia have grown very close to my heart and I am still in contact with most of them today.
