The semester abroad at UNSW in Sydney was an unforgettable experience. From the university to the city, everything is absolutely recommendable. The organization through MicroEDU was brilliant. Although I decided spontaneously and at very short notice to do a semester abroad, everything went smoothly. The support from the MicroEDU team before and during the semester was great. The very personal and close communication made you feel in good hands both before and during the semester. The application process went by itself. The MicroEDU team was a huge help. MicroEDU enabled me to spend a relaxed and eventful semester abroad.
University
The UNSW is a top-ranked university, which you can see in the course content. The effort during the semester is not to be despised. The work to be done is mostly spread over several assignments and tests including exams at the end of the semester. With reasonable effort, however, good grades can be written. Personally, I found the effort involved in the assignments and tests during the semester higher than at my home university in Zurich. However, with reasonable effort, I was able to get good grades home. Nevertheless, there was still enough free time to explore and travel extensively in the Sydney area. Visit andyeducation.com to get information about San Jose State University study abroad program.
I attended two economics courses (Politics and Economics, Organizational Economics) and one management course (Managing and Leading People) at UNSW. All three courses consisted of a lecture and a tutorial. The economics courses were held as I am used to in Zurich. A large, less interactive lecture and small, more interactive tutorials. The management course was much more interactive. Participation in the course made up a large part of the final grade. Since the professor was a psychologist and the whole course was held from the perspective of psychology, instead of the usual business administration graphics that you learn by heart, he really liked the course.
The university has a modern infrastructure with enough space to study and work.
Campus / Accommodation
I found the campus very beautiful and modern. I chose accommodation on campus. I spent the semester at Colombo House. It only opened in 2014, making it the youngest college on campus. It’s very modern and clean. The rooms have their own bathroom. However, you have to cook yourself in the communal kitchen. This is very large and you never cook alone. It is also one of the most international colleges on campus. 37 nations were among the 240 inhabitants. The atmosphere was great and because of the many different nations there were always some kind of cultural events (cooking, movie night, etc. ). You can tell, however, that the college is still very young, as the traditions are only gradually consolidating.
The location of the university is absolutely brilliant. There are various shopping opportunities around and on campus. You can walk to Coogee Beach in 20 minutes. The bus only takes around 10 minutes. If you want to go to the city center, the bus takes around 20 minutes. The buses run directly from the university and are very busy. In the end, the location was the deciding factor why I chose UNSW. You are close to the beach, but you can still get to the city center quickly.
Leisure
The university itself has a very wide range of leisure activities with various outdoor activities, sports and cultural and creative clubs. But you can also fill your free time yourself. Sydney has countless possibilities for this. You can rent a car and explore the surrounding national parks or spend time on the beach. But if you decide to go to Australia, you definitely can’t go back home without a road trip. Australia is the land of road trips and Sydney is perfectly located for that. In the mid-semester break, some friends and I are along the coastal road to Melbourne hazards. The stalls and national parks along the route were breathtaking. After the semester there were further road trips along the east and west coast. Sydney itself offers so many incredible sights that free time is always too short to see it all.
Sydney
Sydney is an absolutely brilliant city. The city is gigantic, but you still didn’t feel as if you were in a metropolis of millions. Because the city is spread over such a large area, there are countless small quarters in the city, all of which have a very special flair. My personal favorites were Coogee and Newtown. In Coogee there are numerous cafés that invite you to linger and of course the beach. Newtown is the place for good concerts and bars. The atmosphere in Sydney is also a lot more relaxed than in other metropolises. The people are extremely friendly and helpful.
My semester abroad was unforgettable. The MicroEDU team made all of this possible for me. I can wholeheartedly recommend the exchange through MicroEDU.
