Your experience at usyd / unsw ??? (1 Viewer)

[jenniferblack]

My aspiration is to do dental medicine at USYD, but a 99.5 cut off is intimidating, and from what I'm told, 70% of the people who make that insane cut off don't even get in. I know UMAT and interviews are part of the consideration process but it's clearly a very strict criteria and low acceptance rate.

They do offer a graduate entry where you do a bachelor's degree (3yrs, any uni / any course + you don't have to finish it if you are successful), sitting the GAMSAT and doing the interview.
I'm currently planning out my back up plan and chose comm/law. This is because if I don't make it into dental med again, I can fall back on a good degree that I don't mind doing + job security (?) and decent pay. Even though my passions lie in the medical field, I am sure I can do well (ha) in law to get that required GPA cut off for dentistry.

- USYD has a cutoff of 99.5 but I qualify for e12 which means I can be eligible for guaranteed entry before hsc exams which = less stress.
- UNSW has a cut off of 99.65 but apparently they accept lower atars depending on LAT and they have the ACCESS scheme too. (I've heard the 90-95 atar range also get accepted).

BUT

UNSW (from all their marketing) seems to be a more welcoming and fun environment. If I do end up falling in love with my law degree and staying / not getting into dentistry, I want to be able to go to a uni that I enjoy spending 5-6 years at.
Despite visiting USYD many times, it doesn't seem to compare to the UNSW environment, though this may be because I'm surrounded by people who love unsw. Rumor has it that usyd is very lonely due to the private school cliques?? But is usyd prestige and ranking really that much greater than unsw? (Apparently usyd has a higher employability rate)

Because dental med is at usyd, if I apply for graduate entry from usyd, would that give me an advantage?

Can someone who goes to one of these unis give me some of their experiences?

1. Which uni would be better for comm/law?

2. What are some good things about your uni?

3. What are some negative aspects about you uni?

4. What are the clubs/social aspects like? How are the tutors/students?




Both unis have a store that sells milk tea so ><


Oh and one last thing, does transferring from law into a medical course raise an eyebrow from the staff? Let's say, if I do get an interview for grad entry, I don't want interviewers having the impression that I'm just one of those people who only consider med or law and nothing else.

Any replies, suggestions or tips on my situation would be great!!

 

[Squar3root]

1. i think either one
2. they are the same at both uni, nice classrooms some study spaces etc
3. unsw has too many asians for my liking
4. unsw pretty good societies scence, tutors are sometimes shit because they get hired based on marks and not teaching ability.

 

[pikachu975]

My aspiration is to do dental medicine at USYD, but a 99.5 cut off is intimidating, and from what I'm told, 70% of the people who make that insane cut off don't even get in. I know UMAT and interviews are part of the consideration process but it's clearly a very strict criteria and low acceptance rate.

They do offer a graduate entry where you do a bachelor's degree (3yrs, any uni / any course + you don't have to finish it if you are successful), sitting the GAMSAT and doing the interview.
I'm currently planning out my back up plan and chose comm/law. This is because if I don't make it into dental med again, I can fall back on a good degree that I don't mind doing + job security (?) and decent pay. Even though my passions lie in the medical field, I am sure I can do well (ha) in law to get that required GPA cut off for dentistry.

- USYD has a cutoff of 99.5 but I qualify for e12 which means I can be eligible for guaranteed entry before hsc exams which = less stress.
- UNSW has a cut off of 99.65 but apparently they accept lower atars depending on LAT and they have the ACCESS scheme too. (I've heard the 90-95 atar range also get accepted).

BUT

UNSW (from all their marketing) seems to be a more welcoming and fun environment. If I do end up falling in love with my law degree and staying / not getting into dentistry, I want to be able to go to a uni that I enjoy spending 5-6 years at.
Despite visiting USYD many times, it doesn't seem to compare to the UNSW environment, though this may be because I'm surrounded by people who love unsw. Rumor has it that usyd is very lonely due to the private school cliques?? But is usyd prestige and ranking really that much greater than unsw? (Apparently usyd has a higher employability rate)

Because dental med is at usyd, if I apply for graduate entry from usyd, would that give me an advantage?

Can someone who goes to one of these unis give me some of their experiences?

1. Which uni would be better for comm/law?

2. What are some good things about your uni?

3. What are some negative aspects about you uni?

4. What are the clubs/social aspects like? How are the tutors/students?




Both unis have a store that sells milk tea so ><


Oh and one last thing, does transferring from law into a medical course raise an eyebrow from the staff? Let's say, if I do get an interview for grad entry, I don't want interviewers having the impression that I'm just one of those people who only consider med or law and nothing else.

Any replies, suggestions or tips on my situation would be great!!

Prestige doesn't matter it just depends on how you present yourself as a candidate.

Also rumours about a uni being "lonely" is not the uni's fault it's the person's fault for making their uni experience bad lol.

 

[30june2016]

Prestige doesn't matter it just depends on how you present yourself as a candidate.

Also rumours about a uni being "lonely" is not the uni's fault it's the person's fault for making their uni experience bad lol.

i agree with both those points

it's about taking control of your own experiences - you are not defined by your uni and its stereotypes

it's your attitude toward being involved in uni life and taking opportunities to get out of your comfort zone and socialise and meet new people

 

[sida1049]

1. Which uni would be better for comm/law?

Pretty much the same at both unis. A lot of international students in commerce in USYD and UNSW.

2. What are some good things about your uni?

I mainly study maths at USYD, and I've really enjoyed my time here. I can't speak for the business nor law faculties, but the maths faculty is fantastic; the lecturers are really friendly and approachable, the people I study maths with are amazing. I've had some really memorable experiences with the maths society here. (A maths lecturer literally is going to try to resolve a timetabling clash between two courses just because I chatted to him about it <3 <3 <3)

Outside of what I study, I think USYD campus is fantastic. It's very spacious, has some lovely buildings, and feels very welcoming to me. (I used to think the UNSW campus was really appealing, but I've been there more than several times now, and it just doesn't give me the same feel as USYD.) Victoria park is right behind the law building, and it's a really nice place to chill and have lunch during your breaks, if you don't feel like going to the study areas.

The campus is also very conveniently located; the law building is a 12-minute walk from Redfern station, and the business building is even closer.
(I should also mention that the law and business buildings are very new and modern, so you're quite lucky if you have all your classes in them.) You can walk straight into Newtown; my friends and I go for Thai there once a week during a break (the $8 Thai lunch specials are fucking amazing). The city is also very easy to get to from USYD; I've literally walked there from USYD way too many times to count (though, of course, you can take the bus or train as well).

I also liked the fact that barely any of my friends went to USYD; I really liked the idea of starting fresh and having to meet new people. My friends in UNSW are still kind of in their high school cliches (same for my girlfriend's high school friends as well).

3. What are some negative aspects about you uni?

The politics. Socialist Alternative, one of, if not USYD's biggest societies, has posters everywhere, and has members trying to pass you pamphlets or getting you to sign petitions every single day. They'll sometimes have demonstrations and protests, and there have been an instance where I could hear them on the microphone even though I was in a lecture. I mean of course, if your political views align with socialist alternative, then this could actually be a positive for you, but for most of us (even me, who holds many left-leaning views) find them obnoxious.

But that's just the socialist alternative; in a lot of the male bathrooms (particularly of the older buildings), you'll find racial slurs written on the walls of cubicles, obscure references to the alt-right, et cetera. But I feel like this isn't necessarily more prevalent in USYD than other unis.

The bureaucracy can be pretty awful. In my first two years I thought they weren't that bad, because I had little run-ins with them and my applications would generally be approved pretty quickly. But when I was re-enrolling for this semester, one of my units weren't showing in the system. It took 2-3 months before faculty services rectified the issue; and this wasn't just happening to me, since they were understaffed and ended up being months behind their work. I'm really hoping they improve this aspect in the future.

4. What are the clubs/social aspects like? How are the tutors/students?

Two of the biggest societies are Socialist Alternative and Evangelical Union, so if you're a socialist Christian you'll love what USYD has to offer in terms of societies and events!

I'm pretty active with the maths society, and the way they run it is pretty fantastic. The societies which are active are usually pretty good. The downside is that you need to purchase USYD Access in order to formally join societies, but I think it's justified, since it's how funding is allocated to the societies.

The tutors really vary. I've had tutors who were boring and weren't very much help, but I've also had amazing tutors who were not just helpful in their duties, but also helped me in various other aspects outside of their duties (e.g. advice on future units, academia, et cetera). I went drinking with my bioethics tutor once. But yeah, I'd think most tutors are friendly and willing to talk to you about advice beyond your courses. You can generally approach them casually.

Students vary a lot as well. For example, if you take a first year compulsory unit with hundreds (if not thousands) of other students, a lot of them would bludge, be bored out of their minds, not too interested in making conversation. Generally, as the years go on and the classes become more specialised and thin out, you'll meet people who actually put effort in their work and meeting new people. If you can take classes at the advanced level, that can help too.

UNSW (from all their marketing) seems to be a more welcoming and fun environment. If I do end up falling in love with my law degree and staying / not getting into dentistry, I want to be able to go to a uni that I enjoy spending 5-6 years at.
Despite visiting USYD many times, it doesn't seem to compare to the UNSW environment, though this may be because I'm surrounded by people who love unsw. Rumor has it that usyd is very lonely due to the private school cliques?? But is usyd prestige and ranking really that much greater than unsw? (Apparently usyd has a higher employability rate)

I think you should try eliminating the stereotypes when you make your decision. From what I understand, a balanced, social student life is easily accomplished in either uni. But the main onus is on yourself to put in the effort to meet new people and participate in events or societies. I know plenty of people who love and hate their social lives at either uni.

With regards to USYD, I don't think you should factor "prestige" into your decision. It's largely fictitious and misleading. And don't worry too much about things like the employment rate either; just pick whichever uni you prefer based on things like convenience, the individual degrees, et cetera, and go with it.

With regards to the elitist, private school stereotype, it's exactly that: a stereotype. I went to a comprehensive public school, and I've met plenty of people who went to private schools, and it really doesn't matter; they're as pleasant as everyone else, and some of the ones I've met in first-year are still my good friends. I haven't encountered the stereotypical arrogant private school kid to this day.

Both unis have a store that sells milk tea so ><

I personally like Chai-Time better.

Oh and one last thing, does transferring from law into a medical course raise an eyebrow from the staff? Let's say, if I do get an interview for grad entry, I don't want interviewers having the impression that I'm just one of those people who only consider med or law and nothing else.

Nope. No one cares.


Good luck!

 

[FrequentBF4]

USYD is much more presitgous, it is only ranked below UNSW in just one ranking platform(QS) but, in all the others it is well ahead of UNSW. UNSW is not bad, its in fact really good, but prestige wise, USYD is better.

Employability is 4th in the world, yea,let that sink in over 30000 universities in the world, USYD candidates are more employable than those of MIT,Caltech,Stanford, according to QS rankings, Melb Uni is 7th, UNSW is 33th and UTS is 69th.

 

[jenniferblack]

Thank you for the insight!!! I will take them into consideration

 

[brbstudying]

Are different faculties (for example arts vs business vs law etc) located in different areas? So the people you'll most likely be interacting with are from your faculty only?

 

[Queenroot]

Are different faculties (for example arts vs business vs law etc) located in different areas? So the people you'll most likely be interacting with are from your faculty only?

not really