ANU Vs Sydney Uni (1 Viewer)

[blackmarker14]

I am trying to decide between ANU and sydney for engineering next year. I definitely don't want to go to UNSW even though i know its theoretically the best because I am not doing trimesters and I just have no intrest in UNSW even if they offered full ride. How bad is the ANU engineering degree really (I want to do areospace) and is the Usyd degree that much better. I currently live in sydney and the desirable factor about ANU is getting to live away from home, and cost is not a consideration for me, so catered vs uncatered is also just up to the social life differences.

Any thoughts on what degree is better and which one has a better social life, considering i'm not worried about making friends at either uni.

 

[wollongong warrior]

If you're considering engineering at usyd, I reckon you should also consider engineering at uts. Seems like they care more about their eng faculty than usyd from an outsider perspective

 

[blackmarker14]

If you're considering engineering at usyd, I reckon you should also consider engineering at uts. Seems like they care more about their eng faculty than usyd from an outsider perspective

I have looked at UTS, but if i stay in sydney i 100% want to go to sydney. That is because I prefer the campus, prestige (plus I always wanted to go to sydney so it's like a goal), uts doesn't offer aerospace, and clubs seem more funded and Usyd just seems like it matches what I want in a Uni experience better.

 

[MJRey]

I'm doing engineering at ANU and looking to major in Nuclear Systems. The benefits of doing engineering at ANU are that they don't force you to do start a discipline straight away, they give you two years of doing generic engineering courses before you specialise. It's also a good way to broaden your career since the degree as a whole has a focus on systems engineering (not that you'll be a systems engineer per se but having holistic skills you can transfer across to various disciplines gives you an edge over people who only really know about civil engineering or electrical engineering stuff). At the end of the day, engineers from all their various disciplines will end up working together and collaborating on projects, so being able to shift your skillset with looking at designs as a whole will set you up for stuff like project management and also help with obtaining leadership positions in companies, if that's what you want.

Although whilst the engineering faculties aren't bad, some of the teaching staff aren't that great. They also have low tutoring budgets for several courses, meaning you get a lot of tutors who know their stuff but don't actually know how to communicate information to people in a meaningful way. Plus some of their lab equipment is outdated, and you may find the systems design theory work a bit repetitive and boring. I'm only sticking around for the Nuclear program since it's the only undergrad thing like it in the country, and I also largely decided on coming here because of its flexibility without being aware of some of its other flaws. I got an offer to USYD but realised I didn't actually know what tf I wanted to do so I went to ANU instead. I'm personally glad I did because if I was in USYD and heard about the Nuclear program I'd be kicking myself over not going to ANU.

So those are my two cents on it, you can take the advice if you like. I reckon if you're absolutely certain on doing Aerospace and don't have any doubts on what you want to do like I did, then go for USYD. The important thing though is to do what's right for you, so hopefully you find my perspective helpful.

 

[blackmarker14]

I'm doing engineering at ANU and looking to major in Nuclear Systems. The benefits of doing engineering at ANU are that they don't force you to do start a discipline straight away, they give you two years of doing generic engineering courses before you specialise. It's also a good way to broaden your career since the degree as a whole has a focus on systems engineering (not that you'll be a systems engineer per se but having holistic skills you can transfer across to various disciplines gives you an edge over people who only really know about civil engineering or electrical engineering stuff). At the end of the day, engineers from all their various disciplines will end up working together and collaborating on projects, so being able to shift your skillset with looking at designs as a whole will set you up for stuff like project management and also help with obtaining leadership positions in companies, if that's what you want.

Although whilst the engineering faculties aren't bad, some of the teaching staff aren't that great. They also have low tutoring budgets for several courses, meaning you get a lot of tutors who know their stuff but don't actually know how to communicate information to people in a meaningful way. Plus some of their lab equipment is outdated, and you may find the systems design theory work a bit repetitive and boring. I'm only sticking around for the Nuclear program since it's the only undergrad thing like it in the country, and I also largely decided on coming here because of its flexibility without being aware of some of its other flaws. I got an offer to USYD but realised I didn't actually know what tf I wanted to do so I went to ANU instead. I'm personally glad I did because if I was in USYD and heard about the Nuclear program I'd be kicking myself over not going to ANU.

So those are my two cents on it, you can take the advice if you like. I reckon if you're absolutely certain on doing Aerospace and don't have any doubts on what you want to do like I did, then go for USYD. The important thing though is to do what's right for you, so hopefully you find my perspective helpful.

Thanks that is actually super helpful, especially because i was confused whether the systems engineering is a good or bad thing, but it seems pretty good from what you said. I just had a few question if you had the time to answer? Doesn't the flexible engineering option at USYD allow you to pick what field you want to go into later on? Because I am not 100% sure on aerospace, it just looks the coolest, but I still might do mechanical or even renewable energy so I really don't know. Is the difference in degree really super comparable and does USYD make more employable graduates? And do you think the Social life is better at ANU than at USYD considering I would live at home in sydney, and on campus at ANU?

 

[blackmarker14]

I'm doing engineering at ANU and looking to major in Nuclear Systems. The benefits of doing engineering at ANU are that they don't force you to do start a discipline straight away, they give you two years of doing generic engineering courses before you specialise. It's also a good way to broaden your career since the degree as a whole has a focus on systems engineering (not that you'll be a systems engineer per se but having holistic skills you can transfer across to various disciplines gives you an edge over people who only really know about civil engineering or electrical engineering stuff). At the end of the day, engineers from all their various disciplines will end up working together and collaborating on projects, so being able to shift your skillset with looking at designs as a whole will set you up for stuff like project management and also help with obtaining leadership positions in companies, if that's what you want.

Although whilst the engineering faculties aren't bad, some of the teaching staff aren't that great. They also have low tutoring budgets for several courses, meaning you get a lot of tutors who know their stuff but don't actually know how to communicate information to people in a meaningful way. Plus some of their lab equipment is outdated, and you may find the systems design theory work a bit repetitive and boring. I'm only sticking around for the Nuclear program since it's the only undergrad thing like it in the country, and I also largely decided on coming here because of its flexibility without being aware of some of its other flaws. I got an offer to USYD but realised I didn't actually know what tf I wanted to do so I went to ANU instead. I'm personally glad I did because if I was in USYD and heard about the Nuclear program I'd be kicking myself over not going to ANU.

So those are my two cents on it, you can take the advice if you like. I reckon if you're absolutely certain on doing Aerospace and don't have any doubts on what you want to do like I did, then go for USYD. The important thing though is to do what's right for you, so hopefully you find my perspective helpful.

sorry, also I have you heard what the aerospace engineering degree is like at ANU because I think that their first cohort graduated this year? (I might be wrong on that)

 

[MJRey]

Thanks that is actually super helpful, especially because i was confused whether the systems engineering is a good or bad thing, but it seems pretty good from what you said. I just had a few question if you had the time to answer? Doesn't the flexible engineering option at USYD allow you to pick what field you want to go into later on? Because I am not 100% sure on aerospace, it just looks the coolest, but I still might do mechanical or even renewable energy so I really don't know. Is the difference in degree really super comparable and does USYD make more employable graduates? And do you think the Social life is better at ANU than at USYD considering I would live at home in sydney, and on campus at ANU?

I think the flexible engineering option is only available to you for a year, and I felt one year wasn't enough for me to decide what I wanted for myself.

In terms of comparability, I can't say for sure but I do know that USYD offers more engineering options like civil, chemical, biomedical etc whereas the ANU only has a few select ones. Not that it's bad but if you really wanted to do chemical engineering ANU wouldn't be right for you. I also can't exactly answer the question on USYD making more employable graduates since I don't really know, but both universities are in the Go8 and have considerable standing compared to other unis in the country, so I think you would be employable regardless of where you end up. In the grand scheme of things, people aren't going to care what uni you went to when applying for jobs, they'll just care about whether you fit the job description and whether you're an accredited engineer.

I'd say the social life is better because when you're living in the residential halls it's a lot easier to meet people. Not all of them will share your interests, but it's easy to make a group of friends who will guide you towards other clubs or societies that better suit your interests (and you can then branch off and meet even more people). Plus the hall's culture (if it's good) can help you with getting advice from older uni students or even have some of them as mentors. It's also easier to get involved and do social stuff because you'll have hall leaders who encourage you to go to events frequently, and they also help with making you feel included etc. The ANU itself is also very driven by the halls, it's kind of got American college vibes and there are regular interhall sport, music and dance competitions. I've also had friends of friends who go to USYD tell me that it's hard to make friends there because people only really come for classes, and even though they have the clubs and societies, some people feel they can't make their events etc because they don't fit their schedules.

 

[MJRey]

sorry, also I have you heard what the aerospace engineering degree is like at ANU because I think that their first cohort graduated this year? (I might be wrong on that)

So sorry for not getting back to you on this earlier, must have slipped my mind! So I hear it's good for getting you into places like Defence, and it also has some reputable professors teaching it so it seems good. Can't say much more on it, I know there's stuff about it on LinkedIn and you can also do some digging on the web yourself.

 

[Eagle Mum]

I'd say the social life is better because when you're living in the residential halls it's a lot easier to meet people. Not all of them will share your interests, but it's easy to make a group of friends who will guide you towards other clubs or societies that better suit your interests (and you can then branch off and meet even more people). Plus the hall's culture (if it's good) can help you with getting advice from older uni students or even have some of them as mentors. It's also easier to get involved and do social stuff because you'll have hall leaders who encourage you to go to events frequently, and they also help with making you feel included etc. The ANU itself is also very driven by the halls, it's kind of got American college vibes and there are regular interhall sport, music and dance competitions. I've also had friends of friends who go to USYD tell me that it's hard to make friends there because people only really come for classes, and even though they have the clubs and societies, some people feel they can't make their events etc because they don't fit their schedules.

I second everything MJRey has said, from what my son, who is in the same year of engineering at ANU, has fed back to me about ANU and it’s residential halls.

WRT social life, I think ANU halls probably offer the most. My husband & I stayed at self catered and fully catered USyd colleges respectively and neither had anywhere near the level of organised social activities as ANU, which has an inter-hall competition that encompasses a wide range of activities including inbound (a gruelling endurance race through the alpine bush), team sports, band comps, dance, choirs, chess, drama videos, visual arts etc. It encourages everyone to participate and contribute their particular skills to their team/college tally.

 

[Eagle Mum]

Because I am not 100% sure on aerospace, it just looks the coolest, but I still might do mechanical or even renewable energy so I really don't know. Is the difference in degree really super comparable and does USYD make more employable graduates?

Australia’s job market holds uncertainty for some engineering specialties. I knew of a couple of aeronautical engineer graduates of my vintage and I think one ended up in car design and the other in a senior management role in public transport services.

My son chose R & D Engineering to position himself for a future market of ‘renewable energy’, but he is also choosing subjects to make himself employable on graduation in a couple of years. MJRey‘s advice is highly applicable, about USyd degrees being relatively fixed after first year, whereas ANU is more flexible and R & D engineering students could graduate with different single or double engineering degrees, depending on the courses they pick each semester.