Comparison of Unis for Science - USYD vs UNSW vs ANU (1 Viewer)

[Pedro123]

I was wondering if anyone had some insight they could give me into a comparison of science courses for USyD, UNSW and ANU - specifically Bachelor of Advanced Science/Advanced Studies (at USYD as a Dayell Scholar), Bachelor of Advanced Science/Computer science (at UNSW) and the Bachelor of Philosophy (Science, Honours) (At ANU).

I wanted to do an undergraduate degree in physics, however, I am comfortable with a lot of the 1st year Uni content, so I was hoping to start some 2nd year courses in year 1. I know that ANU is very accommodating for this stuff, but I've heard USYD doesn't really allow this (The only enrichment/advanced options are the set courses offered if you are a Dayell Scholar, which doesn't have a lot of choices for physics)

I also wanted to supplement the degree with some sort of look in Data Science/Data Analytics, not necessarily something to make a career out of, but something I would like to try. Again, I know that the ANU degree offers a lot of flexibility and so does the UNSW, but I don't know about the USYD.

The last thing was future studies, where I may pursue a masters in science (or a PhD, but I definitely can't make that decision now). The general "consensus" is that ANU is far better for research, which would lend itself to postgraduate, while USYD offers more "employability".

If anyone has done any of these courses, I would appreciate the input - thanks

 

[jazz519]

I would look a bit more closely into that ANU thing about the 2nd year courses. You will still most likely have to do the first year courses because they are requirements of the degree / pre-requisites for the courses in Year 2 so although you might be familiar with the content generally speaking it is still a good idea to do the first year courses before Year 2. In science degrees one of the big differences you will find to high school is that it's not all focused around content, a lot of your marks will come from things like labs (30% in most cases). The labs are harder compared to high school and so even if you're good at the content it will take some time to get used to using the laboratory equipment / techniques. In 2nd year those labs ramp up in skill level even more so it may be too big of a jump to make from high school.

Another thing to keep in mind as you are aiming to possibly pursue postgraduate studies, the marks are really important. To be offered a scholarship (RTP) you will need to achieve a first class honours and high marks during the uni degree. The first year subjects can help with this aspect if you have a good ability already as you say because you can use them to boost your overall marks since these courses are usually easier. The degrees get more difficult in subsequent 2nd and 3rd years and so getting that average overall high mark becomes more difficult.

In terms of the specific degrees to PhD pathway, it's not that important. All these unis are pretty good in terms of their reputation and so if you get a high mark during the Honours year you will be able to transition into a PhD at the same uni or start the new degree at a different uni. In terms of the research thing I wouldn't use the uni as a benchmark for that. Different departments will have varying quality within the same uni and so the quality of the education you get in a masters or PhD really depends a lot more on the supervisor you get than the uni you went to if we are comparing the UNSW, USYD and ANU.

From my experience in the physics when I was doing a minor in that area at UNSW, the quality of the teaching is relatively good and there are quite a few opportunities to do some research during undergraduate if you are motivated and take the initiative to either apply for a research scholarship for the summer or contact supervisors yourself. Can't talk too much in detail about the other unis as I don't have knowledge on that topic.