Recommendations for overseas university studies?

Question

Hey guys. Does anyone have a rough idea on the cost to study for a Bachelor's Degree overseas? I am from an Asian country and i hear that the cost varies in this manner.

UK>US>Australia>Canada. Regarding these 4 countries is this how it generally varies? And to study in the US, the tuition fees alone cost about USD1500 and upwards?

Also does anyone have good websites i could use to start searching for a university to study for a Bachelor's?

A point of info is that i would be interested in studying psychology so it would be great if someone could point me in the right direction in terms of choosing a university that sort of specialises in that field of study.

Thanks!

Answer 1

G'day,

I used to be an international student from South East Asia in Australia. I will try to help you abit...

From the 4 countries you mentioned, Australia is most likely have the lowest cost of living, and probably the lowest tuition fee as well. Say for example your course in psychology (Bachelor of Arts - psychology) will be abt AUD$15,000/year, it is a 3yrs course. Please be advised that Clinical Psychology is more expensive. On top of that you will need to pay for campus fee (vary from each uni) and Overseas Student Health Cover (abt AUD$350/yr) and text books (abt AUD$200). These are the rough estimate of the fees for your study.

Before coming to Australia, you will need to pay the fee for student visa processing and health check-up. You may also be required to take an IELTS test for indication of your English proficiency (depending which country you come from) for application to uni and for visa.

Living cost... Sydney and Canberra have the highest living cost, followed by Melbourne & Brisbane, then Perth, Darwin, Adelaide & Tasmania the lowest. I am attaching a weblink from one of the uni in Melbourne as an indication.

To find out the course that you are taking and where it is offered, I suggest you to go to IDP Education Australia website (www.idp.edu.au). IDP is an organisation that gives information to international students who wants to continue their study in Australia. You need to make sure what psychology you want to study. Once decided on the uni, fill in the application form and send it together with certified copy of your academic qualification (in English and original language).

There are only 39 universities in Australia, therefore the quality and recognition of their graduates are equal from wherever university you are studying from. The most important thing is you have to READ the course information carefully, since some courses may have the same name but different content.

I'm living in Melbourne and this is what you're going to find in Melbourne:
1. First of all... some people do not like the weather in Melbourne (you can have 4 seasons in one day). However, if you read the second weblink from The Age newspaper, you will find out that the weather is still more preferable than the other cities. Sure you can have 42C day like last month, but almost immediately you'll get a much cooler weather pretty soon afterwards. It is very rarely that you got 2 or 3 consecutive days of hot weathers (unlike Sydney, Brisbane or Perth).
2. Melbourne is a city of diversity. If you are a newcomer, and you do not look 'Anglo-Saxon', you do not feel like an 'alien', since you can find almost every race in the world walking in the city. They are both immigrants and overseas students.
3. THE FOOD!! Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Thai, All-you-can-eat, African, Lebanese, Mexican, Sea Food... anything else? All available and lots of them in a very-very-very affordable price
4. Pretty good public transport system. With one ticket, you can switch from train, tram and bus. They do not always come on-time, but still reliable and improving (www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au). Good for students, since not all can afford car.
5. SHOPPING!!! Original branded clothing sold very cheap. There are even shopping tour, where the participants are taken to retails outlets just for shopping. Big temptations for ladies.
6. Crime rates... just read the third article on the bottom.
7. Night Life... hmmmm... I'll say the centre of nite activities will be Crown Casino and Docklands. Altho there are still plenty of cafe's and clubs scattered around the suburbs as well.
8. Tourist attraction. This is the area that I think Sydney is better than Melbourne, since it has most of it's attraction within its suburbs. Most Melbourne attraction are pretty much out of Melbourne, such as the gold mines in the cities of Bendigo and Ballarat, The Great Ocean Road, Lakes Entrance, Grampians, skiing in Mt. Buller etc.

Hope this helps. E-mail me at [e-mail] if you have any further queries abt Australia. Good luck on your studies :)