Should I move to Sydney or Melbourne for graduate school and a possible future home? I am from the U.S.?

Question

I am trying to choose between University of Sydney or University of Melbourne for Education programs. I am hoping to stay on in Australia. I wonder whether Sydney or Melbourne offers a better quality of life, which one has a better job market in Education, and which city one would enjoy living in more, in terms of people, weather, lifestyle, open areas and parklands, shopping, and the vibrancy of the city. Basically which one is a better choice in terms of the people one would find there? How are the people of Melbourne different than those of Sydney?
Thanks for your answers.

Answer 1

G'day,

I used to be an international student in Australia. I will try to help you abit...

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.

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 (it was summer), 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. Good luck on your studies :)

Answer 2

I'm from the US too, I spent about a month in Sydney and 2 months in Melbourne, during 2005 and 2006. My friends from Sydney said if Melbourne had Sydney's weather, he'd live there. Sydney is a very spread out city, like LA. I found Melbourne a much friendlier city, I met a totally random person almost everytime I went out, whereas Sydney felt more pretentious.

In terms of local sports culture, Sydney is in NSW which means rugby league, while Melbourne is in Victoria which means Aussie Rules, or AFL. The latter is a somewhat whacky sport that I enjoyed far more (rugby's alright, but doesn't have the hitting and passing that I like about our football). AFL is more different and fairly simple to understand and pretty darn enjoyable to watch.

So, at the end of the day, I'd go with Melbourne myself. Sydney's got the better weather (Ozzie standards, I'm from Boston, they have no concept of cold), but in most of the other categories you listed, I'd go with Melbourne: good clubbing and nightlife, good cafe culture and food, I found it friendlier, and I'd say it's an easier city to get around (except for right hand turns in the downtown area, don't get me started on that).

Answer 3

I believe the University Of Melbourne is the top uni is Australia. However saying that, Macquarie Uni in Sydney is great for education. Sydney is a much larger city ( I live north of Sydney), and the climate is nice. Melbourne is a smaller city, with cooler winters, a bit more rain in winter, and very bearable summer days. The public transport system in Melbourne is, to me, the best in Australia. The people are very friendly there, and there is lots to do and see within a short distance. So in my opinion I think Melbourne covers all that you want. Also with education we can transfer/move from state to state without much trouble, hence will not be an issue for you in the future. Cost of housing, rental, food is cheaper in Melbourne. Hope this helps a little...you will love it here in Australia...let me be the first to welcome you!

Answer 4

I have lived in both cities and enjoy both cities. Given a choice, though, it is Sydney for me. The University of Sydney is my Uni and it has a strong Faculty of Education. Melbourne is fine in the summer but it is cold, wet and miserable in the winter. Both cities have great shops, restaurants, cafes, nightclubs and nightlife. Melbourne usually gets new theatrical performances first. Both have great orchestras and the Australian Opera services both cities.

Sydney has some wonderful parks and gardens as does Melbourne but Sydney also has beaches and the Harbour. Melbourne has a few dismal strips of sand along Port Philip bay. Sydney is hilly except in the west, Melbourne is flat except in the northeast.

People in both cities are friendly. If you are going to either university you will have little difficulty meeting people with similar interests through all the various clubs and societies and the various functions besides meeting people in lectures and tutorials.

Australian Rules football is played in Sydney with the home team, the magnificent Sydney Swans playing once a fortnight at either the Sydney Cricket Ground or the Olympic Stadium. Go and see a game. Sydney won the Grand Final two years ago but lost by a point last year. Sydney also has Rugby League, Rugby Union and soccer if you prefer other fooball codes.

They are two great cities but the climates are very different. melbourne has hot dry summers and cold wet winters; Sydney has mild, dry winters and warm wet summers.

Climatic averages for Melbourne:
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_086071.shtml
Climatic averages for Sydney:
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_066062.shtml