Semester in Sydney January 21, 2025
By Kayla M (Computer Science, Wellesley College) - abroad from 07/22/2024 to 11/24/2024 with
University of Sydney: Sydney - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
I gained a lot of travel and backpacking experience. I also learned how to quickly find a community when moving to a new city.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The USyd exchange program offered courses with a wide range of academic rigor. Most of their courses also integrate experiential learning very well into the curriculum. I appreciated that all lectures were recorded and accessible on Canvas. All of my professors welcomed questions outside of the classroom and set up discussion boards to ask questions about upcoming assignments. There is also a heavy emphasis on group work and student collaboration. The labs and tutorials were very collaborative and engaging, but I found my lectures to be very monotonous. My lab also did not have enough tutors to accommodate the class size. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
USydney does not have American style dining halls, however there are many options on campus for food including food trucks, mall style food courts, cafes and restaurants where you can get a student discount. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Healthcare options are very easy to access and widely available, but the health insurance provided for international students requires you to initially pay out of pocket the full charge of the appointment and later submit the claim to be reimbursed for a portion of what you were charged. |
| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 100/week |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
Direct Enrollment/Exchange
| * Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? | Exchange |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Join more clubs to get to know local students |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
BMET 2922 |
| Course Department: | Biomedical Engineering |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | The class was very interesting and was focused on learning how to build a heart rate monitor. This included putting together hardware components, coding in C and in python. The lab was very collaborative, but the lecture was not very engaging as it was held over zoom. The lab also did not have enough tutors to accommodate the class size. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
EDUH 4052 |
| Course Department: | Education |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | We had several hiking field trips including a multiple night trip to the Blue Mountains. The instructors were very knowledgeable and offered many opportunities for the students to lead the discussion in a direction we were interested in. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
