JimmerDunda said:
Dys said:
Cowabungaa said:
Parties like this are on the rise all over the world. Here in Holland we have Geert Wilders and his 'Party of Freedom' and they just won some landslide victories in yesterday's municipal elections. Mind you, we're having national elections in a couple of months. I fear for the results.
On a more personal note, I might become a student in Australia, hope those guys won't come into power before that then.
Don't. I can't speak for education in Holland, but down under it's pretty crap, if you really love the beach you might get a few good summers out of it at least. Our education is really,
really expensive and not of a particularly high standard (the cost of living in Melbourne and more so Sydney are also rather high, so unless you have some serious cash saved up or are somehow entitled to an Australian work visa it isn't going to work out).
As an American I would say your educational standards rank with us. You have some universities ranked in the top 50 such as Melbourne, Queensland, and New South Wales. Overall you are probably third on the list with the most Universities in the top 50, while Holland's best is at 47. Aside from the USA and UK dominating the list I would say your universities rank pretty high in the world.
Also Universities are expensive here in the USA too. I mean if you are out of state you could end up paying 15,000 a semester and don't get me started on private school tuition.
While I don't contest that $15000 is a lot of money for uni, it's very, very expensive to be an international student in Australia, it's costing me (a local student) only $6000 a year to study, however my understanding is that the government is paying in excess of 75% of tuition fees (which, while I don't know, I doubt is the case in the states) plus all the textbook and living costs (most of our unis are annoyingly in the CBD).
As for the standard of our universitys, I really can't comment outside of Victorian campuses, I can say that Melbourne is by far the worst for many doctrines (medicine, veterinarian studies and related sciences being notable exceptions). It would be insanity to study say, Engineering or Business at Melbourne uni. What few courses they are renowned for are extremely difficult to get a place in, and it's pretty much the same deal for all the other universities (they have a few things they are good for and are pretty rubbish at everything else). I imagine it's similar everywhere for unis to specialise, but it's really easy to get caught doing a course that has no real world relevance (for example I have a friend who graduated with a Melbourne engineering degree having never seen any of the machines or parts she was supposed to be able to design).
Ultimately it depends what you're looking for, and while it does look good having a degree from a renowned international uni, it may not make you as ready for real world work as one would expect.
Cowabungaa said:
Dys said:
Don't. I can't speak for education in Holland, but down under it's pretty crap, if you really love the beach you might get a few good summers out of it at least. Our education is really, really expensive and not of a particularly high standard (the cost of living in Melbourne and more so Sydney are also rather high, so unless you have some serious cash saved up or are somehow entitled to an Australian work visa it isn't going to work out).
Oh I know. I have my reasons. If I really plan on staying over there (and I might, after a work holiday of a year), I better get myself some papers for a proper job, and TAFE looks rather affordable. I also plan on staying in Brisbane, which is (from what I've heard) cheaper than the rest. We'll see though, it's not sure if I'll stay, but some form of education looks rather vital if I want to.
Tafe is brilliantly cheap, however I'm not sure if international students get the same rates as local students, as it's almost entirely government funded.
