Hey
Ok cool, so at USYD there are several catered colleges-Women's, Sancta, (Paul's is guys only), St Andrew's, St John's and Wesley are the main ones. There are also the littler colleges of Mandelbaum and International house, but they don't get the involvement in all the intercol activities like the major six do.
Oh fantastic, you'll find something that lines up at college to all those activities! And being outgoing is great
For diverse backgrounds, my college has quite a mix of Sydney people, rural NSW, interstate and international students
The make up of the colleges differ a bit, some have a better rural/interstate/international mix.
Women's and Paul's have a really well known joined Chapel Choir that performs at many events, and Women's have a casual choir and all the colleges send in teams for the acapella groups for the Palladium Cup (Palladium Cup is an intercollegiate arts cup, where there's singing, dancing, acting, art, debating, oration events during the year that tally). The sports version of that is the Rosebowl
Glad to hear you like debating, college debating is really good competition and fun. I would actually like to be the college debating convenor next year
Many of the college kids also go along to USU debating from my college as well.
With the partying, it's a stereotype that everyone parties all the time at college. It is quiet for serious study, and always an option to go out. As an international you'll love that ready made community of people you know as uni can be quite daunting with all these big classes knowing noone! There's quite a few Law kids at my college. Colleges have tutorial programs which are arranged by students requesting for the subjects, so there is great academic support. Also all the colleges have a library for study, and if you live on campus, you are super close to the uni libraries as well.
Also, one of the USYD colleges (Women's) with a professional mentoring program (i.e 3rd years and above get matched with someone in the industry). Are you in Aus for the whole of your degree?
Oh and also something to be mindful of, Sancta is a Catholic college so I believe it's once a sem you have compulsory mass, so if you want to bypass any committment that way, go to one without a religious affiliation
I think given what you've told me, you'd really enjoy college and it'd be such a useful network as an international student
And all those EC's and your application will stand out so much to the colleges
If you are visiting Aus before you start your degree, you can organise tours anytime of year. Also as you are in the UK, you'll be able to do your college interview online
Any other Qs?