UNSW v USyd for Science/Law? (1 Viewer)

OzKo

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There's always students going to Redfern station even late at night so I don't think it's a problem.

The risk of being a victim of crime in that area of Redfern is incredibly overblown.
 

enoilgam

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There's always students going to Redfern station even late at night so I don't think it's a problem.

The risk of being a victim of crime in that area of Redfern is incredibly overblown.
Isnt it gentrified now?
 

SuchSmallHands

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Salaries aren't that relevant. They could be totally coincidental for all we know; there are many more factors that play a part in graduate employment and starting salary than the quality of your university. At the end of the day, USYD and UNSW law are pretty much equal, the only reasons USYD may be considered better by some is because of the heritage/prestige as the oldest law school in Australia, and because they are slightly higher than UNSW in university rankings. But really, even if you did place some importance on rankings, the difference is so small it is negligible.


As has been said before, you really need to go to USYD/UNSW Open Days yourself to get a feel for each of them and decide which is best for you. The law faculties at both universities are top quality and you can't go wrong with either. Same goes for Medicinal Chemistry, the only real notable difference is that the UNSW degree sets out a lot of the units they want you to do, and at first glance, it looks like their program is more comprehensive than the USYD major (which only requires you to do Chemistry and Pharmacology). But if you pick your electives well you should be able to get the same out of the USYD major as you can out of UNSW.

EDIT: Just checked, UNSW do not offer a combined Bachelor of Medicinal Chemistry/Bachelor of Laws. So unless you want to do the Medicinal Chemistry degree and a JD afterwards, or major in something like Chemistry and choose electives that mimic the Medicinal Chemistry program, then you'd be better off doing Science/Law at USYD.
Med Chem/Law has been confirmed for 2015, so it will just start when I finish high school. From the QS criteria for their rankings I don't think that any difference in ranking would be very applicable to an undergrad, they appear to mostly be research grants, etc. that would concern a post grad. I don't really care about prestige anyway. Yo're right though, while UNSW is a lot more guided it appears to be more comprehensive, and there's no risk of finding myself in fourth or fifth year realising that I didn't take enough of the right units to get my major. I am hoping to make it to some open days, I've never actually been to either before and since there really doesn't seem to be a huge difference in either academically I guess environment will factor in a lot.


I don't know where Redfern is but I get the impression that it's somewhat dodgy from the comments? I'm much more familiar with the general area that UNSW is in, my grandparents live in Vaucluse and my aunt lives in Bondi. Would I be better off somewhere that I (kind of) know my way around already?
 

OzKo

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Isnt it gentrified now?
Some parts are, some parts aren't.

The route to the uni is pretty much all a-ok. Can get a bit dodgy on the other side of Redfern.
 

Squar3root

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I don't know where Redfern is but I get the impression that it's somewhat dodgy from the comments? I'm much more familiar with the general area that UNSW is in, my grandparents live in Vaucluse and my aunt lives in Bondi. Would I be better off somewhere that I (kind of) know my way around already?
Redfern is just before Central (looking at it from the western sydney line). yes it is very dodgy but all train stations are like that (moreso redfern). Central does also get pretty bad at night. When i was there; all these lebos were trying to start fights with everyone on the platform
 

enoilgam

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Med Chem/Law has been confirmed for 2015, so it will just start when I finish high school. From the QS criteria for their rankings I don't think that any difference in ranking would be very applicable to an undergrad, they appear to mostly be research grants, etc. that would concern a post grad. I don't really care about prestige anyway. Yo're right though, while UNSW is a lot more guided it appears to be more comprehensive, and there's no risk of finding myself in fourth or fifth year realising that I didn't take enough of the right units to get my major. I am hoping to make it to some open days, I've never actually been to either before and since there really doesn't seem to be a huge difference in either academically I guess environment will factor in a lot.
The "prestige" factor is pretty much a non-issue with UNSW vs USyd for Law. Whilst prestige plays more of a role in the Law field than others, UNSW and USyd are pretty equal in this area (then again, prestige itself isnt really a big factor in terms of employability).
 

SuchSmallHands

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I personally don't care at all about prestige and frankly think that it's role in employment, while probably existing, is overplayed anyway. Where prestige is earned by better results, I care; where it's earned by stupid things like age or romanticism of grounds as a backdrop for grad photos I would struggle to care less. Good to know that if it is a factor for any employers both are on par, but I don't know how much I want to work for a company that places prestige of university above results anyway.

I've done ten years of kickboxing so I can handle fight-seeking 'lebos', as long is it's not shiv-wielding meth tweakers I should be good.
 
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bangladesh

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Well if we're going to start mentioning things that only about 6 people do, did you know that UNSW gives you the chance to be able to have your face on a massive 30x20m or so banner that they will design and print out, and hang it over the side of the Mechanical Engineering building in full view of everyone who walks by showing how proud the university is of you?
not sure if ... Our SSP biology class is around 80 ish i'd say.. And plus, this person is speaking of doing LAW which requires 99.65/99.7 depending on where she goes meaning she will automatically qualify for both TSP and SSP if she decides to do it...
 

someth1ng

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I have heard from a few people that did science at UNSW and USyd and said that it's more or less the same - based on what people have said here for Law, it's probably also the same.

I would always recommend looking at transport, for example, for me, USyd was way better for transport - wasn't even a comparison.

Seriously, the TSP program at USyd is incredible.
 

bangladesh

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I have heard from a few people that did science at UNSW and USyd and said that it's more or less the same - based on what people have said here for Law, it's probably also the same.

I would always recommend looking at transport, for example, for me, USyd was way better for transport - wasn't even a comparison.

Seriously, the TSP program at USyd is incredible.

THANK YOU. Finally someone to back me up. SSP is also extremely good. I never imagined i was going to extract my own mitochondrial DNA which would then be sent to south korea and be analysed all for only 4-5 weeks of our pracs.. Science at USYD really is amazing if you are looking to push yourself
 

SuchSmallHands

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THANK YOU. Finally someone to back me up. SSP is also extremely good. I never imagined i was going to extract my own mitochondrial DNA which would then be sent to south korea and be analysed all for only 4-5 weeks of our pracs.. Science at USYD really is amazing if you are looking to push yourself
Are opportunities like that harder to come by at UNSW?
 

SuchSmallHands

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So you're saying you don't want a job?
I'm sure most firms would rather take the top student from Macquarie than someone who got a C average at USyd. I get that prestige will always be a factor, but surely it isn't prioritised above the actual results.
 

enoilgam

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So you're saying you don't want a job?
Honestly, a company that looks at prestige when recruiting graduates doesnt have a clue what they are doing. Any credible HR/recruitment professional will tell you that "uni prestige" is next to useless for determining the calibre of an applicant. It's mostly a factor in businesses where "old boy" managers decide on recruiting standards and they have a bias towards their unis or prestige unis (i.e. some law firms where the partners have a significant amount of say in recruiting).
 

Amleops

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Med Chem/Law has been confirmed for 2015, so it will just start when I finish high school. From the QS criteria for their rankings I don't think that any difference in ranking would be very applicable to an undergrad, they appear to mostly be research grants, etc. that would concern a post grad. I don't really care about prestige anyway. Yo're right though, while UNSW is a lot more guided it appears to be more comprehensive, and there's no risk of finding myself in fourth or fifth year realising that I didn't take enough of the right units to get my major. I am hoping to make it to some open days, I've never actually been to either before and since there really doesn't seem to be a huge difference in either academically I guess environment will factor in a lot.


I don't know where Redfern is but I get the impression that it's somewhat dodgy from the comments? I'm much more familiar with the general area that UNSW is in, my grandparents live in Vaucluse and my aunt lives in Bondi. Would I be better off somewhere that I (kind of) know my way around already?
You sure about that? I can't find any mention of it on the web or in the 2015 UNSW Law Undergraduate Guide. It would be great if it was though; sounds like a good combination.

And don't worry about Redfern, it's harmless.
 

timeslowsdown

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Yeah like everyone says, you can't go wrong with either. I'm doing science/law and chose UNSW mostly because of its law faculty. I really love the teaching style and definitely think it was the best decision for me. I don't regret not going to USYD.
 

anomalousdecay

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Yeah like everyone says, you can't go wrong with either. I'm doing science/law and chose UNSW mostly because of its law faculty. I really love the teaching style and definitely think it was the best decision for me. I don't regret not going to USYD.
I like how at the law building, anyone can just walk in and use the library for study.
 

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