Why is everyone going to UNSW? (1 Viewer)

[zehurricane]

I'm going UNSW for all those chicky cute asian girls.

 

[Shadowdude]

I saw tons of white people at UNSW at the Open Day. So that's wrong, unfortunately.

And they may be ranked best universities in the world - but the point is when I was deciding - the GUG was the dealbreaker when I saw Sydney was resting on its laurels and giving very horrible education. For a taste, the Government - or the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations - shows that even UWS on average has more qualified staff than Sydney. In teaching quality - graduate responses say that at least 29 universities Australia-wide have better teaching quality than Sydney (in which it is ranked in the bottom portion of universities along with Adelaide, CDU, CSU, Griffith, QUT, UniSA and VU).

In Graduate Overall Satisfaction - Sydney is in the same boat, with again 29 universities Australia-wide offering students better satisfaction - on average. There, Sydney is in the same boat with Adelaide, CDU, CSU, Griffith, JCU, Queensland and VU in the 1 star category.

For me, that was the dealbreaker. And it's not just in this years guide, similar rankings can be found on their website which are the ones from 2008 or 2009 I believe. It's starting to become a trend.


So yes, it may be the same in the eyes of employers - but when you get out of Sydney, according to graduates in the past, you're going to be exiting there pissed off and unhappy while UNSW graduates will never want to leave. Metaphorically, of course =P


And yes, I am just trying to uphold the integrity of the GUG with the very attractive girl on the front, or VAG!

 

[mirakon]

you decided on your future university because a book told you so?

 

[Shadowdude]

Well, I read everything I needed to on both Sydney and UNSW's websites including their handbook for the degree I wanted and whatnot. I couldn't separate the two - so I used the GUG to separate them.

Partly, yes. But don't think I used that solely...

 

[xeuyrawp]

I don’t mean to 'blaspheme' but I am just really skeptical about these guides...It makes the whole process too easy and black and white. From what I've come to learn, choosing a uni is very much a personal and individual preference based on a multitude of factors which really can't be quantified into some rating out of five stars... but then again I have a tendency to overcomplicate the whole decision making process.

^ This.

And you're not overcomplicating the decision process; what you said is completely reasonable.

People who solely use rankings or entrance requirements (I've never understood the latter) are destined to be disappointed.

 

[tommykins]

^ This.

And you're not overcomplicating the decision process; what you said is completely reasonable.

People who solely use rankings or entrance requirements (I've never understood the latter) are destined to be disappointed.

Not to mention incredibly stupid

 

[James-Ferguson]

Hey, I'm going to do com law at Sydney next year and I had a tough time making the decision between that and UNSW too. There are a couple of things that I found particularly persuading though. First of all, after doing some more research, I found that the Good Universities Guide is based predominantly on interviews from a small number of students who sat the course. Obviously aside from the small sample of people which they have based their statistics off, there is another reason I can think of that the students say that the 'teaching quality' and their 'overall satisfaction' is less: many students who choose to study law at Sydney simply do it as they perceive it as elite and they got the marks for it, rather than having a passion for the subject. Thus when they realise they aren't too fussed with studying law, they do not enjoy their course as much.

In the end, I don't really think it'll make a difference which uni out of the two you choose to go to, simply that you do well at it. I ended up choosing Sydney as I was far more impressed by the passion that the Deans of commerce and law displayed at the open day, (particularly the commerce one when he talked about revitalising the commerce course).

Also, OP, it is quite possible the ATAR at UNSW will overtake USyd, particularly as this year (and I believe it is the first year they have done so) they are accepting applicants with bonus points under the elite athletes and performers scheme.

EDIT: Also, I don't think 'everyone' is going to UNSW. Out of my seven friends who want to do law and have gotten in to both, six are choosing sydney and the last is only going to UNSW as they got a Scientia scholarship.

 

[sinophile]

I just have a really big conception of USyd being full of elitist pretentious assholes.

 

[Shadowdude]

I admit seeing the small sample sizes of around 100-200, but really that's "small" in the context of the university. When you get 100 people saying pretty much the same thing, that's not an error of sample size - that's a trend.

And that same argument about Sydney can be duly applied to UNSW as well - at least to some extent.

 

[Bored Of Fail]

, (particularly the commerce one when he talked about revitalising the commerce course).

lol, im guessing thats the same guy that did the commerce talk for the 2009 open day two years ago.

that guy was so pepped up on caffeine or drugs or something.

you would never fall asleep in that guys lectures, he was so active and literally jumping around the lecture theatre but I ended up going to unsw

 

[SuperDumbo]

I just have a really big conception of USyd being full of elitist pretentious assholes.

Alternatively you could be jealous or just ignorant. People at USYD are nice but there are assholes just like in any university.

 

[NewiJapper]

I just have a really big conception of USyd being full of elitist pretentious assholes.

Oh it really is. Full of rich, snobby, sometimes overly indie poo heads from the Eastern suburbs.

 

[Bored Of Fail]

Oh it really is. Full of rich, snobby, sometimes overly indie poo heads from the Eastern suburbs.

whats wrong with living in the eastern suburbs you hobo

 

[twistedrebel]

Oh it really is. Full of rich, snobby, sometimes overly indie poo heads from the Eastern suburbs.

i get this vibe from the place

 

[Shadowdude]

Yeah, when I was standing around doing nothing - none of the student helpers went up to me, or anyone else and said 'Hi, how are you?' and did something along that line. They stayed in their little booth in the middle of the Quadrangle and chatted to each other.

At UNSW, their student helpers went around and talked to me and it happened to me twice. I was very impressed.

 

[Bored Of Fail]

At UNSW, their student helpers went around and talked to me and it happened to me twice. I was very impressed.

thats what they are payed for and they would probably lose it or get paid less if they didnt do something.

 

[Shadowdude]

thats what they are payed for

They're volunteers =P

And besides, we assume they are told the same things - but seriously, at least one of the Sydney people should've gone around instead of chat in their booth all day. They are supposed to be the same types of people anyway.


--

Also, I chose UNSW in that fashion because I couldn't separate Sydney-UNSW for the majority of the Main Round offer preference switch time!

 

[Bored Of Fail]

Its all "customer service" , so to speak , and it gets them more money because people like you pick your university based on that kind of attention ( I have no idea why you are choosing your uni on something so petty though lol ). By you going to UNSW they make more money , and at the end of the day universities are businesses more than educational institutions, they only care bout the money

 

[Carl14]

Honi Soit wrote a piece called 'Sydney Uni's Privilege Problem?' which is a very interesting read. About 65% of the student body are from predominantly high socio-economic backgrounds residing in the north shore and eastern suburbs. The vast majority of kids from GPS, CAS and other high fee private schools attend USyd. All of this would undoubtedly forge a very distinct culture within the University of Sydney which may appeal to some but also may exclude and isolate others. Having attended a GPS school, I did notice a subtle 'old boys club' and 'private school' atmosphere to many aspects of USyd culture.

 

[willma88]

Honi Soit wrote a piece called 'Sydney Uni's Privilege Problem?' which is a very interesting read. About 65% of the student body are from predominantly high socio-economic backgrounds residing in the north shore and eastern suburbs. The vast majority of kids from GPS, CAS and other high fee private schools attend USyd. All of this would undoubtedly forge a very distinct culture within the University of Sydney which may appeal to some but also may exclude and isolate others. Having attended a GPS school, I did notice a subtle 'old boys club' and 'private school' atmosphere to many aspects of USyd culture.

I'm just curious - what sort of 'private school' atmosphere did you personally experience?