ANU VS UNSW VS USyD (2 Viewers)

[D94]

oh that's good to hear, finally a reliable ranking system.

Hardly reliable at all. Most ranking systems for Universities encompass those factors, yet there are different results. Clearly there is a level of subjectivity which decides which uni is ranked 1 and which uni is ranked 100. As subjectivity increases, its reliability decreases.

Actually, the system which the other member referred to uses these factors:
- Teaching — the learning environment (worth 30 per cent of the overall ranking score)
- Research — volume, income and reputation (worth 30 per cent)
- Citations — research influence (worth 30 per cent)
- Industry income — innovation (worth 2.5 per cent)
- International outlook — staff, students and research (worth 7.5 per cent).

Now who's to say that industry income is less important than citations? Why is teaching and research of equal value? We might look to rankings to determine reputation, but reputation is a factor in rankings, so is that an accurate factor? Why are each factors worth x%? Are there other important factors which you personally consider? Maybe transport, location? Accommodation isn't even considered, nor are fees.

 

[viva_la_albert]

What do I need to do to get into Harvard, Oxford or Cambridge for postgraduate studies? Is it really hard to get in?

You'd need at least a GPA of 6.5/7 or a 3.8/4 I think, H1 honours and you'd probably need alot of extra circular activities, like representing the university in sports. One of my brothers friends got into Harvard for the J.D and he was in the rowing team for uni as well as the swim team and field hockey team. He often ran marathons, did some volunteer work, was a member of the Young Liberals and the debating team. He got a 2:1 in his honours though but it was a high 2:1 I think.

 

[Galapagos]

You'd need at least a GPA of 6.5/7 or a 3.8/4 I think, H1 honours and you'd probably need alot of extra circular activities, like representing the university in sports. One of my brothers friends got into Harvard for the J.D and he was in the rowing team for uni as well as the swim team and field hockey team. He often ran marathons, did some volunteer work, was a member of the Young Liberals and the debating team. He got a 2:1 in his honours though but it was a high 2:1 I think.

Extra-curricular activity is only important if you are applying for Harvard. For Oxbridge, a simple read of their websites tells you that they really don't give a crap about that stuff, they just want you to be really awesome at your subject area (very high marks, esp. in honours) and passionate.

 

[The Matrix]

Extra-curricular activity is only important if you are applying for Harvard. For Oxbridge, a simple read of their websites tells you that they really don't give a crap about that stuff, they just want you to be really awesome at your subject area (very high marks, esp. in honours) and passionate.

Will aim for Oxford then when I do post graduate studies. I don't like extra curriculum stuff, I've never done any extra curriculum activities at my school...
Oxford is rank 4 in the world, not bad at all.

 

[viva_la_albert]

Will aim for Oxford then when I do post graduate studies. I don't like extra curriculum stuff, I've never done any extra curriculum activities at my school...
Oxford is rank 4 in the world, not bad at all.

Honestly, you're not going to enjoy university that much if you don't play on doing extra curriculum stuff. It's not always about amazing marks, you won't be very employable/won't have many friends. And although it's nice too aim for Oxbridge/Ivy League unis, you'll need the money as well. Don't speak of it as a given, you'll need H1 Honours and that's a bitch to get.

 

[The Matrix]

Honestly, you're not going to enjoy university that much if you don't play on doing extra curriculum stuff. It's not always about amazing marks, you won't be very employable/won't have many friends. And although it's nice too aim for Oxbridge/Ivy League unis, you'll need the money as well. Don't speak of it as a given, you'll need H1 Honours and that's a bitch to get.

I used to play soccer for my school team in year 10 and I'm a casual bodybuilder so if I want to do extra curriculum activities I can play sports, but in year 11/12 I stopped doing any of that, I barely have time to study, I still workout though.
Yeah, I completely forgot about the money, can I work while doing PhD? So I can afford going to Oxford because I really don't wanna stay in Australia, not because it is a shit country or anything but because I'm really bored of it, don't wanna spend the rest of my life here

 

[iSplicer]

Honestly, you're not going to enjoy university that much if you don't play on doing extra curriculum stuff. It's not always about amazing marks, you won't be very employable/won't have many friends. And although it's nice too aim for Oxbridge/Ivy League unis, you'll need the money as well. Don't speak of it as a given, you'll need H1 Honours and that's a bitch to get.

Horribly incorrect and generalised.

I know people who don't give a jack about 'extra-curricular' involvement and are academic legends, but are still funny, social, easy-to-get-along-with type people.

 

[The Matrix]

Horribly incorrect and generalised.

I know people who don't give a jack about 'extra-curricular' involvement and are academic legends, but are still funny, social, easy-to-get-along-with type people.

Exactly, iSplicer is an example, he is a genius but he isn't an anti-social nerd, he is a really nice guy

 

[viva_la_albert]

I used to play soccer for my school team in year 10 and I'm a casual bodybuilder so if I want to do extra curriculum activities I can play sports, but in year 11/12 I stopped doing any of that, I barely have time to study, I still workout though.
Yeah, I completely forgot about the money, can I work while doing PhD? So I can afford going to Oxford because I really don't wanna stay in Australia, not because it is a shit country or anything but because I'm really bored of it, don't wanna spend the rest of my life here

You can definitely work whilst doing a PhD, I work in a lab as a student with alot of Post docs and PhD students even though I'm an undergrad and they get paid a decent wage. Alot of them do demonstrating or tutoring at uni or work regular jobs. Although, if you really want to get to Oxford, you should consider looking at Rhodes scholarships. I think it's easier to do a PhD in Australia, ANU, Melb and Syd are internationally recognised and you'll be working under (hopefully) good supervisors. You can always do your Post-doc abroad, most people take that route.

Horribly incorrect and generalised.

I know people who don't give a jack about 'extra-curricular' involvement and are academic legends, but are still funny, social, easy-to-get-along-with type people.

Oh yeah, but I have no background information on The Matrix so it's difficult not to generalise. And I'm also speaking from personal experience. I have much more fun at uni with all my extra stuff, it makes me more balanced and I'm better at time management because I have to be efficient with studying.

 

[The Matrix]

You can definitely work whilst doing a PhD, I work in a lab as a student with alot of Post docs and PhD students even though I'm an undergrad and they get paid a decent wage. Alot of them do demonstrating or tutoring at uni or work regular jobs. Although, if you really want to get to Oxford, you should consider looking at Rhodes scholarships. I think it's easier to do a PhD in Australia, ANU, Melb and Syd are internationally recognised and you'll be working under (hopefully) good supervisors. You can always do your Post-doc abroad, most people take that route.

What science do you do at uni?
I'm thinking about doing a combined degree, adv. science/something then get a PhD in an area that relates both disciplines.
Working while doing PhD is probably the only way to afford to study overseas unless you get a decent scholarship which is really hard.
Also, working while doing PhD will give me so much experience so I can find a decent job, since the salary of a lecturer is really low (90k per year) considering how much time they spend studying.
I wonder how well you can balance working and studying, especially at that level so a scholarship is essential. I'll try my best to get a scholarship. But for now, I'll try my best to get a good ATAR, I need 97+, 99+ would be nice too.
My uncle got a scholarship to do his PhD in nuclear/subatomic physics at Chicago University (top ten university), they gave him a really good house, car, money and everything, he is working as a lecturer and a manager of some nuclear reactor/subatomic research facility, but I can tell you, he is pretty anti-social to some extent, he barely talks and never ever talks about a topic that relates to his profession, I guess all physicists are like that, haha.

 

[viva_la_albert]

I'm doing Adv. Sci at ANU. If you do a combined degree, you're knowledge will be slightly more narrow because you'll only have 1 science major as opposed to a double major in an area or 2 majors. So if you do 4 courses a semester, you'll only be doing 2 science courses. But the double degree will make you more interdisciplinary, I'm contemplating a switch to a double degree because working in a lab isn't something I want to do for the rest of my life. But it's good to see you have a goal already, but think about Honours before your PhD how well you do in Honours determines if you get an APA or not.

It's not difficult balancing work and uni, during Year 11 and 12 I was working about 20 hours a week and I still managed to get into Advanced Science. Awesome to hear about your uncle! Not many people go into Physics at the end of their Honours/PhD so they do get treated pretty nicely. Theres also cadetships for undergrads who do engineering or physical sciences so look into that, as well as internal and external scholarships.

 

[The Matrix]

I'm doing Adv. Sci at ANU. If you do a combined degree, you're knowledge will be slightly more narrow because you'll only have 1 science major as opposed to a double major in an area or 2 majors. So if you do 4 courses a semester, you'll only be doing 2 science courses. But the double degree will make you more interdisciplinary, I'm contemplating a switch to a double degree because working in a lab isn't something I want to do for the rest of my life. But it's good to see you have a goal already, but think about Honours before your PhD how well you do in Honours determines if you get an APA or not.

It's not difficult balancing work and uni, during Year 11 and 12 I was working about 20 hours a week and I still managed to get into Advanced Science. Awesome to hear about your uncle! Not many people go into Physics at the end of their Honours/PhD so they do get treated pretty nicely. Theres also cadetships for undergrads who do engineering or physical sciences so look into that, as well as internal and external scholarships.

Is there a reason why people say ANU is better for post grad studies than UNSW and USyd?
I'm not sure what to do but definitely science/something. I'm not into commerce at all so I don't wanna do commerce/adv. maths, I was thinking about medicine/science but I need 99.95 for that, if I get 99.95 I'll definitely do med/science.
otherwise engineering/science seems really interesting but UNSW and USyd don't offer eng/adv. science, they only offer eng/science. I know that the only difference between adv. science and normal science is that honours is compulsory in adv. science but I'm wondering if that has any effect on PhD etc...

Even if doing a combined degree means my knowledge will be more narrow in science, but I'll learn 2 degrees instead of one and as you said, that make me more interdisciplinary.

 

[viva_la_albert]

Is there a reason why people say ANU is better for post grad studies than UNSW and USyd?
I'm not sure what to do but definitely science/something. I'm not into commerce at all so I don't wanna do commerce/adv. maths, I was thinking about medicine/science but I need 99.95 for that, if I get 99.95 I'll definitely do med/science.
otherwise engineering/science seems really interesting but UNSW and USyd don't offer eng/adv. science, they only offer eng/science. I know that the only difference between adv. science and normal science is that honours is compulsory in adv. science but I'm wondering if that has any effect on PhD etc...

Even if doing a combined degree means my knowledge will be more narrow in science, but I'll learn 2 degrees instead of one and as you said, that make me more interdisciplinary.

I get 6 month borrowing, that's pretty sweet. And Advanced Science sounds cooler than Science. If you're interested in the research aspect, ANU have a super awesome degree, the PhB for extremely talented science students. They have to maintain a 80% average (Adv. sci have to maintain 75% average) and they get to do research as part of their degree, which is awesome for undergrads. I can't really comment on how much better (or worse) ANU is when it comes to post-grad because I don't really know much about it compared to other unis but what I do know is that we have really amazing researchers who are doing some pretty cutting edge stuff in their field. Not to mention we have CSIRO across the road from us so we have alot of students going in and out of their. They also have an engineering equivalent, R&D. Both require an ATAR of 99.00 to get in. Tbh, science or Phb or Adv. Sci - your degree makes no difference to whether you do honours, its really your marks in 2nd and 3rd year courses as well as how talented of a student you are.

 

[The Matrix]

I get 6 month borrowing, that's pretty sweet. And Advanced Science sounds cooler than Science. If you're interested in the research aspect, ANU have a super awesome degree, the PhB for extremely talented science students. They have to maintain a 80% average (Adv. sci have to maintain 75% average) and they get to do research as part of their degree, which is awesome for undergrads. I can't really comment on how much better (or worse) ANU is when it comes to post-grad because I don't really know much about it compared to other unis but what I do know is that we have really amazing researchers who are doing some pretty cutting edge stuff in their field. Not to mention we have CSIRO across the road from us so we have alot of students going in and out of their. They also have an engineering equivalent, R&D. Both require an ATAR of 99.00 to get in. Tbh, science or Phb or Adv. Sci - your degree makes no difference to whether you do honours, its really your marks in 2nd and 3rd year courses as well as how talented of a student you are.

Wow, I'm really interested in that, ATAR is 99 for both R&D and PhB and they are extremely selective regarding who is accepted into the degree.

I will aim for 99 then, thank you a lot, this is the kind of degree I'm looking for, I wanna do research/post grad so it is a natural choice for me to aim for this kind of degree over any other degree.

Can you please tell me more about them. With the PhB degree, do you major in one particular science like chem/phys/maths etc... and what about the Engineering R&D, do you major in one engineering? Also, can you do combined PhB/something or R&D/something?

I will be really sad if I don't get 99, I'll work extremely hard to get 99+, hope they accept me since I'm doing 3 science subjects, I'm really excited, thanks man, I'm really motivated, I'll just aim for one of these degrees !!!

 

[viva_la_albert]

Wow, I'm really interested in that, ATAR is 99 for both R&D and PhB and they are extremely selective regarding who is accepted into the degree.

I will aim for 99 then, thank you a lot, this is the kind of degree I'm looking for, I wanna do research/post grad so it is a natural choice for me to aim for this kind of degree over any other degree.

Can you please tell me more about them. With the PhB degree, do you major in one particular science like chem/phys/maths etc... and what about the Engineering R&D, do you major in one engineering? Also, can you do combined PhB/something or R&D/something?

I will be really sad if I don't get 99, I'll work extremely hard to get 99+, hope they accept me since I'm doing 3 science subjects, I'm really excited, thanks man, I'm really motivated, I'll just aim for one of these degrees !!!

Yeah, it's an excellent course. I have many friends who are in it, crazily smart kids. Most do 2nd year maths or physics even though they're 1st years. A few have been to MIT for vacation projects. You can combine both degrees with Science, so you'll have PhB/Science or R&D/Science. Each student gets a mentor who helps give them academic advice, career pathway help, helps organise research projects etc. You can look them up on the ANU website, alot of PhB kids also publish in ANU's undergraduate journal too which looks really good.

Don't fret if you don't think you'll get 99 exactly. People have gotten into both degrees with a 97 because they've done things like NYSF, Youth ANZAAS, Olympiads and extra-curricular activities in science. Also, you can transfer at the end of your first year if you have a HD average. It's a different application process for the PhB but it's an extremely awesome and reward program. For the R&D, I think the cutoff this year was 98 or 99 but I do know everyone who got into R&D with 99 got a scholarship for 12G, so that's always nice.

Oh. And if you're still interested in doing medicine, ANU don't have undergrad med but the PhB students can start doing the Post grad med at ANU in their second year (I think, don't quote me on it), without having to sit GAMSAT or anything. So you can do an awesome science degree and medicine at the same time.

 

[humphdogg]

Sounds like I'm pretty qualified to answer your questions. I did a PhB Science degree at ANU, and now I'm currently finishing up an MPhil at ANU. I'm heading off to Princeton in September to do a PhD.

First off, all the Group of Eight universities are pretty good; I'd personally say that ANU, UMelb, and USyd would be the best, but it varies greatly depending on the course/subject area. For science, you can't really go wrong at ANU or UNSW. I did maths at ANU and by comparing to other universities' syllabi, I would say that I got the best possible education in my area (pure maths/analysis).

To do a PhD overseas, extracurricular activities are completely irrelevant, except if you're applying for an external scholarship such as a Rhodes scholarship. US universities are generally the way to go, as PhD students are generally guaranteed a scholarship so they don't have to pay tuition fees (note that in Australia, postgrad research degrees have no tuition fees and scholarships are pretty much guaranteed as well). In the UK, it's much harder to secure funding; Cambridge and Oxford charge international students through the roof, so it's not worth going there unless you manage to scoop up some external scholarship (which in general are extremely competitive; extracurriculars would definitely help for these).

The best US universities tend to be Ivy League schools, but these are pretty tough to get into. If you want to get into a top school for a PhD, you generally need first class honours and preferably a little research experience (summer research projects, undergraduate research projects, published papers based on your honours thesis, etc.). For example, Princeton accepts about 10 PhD maths students each year, and about 200 apply.

 

[The Matrix]

Thanks a lot to both of you, that's pretty much all I need to know for now.
Will definitely get 99+!

 

[uniquee]

Does anyone know which uni is the best for bachelor of criminology?

 

[kaz1]

Does anyone know which uni is the best for bachelor of criminology?

Wikipedia

 

[iSplicer]

Exactly, iSplicer is an example, he is a genius but he isn't an anti-social nerd, he is a really nice guy

Nawww <3