UNSW vs USYD vs Macquarie vs UTS Mechanical/Mechatronics Engineering!!! (1 Viewer)

[shy9488]

Well hello to all!
I'm a canberrean student looking to study in SYDNEY!!

My estimated atar is 85 and I applied for some 'schemes' which will boost my atar a little. I could be in a good position to get into UNSW and USYD for mechatronics or mechanical engineering, right now their cut off is at ~91.

I have some questions!

1.Macquarie only need somewhere below 80 atar, so Im just wondering, does the uni I go to REALLY matter in terms of future career prospects?
I heard employers only look at your graduation certificate and your work experience. So in this case, should I go to a less 'demanding' uni?

2.Is it easier to pass or get better marks at macquarie than UNSW or USYD?

3. I'm interested in both mechanical engineering and mechatronics. But which do you prefer??

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP!

 

[someth1ng]

Well hello to all!
I'm a canberrean student looking to study in SYDNEY!!

My estimated atar is 85 and I applied for some 'schemes' which will boost my atar a little. I could be in a good position to get into UNSW and USYD for mechatronics or mechanical engineering, right now their cut off is at ~91.

I have some questions!

1.Macquarie only need somewhere below 80 atar, so Im just wondering, does the uni I go to REALLY matter in terms of future career prospects?
I heard employers only look at your graduation certificate and your work experience. So in this case, should I go to a less 'demanding' uni?

2.Is it easier to pass or get better marks at macquarie than UNSW or USYD?

3. I'm interested in both mechanical engineering and mechatronics. But which do you prefer??

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP!

1. Aim for USyd and UNSW - jobs for engineering (currently), are already quite scarce. Going to a second tier university will just make that even worse.
2. Probably not - it's all standardised.
3. It's about what YOU prefer, not what we prefer.

 

[Riproot]

Look, the uni you go to probably doesn't effect your job prospects that much BUT you do want to go to the best uni possible so that you have the knowledge to do your job right and be a good engineer so why not go somewhere where the teaching is of a high calibre so you can learn well?

I haven't heard of Macquarie being easier than the others, but even so you probably want to go to the one that teaches the best.

Probably look at the types of jobs you can get with those degrees and see which jobs you prefer or which opens up more doors for you career-wise.

 

[shy9488]

I thought Australia is still in demand for engineers???

 

[shy9488]

Look, the uni you go to probably doesn't effect your job prospects that much BUT you do want to go to the best uni possible so that you have the knowledge to do your job right and be a good engineer so why not go somewhere where the teaching is of a high calibre so you can learn well?

I haven't heard of Macquarie being easier than the others, but even so you probably want to go to the one that teaches the best.

Probably look at the types of jobs you can get with those degrees and see which jobs you prefer or which opens up more doors for you career-wise.

But if where I graduate doesn't really matter, then does the academical results matter?? Sorry i just really don't know much about uni and employment...

 

[D94]

I thought Australia is still in demand for engineers???

That doesn't mean they'll just take anyone. If I were an employer, I wouldn't hire someone with a weak grasp of engineering concepts, who just scraped through uni with passes. There are many students who achieve highly and do extra curricular stuff. They aren't mutually exclusive.

I wouldn't say it's easier at one uni over another. If Engineers Australia has accredited a course, then it has a certain standard of education which it has reached. I don't believe a uni would pass someone who doesn't know anything (despite the odd occurrence). Passing means the bare minimum, which isn't a lot. To achieve higher will require effort no matter which uni you go to.

But like Riproot said, wouldn't you want to go to the best possible uni and study alongside some of the best students in Australia?

 

[shy9488]

That doesn't mean they'll just take anyone. If I were an employer, I wouldn't hire someone with a weak grasp of engineering concepts, who just scraped through uni with passes. There are many students who achieve highly and do extra curricular stuff. They aren't mutually exclusive.

I wouldn't say it's easier at one uni over another. If Engineers Australia has accredited a course, then it has a certain standard of education which it has reached. I don't believe a uni would pass someone who doesn't know anything (despite the odd occurrence). Passing means the bare minimum, which isn't a lot. To achieve higher will require effort no matter which uni you go to.

But like Riproot said, wouldn't you want to go to the best possible uni and study alongside some of the best students in Australia?

YES! yes definitely! I want to go to the uni that are more prestige or at least at a higher ranking for its education and research. I'm just not sure if my ATAR will get me there and thats why I'm considering Macquarie and UTS. One thing I know is that I really want to go to sydney and these four uni's are just the one's that I'm more interested in.
So basically, if my atar is 90+, then its UNSW or USYD, but then the question comes to WHICH ONE???
if my atar is just around mid 80's then, which of the other two uni's??

 

[Riproot]

But if where I graduate doesn't really matter, then does the academical results matter?? Sorry i just really don't know much about uni and employment...

It not the results though, it's what you learn, if you aren't driven to learn the best engineering from the best of the best and just really want to learn it and live it then you probs want to go to the better Uni, otherwise you'll just end up dropping engineering after a year or two (like me).


Just put your preferences in terms of which Uni you would want to go to the most to least and then come what may if your ATAR doesn't allow you to go to the best one but you get into the others then just go to those.

 

[D94]

Arguably UNSW. It's hard to definitely say which is the best because I haven't attended USYD. But from when I went to see USYD on Open Days, the engineering facilities seemed a bit outdated. But it was a glance, I can't say for certain. You'll have to do a bit more research before making a choice. Consider travel time and location. Consider convenience, food, social life etc.

 

[enoilgam]

You'll have to do a bit more research before making a choice. Consider travel time and location. Consider convenience, food, social life etc.

This pretty much. Asking for people's opinions is a great idea but it can only get you so far. Get out there and see the unis for yourself.

 

[brent012]

That doesn't mean they'll just take anyone. If I were an employer, I wouldn't hire someone with a weak grasp of engineering concepts, who just scraped through uni with passes. There are many students who achieve highly and do extra curricular stuff. They aren't mutually exclusive.

I wouldn't say it's easier at one uni over another. If Engineers Australia has accredited a course, then it has a certain standard of education which it has reached. I don't believe a uni would pass someone who doesn't know anything (despite the odd occurrence). Passing means the bare minimum, which isn't a lot. To achieve higher will require effort no matter which uni you go to.

But like Riproot said, wouldn't you want to go to the best possible uni and study alongside some of the best students in Australia?

+1, i agree with what most people have said in this thread so far especially what Enoligam said. BUT when it comes to engineering it's not just UNSW and Usyd as the "top tier" unis - the cut offs for Usyd, UNSW and UTS are all very close and each of those unis have positives and negatives for their engineering courses. General consensus on here is that UNSW is the "best" but this forum does have a strong UNSW bias.

I don't think i'd be able to reccomend Macquarie to you over any of the other three unis ive mentioned for Engineering unless you have reasons (scholarship, friends, travel etc.). I've only ever met one Macq engineer and didn't really speak to them at all about uni so can't really offer any advice in regards to that, but what seems odd about Macq engineering is that they don't even have their own faculty!

 

[nifkeh]

Well hello to all!
I'm a canberrean student looking to study in SYDNEY!!

My estimated atar is 85 and I applied for some 'schemes' which will boost my atar a little. I could be in a good position to get into UNSW and USYD for mechatronics or mechanical engineering, right now their cut off is at ~91.

I have some questions!

1.Macquarie only need somewhere below 80 atar, so Im just wondering, does the uni I go to REALLY matter in terms of future career prospects?
I heard employers only look at your graduation certificate and your work experience. So in this case, should I go to a less 'demanding' uni?

2.Is it easier to pass or get better marks at macquarie than UNSW or USYD?

3. I'm interested in both mechanical engineering and mechatronics. But which do you prefer??

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP!

1. yes, employers judge on the uni's reputation, if you come from a insignificant uni, they will think your skills will be somewhat insignificant compared to someone from UNSW or maybe UTS despite the same amount of work experience

2. not too sure, but if you can go to a good uni with your ATAR, you should go to it rather than step down to a less prestigious uni on the basis of 'I'll be easier to get distinction there than UNSW when I graduate so I should get a job easily'. Also the uni's teach their courses with different amounts of emphasis of the topic, so if you want to work at a really big Engineering company, they may discriminate against the less prestigious ones as they think that their skillset is lacking because of the way the uni taught them and what they learnt there

3. it is your decision, you shouldn't rely on us to decide for you. Talk to the people in the faculty if you needed help on discriminating the differences between both to narrow your choice. If you were to ask me, I would probably go for mechanical

 

[nifkeh]

I thought Australia is still in demand for engineers???

it can change on a large timescale, maybe in 10 years it might get saturated :/

 

[Riproot]

1. yes, employers judge on the uni's reputation, if you come from a insignificant uni, they will think your skills will be somewhat insignificant compared to someone from UNSW or maybe UTS despite the same amount of work experience

2. not too sure, but if you can go to a good uni with your ATAR, you should go to it rather than step down to a less prestigious uni on the basis of 'I'll be easier to get distinction there than UNSW when I graduate so I should get a job easily'. Also the uni's teach their courses with different amounts of emphasis of the topic, so if you want to work at a really big Engineering company, they may discriminate against the less prestigious ones as they think that their skillset is lacking because of the way the uni taught them and what they learnt there

3. it is your decision, you shouldn't rely on us to decide for you. Talk to the people in the faculty if you needed help on discriminating the differences between both to narrow your choice. If you were to ask me, I would probably go for mechanical

HSC 2013!!!

This kid wouldn't know anything about this, and 1. is just plain wrong.

 

[kaz1]

if you have a choice between a good uni and a shit uni

always choose the shit uni

 

[Riproot]

if you have a choice between a good uni and a shit uni

always choose the shit uni

this.

makes complete sense.

do it.

#yolo

 

[shy9488]

this.

makes complete sense.

do it.

#yolo

Now i'm really confused hahaha

 

[shy9488]

I'm actually tilting to the UNSW side as well because I have commerce friends there to say its absolutely awesome.
But then again, commerce and engineering are completely different haha
Do you to Mechanical engineering at UNSW?? What is it like? A lot of hands on? or mainly theory based???
I actually am a more hands on person prefer to play around with things

 

[brent012]

What is it like? A lot of hands on? or mainly theory based???
I actually am a more hands on person prefer to play around with things

Well the generalisation is that UNSW is heavy on the theory while UTS is more practical based - especially with the compulsory internships.

 

[friwa]

hi guys
i know that this post is like a year ago, but i am still interested in the answer
currently i am doing bachelor of commerce at Macquarie uni and i am considering to transfer to a double degree course - Commerce+Engineering - mechatronics ( i simply enjoy studying it )
so the thing is, while Mq uni does not have any faculty for engineering for its own and the course is not widely known, but it does offer a good course description. Plus, i cant go to 2 Uni at the same time.
Do you think Mechatronics is a good course in Mq ? anyone have friends/relatives undertook it? can i have the same advantage as the other mechatronics graduates as i finish the course?
... it does not even qualified by Engineers Australia.