ANU Accommodation + Living Costs independently financially viable? (1 Viewer)

[klaw]

Hello, I currently live in Sydney and am choosing my uni preferences. I'm thinking of putting ANU Commerce as one of my last preferences due to the much lower UAI requirements compared to unis like UNSW and USyd (94 at USyd, 93 UNSW and 83 ANU) and I would much rather go to ANU than some crappy unknown uni in Sydney.

However, if I choose to go to ANU, I would have very little financial support and I would have to live by myself. I have researched into the costs of accommodation (at UniLodge), and currently costs include:

One off costs
* Textbooks - anybody know how much commerce textbooks cost approx?
* Student Union fee - again, anybody know how much this costs?

Weekly costs
Fixed
* Rent - $158
* Phone and internet connection - $6
* Laundry (twice a week) - $6
* Resident's committee fee - $1
* Travel costs: No idea

Variable
* Food - about $140
* Going out - about $50
* Mobile costs - No idea yet

Total weekly costs: Approx $360 + Travel costs + Mobile phone costs = about $19k p.a. + travel costs + mobile phone costs

Possible sources of income
* Unskilled labour (Casual): I've been informed that average rates for 18 year olds are about $12-13/hr. If this is true, I would have to work around 25-30 hrs per week just to be able to meet my living costs.

* Partially skilled labour: Anybody know how hard it is to find a partially skilled job (such as a job where you type up documents or organise files) without requirements past the completion of the HSC? and approx how much income do they offer? Is it possible to be working for such a job while studying ANU Commerce full time?

* Student loans:
- Commonwealth bank campus loan, $5000 in total, split equally between 2 yrs ($2500 each yr)
- NAB Tertiary student package deferred payment loan, $500-$20000 (Probably about $5000-7000 realistically)

* Youth Allowance, Rent assistance:
- Anybody know if they take your parents' income into consideration even if you live by yourself on-campus?

* Commonwealth support scholarship
- Again, do they take into your consideration your parents' income if you live by yourself?

If anybody sees anything wrong with my estimates, please tell me. Also, does anybody have the answers to the questions I couldn't answer? Are there any significant costs/sources of finance that I missed out? So in the end, is ANU accommodation + living costs independently financially viable? Thanks for your time .

 

[Slidey]

Weekly costs
Fixed
* Rent - $158
* Phone and internet connection - $6
* Laundry (twice a week) - $6
* Resident's committee fee - $1
* Travel costs: No idea

Variable
* Food - about $140
* Going out - about $50
* Mobile costs - No idea yet

If you go to B&G, if only for first year, that becomes:
Rent: $144
Phone and internet: free internally, 7cents/meg for external traffic. But it's T3.
Laundry is free.
Travel costs nill for both unilodge and all halls and colleges
Mobile: if you can't get by on $30 a month you've got problems.
Going out: $50 a week is a lot. I'd go for $20/30.
Food: No way will food cost $140. Even for non-vegetarians I can't see how it'd go above $100. And if it is $140 for you, you'd be better off going to a catered college where it's $250 a week and you can eat as much as you like.

Remeber you will have to make sacrifices somewhere, whether it's in food quality, independency (unilodge vs something like B&G), or have a strong social network (halls/colleges vs unilodge).

YA: they take your parents income into account. I'm going to try again next year.

If you live at a hall/college you will be here for 40 weeks, not 52. So it's something like 40*250 a week for food and rent. Which is $10K.

Scholarships: You need evidence of financial hardship but that doesn't necessarily mean your parents can't have a high income, I suppose. Anyway you need like 98+ UAI for those.

Don't expect a job to pay the entire week's bills. Work in the christmas holidays (whether it's at a newsagents or macca's - money is money in this case) so you have some savings, then try and get a job that supplies about $100 a week. That means either your savings or parents or whetever can provide for the other $150 a week.

On campus colleges also have financial hardship scholarships which pay for roughly half of the cost I think.

Student union fee is voluntary now.

Average textbook is 100 to 150. Expect to need 2 to 3 textbooks per semester.

 

[klaw]

If you go to B&G, if only for first year, that becomes:
Rent: $144
Phone and internet: free internally, 7cents/meg for external traffic. But it's T3.
Laundry is free.
Travel costs nill for both unilodge and all halls and colleges
Mobile: if you can't get by on $30 a month you've got problems.
Going out: $50 a week is a lot. I'd go for $20/30.
Food: No way will food cost $140. Even for non-vegetarians I can't see how it'd go above $100. And if it is $140 for you, you'd be better off going to a catered college where it's $250 a week and you can eat as much as you like.

Remeber you will have to make sacrifices somewhere, whether it's in food quality, independency (unilodge vs something like B&G), or have a strong social network (halls/colleges vs unilodge).

YA: they take your parents income into account. I'm going to try again next year.

If you live at a hall/college you will be here for 40 weeks, not 52. So it's something like 40*250 a week for food and rent. Which is $10K.

Scholarships: You need evidence of financial hardship but that doesn't necessarily mean your parents can't have a high income, I suppose. Anyway you need like 98+ UAI for those.

Don't expect a job to pay the entire week's bills. Work in the christmas holidays (whether it's at a newsagents or macca's - money is money in this case) so you have some savings, then try and get a job that supplies about $100 a week. That means either your savings or parents or whetever can provide for the other $150 a week.

On campus colleges also have financial hardship scholarships which pay for roughly half of the cost I think.

Student union fee is voluntary now.

Average textbook is 100 to 150. Expect to need 2 to 3 textbooks per semester.

Thanks for that . B&G does seem to be a lot cheaper. I've now adjusted costs:
One-off costs
Registration fee: $185
Deposit: $500
Resident's committee: $100
Insurance: $11
Textbooks: about $300 per semester, so $600 annually

Total: $1396

Weekly costs
Fixed
* Rent - $144.5

Variable
* Food - about $100
* Going out - about $30

Total: 274.5

Monthly costs
Mobile - $30

Annual costs: 274.5*40+30*12+1396 = 12736

$12736 - $2500 (student loan) - $2000 (Money saved while working between finish of HSC to start of uni) = $8236

The problem with having 40 weeks of accommodation is your job. Employers wouldn't like it if you take 12 weeks off work and if you stay there working, you'd need a place to live, which means you'd have to pay more (am I correct in saying that it's usually more costly than uni campus accommodation?).

Assuming that employers allow you to take 12 weeks off, $8238/40=$205.90/week that you'll have to earn while at uni.
Is that achievable while studying commerce full time at ANU (realistically)?

 

[michell3x]

Okay, well I'm actually planning on moving down to Canberra next year and transferring from UQ to ANU (UQ = overrated) for my second year so I've been looking over accommodation etc over the last few weeks, so hopefully I can help you out a bit.

+++++++++++++++++

Textbooks - Depending on the subject, you can easily get by without purchasing the textbook. Most libraries will have the subscribed text on loan for 7/14 days (non-renewable) & if they're all taken, that's when the high-use section is handy. If you find you can't get by without the textbook for a certain subject then buy it second-hand when you can - they're usually in near perfect condition & fairly cheaper than if you buy them brand new from the uni bookstore. Depending on whether you're an 'OMG I MUST HAVE EVERY SINGLE TEXTBOOK THAT'S PRESCRIBED FOR MY COURSE!..AND IT MUST BE BRAND NEW!!!' type of person, expect to spend anywhere between $70-$300+ per semester on textbooks.

Student Union Fee: Abolished!

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Costs @ Unilodge:

- You forgot utilities which is an additional $11 pw
- You also need to budget extra for actual phone call/data charges, the $6 per week only covers the connection.
- Travel costs = none
- Food, there is NO way you will spend $140 on groceries pw. It's more like $100 per fortnight (give or take). If you're a vegetarian then even better because meat is probably the most expensive thing you'll buy each week (no seriously).
- Going out money I'd say $30, it's enough for a movie one night & drinks on the weekend...or just drinks all freaking weekend~*!
- $30 p/m for your mobile is reasonable
- You should also include money for unexpected events & clothes etc.
- Don't forget the upfront costs

+++++++++++++++++

I can't stress this enough if you're planning on living @ Unilodge as a first year uni student - just because you can budget yourself to live there, it doesn't mean you should!

- If you have to work an excessive amount of hours per week to cover your rent/expenses then you need to consider the impact it'll have on your study time.
- You also need to consider how you're going to cope with living independently, covering financial costs of living away from home AND how you'll find the transition to university & a new city. (Let's face it, some people struggle with it even when they attend uni in the same city & still live at home).

The halls/colleges make the transition a hell of a lot easier & less lonely. (People tend to stick to themselves @ Unilodge). Also, they offer more support in terms of social/academic things. I guess what I'm trying to get at is that money shouldn't be the only priority you have when deciding where to live. It's great if you can cope financially, but can you cope on the emotional level? (Omigod, I sound like a freaking psychiatrist don't I?)

Oh and lastly, Unilodge makes you sign a 52 week contract (I think?!) whereas there are 40 week contracts @ the colleges/halls..so you can go back to Sydney over summer/winter (if that's an option) so that's a few thousand you'll save per year.


+++++++++++++++++

YA & Rent Assistance - they take into account your family's income so the only way you can get YA is if your parents earn below the threshold, you prove yourself independent (earning 18.5k in 18 months [don't quote me on the exact figures]) or if you can prove your parents beat the hell out of you and it's not safe for you to be with them.

+++++++++++++++++

Guess I might see you next year~*! ;D

 

[michell3x]

The problem with having 40 weeks of accommodation is your job. Employers wouldn't like it if you take 12 weeks off work and if you stay there working, you'd need a place to live, which means you'd have to pay more (am I correct in saying that it's usually more costly than uni campus accommodation?).

Assuming that employers allow you to take 12 weeks off, $8238/40=$205.90/week that you'll have to earn while at uni.
Is that achievable while studying commerce full time at ANU (realistically)?

Most employers are really flexible - you'll find that for the number of people who go home for the summer amount to the same number of people staying, and wanting to earn some cash.

$205.90 is possible to earn - it's about 16.5 hours pw @ the normal 18 year old rate but keep in mind that you won't get the same amount of hours per week.

To be honest, how often you work and managing your course load is really dependent on you. I can manage 14 hours pw and still get Ds/HDs (B.Econ). It depends what grades you want, hell, you could probably work 35 hours pw if all you wanted were pass grades in your subjects.

 

[klaw]

Most employers are really flexible - you'll find that for the number of people who go home for the summer amount to the same number of people staying, and wanting to earn some cash.

$205.90 is possible to earn - it's about 16.5 hours pw @ the normal 18 year old rate but keep in mind that you won't get the same amount of hours per week.

To be honest, how often you work and managing your course load is really dependent on you. I can manage 14 hours pw and still get Ds/HDs (B.Econ). It depends what grades you want, hell, you could probably work 35 hours pw if all you wanted were pass grades in your subjects.

Thanks for that . Do you know how many hrs we spend at uni for ANU full-time Commerce by any chance? I heard that ppl doing Commerce only have to go twice a week.

 

[michell3x]

Thanks for that . Do you know how many hrs we spend at uni for ANU full-time Commerce by any chance? I heard that ppl doing Commerce only have to go twice a week.

No problem~*!

Haha, I'm the worst person to talk to about attendance. Seriously, I'm the girl who couldn't find her statistics lecture theatre in the first week and because of that, never attended a lecture for the entire semester. (I ended on a HD though !)

Anyway if you attend all your classes like you're supposed to, it's 12-14 contact hours per week (give or take) so most business students manage to cram everything into two or three days fairly easily.

 

[klaw]

No problem~*!

Haha, I'm the worst person to talk to about attendance. Seriously, I'm the girl who couldn't find her statistics lecture theatre in the first week and because of that, never attended a lecture for the entire semester. (I ended on a HD though !)

Anyway if you attend all your classes like you're supposed to, it's 12-14 contact hours per week (give or take) so most business students manage to cram everything into two or three days fairly easily.

hahaha HD making up BS? nice
12-14 hrs is nothing, which gives me so much time to work for $

 

[Slidey]

Expect to attend about 20 hours a week. Unless you don't go to lectures for some reason: I lost my glasses - lame excuse but it's true. Anyway, lectures are quite overrated. I learn at least twice as much by studying for an hour in my own time compared with going to lectures. I guess that assumes that you can cover all the lecture content yourself though, which is actually usually true - lecture slides on the web + textbook and you're set. Anyway, tutorials will probably be something like 5 to 10 hours per week and they are generally compulsory and you DO learn things in them, usually, too.

Okay, well I'm actually planning on moving down to Canberra next year and transferring from UQ to ANU (UQ = overrated) for my second year so I've been looking over accommodation etc over the last few weeks, so hopefully I can help you out a bit.

LOL I've been considering the reverse (ANU overrated). You don't like UQ?

If I move to B&G next year, I'm personally budgetting for:
Per week:
$50 food
$10 going out (I don't go out every week so on average say 10)
$150 rent (roughly)
-$80 work
$10 odds and sods

 

[michell3x]

Expect to attend about 20 hours a week. Unless you don't go to lectures for some reason: I lost my glasses - lame excuse but it's true. Anyway, lectures are quite overrated. I learn at least twice as much by studying for an hour in my own time compared with going to lectures. I guess that assumes that you can cover all the lecture content yourself though, which is actually usually true - lecture slides on the web + textbook and you're set. Anyway, tutorials will probably be something like 5 to 10 hours per week and they are generally compulsory and you DO learn things in them, usually, too.


LOL I've been considering the reverse (ANU overrated). You don't like UQ?

If I move to B&G next year, I'm personally budgetting for:
Per week:
$50 food
$10 going out (I don't go out every week so on average say 10)
$150 rent (roughly)
-$80 work
$10 odds and sods

I thought I was the only one who thought lectures were completely pointless I haven't been to a lecture since April...I really don't know what the big deal about them is - it's pretty much a vocal repetition of the lecture notes/textbook readings.

I've forever been put off by tutorials since the day I sat next to this guy who was bragging to me about how easy stats was (note: he failed the course previously), only to ask the tutor 10 minutes later what he meant when he was referring to the 'numerator and denominator'. I was like...'you have to be kidding me right?'

I really dislike UQ, which is sad considering I'd always wanted to go there since I was younger. Academically speaking (I can only talk about the BEL faculty), it's okay. They provide fantastic academic assistance, the tutors are great & so are the extra tutoring programs but the lecturers (I've personally found) aren't that great - with the exception of one (who was absolutely brilliant).

What I dislike the most about UQ is that it provides everything it has to - nothing more & nothing less. It's just not the standard I expected it to be - I guess, I'm looking for more of a challenge and I'm hoping to find that @ ANU (this is the part where you shatter my hope & tell me ANU is absolutely awful )

I'm thinking of putting B&G as my second accom preference...too bad I don't know to cook Looks like I'll be living off fast food & two minute noodles for 40 weeks of the year~!

 

[klaw]

I thought I was the only one who thought lectures were completely pointless I haven't been to a lecture since April...I really don't know what the big deal about them is - it's pretty much a vocal repetition of the lecture notes/textbook readings.

I've forever been put off by tutorials since the day I sat next to this guy who was bragging to me about how easy stats was (note: he failed the course previously), only to ask the tutor 10 minutes later what he meant when he was referring to the 'numerator and denominator'. I was like...'you have to be kidding me right?'

I really dislike UQ, which is sad considering I'd always wanted to go there since I was younger. Academically speaking (I can only talk about the BEL faculty), it's okay. They provide fantastic academic assistance, the tutors are great & so are the extra tutoring programs but the lecturers (I've personally found) aren't that great - with the exception of one (who was absolutely brilliant).

What I dislike the most about UQ is that it provides everything it has to - nothing more & nothing less. It's just not the standard I expected it to be - I guess, I'm looking for more of a challenge and I'm hoping to find that @ ANU (this is the part where you shatter my hope & tell me ANU is absolutely awful )

I'm thinking of putting B&G as my second accom preference...too bad I don't know to cook Looks like I'll be living off fast food & two minute noodles for 40 weeks of the year~!

Hmm... if your lecturers are awful but you're still getting Ds/HDs does it matter? If UQ is overrated like you say, then isn't it to your advantage when you graduate with very good marks from a uni perceived to be great?

Even if the lecturers can't teach for crap and UQ is overrated, I don't see how that can affect you if you're capable of achieving high marks independently.

And.... if we both end up going to B&G we can learn to cook together!

 

[michell3x]

Hmm... if your lecturers are awful but you're still getting Ds/HDs does it matter? If UQ is overrated like you say, then isn't it to your advantage when you graduate with very good marks from a uni perceived to be great?

Even if the lecturers can't teach for crap and UQ is overrated, I don't see how that can affect you if you're capable of achieving high marks independently.

And.... if we both end up going to B&G we can learn to cook together!

It'll be even better if I graduate w/ the same marks from a university that's perceived to be better than UQ I'm looking for more than what UQ has to offer me & I'm hoping to find that at ANU - the things that appeal to me the most would probably be the ANIP (although I believe they do accept students from other universities), the student exchange program (which isn't as lengthy as that of UQ but boasts a few more impressive exchange partners) & the honours streams in certain subjects. The way I see it, yes, it's great that I'm doing well independently but I know that given the chance, I could be better.

I'm making no sense am I? It's like 12:30AM & I'm supposed to be finishing my CML on multiple regression..I knew I shouldn't have gone out tonight

Haha, I can teach you to make crumpets!

 

[Slidey]

The one problem I foresee with B&G is that I'll run out of recipes. I must figure out new and interesting ways to make soy taste and look like something which is anything but soy.

Breakfast: cereal
Lunch: pasta
Dinner: rice

Whoo! How exotic and exciting.

 

[Venusian]

michell3x vbmenu_register("postmenu_2536270", true); , youre right about the challenge of anu particularly B.Ec- what you guys do in one semester of the intro/foundations to econ math (im cant remember exactly what you call it) UQ is equivalent to what we cover in one term of emet1001 (anu's infamous foundations of economic and financial models with the ever so awesome 55% failure rate) (a mate of mine is doing eco at UQ so we thought we'd compare course outlines)
unhuh - anu's eco <3 math! (so gay if you heart econ hist instead )

 

[jas0nt]

travel costs is pretty much nothing. ANU is right next to canberra center (it's basically a shopping center). or you could catch the 3xx bus that passes the front of ANU every 5 minutes and go to westfield belconnen.

travel tickets are $9 for 10 rides, with 90-minute free transfers.

 

[Sarzzabelle]

You wont even need $100 per week for food.
No joke, if you are smart and cook meals as bulk and then freeze excess, if you had to, you could honestly get away with spending $50 a week, provided you did it in like fortnightly shops or something! Im serious though, $100 for food is still a major overstatement!

Your hours for a commerce degree will probably be about 14 hrs, with about 4 hours of tutorials, and the rest of lectures. However, whilst this does seem like it gives you heaps of time for working. Don't forgot that often they are timetable really badly, and you do need to add on probably another 20hrs of study for the week, 5hrs per course, or, at the very least, 10 hrs. Not tryin to scare you or anything, just simply trying to be realistic!

Good luck though and hope your HSC results were what you hoped!

 

[loquasagacious]

I'd say that $100 p/w would include enough to eat out once a week.