passion89 said:
I live in Liverpool and it takes 1.5-2 hours to get to uni everyday...that's about 3.5 hours travel total every day.......
^ - Hey dragie! hahaha, we still need to catch UP ok? LOL. i'll see u on facebook.
Now back to this topic at hand, I'm studying Commerce/Arts @ UNSW, with a major in French in my Arts - and seriously, although it probably ain't "as good as the languages @ usyd", it really isn't that much worse. Because, if you think about it, they're both the more prestigious &etc universities in the country, so there isn't going to be that much difference. Plus, from my experience, the tutors aren't bad at all - it depends on who you get, and having said that - that is true for all subjects.
Second, I live on the Northern Beaches so basically, it takes 1.5-2hrs max for me ONE WAY to get to UNSW (which is a trek definitely at first, but you really do get used to - just like with most things), so it really isn't an issue. And trains are faster also - PLUS, since you live in the hills district, don't you just go directly to Central? And then hop on a direct UNSW bus = 256928652984 x easier than my route. Cos we have no train lines, so I have to bus it to wynyard and then (slowly) bus it from elizabeth st. And also, if you think about the time spend on public transport as a "loss of time", just multi-task and do your tute hw/readings on the bus/trains, it works out.
Thirdly, doing a comm/arts degree here - 4 full days at uni would be the MOST you would need, trust me. Before I started a P/T job in the beginning of semester 2, I worked out my timetable to fit around 2 full days - that is slightly hectic, but it is do-able. So it depends on your levels of concentration. Otherwise, 3 days is the norm. For example, I've just finished organising my timetable for first semester in 2008, and i've got mon,tue & thur (average 10am starts - 5pm finishes, taking into account my extra-curicular activities, other involvements etc at uni - so really it could be less...) and then i will work full days on Wed and Fri. And, as the commerce offerings are really quite flexible @ unsw, there is (nearly) always a way to make a kick-ass timetable. The only thing that would kill you in terms of that, would be the time offerings for Arts, but that depends on what you're considering to study...
Hope that helps!