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E-mail: x.y.wuchen@tilburguniversity.edu

Study Program: International Business Administration

Exchange semester: Fall

Academic year: 2017-2018

Host University: University of New South Wales

Country: Australia

My experience report: Exchange to Australia

General Information

University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a large university located in the suburb Kensington

and it is about 30 minutes away from the CBD with the bus. There are many shops and

restaurants nearby, including Coles and Woolworths. In the university itself there are many

restaurants, a post office, an IGA (grocery store), and bookstore. There are also two libraries in

the university and additionally many study places in different departments.

During my stay in Australia, I have lived on campus, namely New College. New College may be

relatively more expensive than living off-campus, however, it includes caterings and has many

activities. The campus has many events where you can participate, including Balls, dress up

events, formal dinners, sport events, musical activities and bible readings. Besides events, they

also offer free tutoring for any help you might need with the university courses or exams.

Sydney is a very interesting city. There are many beaches nearby, the city is lively, and you can

also go with a wharf to enjoy a beautiful view of the Harbour Bridge and Opera house. This is

highly recommended during sunset.

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Practical Information

Before receiving any information regarding application process from UNSW, Tilburg university

has to nominate you to the host university. My application for UNSW has started on March 21st,

where you have to fill in personal information and upload some required documents, including

transcripts, passport copy and proof of English proficiency. Also, I had to select 8 preferred

subjects from UNSW and it has to be approved by both Tilburg university and UNSW. This is

however, not the definite courses that you will be taking during your exchange.

If you are a bachelor student of a study program completely taught in English, such as IBA, a

letter from the international office stating this will suffice. The deadline for the application

Through Endeavour was 28 April, however, it is highly recommended to finish the application as

soon as possible. This also gives the possibility to receive an acceptance letter from UNSW

sooner. Within a month or two they will send a confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) which is

needed for visa application. I have received this confirmation on the 26th of May. Additionally,

the Medibank Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) is also needed to apply for visa. This has

to be bought online.

The visa for Student Subclass 500 is needed for exchange to Australia. It can easily be done

online at http://www.border.gov.au/ by filling in all required information and upload all

necessary documents. The visa has cost 550 Australian Dollars. The visa was granted two days

after payment through email.

Upon arrival a pick-up service from UNSW can be arranged through Endeavour between certain

days and to certain locations within Sydney. I have arranged for airport pick-up from UNSW on

the 16th of July. It was convenient, and you can meet other exchange or study abroad students

during the pick up. Therefore, I recommend using the pick-up service from UNSW, unless if you

have to arrive at Sydney earlier to search for accommodations off-campus. After my arrival I

went directly to New College, where I was staying during my exchange.

After your arrival, you must go to the international office to sign a form indicating you have

arrived at UNSW. Additionally, you must make a student card at the student centre, this is

necessary for the mandatory student exchange orientation day and for exams afterwards. Also, it

is convenient for library use, copy machine, and use as Campus entrance pass (if you are staying

on campus). I have heard you can apply for the student card online, but it may take longer than

going to the student desk directly with your passport. I went to the student desk directly with my

passport, where they take my picture there and print out the student card directly.

The orientation days where from 19th July to 21st July, where the Student Exchange Orientation

on the 20th was mandatory. They gave important information regarding UNSW, Moodle and

safety in Sydney during the compulsory orientation. Other orientation events include study

programs, activities in UNSW, different associations and fitness centre.

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Housing

During my exchange to Australia, I have been living in New College. UNSW provides many on

campus options from UNSW itself, where applications for exchange students ends early or they

may be full. Thus, it is recommended to apply for housing early if you desire to live on-campus

and indicate clearly that you are on

exchange for only one semester to

avoid giving wrong contracts for

you. Before my exchange period I

was late for the UNSW on-campus

application, therefore I have applied

for affiliated accommodations,

including International House,

Shalom College and New College

for on-campus, and flatmates.com

for off-campus. I got accepted into

New College after sending them my

transcript and a phone interview.

Last Formal Dinner at New College

Some information regarding housings will be send to you by UNSW after your acceptance. More

information can be found in their UNSW website. It is highly recommended to research housing

before and during your application and avoid late applications or limited choices. For off-

campus, you must view the house before signing any agreements and payments to be secured and

receive your preferred choice.

Living Costs

To go on exchange to Australia it is necessary to have at least 11000 AUD. I was finance by

Duo, partly my parents and some of my savings were used during my exchange. If you are

planning to travel elsewhere besides Sydney, it is highly recommended to have extra finance.

The rent is calculated per week, mostly between 300 to 500 AUD. Which is on average 500 to

1000 euro per month. Most apartments include furniture.

For my accommodation at New College I had to pay 8835.00 AUD which I have been paying in

instalments, excluding a deposit of 800 AUD that will be refunded after leaving. New College

include Breakfast, lunch and dinner, which makes it very convenient. For laundry you have to

pay 1 AUD each time, excluding laundry soap.

For bus, trams and train transports within New South Wales you have to buy an adult Opal card.

Concession Opal cards are not available for international students. They will charge each

transport a maximum of 4 AUD, depending on the distance except for Sunday where they charge

only a total of 2.60 AUD for the whole day. It is advisable to travel as much possible on Sunday

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to far places, such as Manly Beach

and Blue Mountains. UNSW have

an association called ARC and

you can become a member for

free. They organize some

activities that you can join with a

group to visit attractions around

New South Wales and have

discounts for joining other

associations. With ARC I have

been to Blue Mountains and Port

Stephens. Sandboarding during Port Stephens trip

Academic Calendar

I should have arrived at Sydney on the

16th of July, however due to flight

delay I have arrived on the 17th. The

introductory week was only 3 days,

only one morning was mandatory. You

can sign up for the other events

through their website or phone app. In

the table, you can see important dates

during my exchange.

Sydney view when traveling with Wharf

The exam period is between 3 to 20 November, you might finish earlier depending on whether

you have exam for the subjects and your exam schedule. It is important to note not to plan any

trip or book flight tickets before the exam schedule have been announced, unless you are

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booking for after the exam period. During my exchange, the official dates of the exams were

announced on the 27th of September. Besides the exam, you may also have assignments, projects

or midterms. Additionally, attending tutorials or workshops and active class participations are

mostly mandatory.

Academic Information

All courses in UNSW are offered in English. I have taken four courses during my exchange,

which is in total 24 units, converting to Tilburg University is 30 ECTS. I have taken 2 marketing

courses, one accounting and one management, shown below in the table.

Course Code Course Assessment Task

ACCT 2542 Corporate Finance Reporting and

Analysis

In class test (15%), Tutorial engagement (5%), Tutorial

assignments (11%), online- test (9%) Final Written exam (60%)

MARK 3081 Consumer Centric Innovation Class participations (40%), Case study report (30%,) Group

Project (30%)

MARK 2085 Distribution Strategy & Retail

Channels

Quiz and Midterm (20%), final written exam (40%), class

participation (17%), Project report & Research participation

(23%)

MGMT 3728 Managing Pay and Performance Tutorial participation (10%), team presentation (20%). Job

Evaluation Report (25%), Consultancy Report (45%)

Each course has its own method of giving lectures. For ACCT 2542, it is more about knowing

the theory and practicing exercises. The lectures and tutorials are given more or less same as

Accounting for IBA in Tilburg University, only that they check homework and students must do

2 presentations regarding the homework exercise given or theory discussed in the previous week.

The final written exam consists of multiple choice questions and open questions.

MARK 3081 is given in lectures and tutorials. Tutorials are more practical where real cases are

discussed. Additionally, students must make presentations regarding a given case study.

Afterwards, there will be a group report and a final written examination. The exam consists of

open questions and essay questions.

MARK 2085 is more practical. They provide two or three articles weekly that you must read

before attending the lecture/workshop. In class, you will be sitting with your group formed in the

first week of the semester. Every week there will be open discussion about the articles and apply

these theories to given case studies. Additionally, there will be group works and presentation.

And finally, an individual case study written within 48 hours and have to be submitted online

thru Turnitin (an online application that assignments have to be submitted and does plagiarism

check). I would highly recommend this course if you have interest in marketing, group works

and discussions. I have personally really liked this course and its motivating to attend.

MGMT 3728 is a management course regarding HR, payment methods, hiring and evaluating

employees. It is given in lectures and tutorials. Tutorials are mostly for presentations and class

discussions. Additionally, you must write two assessments, one Job Evaluation assessment and

one Consultancy report. There is no examination for tis course.

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The biggest difference between classes given in UNSW and Tilburg University is that all lectures

in UNSW are recorded. Thus, students can re-watch every lecture given or watch the lectures

that they could not attend.

Additional Information

Going on Exchange is more than studying in a different environment. It gives you the

opportunity to experience another culture, make many friends with different background and

enjoy the beauty of a foreign country. Going on exchange to Australia was beyond my

expectation. I have enjoyed myself a lot in Sydney and everywhere else that I have been to

during my exchange. I have made many not only new temporary friends or classmates, but

lifetime best friends. All of them have completely different backgrounds, where I have learned to

communicate and connect with them, and see different perspectives.

Australia is a beautiful place to travel, it is worth going on exchange and enjoy the beautiful

nature in Australia. During my exchange, I have been, beside attending school, traveling around

Sydney, Melbourne and Tasmania. They are all different places in Australia, but each have their

different vibes and cultures. Sydney is more multicultural, Melbourne is artistic, and Tasmania is

full of nature with very few citizens.

I have heard many news and warnings regarding dangerous animals, such as snakes and spiders,

in Australia and to be very careful. However, during my exchange I have not experience any

dangerous happenings and instead have enjoyed a lot.

UNSW is a really large university in comparison with Tilburg University, with many facilities. It

is worth studying there for exchange, you can learn a different perspective in attending classes.

What I have experienced in UNSW and would like Tilburg University to adapt is the lecture

recordings, some classes would be more beneficial and motivating to be given in workshops,

same as MARK2085, and they should make use of Turnitin. Tilburg University has plagiarism

scan however, students cannot know what mistakes they have done, or which part of their report

was unintentionally plagiarised. Reports submitted through Turnitin, are being graded online,

where students can see where they need to pay more attention to and what mistakes they have

done. This would be good if Tilburg University can have a similar method too.

During my stay in New College, I have met many different people and it was very entertaining.

Many people have different studies; therefore, you can learn a lot from others. Additionally, if

you love doing sports and going out for a drink once a while, I would highly recommend New

College.

There are still many places that I wish to visit during my exchange, but did not due to running

low on money. I would recommend any students going on exchange to Australia, and is willing

to travel to many places, to save additional cash before going. For traveling to Melbourne and

Tasmania, I have spent at least 800 Euro for a stay of 5 to 7 days each.

All in all, I have a great experience during my exchange in Australia and would highly

recommend it to other students willing to go on exchange. If you have any questions or concerns,

feel free to send me an email.

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Sydney Night View

Melbourne Night View

Tasmania Wineglass Bay

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Christmas Events in Sydney