STUDY IN OZ


What comes to mind when you think of Australia? Is it, by any chance, sandy beaches and a deep azure ocean, cold cans of lager, and barbeques? Perhaps you might add a volume of the Encyclopædia Britannica’s worth of weird and wonderful creatures (amongst which more than a few are poisonous enough to kill you), miles upon miles of unpeopled wilderness, and an almost maniacal love of sport.


There is, undoubtedly an element of truth to these common suppositions. Australia does boast two beaches known as the Eighty Mile Beach, and Ninety Mile Beach (and 10,683 other smaller beaches on its mainland alone), Australians – particularly students – do enjoy a drink on the weekend, and the warm weather does indeed lend itself to the outdoor preparation of food. But this by no means an entire portrait of the country. For one thing there is no mention of the country’s strength in higher education. Only the United States and United Kingdom have more institutions in the top 100 of the QS World University Rankings, and they are both have significantly bigger populations, and, accordingly, far more universities. Every one of the Group of Eight, an alliance between Australia’s leading research universities – think of it as an Antipodean Ivy League – makes it into the top 100, and


in total, 25 of the country’s universities make the top 700 of the rankings. Australian universities are also known to be extremely keen on internationalization, to the extent that only coal, ore and tourism bring more money into the country.


The combination of a keen welcome, high- calibre universities, and a quality of life that hold its own with anywhere in the world has made Australia one of the world’s leading destinations for international students. In 2009, the last year for which OECD figures are available, 257,637 international students studied in Australia, again putting it only behind the US and UK. In terms of the percentage of students from overseas, no other country comes close to Australia’s figure of 21.5%.


You can be sure, therefore, to find yourself in a cosmopolitan environment, in which you will almost certainly be able to seek out your compatriots if you begin to feel homesick. But, better still, why not immerse yourself in some Australian culture? There’s a lot more to it than the stereotypes, but at the end of the day, stereotypes which involve sunny beaches and a solid commitment to having a good time don’t really sound all that bad, do they?


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54