Best university?

jazza said :

pommy, i find probably less then half of the students in my engineering degree are from canberra, and a fair number are actually international. a few years in most everyone has a gripe occasionally about canberra, especially on cold, rainy days..

You obviously don’t teach them English usage! It’s less THAN, not less THEN. Poor international students, getting fed incorrect language skills.

University = geek = no life = waiting for a good job = become a check out chick while I wait = centrelink line.

I transferred to the ANU from Melbourne in the late 80s because at that time they had by far and away the best department in the country for what I wanted to study (I ended up staying in the Canberra region once I graduated because it’s a great part of the world).

I think that we’re pretty lucky to have a top-calibre university in a town our size (Capital of Australia or otherwise).

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

They would be the sad geeky kids who couldn’t hack living away from mummys apron strings.

Or the smart kids who didn’t waste a fortune living in another town so they could go to a less reputable school. “Hrm, I could go to the best uni in Australia – the only Australian uni consistently ranked in the world’s top twenty, with the next best coming in at 37th – but I hear the nightlife is great in Woollongong…”

No, unfortunately you’re removing that quote of mine from its context, I was talking about the UK situation, in my experience.

There is a huge range of Uni opportunity in the UK, (over 300 establishments offering degree and above courses,) from the Oxbridge elite to the polytechnics and others. And therefore the choice of Uni would take in access to good nightlife, and other factors, (my choice took note of ones close to the mountainous areas so I could go climbing.)

The choice there is not so limited, (not that Aussie Uni students are confined to Australia to study.)

My quote about those who THERE (in the UK) at THAT TIME (late 70’s) who chose to stay at home, I (deliberately) did not extrapolate it to the here and now.

They would be the sad geeky kids who couldn’t hack living away from mummys apron strings.

Or the smart kids who didn’t waste a fortune living in another town so they could go to a less reputable school. “Hrm, I could go to the best uni in Australia – the only Australian uni consistently ranked in the world’s top twenty, with the next best coming in at 37th – but I hear the nightlife is great in Woollongong…”

chewy14 said :

Pommy,
because ANU is such a well respected Uni why would students want to travel to Sydney or Melbourne when an equal or better service is available here, along with their friends and established social networks?

Mainly because the whole University experience is more than just about the piece of paper at the end of it.And if you spend your Uni days mixing with the same people you went to high school with,living in the same town/city, then you aren’t really broadening your horizons much.

Which makes you less atractive to a potential employer…

chewy14 said :

And yes finances would be a big issue. It would be extremely hard to afford to be studying full time as well finding time to work to be able to pay for living expenses, course costs etc in a new city.
It doesn’t matter if there is a scintillating night life if you only have $10 in your pocket to enjoy it.

Fair comment.ThoughI worked through both my Uni experiences in order to enjoy living in the cities I studied at.

Please don’t think I’m saying what you are doing is wrong, just different to what my experience was. (mainly getting p*ssed and laid and trying interesting new substances whilst living in new and exciting places. Oh and a bit of studying too.)

Our Uni’s are good because we take overseas students and in return we have non english speaking graduates – yay for us.

As opposed to those local students who still can’t use apostrophes.

i completed degrees at both UC and UNSW (ADFA campus) and foound them both pretty good. i don’t think it matters that much which uni you go to – some people will do better than others regardless, and for me uni was about the job at the end anyway.

Pommy bastard said :

Wow, half! I find that hard to believe, must be a sign of the economic times. At both uni’s I attended there would be maybe 5% of each years intake that would be from the same city/area. They would be the sad geeky kids who couldn’t hack living away from mummys apron strings.

Is it just finances that make Canberra students stay in Canberra? (It’s surely not the “scintillating” night life etc.)

Pommy,
because ANU is such a well respected Uni why would students want to travel to Sydney or Melbourne when an equal or better service is available here, along with their friends and established social networks?

And yes finances would be a big issue. It would be extremely hard to afford to be studying full time as well finding time to work to be able to pay for living expenses, course costs etc in a new city.
It doesn’t matter if there is a scintillating night life if you only have $10 in your pocket to enjoy it.

jazza said :

pommy, i find probably less then half of the students in my engineering degree are from canberra, and a fair number are actually international. a few years in most everyone has a gripe occasionally about canberra, especially on cold, rainy days..

Wow, half! I find that hard to believe, must be a sign of the economic times. At both uni’s I attended there would be maybe 5% of each years intake that would be from the same city/area. They would be the sad geeky kids who couldn’t hack living away from mummys apron strings.

Is it just finances that make Canberra students stay in Canberra? (It’s surely not the “scintillating” night life etc.)