Australia/New Zealand Universities?

Question

I am from the US and want to go to college in either australia or new zealand, and have been researching it but am soo confused. I want to major in zoology. What are the different cities in Australia like, and compare to new zealand. I would prefer to go to a smaller campus, more laid back atmosphere. How hard is it to get into collge there? What is life like in Australia/New Zealand. Thanks for any info or suggestions!!!

Answer 1

If you want to major in zoology and go to a smaller campus the main options appear to be:

Australian National University in Canberra

University of New England in Armidale

James Cook University in Cairns or Townsville

University of Tasmania in Hobart

University of Western Australia in Perth

These locations are all very different. Canberra is our capital city. It is a slightly odd place but would be a very nice place to live. The city is all planned, rather than just 'evolving' as most other cities. It is the most 'financially comfortable' place in Australia. It is hot in summer and cold in winter and fairly dry.

I don't know Armidale very well but it is in the north of NSW, I think it is a prosperous country town, warm with highish rainfall.

Cairns and Townsville are tropical - hot and steamy all year, with very high rainfall in summer. Cairns is full of tourists, Townsville less so. Near the Great Barrier Reef and rainforest.

Hobart is a lovely small city with a lot of atmosphere, and plenty of scenery and nature. The weather is quite cool however, especially in winter.

Perth is a very nice modern but relaxed city in an economic boom at the moment. It is very isolated from the rest of Australia if you want to travel at all while you are here. This campus is probably a fair bit bigger than the others mentioned.

If it was me I would probably pick Canberra, Perth or Hobart because they are nice places and I don't like too much humidity, but you may prefer one of the others.

You can of course also go to one of the many universities in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane - they will be much busier campuses with large numbers of international students.

Sorry I don't have much info about how difficult it is to get into uni for international students, somebody else may be able to help. (By the way, we don't have college, just university. Most Australians are about 18 years old when they start, but there are plenty of mature age students).