Australian Universities semester dates?

Question

It seems like the universities in Australia have different dates of starting the terms... and if I remember correctly, some even have 3 semesters instead of 2...

when you apply they say you can start in semester 1 or semester 2 -- what? does that mean i can start anytime i want, or do i miss out half a year if i start in semester 2?

and what's the typical dates for the semesters?

Answer 1

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Answer 2

Basically we break the year into two half's. Jan/Feb through to June/July and July/August through to November/December.

NOTE: The EXACT dates vary at EVERY DIFFERENT university.

Jan to June is Semester 1. July to Dec. is Semester 2. You can start in semester 1 OR 2. If you do start in semester 2 you are essentially one semester behind. BUT, in Australia, it means nothing as you make it up anyway. You can only start at the start of those semesters, not whenever.

Ok example. If your course is 3 years. You can start in Jan 2009 OR July 2009.

If you start Jan 2009 your course will finish in Dec. 2011.

If you start July 2009 You will finish June 2012.

Does that make any sense?

Its ok if it sounds confusing, American school dates are just as weird. Why do you start when you do? Doesnt that get confusing?Starting one year and finishing in another. I worked in Japan and they had the same system. SO CONFUSING!

BTW There are 40 universities in Australia. Below is a list of them as well as some individual websites of State Universities.  

Answer 3

Getting admission in the second semester doesnt mean that u wil join in the 2nd semester after missing the first one. Every uni has two batches of students studying the same course in a year.

For the persons who join in feb, the first semester will start at feb and their second semester will start at july.

For the persons who join in july, the first semester will start only at july.

So its not like u are going to miss one semester. You need not even worry. You can take ur time and decide where u want to go.

And some universities start a semester in November too. But they offer very few courses and generally the intake would be lesser than the other two semesters.

All the best.