Clemens (Sem 1, 2023)

My Exchange at The University of Melbourne

My exchange at The University of Melbourne is the culmination of 3 years of waiting for global travel restrictions to ease and after many a virtual exchange, I was finally able to attend my final exchange in my final semester in-person.

It was a wild few weeks when I first arrived, finishing a summer of work before being immediately scooted off to a new country. I had a busy first week finding permanent accommodation as I only had confirmation of my visa about a month before the exchange was supposed to happen. On the upside, I had the pleasure of experiencing living in various accommodations around the city and historic buildings. I slowly settled in through the host of events in the week before the beginning of semester and met a bunch of other exchange students through the orientation activities, campus tours and clubs expo. The city campus here in Melbourne is sprawled over a large area with a mix of old and new architecture, much like UoA.

Teaching here is top-notch with very enthusiastic lecturers across the board who are just as eager as the students coming out of what was predominantly two years of online teaching and examining. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting people in a flurry of activities in my first 4 or so weeks of the semester. Food options are aplenty in Melbourne, with many solid eats for a foodie like myself. I managed to eat out at most of the places that were on my radar, but will not be able to finish by the time I leave, since the list keeps growing longer. Generally, cost of living is slightly higher after converting everything to AUD. My rough breakdown for costs based on general categories would be:

1) Rent – higher (unless you manage to find an accommodation out of the city, which does require an inspection prior to renting which can be done online, do consider the cost of travel);

2) Public transport – can be more expensive depending on frequency of travel, but there is a cap of $9+ a day;

3) Eating out – generally cheaper than Auckland, but be wary of weekend surcharges, surcharges for cards and public holiday charges

4) Entertainment – really depends on what you are looking at, generally comparable

Some of my highlights would be my outings in-and around the city with my friends, I managed to do multiple days trips out to various suburbs, to the fringe of Melbourne and even a 2 week trip to the Gold Coast. It has been a good semester overall, which really flew by really quickly.

Q&A

What were some of the highlights of the academic experience at your host university?

I really enjoyed the tutorials in UniMelb, which involved graded case studies and presentation (for some subjects) that involved more work but made the subject alot more engaging and gave it another dimension of practical application.

Would you recommend any particular activity/activities unique to your host country or university?

I would highly recommend checking out all the various festivals for food, music, art that happen periodically around the city.

What are your top 3 tips for future students attending your host university or going on exchange to your host country?

Students thinking about the exchange programme, should:

1) look at accommodation options early and look beyond city accommodation providers if they want to find more affordable and spacious options. I think this is the greatest cost, more so than tuition for domestic students. Get on rental, homestay website and the like to get a feel for the rental situation which has fluctuated alot recently which border restrictions easing and a change in immigration policy.

2) Attend activities during the first few weeks, where you’ll likely meet most of your mates for the semester.

3) Stay in contact with your other UoA exchange students, they are a great source of mutual support in the first few weeks when everyone is still settling in.

How much did you budget for your exchange? Was this enough? Were there any lessons learned that would help future students budget for their own exchange?

I had quite a flexible budget and was generally not a big spender so I did meet my expectations. The biggest lesson as I found above was the significant cost of rent, as a renter of 5 years back in Auckland, I’m quite familiar with the whole process, but was surprised by the rental rises in the past year due to various reasons.

For first time renters, do factor the cost of the bond (4 weeks of rent) into your budget as this would be a significant initial cash outlay, also the cost of furnishings if your place is unfurnished.

What are your most significant takeaways from your experience abroad?

For me, it would be learning about the city/country from a few different perspectives. It is a combination of the array of people, culture, the physical aspect of the city, the general way of life. All-in-all a great way to broaden my worldview further, and enrich my life.

Do you want to share anything about travels you did outside your host city/country?

Absolutely! I had a few day trips out to: Puffing Billy, a historic railroad running through the Dandenong ranges, to various suburbs in the hunt for food, a two day trip to Phillip island to see the fairy penguins during the semester break (still partial to the ones in New Zealand :)), and two weeks in the Gold Coast when winter started here in Melbourne.

Would recommend checking out the Great Ocean Road too if you have the time and a car, or some mates with a car. There are many great hikes out of the city, but getting there by public transport is just not feasible.