Financing an Australian/New Zealand Education

[Equestrian10]

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Hello,

I'm currently a US Undergraduate student studying to hopefully get into a vet school. At this point in my education, I'm currently looking at my international options. I'm thinking about applying to Murdoch, Massey, and Melbourne.

My question/concern is about costs. How much, in general, would it cost for the full 5 years of education? Is there any options like loans or scholarships available? How about living expenses?

If anyone could post back with any information, it would really help out. Thanks.

 

[lazyjayn]

I'm doing the full 5 years at massey right now- if you can get in post selection here you'd probably save about 10k us, maybe a bit more...

My total guesstimated numbers at the current exchange rate have me looking at about 200k US in loans before I'm done. Probably less, actually, but I want to look at bigger numbers first, so I don't flip out when the agregate starts getting up there. It works out to about 40k/ year over 5 years- actual is less, but that's if I can get myself on a *real* budget, rather than just the "ok, I'll only buy 6 oz. of asparagus for 5 dollars this once, then not again, really" budget I'm on now.

Loan wise- stafford is my friend, but only 7,500 worth this year, tho prof. level can get... 20,500 next year, I think...

The rest is the deamon private loans. Once in the program (I'm assuming you'd be prof. student level the whole time, so wouldn't have my issues) you can borrow bunches (ok, not really) on your status as someone who should some day earn some money.

scholorships? um... none from the states or canada that I can find, and only one that *might* be available to int'l students here at massey. maybe. but probably not.

So, loans, rich spouse/ SO, inheriting from random family member, rich generous parents... I think those are the options. I know "sex work" is specifically excluded in my student work allowance, so hooking isn't going to do it (don't think it'd'a done it anyway, actually....)

Really tho? if you could work during holidays, got a cheap flight out here, got your medical stuff done over here, and only went home about once? you could do it for less than 180k us. Here, anyway.

j.

 

[HorseyVet]

"ok, I'll only buy 6 oz. of asparagus for 5 dollars this once, then not again, really" budget I'm on now.

omg...I've had that same exact thought...why is asparagus so expensive...I reserve the next Nobel to the person who makes asparagus inexpensive

 

[birdvet2006]

J.,

Don't forget to include interest in your calculations. It makes a big difference! I bet when you're finished, you'll be over $200k.

 

[mochavet]

I'll be attending Murdoch next year and my tuition will come to about $25,500 American per year. I'm looking at living expenses of about $1500 American per month for my husband and I. Plus, at Murdoch, you are likely to get exempt from the first semester if you have taken college courses in the past, which will save you about $12,000. So, I'm looking at about $100,000 for tuition for the whole 4.5 years. We are going to try to fund it ourselves and not take loans out but I think you can get U.S. Stafford loans to help with tuition. There are also a bunch of private student loan companies that you could look into (don't know any but I'm sure you could google it).

In comparison, my state school would have cost me about $20,000 per year and the out-of-state school I was looking at was going to cost me about $40,000 per year. Those are just the tuition rates. So, I figure I can get a very different experience going international for about the same cost of going to a state school.

 

[Equestrian10]

Thanks everyone for your helpful information ^_^

As far as living somewhere, does anyone live in the dorms or will you have to find an apartment? How much does that normally cost?

 

[lazyjayn]

I'm lazy, and didn't want to hunt for a room from the states, so I'm in the dorms here- the self catered are nearly all just like appartments, tho...

so far as costs? 115-250 or so a week on campus- but 115 is cook your own, and 250 is in nice new buildings with 2 meals a day. I'd still do self catered.

Off campus isn't so much appartments as house shares. Anywhere from 50-120 before expenses. Some as low as 70 a week for everything. want privacy? whole houses start at about 220 a week, before expenses- but electric, trash, and internet are scary expensive over here.

The uni'll usually have someone who can help you find off campus cheap accom. once you get there, if you're a seat of the pants type person. I'd been travelling for 4 days- I just wanted to know I had somewhere to sleep.

Re: interest- please, don't remind me... though with small payments on the private loans, I could keep that down to reasonable size too... I really need to make that budget.

j.

 

[quakk]

hi!

i'm in my first year at murdoch. i was exempted from most units this semester, so they let me take a second year unit. i'm also exempted from one unit next semester. so i paid for one unit that doesn't apply to my degree, but i got a head start for next year (which was a good thing, 'cause s1 2nd year is tough), and i got a light load next semester and next year.

as for loans, subsidised stafford loans max out at $8500/year. unsubsidised give you an additional $12K or $13K, but the interest accrues while you're in school. i turned down the unsubsidised loan this year, as i plan to do for the rest of my 5 years. i'll take the subsidised and i'll try to get the private loans (below).

the best private loan company i found was student loan express. they have a health express loan that looked quite attractive. my "need" wasn't high enough this year, so i didn't qualify, but i plan to apply again next year.
http://www.studentloanxpress.com/st...th-students-residency/health-xpress-loan.html

and i planned out my loan repayment the other night. found that by paying an extra $50/month, i could trim a year or two of interest off the total cost of my loan (consolidated over 25 years). it doesn't take much.

and housing - when i was looking in january, i found a really nice 3bdrm house for $300/wk. didn't get it, but it was out there. it was close to campus, as well. i think student village is about $90/wk. if you want a car, registration is, like $500 per year, as is insurance. petrol is about $1/litre.

eating out is a little pricey here. food (at the shops) doesn't seem to be overly expensive, but i have yet to find most of my favorites here.

in total, my expenses are around AUD$1300/mo. if you find a part-time job, it helps immensely, and the pay is pretty good here for some things. gas station attendants make $16/hr. i think at the vet clinics, the going rate for a vet nurse is on the order of $15, but you get paid extra for nights and weekends.

i came to the same conclusion as mochavet - it costs ABOUT the same to come over here as it would have to stay home. and i can't get this experience back home...

Thanks everyone for your helpful information ^_^

As far as living somewhere, does anyone live in the dorms or will you have to find an apartment? How much does that normally cost?

 

[laurafinn]

Don't forget GradPLUS loans, the interest isn't the best -- 8.5% -- but it is a fixed rate and you can borrow up to the cost of your education and living expenses. It's a new program as of this July. There's more info in the Financial Aid forum.

Murdoch's definitely a cheaper option than Massey, although to be fair, the cost of living here is very low (~US$800/month if you have a car and live off campus), and the tuition fee is grandfathered so it will never rise when you're in vet school. And the NZ dollar is still falling.

This ended up being a cheaper and faster way for me to go, since I had no pre-req's, and UC Davis tuition is still rising.

Just try to skip the pre-selection (pre-professional) semester if at all possible 😀