Queensland vs Sydney

[Canadian05]

Accepted at Queensland, told I would be receiving an offer from Sydney, difficult decision!
Any help appreciated
Are there students at these schools who can comment on the programs and living expenses? Is living in Brisbane much cheaper than Syndey?
At Queensland what are the chances an international student would be placed in Brunei if this is not their preference? (financial reasons)

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[jackts]

Accepted at Queensland, told I would be receiving an offer from Sydney, difficult decision!
Any help appreciated
Are there students at these schools who can comment on the programs and living expenses? Is living in Brisbane much cheaper than Syndey?
At Queensland what are the chances an international student would be placed in Brunei if this is not their preference? (financial reasons)

Hey there, congrats in being accepted. I'm currently studying at UQ. I think it's a great university.

I just finished first year. Living expenses is comparable to living in Vancouver. But if you live in Rez, then it's twice as expensive as i paid at UBC dorm.

I think the program at UQ is great. It's a big school, comparable to UBC, but with prettier campus. Since it's a big school, it's got lots of resources within the uni. Eg. when we were studying the ear, we had students from the "speech and pathology" department teaching us about different tests. Students here are extremely friendly too. I've heard coming here that I would encouter racism(i'm asian), i dont' know where the hell that came from, but the notion just seems ridiculous now. The PBL atmosphere is extremely helpful and non-competitive. Most people will generally go out of their way to help you. Coming from a computer science background, i certainly needed lots of help.
I do have 3 complaints though. 1)Weather in Jan and Feb is simply unbearable without air conditioning. 2)The accent is tough to understand 3)Indoor sport facility here sucks! nothing like UBC. But I guess with the year round sunny weather this is understandable.

I think you woulnd't be place in brunei if you didn't choose it. There's limited spot and it would be considered a privilege to go there.

I don't know much about sydney, but there just doesn't seem to be a good rapport among students. I know it's a big school in a famous city. But judging from their presence at this year's AMSA convention (Australian medical school association), basically a weeklong drinking and carnal sin, their school spirit is not as cohesive as UQ.

 

[skiracer90]

If finance is a concern, definitely go with UQ. Living (and going out) in Brizzie is extremely less expensive than Sydney.

 

[spawa]

hi just wondering if anyone has any information about how UQ med students fare on the USMLE and on getting U.S. residencies.....does the fact that there are no rotations in the states cause problems in getting a good residency positions in the U.S.?...any info will be greatly appreciated....thanx

 

[jackts]

hi just wondering if anyone has any information about how UQ med students fare on the USMLE and on getting U.S. residencies.....does the fact that there are no rotations in the states cause problems in getting a good residency positions in the U.S.?...any info will be greatly appreciated....thanx

you might want to contact the med school directly regarding this issue...they have a list of graduates who placed in US, which i have not yet attempted to find out.

 

[pitman]

2)The accent is tough to understand

Jack, you are a funny man.

Hope you did ok on the MSAT + PBE. See you next month.

-pitman

 

[jackts]

Jack, you are a funny man.

Hope you did ok on the MSAT + PBE. See you next month.

-pitman

pitman! can you believe i passed??!!!
it's a miracle...

haha

jack

 

[pitman]

7 failed, and I always knew you'd be better than 2%ile !

pitman! can you believe i passed??!!!
it's a miracle...

haha

jack

 

[driedcaribou]

you might want to contact the med school directly regarding this issue...they have a list of graduates who placed in US, which i have not yet attempted to find out.

I don't think Sydney even has a list of graduates who placed in the US.

 

[markdc]

I don't think Sydney even has a list of graduates who placed in the US.

I don't know if UQ would provide any useful info. I tried to find out from them how UQ students fare on the USMLES and what I was told was "they do well". Sounded like complete BS to me. I don't really think they keep records of it and don't really care either! You would think that after having every north american student asking for such info every year the Unis would start to take notice.

 

[pitman]

I don't know if UQ would provide any useful info. I tried to find out from them how UQ students fare on the USMLES and what I was told was "they do well". Sounded like complete BS to me. I don't really think they keep records of it and don't really care either! You would think that after having every north american student asking for such info every year the Unis would start to take notice.

I think they will under Wilkinson. They probably don't officially keep track now since that's an excuse not to report, and the school wouldn't have wanted to report from the beginning -- there's only been 4 cohorts since the switch to grad. But I think the time is ripe, and I think the school will help/encourage the medsoc to do some surveys. With or without them, but we'll soon see...

-pitman