Which plan are you using now?
On paper, voda gives the most value but depending where you are the reception could be shit, don't know how it would be with their new 850mhz network rolling out. I've never been on voda but most of my friends are and it could get really bad sometimes.

I used optus prepaid on the Tubo Cap + when I first came here, they have good value there in my opinion compared to voda and better service though where you are might give you different results than me. AUD 30 or AUD 40 a month gives you some really good value there though it expires every 30 days and depends since you might or might not use your phone much.

I ported my number to Telstra recently just to test out what's all the hype about it being fast and all and their service really is a lot better than voda/3 and optus though if your mobile phone doesn't support the 850mhz 3G band, you won't be able to use their 3G-HSPA+ network by end of year as their stopping their 2100mhz network with 3 when the contract expire and concentrate of the roll-out of 4G LTE. But Telstra usually offer a lot less stuff for their plans compared to competitors and may not be value for money on paper, for example you don't get infinite FB,ebay etc. on their plans unlike voda and optus. They basically charge premium to people for their network which is undoubtedly superior and a lot of people want their reliability and pay for it or people in less covered areas of aussie where only Telstra covers. Their good HSPA+ network really does make me finish up my internet quota faster. >_<

You might get some better deals if you look outside the main telcos like Telstra,Optus and Voda/3. It changes all the time and they have internet deals etc. and I know very few people using some of them so I can't really tell which has a great value for money. There are some like Virgin which is under Optus which have a lot of good deals.

This post has been edited by Hikari0307: Sep 10 2011, 10:25 PM

what about it?

Visa rule reforms give universities a lifeline

This post has been edited by Hikari0307: Sep 23 2011, 04:46 PM

You need to pay a portion of the first semester's fees and send in your acceptance before they issue you your COE. Then the simple application and health check.

The 20kg is for the check in baggage. You can have another hand carry luggage weighting 7kg and you can also bring another handbag or laptop bag (they don't seem to mind the weight of the laptop bag).

I'm not an engineering student so I don't know which is preferred between UNSW or UQ.
Though you'll find a good amount of Malaysians in either university doing engineering especially government etc. sponsored students.

Generally the living cost in Sydney is higher than Brisbane but of course it depends on how you manage yourself as well.

There's a lot of Malaysians in UQ though well I'd imagine there's more in UNSW and I do know a good number of Malaysians there and numbers from the EMAS do show there's more Malaysians studying in NSW than QLD.

Asians like people from China,Malaysia,Indonesia,Singapore,Vietnam, HK, Taiwan, Korea etc. would be the majority in terms of the international student community in UQ. Though there's a good mix of people from other countries as well. There seem to be a huge amount of exchange students from the USA etc. that comes and go often lol.

Well the kid himself/herself would need to be a PR/Citizen to pay subsidised fees. It's a lot cheaper than full international student fees. You can check it out specifically in University websites as it differs from course to course and over the years.

For example in my course in UQ, new Australian students in 2012 would pay AUD$ 9,280 a year while a full fee paying international student would pay AUD$ 29,600 a year.

This post has been edited by Hikari0307: Nov 9 2011, 09:03 AM

Course fees and Tuition fees are the same~~ You just pay the amount of tuition fees like it's showed on the university's website and that's it for your uni fees.
Then budget all other stuff like rent etc.

Doesn't it show you when it will expire? When I was still using optus and my optus wireless broadband (which I still use from time-to-time), after the date when the credit expires it shows a new date in which I have to recharge. If you don't recharge before that date then they suspend that account and recycle the number again.

not really, I can quite keep my grocery bill at $15 a week with meat,bread and soft drinks lol
of course usually I use more but I have done so in the past when I'm low on money ahaha.

This post has been edited by Hikari0307: Nov 10 2011, 06:47 PM

Believe me, she says that every time she calls and ask what I had for dinner ahaha.
I do buy them but in desperate times with little money I don't buy them ahaha XP

On average AUD1,200 each month though that's my budget and I save a bit of that every month for some fun stuff ahaha.

I'm going back to Malaysia albeit in late December. My family is coming over for the holidays after my sister finishes SPM.
Gotta start looking for a new house as well before the horde of new students come in and take all the good places in St Lucia ahaha.

ATTENTION ALL MALAYSIAN STUDENTS
IMPORTANT : If you are studying in Queensland, doesn't matter if you are in Malaysia or in Queensland right now, please do fill in this form. It is VERY IMPORTANT for us (the Malaysian High Commission, EMAS, MASCA QLD and PPMQ) to keep track of you just in case another disaster strike in order to help you out or to make sure that you are safe and sound back in Malaysia. It'll be a problem if we can't identify that you are back in Malaysia or where you are when the Universities give us the number of Malaysian students they have but the ones we have don't add up and the Universities can't provide more details due to privacy laws.
Spread the words out. We will need EVERYONE to help us out =) We want to make sure you are safe!!

Don't worry, all information are kept private by Education Malaysia Australia Sydney (EMAS) formerly known as the Malaysian Student Department Australia (MSDA)

http://qldmasca.wordpress.com/registration...-alert-program/

This post has been edited by Hikari0307: Nov 29 2011, 08:27 AM

seems the sms results from UQ have started coming in. Congratulations to those graduating.

you can still get full offers even before that, for non-critical courses at least if you applied using something other than year 12.

Considering that wasn't a peak period like right now, it shouldn't take too long. Other than critical course you should just need at most 2 weeks before they decide whether to reject/give you an offer/give you a conditional offer. You should send them an email.

If you and apply for MAS's GRADS card for students, you can get free 10kg of weight with MAS.

No, medical examinations from places other than the panel clinics listed won't be accepted for your visa application. The clinic will be sending your results directly as well so non panel clinics won't know what to do with your results.

All the tests that you have to take are very simple ones. If everything goes well and your lucky that there's not that many people around, you'll finish in within an hour or so.

I am thinking of girls. So?

Ideally yes, we're supposed to bring an English translation with us if I'm not mistaken.
But most people I know that's driving here don't seem to have an English translation of their license and every time the police stops us for random checks there was never any problem.

Just get your license translated by the high commission to be safe. They do it for free for students. Mail a copy to them, there's instructions on what to do on their website.

You can look for houses through http://www.realestate.com.au/rent
If your worried then only rent from established agents.
Unless you have someplace where you can really trust like people you know or university owned accommodations, it might be best if you first get temporary accommodations and quickly hunt for places to rent within a week or two of arriving in Australia.

If your going to Brisbane, you could also ask around in MASCA Queensland's facebook page, UQMSA (if your going to UQ), QUT MySA (for QUT) etc. and maybe find some nice Malaysians who could help you out or is maybe looking for a room mate or something. I find it easier to be in a comfortable environment when you start of, you can always find somewhere else to live once you get used to the area later. You've got enough stuff to adjust to already.