take a look at the new course structure of melbourne uni though - you might or might not like it - but i think commerce is still there as an undergraduate degree because there are a few professional mainstream degrees that are not longer there but now offered as 2-yr masters after u finish your 3 yr degree - but melbourne uni for sure since im from there lol

Yes , it is harder to get in simply because there are more prospective students who wants to get in there and uni's know that international students have unlimited amount of money so they are really setting their enter requirements higher .

It's too early to say you will be surrounded by smart/good learning environment - but I can guarantee you the lecturers in Melbourne U are of the highest caliber - the reason stopping them from being even better is if they set say the exams harder - most students would fail (its a business after all)

I'm in my final for a double degree and happen to be surrounded by peers with really high aspiration and work rate and all of which have gotten themselves a shiny job offer 6 months before graduation (4 for me since i sucked a bit more) - BUT there are really a lot of really bad students around here too because either they simply do not have the kind of hard work that a uni life would demand and there are also a lot of them who can barely speak English and always end up speaking in their native tongue (saying in general because it is not limited to just one country) - This does not apply to students who do Commerce though - the work load for commerce is ridiculously low :|

World Ranking shouldn't be a consideration for you if you want to look into getting either one but a good idea if your results are great and finance is not a problem - but it is good to look at break downs of the ranking scores where one of them would definitely be teaching environments - there is also a ranking out there that only rank universities for their faculties - now I can safely say Melbourne has bypassed Monash in every department even in Engineering cause Monash was actually better in Engineering a couple of years back.

but in the end, it is really how the student carry him/herself in a uni environment - if you choose to relax and visit places and enjoy life , then stay in Malaysia - I'm not going to be one of those who will tell you to have fun during your uni life - you can enjoy it but often you will find yourself needing to enjoy hardships and stresses - and its these things that prepare you for the gruesome employment market we are having today

I'm doing Civil Engineering and Commerce so I'd welcome questions if you have em

Haha, you won't see me here because I'm going to head back to a job waiting for me in KL. Just because they are scholars doesn't mean they will survive in a university environment really - the thing is you might have the pressure there to do well but some people simply ignores it - I'm not a scholar but I do know a few in my class and I'm doing way better than them - they annoy me sometimes when a few of them just loves to stick together rather that miggle with other internationals or locals

learn from yourself is also just as important as learning from others if not more ..

clubs ar ??
I did join a few during my first year studies but to realize I simply don't have the kind of commitment anymore and trust towards others. I was heavily involved in clubs and societies in highschool but that was when I could entrust them being say the treasurer or trust them to turn up in meetings and pull their weight - in university unless you have some hardcore time management skills - its almost impossible to get properly involved in clubs unless you can live with signing up but being a no-show : ) then again - do join clubs and societies because they usually look very good one your resume larh

the thing about studying in melbourne uni is that you can rarely expect yourself to have classes in your own faculties' buildings very often simply cause that's just not how they allocate classes to lecture theatres - but yes you will spend the majority of your time between those two buildings

best part of this all is the cultural shockage when you touch down for the first time and then when you return to Malaysia for the reverse shockage and then returning to aussie for the re-shock

nice comparison between an engineer and someone who studies philosophy - both operate in totally different fields and entirely different markets and you even refuted yourself by saying they have their own competition at professional level ....