Intakes are in late February/early March and July.

My friends tell me that Uni of Auckland engineering lecturers say they have the best eng department in Australasia.
As for what the degree is actually like, I'll let EmperorMeng take over.

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Added on April 24, 2008, 7:53 amAh right, that makes sense.

Btw Aaron, while you're still deciding where to go, what are your needs/wants on accommodation?

Cos Otago is (in)famous for the really crap student flats around. Run-down, mouldy, leaky and freezing - you get the picture. Of course there're nice ones out there (I never stayed in those dumps) but it does take a little searching and more money. Another thing to watch out for is that in the student area, landlords charge rent for 52 weeks (ie one year) - you'll have to pay for summer holidays whether you're staying there or not. Most flats house 4-6 people (landlords want max income).

In Auckland, accommodation is more standard and of higher quality. Those from out of town generally stay in one of the city apartments. They're pretty cramped and have 2-3 bedrooms (2 is more common). But at least you won't have to hunt for one that isn't leaking etc. Rental is quite a bit higher than Dunedin though.

Just trying to give info you won't find in brochures and prospectuses.


This post has been edited by wornbook: Apr 24 2008, 07:53 AM

It's not just UoA. One of the reasons is that first year law is like first year health science. It's a bit of a cash cow for the uni and the respective faculties. Just let as many in as possible, take their fees for a year and then kick out those who don't make the cut. It's a win-win situation for the unis, they get the dough and they don't compromise on quality.

Aaron says he's getting a PR, so he won't be an international student.

In general, try to avoid Chinese landlords. Especially those who live overseas and let an agent manage the property.

The reason why it's not advisable for an international student to do law in NZ (there aren't many places anyway) is cos there's no guarantee you'll make it to 2nd year. Tens of thousands is too much to risk in the hope of getting in where there are countries with guaranteed entry programmes. At least as a PR, the financial risk is much lower.

I believe that's what Haya is getting at, and I agree with him.

Also, with the size of the industry and possible prejudices, it'll be extremely difficult for an international student to be employed as a lawyer on graduation.

It's easier to get a job if you're a PR but not by such a huge margin these days.
International students are now granted a one year working visa on graduation (there are certain criteria to fulfil, but that's the general picture). If they get a job, it's a simple matter to convert that to a permanent work visa. So that deals with some employer reluctance to hire internationals - less paperwork.

Yes, I have NZ PR. Otherwise, there's no way I'd have risked doing law here.

I'm only speaking from my experience... others might give a different answer. I know many Malaysians working as lawyers in NZ, but most of them took quite a while to get their jobs.

There's no shortage of lawyers in NZ. Otago has 200 law graduates coming out each year, Auckland has the same if not more. Victoria has a bigger law school, so there's bound to be more than 200. Add Canterbury and Waikato to the mix and you'll see there's an oversupply of lawyers. Of course, only about a third go on to do the professional legal studies course (ie Bar) but it's still quite a lot.

Heh, if I were an international in NZ, I'd do accounting or engineering. But if I were international, I wouldn't have come to NZ.

It's not too difficult if you're doing the right course. Every single one of my accountant friends got jobs here and have got/are applying for PR.

NZ tends to be viewed as a poorer second cousin to Australia. If it costs me about the same to study in NZ and Australia, I'll pick Australia.

Assuming I'd have gone on to study law, NZ would have been out of the question (too risky). I would prefer to have gone to one of the top UK unis - UCL, Nottingham etc... maybe even Cambridge (assuming they let me in ).

Thanks to NZ PR, I didn't even look at the other options (beyond a cursory "won't that be nice"). No regrets though, I've had good fun in NZ unis.

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Added on April 29, 2008, 8:18 amAgreed. Don't be one of those bond breakers.

This post has been edited by wornbook: Apr 29 2008, 08:18 AM

Minimun wage is $12.50, tax is almost 20%. International students are only allowed to work 20 hours per week, max. What do you think?

Even if you work full time every holiday, what are you chances of saving enough to send home? Fees are too high.

To earn enough to cover living expenses, yes. To save enough to send home is quite another thing.

About 3 times higher but it varies.

Yep, for me, I worked to cover living expenses and some luxuries. My first 2 years were mainly paid for by my parents. After that, I managed to support myself completely through part-time work and summer jobs. It didn't hurt that I was a residential assistant for 2 years. Room+food+amenities (electricity, internet, Sky)= $85 per week. Later, it dropped to $60.

Fees were covered by loan. Paying it off now.

Hahaha. I was a residential assistant at a hall. The trade-off is work for low hall fees. If I remember correctly, ordinary residents were paying $200 p/w. Easy job, it was a good deal. Huge competition for the job though.

The Sky was a shared hall one lah. Only used it to watch football, luckily the matches were mainly in the middle of the night. No rugby/cricket fans competing.

Depends on how much you pay. I chose to pay more than the minimum amount, so it won't take as long. My loan only covered compulsory fees so it isn't as massive as some people's. Loving the interest free conditions now.

Me, but bear in mind I'm not an international student. I do know quite a few international students who're now working and have received PR though.

Well said.

From what I hear, about $46,000+ per annum. That's with the big companies (eg Opus, Beca), don't know what the smaller ones pay but shouldn't be too far off.
Don't know about Msian graduates. But logic dictates that if you're good enough to be employed, they'll pay you around the same amount.

I don't think UoA offers Comm Studies. The closest, I think, is a BA in Film, TV and Media Studies.

If you want to study in Auckland, AUT has a Bachelor of Communication Studies.

Otago has a BA in Communication Studies. One of my friends was doing it before she changed to Marketing (or did she do a double degree?).

Don't know about the other unis... just search the websites. I'll bet most of the polys offer it as well.

Probably Massey or Otago. Rent is very expensive in Auckland. rent in Dunedin (Otago) is about $110 (you have to pay for the whole year though, even the months you're not there) but heating and power bills will be the highest. Don't know rent and stuff in Palmerston North (Massey).
Food comes to about the same, country-wide. Eating out is about a $1-2 cheaper in Dunedin, though. Again, don't know much about Palmy.
You won't need to spend on public transport in Dunedin. Everywhere you'd want to go is within walking distance. I hear transport isn't as issue in Palmy as well.

It doesn't mean much to some, but both Dunedin and Palmy are very student friendly. Unlike Auckland, which is really an ordinary city that happens to have 2 unis at its heart. Depends on what you want - city life or student town.

Between the 3 unis, Otago is considered slightly better, being one of the 4 major unis in NZ.

Btw most of the uni websites have cost of living info and estimates.

It's OtagO. Otago has about 75% of students coming from outside the Dunedin city limits. Note that Dunedin city itself is massive in terms of area, encompassing areas up to an hour's drive out of the city. The city itself is tiny, good for students and short term living, not ideal (at least IMO) for long term stay.

I think Canterbury is a pretty good choice. You escape from Auckland's traffic jams and but you get enough city life that you won't grow insane with boredom.

I think I somehow got brainwashed by the Kiwis into the 'hate Auckland' mentality. Funny, cos I'm living here now and come from busy busy busy KL.

What do you want to know? You can work full-time during the holidays.

Start applying for jobs now. Get a job, work a couple of years, qualify for PR...