This is me standing outside UniSA's City West campus. When I looked for 'Arts' on their website, it listed City West, so here we are!
This building isn't the only one for UniSA's City West campus though.
I think there are at least 5 other buildings, all around the same area as that one. Above is one of the buildings at night - doesn't it look exactly like in the brochure? Hehe.
More shots of the buildings - I think all these belong to UniSA. They're mostly named after famous South Australians, if I'm not mistaken. You know, those who helped build the colony, and stuff like that.
So, it all looks very nice, right? It's located in Adelaide's city centre, and the government recently extended the free tram service to a stop just outside the campus. So, free transportation, near the city centre so it'll be a bit livelier, and just a few minutes' walk from Rundle Mall, a famous shopping district. Great, isn't it?
Well, it would be, if it actually WAS our campus.
Turns out City West has ALL the Arts courses, EXCEPT Communications. I was pretty annoyed when I saw that, plus we were there on a weekend and everything was closed, as most shops in Adelaide tend to be.
Okay, so, I might have made a mistake, right? Maybe it's in City East. Let's try there!
After much searching, we finally locate the UniSA logo on the east side of town (duh, City East) and walk up to look at the sign...
Communications? Communications? Nope. Nada. Zip. Zilch. This was the Science campus, as I'd expected, for Science things like Dentistry and Nursing and other things.
Oh well, since we came this far, no harm taking a few more pictures. I refused to stand in any of them, because you know, it's not MY campus.
Okay, so, strike two, and it's still the weekend so we can't ask any UniSA people until tomorrow (Monday). But hey, Dad's friend's son Mr Loh (he's not that old, but Dad insists on calling him that for some reason) went to UniSA before. Maybe he can help us out!
He thinks. "Hmm..Communications..it's not in City West? Well, maybe it's at the Mawson Lakes campus."
And off we go.
Mawson Lakes is about half an hour's drive out north from the city centre. It's an absolutely beautiful place, with a lake, small houses, and a wonderfully state of the art campus, as shown below:
It's all very new, very sophisticated, and lovely. It even overlooks a beautiful neighborhood like this!
But, guess what? That's right - not for Communications either, much to my disappointment. See the letters on the yellow stilts behind my head? They spell 'Technology Park'. Yup, this campus is primarily for IT students only, which explains the very scientific look of it all. Which is a shame, because I really like the place even if it is a bit far out of town.
So, after a weekend of hit and misses, Monday finally arrives, and we hurry to the City West campus to ask where the heck the elusive Communications campus is. A friendly student helper named Joe finally tells us that the Communications campus is in fact the Magill campus (and looking over at the brochure rack, turns out UniSA has A LOT OF CAMPUSES.) Finally, we get the right one! Dad insists I call them to find out how to get there, and the helpful Joe gives me the number of the Program Director herself - Ms. Jenny. I spend a few minutes talking to the very nice lady at the other end of the phone, and after getting the relevant details we head to the bus stop opposite the City West campus.
We sit there for a while, waiting for 107X - the number of the bus that apparently goes straight from that stop to right outside the Magill campus. We wait for a bit, and it's getting a little hot, still no sign of the bus - so Dad, fed up, eventually decides to take a cab. It's a 20 minute drive to the campus, and my first impression is - well, it's okay. Not bright and sparkling like the Mawson Lakes one was, but you know, at least it's a proper campus. It looks a little old, but then again, most campuses do.
We follow the map, go in, and promptly get lost. After a while of wandering around, Dad finally asks a security guard for help, and he points us to the front desk, where a very nice (and I suppose somewhat cute) guy takes us to the desk for Communications. (No, I don't have pictures of him)
I ask the ladies working there if I could get a tour or something, and they stare at me - tours aren't something that is normally done here, I can tell. Eventually they make a few calls and point me to the Marketing Director, or some equivalent position held by a lovely Ms. Christina. She agrees to meet me at very short notice, takes me and my parents into a room and talks to me for a while. When she learns that I'm interested in doing Communications, she calls in the Head of Communications and Media Management degree - Ms. Rosie Paradiso. Ms. Paradiso spends more time sitting with me, outlining the courses, and turns out there are far more choices here in UniSA than there ever would be in Taylors. It's a real shame, I should just go over there next year..darn braces.
Apparently, I can major in CMM and minor in Journalism, but that would depend on the types of subjects I took here. The course structures they have look rather different from the ones in Taylor's, which quite concerns me. Apparently Taylor's doesn't follow the UniSA course 100%, which is, I suppose, why some students have difficulty coping when they go over there. CMM is a popular course though, according to her.
My mother's worried about accomodation, so Ms. Paradiso then takes us to what I believe is the equivalent of student services. Here, they help you with tutoring if you need it, accomodations, anything that might crop up in your life as a UniSA student. (It's not actually in the picture below, but you can read the sign).
Here, a very nice woman (whose name I can no longer recall at the moment, so sorry!) volunteers to spend an hour with my mother and I scrolling through all the different kinds of accomodations available for UniSA Magill campus students. UniSA has no on-campus hostels, but the two nearest hostels are private owned and rather expensive. There are a number of different housing options, although most of them are quite pricey (220++) and for some of those, it doesn't even include utility bills (electricity, water, telephone) not to mention food. What, I can't live on air and water!
The only option that seemed reasonable was a longhouse type of deal, where you have your own room, a communal bathroom (don't know about that one) and everybody has dinner together, which usually is 3 dishes with rice, and mostly Asian fare. The lady said this was a good option because it was 180++ if I'm not mistaken, and that included utility bills AND food, which means I can concentrate on studying. (And not have to cook!) Mom did seem to like that one. She said the people who lived there were mostly international students, too, but you had to book early because there was always no room.
After the house-searching, she called Ms. Christina back in to give us a tour! I felt really bad, making Ms. Christina come down all the way to give us a tour (and they don't do this often) but she went, no, no, you've come all this way, the least I can do is show you around. (Seriously, Australians are the nicest people ever.)
They have a few blocks where classrooms are held, so here's one of them sheltered by trees:
I believe there are lecture theatres there as well, if I'm not mistaken.
Below are more examples of classrooms:
Time to move on to a student's favourite place - the cafeteria! This is the outside of the cafeteria.
And below is the inside! The black things on the circular table are computers. Ms Christina called them 'computer pools' (or was it barns? I can't quite remember) and apparently there are quite a few around the school.
There is a cafe in the cafeteria, but the food is pretty pricey, so Ms. Christina suggested that we bring our own lunches. My brother -really- liked the salad though.
After that, we went on a tour around the building. It was mostly closed because it was the holidays for the degree students, but we managed to have a look around anyway. The Television Studio in the Journalism department: (And that's half of Ms Christina!)
Well, at least they use actual televisions!
Then the Journalism newsroom:
And finally, another computer pool/barn.
I don't know about you guys, but to be completely, brutally honest, I felt a bit let down by this campus. It doesn't seem too bad, and certainly the staff were very, very nice, but I don't know..I expected something a little more..high-tech? Polished? Well, either way. I've probably gotten used to dreaming of a campus like University of New South Wales..I went there 3 years ago to visit my cousin, and wow..it was a campus like the type you only have in tv shows. Why can't I have a campus like that?! Accomodation isn't very easy to get either, but I suppose that's a common problem - it's probably worse in Melbourne.
Well, like Ms Catherine says, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Which is why I've held off on registering for degree for now. Instead, I am considering:
I really like Monash, because 1. It has prestige, and 2. It's really got a huge load of options. There's even a double degree in Bachelor of Business and Commerce/ Bachelor of Communication, which is very tempting. Plus, its transfer campus is in Melbourne!KDU I heard was well-known for its Communication courses, but according to lowyat.net forumgoers, its standard has been dropping lower and lower. In fact, ironically, Taylor's or IATC was recommended for a person who wanted to switch OUT of KDU. Apparently it's RM72k for the whole course there, which is about 9k cheaper than Monash. I'd rather pay the extra 9k for the prestige, but then again it's not my money, so I can't really say. KDU also doesn't really appeal to me, for some reason. Maybe it's because it's twinning university is University of Murdoch, in Perth (even though they say they have a building full of multimedia equipment) or the rather shabby DU campus, but still.
Taylor's apparently doesn't publish its fees, so does anyone know how much the degrees cost? I'd appreciate it if anyone who knows would send me a message or something. I need to decide where I'm going to soon - and this time, there's no going back. (edit: Apparently, Taylor's degree is 72320 for CMM and Journalism..66188 for continuing students. Thank you YJ!) That places it at slightly cheaper than KDU. Hmmmmmmmm.
We shall see.
Hope this post was informational for you UniSA-going people!
(P.S.) For those of you interested in Monash, the guy at the Edufair said we should just 'send in our applications' and see, although 'most likely' it 'should be okay'.
This is me standing outside UniSA's City West campus. When I looked for 'Arts' on their website, it listed City West, so here we are!
This building isn't the only one for UniSA's City West campus though.
I think there are at least 5 other buildings, all around the same area as that one. Above is one of the buildings at night - doesn't it look exactly like in the brochure? Hehe.
More shots of the buildings - I think all these belong to UniSA. They're mostly named after famous South Australians, if I'm not mistaken. You know, those who helped build the colony, and stuff like that.
So, it all looks very nice, right? It's located in Adelaide's city centre, and the government recently extended the free tram service to a stop just outside the campus. So, free transportation, near the city centre so it'll be a bit livelier, and just a few minutes' walk from Rundle Mall, a famous shopping district. Great, isn't it?
Well, it would be, if it actually WAS our campus.
Turns out City West has ALL the Arts courses, EXCEPT Communications. I was pretty annoyed when I saw that, plus we were there on a weekend and everything was closed, as most shops in Adelaide tend to be.
Okay, so, I might have made a mistake, right? Maybe it's in City East. Let's try there!
After much searching, we finally locate the UniSA logo on the east side of town (duh, City East) and walk up to look at the sign...
Communications? Communications? Nope. Nada. Zip. Zilch. This was the Science campus, as I'd expected, for Science things like Dentistry and Nursing and other things.
Oh well, since we came this far, no harm taking a few more pictures. I refused to stand in any of them, because you know, it's not MY campus.
Okay, so, strike two, and it's still the weekend so we can't ask any UniSA people until tomorrow (Monday). But hey, Dad's friend's son Mr Loh (he's not that old, but Dad insists on calling him that for some reason) went to UniSA before. Maybe he can help us out!
He thinks. "Hmm..Communications..it's not in City West? Well, maybe it's at the Mawson Lakes campus."
And off we go.
Mawson Lakes is about half an hour's drive out north from the city centre. It's an absolutely beautiful place, with a lake, small houses, and a wonderfully state of the art campus, as shown below:
It's all very new, very sophisticated, and lovely. It even overlooks a beautiful neighborhood like this!
But, guess what? That's right - not for Communications either, much to my disappointment. See the letters on the yellow stilts behind my head? They spell 'Technology Park'. Yup, this campus is primarily for IT students only, which explains the very scientific look of it all. Which is a shame, because I really like the place even if it is a bit far out of town.
So, after a weekend of hit and misses, Monday finally arrives, and we hurry to the City West campus to ask where the heck the elusive Communications campus is. A friendly student helper named Joe finally tells us that the Communications campus is in fact the Magill campus (and looking over at the brochure rack, turns out UniSA has A LOT OF CAMPUSES.) Finally, we get the right one! Dad insists I call them to find out how to get there, and the helpful Joe gives me the number of the Program Director herself - Ms. Jenny. I spend a few minutes talking to the very nice lady at the other end of the phone, and after getting the relevant details we head to the bus stop opposite the City West campus.
We sit there for a while, waiting for 107X - the number of the bus that apparently goes straight from that stop to right outside the Magill campus. We wait for a bit, and it's getting a little hot, still no sign of the bus - so Dad, fed up, eventually decides to take a cab. It's a 20 minute drive to the campus, and my first impression is - well, it's okay. Not bright and sparkling like the Mawson Lakes one was, but you know, at least it's a proper campus. It looks a little old, but then again, most campuses do.
We follow the map, go in, and promptly get lost. After a while of wandering around, Dad finally asks a security guard for help, and he points us to the front desk, where a very nice (and I suppose somewhat cute) guy takes us to the desk for Communications. (No, I don't have pictures of him)
I ask the ladies working there if I could get a tour or something, and they stare at me - tours aren't something that is normally done here, I can tell. Eventually they make a few calls and point me to the Marketing Director, or some equivalent position held by a lovely Ms. Christina. She agrees to meet me at very short notice, takes me and my parents into a room and talks to me for a while. When she learns that I'm interested in doing Communications, she calls in the Head of Communications and Media Management degree - Ms. Rosie Paradiso. Ms. Paradiso spends more time sitting with me, outlining the courses, and turns out there are far more choices here in UniSA than there ever would be in Taylors. It's a real shame, I should just go over there next year..darn braces.
Apparently, I can major in CMM and minor in Journalism, but that would depend on the types of subjects I took here. The course structures they have look rather different from the ones in Taylor's, which quite concerns me. Apparently Taylor's doesn't follow the UniSA course 100%, which is, I suppose, why some students have difficulty coping when they go over there. CMM is a popular course though, according to her.
My mother's worried about accomodation, so Ms. Paradiso then takes us to what I believe is the equivalent of student services. Here, they help you with tutoring if you need it, accomodations, anything that might crop up in your life as a UniSA student. (It's not actually in the picture below, but you can read the sign).
Here, a very nice woman (whose name I can no longer recall at the moment, so sorry!) volunteers to spend an hour with my mother and I scrolling through all the different kinds of accomodations available for UniSA Magill campus students. UniSA has no on-campus hostels, but the two nearest hostels are private owned and rather expensive. There are a number of different housing options, although most of them are quite pricey (220++) and for some of those, it doesn't even include utility bills (electricity, water, telephone) not to mention food. What, I can't live on air and water!
The only option that seemed reasonable was a longhouse type of deal, where you have your own room, a communal bathroom (don't know about that one) and everybody has dinner together, which usually is 3 dishes with rice, and mostly Asian fare. The lady said this was a good option because it was 180++ if I'm not mistaken, and that included utility bills AND food, which means I can concentrate on studying. (And not have to cook!) Mom did seem to like that one. She said the people who lived there were mostly international students, too, but you had to book early because there was always no room.
After the house-searching, she called Ms. Christina back in to give us a tour! I felt really bad, making Ms. Christina come down all the way to give us a tour (and they don't do this often) but she went, no, no, you've come all this way, the least I can do is show you around. (Seriously, Australians are the nicest people ever.)
They have a few blocks where classrooms are held, so here's one of them sheltered by trees:
I believe there are lecture theatres there as well, if I'm not mistaken.
Below are more examples of classrooms:
Time to move on to a student's favourite place - the cafeteria! This is the outside of the cafeteria.
And below is the inside! The black things on the circular table are computers. Ms Christina called them 'computer pools' (or was it barns? I can't quite remember) and apparently there are quite a few around the school.
There is a cafe in the cafeteria, but the food is pretty pricey, so Ms. Christina suggested that we bring our own lunches. My brother -really- liked the salad though.
After that, we went on a tour around the building. It was mostly closed because it was the holidays for the degree students, but we managed to have a look around anyway. The Television Studio in the Journalism department: (And that's half of Ms Christina!)
Well, at least they use actual televisions!
Then the Journalism newsroom:
And finally, another computer pool/barn.
I don't know about you guys, but to be completely, brutally honest, I felt a bit let down by this campus. It doesn't seem too bad, and certainly the staff were very, very nice, but I don't know..I expected something a little more..high-tech? Polished? Well, either way. I've probably gotten used to dreaming of a campus like University of New South Wales..I went there 3 years ago to visit my cousin, and wow..it was a campus like the type you only have in tv shows. Why can't I have a campus like that?! Accomodation isn't very easy to get either, but I suppose that's a common problem - it's probably worse in Melbourne.
Well, like Ms Catherine says, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Which is why I've held off on registering for degree for now. Instead, I am considering:
I really like Monash, because 1. It has prestige, and 2. It's really got a huge load of options. There's even a double degree in Bachelor of Business and Commerce/ Bachelor of Communication, which is very tempting. Plus, its transfer campus is in Melbourne!KDU I heard was well-known for its Communication courses, but according to lowyat.net forumgoers, its standard has been dropping lower and lower. In fact, ironically, Taylor's or IATC was recommended for a person who wanted to switch OUT of KDU. Apparently it's RM72k for the whole course there, which is about 9k cheaper than Monash. I'd rather pay the extra 9k for the prestige, but then again it's not my money, so I can't really say. KDU also doesn't really appeal to me, for some reason. Maybe it's because it's twinning university is University of Murdoch, in Perth (even though they say they have a building full of multimedia equipment) or the rather shabby DU campus, but still.
Taylor's apparently doesn't publish its fees, so does anyone know how much the degrees cost? I'd appreciate it if anyone who knows would send me a message or something. I need to decide where I'm going to soon - and this time, there's no going back. (edit: Apparently, Taylor's degree is 72320 for CMM and Journalism..66188 for continuing students. Thank you YJ!) That places it at slightly cheaper than KDU. Hmmmmmmmm.
We shall see.
Hope this post was informational for you UniSA-going people!
(P.S.) For those of you interested in Monash, the guy at the Edufair said we should just 'send in our applications' and see, although 'most likely' it 'should be okay'.