Anyone going to the University of Queensland?

[kwikkik]

Hello all,

I am new to the Student Doctor website and have found the threads really helpful!

I have been accepted to the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia a few weeks ago and was wondering if anyone was going there as well. If anyone has any experience from that school, please share their experiences. Are there any differences between U of Qld and the other Australian med schools? I am still considering the offer.

Any insight to the U of Qld would be greatly appreciated!

ps. I am a little nervous from reading the other threads regarding the existence of discrimination against Asian students in Australia. If possible can some people comment on this. Is there any truth to it? (I am an Asian Canadian pre-med student).

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[Purifyer]

People get discriminated against everywhere. Australia is no different, better or worse. Most of the scare mongers are just disaffected failures in my opinion. Have a great time.

 

[redshifteffect]

Originally posted by kwikkik
Hello all,

I am new to the Student Doctor website and have found the threads really helpful!

I have been accepted to the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia a few weeks ago and was wondering if anyone was going there as well. If anyone has any experience from that school, please share their experiences. Are there any differences between U of Qld and the other Australian med schools? I am still considering the offer.

Any insight to the U of Qld would be greatly appreciated!

ps. I am a little nervous from reading the other threads regarding the existence of discrimination against Asian students in Australia. If possible can some people comment on this. Is there any truth to it? (I am an Asian Canadian pre-med student).

This is one of the biggest rumours that I hear all the time. In Australia a good chunk of the ethnic population is Asian. Especially here in Hobart there are a lot of Malaysian Chinese who seem to be treated very fairly.

I would like to point out that there is racism everywhere and Canada is not exempted from this. Try living outside Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal and you will see what Canada is really like.

 

[Johnny69]

Originally posted by kwikkik
Hello all,

I am new to the Student Doctor website and have found the threads really helpful!

I have been accepted to the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia a few weeks ago and was wondering if anyone was going there as well. If anyone has any experience from that school, please share their experiences. Are there any differences between U of Qld and the other Australian med schools? I am still considering the offer.

Any insight to the U of Qld would be greatly appreciated!

ps. I am a little nervous from reading the other threads regarding the existence of discrimination against Asian students in Australia. If possible can some people comment on this. Is there any truth to it? (I am an Asian Canadian pre-med student).

Dont worry about it.

The highest population concentration of Asian people, is in Sydney. I work with a lot of Asians and go to Uni with them. They are wonderful people and are treated no differently from any other nationality.

Australia has a very diverse culture and population, you definately dont need to worry about being discriminated against.

UQ is a beautiful University and Brisbane is a beautiful city to live in aswell. The weather is great and you are not too far from the coast. You will enjoy it very much. I would strongly recommend you take the offer, you will not regret it!

 

[mic]

Originally posted by kwikkik
I am a little nervous from reading the other threads regarding the existence of discrimination against Asian students in Australia.

Is this concern about racism because of Pauline Hanson? She's in jail!

 

[kwikkik]

Thank you to everyone for their thoughts on the whole discrimination topic. I am not too worked up over the potential racism in Oz. I don?t believe that I have lived a charmed life, however, I have never truly felt discriminated in Canada so I was surprised that it could occur in a country such as Australia that has often been considered comparable to Canada.

Mic: The racism remarks caught my attention were allegations made by USMedStudent in the ?St. George's VS Univ of Sydney? thread. Thus, I do not know who is Pauline Hanson. I looked it up briefly and the One Nation party was linked to her? what is that all about????

Furthermore, I don?t want to get too far from the original intent of this thread, which brings me to ask again if anyone is going to the University of Queensland? And if you are already there what do you think of the program? Any Canadians?

 

[auser]

Kwikkik:

I was accepted there but like you I'm having doubts about going, mostly in connection with the huge tuition costs in the area of $100,000 US after four years, add cost of living and finance charges the debt will be over $200,000 US. Aftwerwards you will have no US experience when applying for residencies (many require 12 months) and what if you don't ace the USMLE? Your options will be even more limited. These are just concerns that I have. Most people on this forum tend to be very optimistic though and my thoughts are not meant to discourage anyone from going. Good luck on your decision.

 

[redshifteffect]

Originally posted by auser
Kwikkik:

I was accepted there but like you I'm having doubts about going, mostly in connection with the huge tuition costs in the area of $100,000 US after four years, add cost of living and finance charges the debt will be over $200,000 US. Aftwerwards you will have no US experience when applying for residencies (many require 12 months) and what if you don't ace the USMLE? Your options will be even more limited. These are just concerns that I have. Most people on this forum tend to be very optimistic though and my thoughts are not meant to discourage anyone from going. Good luck on your decision.

auser...

I can understand your hesitance about this because I guess everyone (on this forum) is/was in your shoes at one point. But no matter where you go to medical school the US is not your only choice. If you do bomb the USMLE and you have no other choice you can always try other countries.

If you had gone to a Caribbean school even England would have taken you ...without that much hassle. As for Australia it's not such a bad decision since it opens up the possibility of staying there, or going to the UK, or a bunch of other countries. I think as long as you complete your degree you will have a well paying job somewhere which will help pay off that loan...you just have to be willing to compromise.

 

[pitman]

kwikkik,

I got into UQ and am seriously considering it, although I am waiting on hearing from one last school before I decide.

I was also in Brisbane a few weeks ago -- there are Asians everywhere. SOo god-damn many Asians! ..Just kidding. But there are a lot there. WHich doesn't say anything to level of racism, since some say Vancouver has a lot of racism, due to the large numbers of Asians, while otheres say Vancouver has no racism, due to the large numbers of Asians. But damn there are a lot of Asians in Vancouver.

The Pill Counter is at UQ, and I think is Canadian. He's the one who first reported that UQ doesn't allow electives back home (actually, I think it's that 4 weeks are allowed at the end, but not enough time to get LORs, unless the Match is delayed a year). PM him if you have doubts about UQ b.c. of this, or about the race issue (to which I'm pretty sure he'll say no issue, unless he knows no Asians).

We have until November 14 to decide, right?

-pitman

 

[kwikkik]

Pitman,

I am seriously considering the offer from U of Qld as well. I didn?t think that getting an offer would actually be sort of a burden?but life is full of tough choices. I guess it is not too bad of a situation to be in. Definitely let me know if you choose to go. You are right, Nov 14 is the deadline to accept the offer.

How was Brisbane? I have heard lots of good things about the city.

ps. Yah? there are a lot of Asians in Vancouver!

 

[markdc]

I was accepted and plan on going. I did a fair amount of research on the schools I applied to. Each has its good and bad points. Many people are waiting to hear from U.Syd. It is 4 years of your life so do some more research if you are concerned. I was interested in UQ due to the fact that it seems to embrace technology, has good facilities and its location.

I'm not sure where in Canada you are from but the climate is going to be an improvement for sure. Brisbane gets around 300 days of sunshine, is near a place called Surfers Paradise and has tons of bicycle trails. Cycling and water sports are some of my favorite activities so this is a huge plus for me. If anyone is planning on going to an Australian school from the Toronto area, PM me.

My opinion is that it is not about the debt, but doing something that is fulfilling. Job dissatisfaction among North Americans is huge. If you are the sort of person that can see themself as a global individual and willing to make changes along the way then an MBBS is bound to open up all sorts of oportunities.

 

[driedcaribou]

Originally posted by pitman
WHich doesn't say anything to level of racism, since some say Vancouver has a lot of racism, due to the large numbers of Asians, while otheres say Vancouver has no racism, due to the large numbers of Asians. But damn there are a lot of Asians in Vancouver.

There is racism present in Vancouver except you are likely not to feel it if you always travel in a group with those who look 'similar' to you.

Racism has declined a bit in Vancouver because they've just been overwhelmed by minorities but about 8 years back I'd say the racism was still present.

I actually find that small rural areas can be more accepting to foreigners once they get to know you.

But I agree with redshifteffect that once you get out of the city, you will experience more ignorance. Not out of hate, but out of lack of dealing with those of a different race or colour.

 

[Johnny69]

Originally posted by markdc
I was accepted and plan on going. I did a fair amount of research on the schools I applied to. Each has its good and bad points. Many people are waiting to hear from U.Syd. It is 4 years of your life so do some more research if you are concerned. I was interested in UQ due to the fact that it seems to embrace technology, has good facilities and its location.

I'm not sure where in Canada you are from but the climate is going to be an improvement for sure. Brisbane gets around 300 days of sunshine, is near a place called Surfers Paradise and has tons of bicycle trails. Cycling and water sports are some of my favorite activities so this is a huge plus for me. If anyone is planning on going to an Australian school from the Toronto area, PM me.

My opinion is that it is not about the debt, but doing something that is fulfilling. Job dissatisfaction among North Americans is huge. If you are the sort of person that can see themself as a global individual and willing to make changes along the way then an MBBS is bound to open up all sorts of oportunities.

Sufers Paradise is a tourist Mecha. It is very beautiful, and very "touristy". You could probably spend an entire year in Surfers and do something different every day of the year.

This is one of the shopping centres there, "Pacific Fair", and sought of gives you an idea of what the area is like.

Nevertheless there are a lot of places all up the Queensland coast that are absolutely stunning. The weather is warm to hot all year around, (you will probably complain about the heat), but there are lots of great and fun ways to cool off, e.g. Beach.

JK

 

[pitman]

What I liked about Brisbane (not UQ itself, but the city) when visiting:

- weather. i like hot & humid
- vegetation -- Brisbane is sub-tropical and has cool plant life, everywhere. huge botanic gardens shows this off.
- how the city optimally uses the river -- for transportation, entertainment (e.g. South Bank man-made beach), etc.
- good size (~1.5 mill.), with shopping/entertaining district distinct from finance district, while easy to get out of crowds (up or down river).
- incredibly friendly people, in part b.c. it's Aus., but I think in part b.c. of the warm weather. Then again I'm a moderately handsome white male, so I may be missing out on a seedier side...
- much cheaper than Sydney

What I didn't like about Brisbane:

- not as diverse as Sydney. many of northern European decent (with large proportion being blonde) and many Asians, but fewer of everything else.
- not right on the ocean, although the Gold and Sunshine coasts are pretty easy to get to (45-60 mins).
- more expensive than Adelaide [correction 17-nov: about the same as Adelaide]


-pitman

 

[pitman]

kwikkik and auser -- will you be going to UQ?

Future students "gathering" at:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=90306

-pitman

 

[auser]

Hi Pitman,

Well the deadline came and went. Needless to say I couldn't come up with the cash in time (they wanted too much too soon). If I do end up going to Australia it would be to Flinders, I have till Dec. 5 to decide. Enjoy Queensland and keep us posted on how you make out.

 

[pitman]

Can't go wrong with Flinders. I thought Tony Edwards and the rest of the admissions dept. were the most personable and professional of the bunch, the class size is smaller than USyd and UQ, and they're the only one w/ formal agreements to do electives in the states (Columbia and Yale). I Just didn't like the city for my own quirky reasons. If you have any reluctance deciding on Flinders vs. US/Canada, be sure to contact Kimberli Cox on the forum.

-pitman

 

[redshifteffect]

Pitman,

Out of curiosity what didn't you like about Adelaide? Which city did you prefer?

 

[pitman]

Hey red -- I didn't like the weather (a little chilly except in summer, and pretty dry), the water is very cold, and the city is on a grid pattern, architecture chiefly resembling American '50s, and closes down at night except for the weekend raging partying 18yr olds.

I liked Brisbane and Sydney.

-pitman