University of Canberra Study Abroad and Exchange Program

Best exchange program I have heard of. Very helpful and organised. Loved the events planned because it gave us the opportunity to grow closer. I feel like this experience was definitely a great decision and I have seriously gained a second family. And I absolutely loved having the exchange ambassadors to help us out and hang out with.

Critical Feedback:

Cleaner living facilities.

I love Australia. I have met a lot of wonderful people. I also love the people here. The study abroad office was very helpful even before I got here. Answered all of my questions and even told me things I never thought about. The only thing I would change is living in the village. It's dirty and gross and overpriced. Live In globo if you have to live here. Other than that everything is good.

Critical Feedback:

Like I said. International house is the worst house to live in. I would also have the study abroad program put more activities on for students!

Great Program, school is okay, Canberra is a really cool place to live. There is lots to do and very accessible to the rest of Australia. The museums and lakes are good and the buildings/museums are great too. If you meet some Australians there are cool driving trails and hiking all around Canberra in the mountains too!

When I arrived in my room I was a little disappointed. The accommodation I chose (International House) leaves a lot to be desired, but it was one of the cheaper options. I'd recommend Globo for international students who are looking for a nicer apartment and better social scene.

The village always has lots of activities going on, and a really great mall is only a 15 minute walk away. The location of the uni is pretty great, and has lots of nice scenery surrounding it. Walks around Lake Ginninderra are really nice at night time.

Rebecca plans plenty of awesome activities and day trips. The Sydney trip was really amazing, and I'd definitely go on more weekend trips if they were offered!

Up to now going on exchange it was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life!
99.9 % of the People are very friendly, relaxed and open-minded. Many cultures live together, you have lots of sports to do (SURF!!, rugby, soccer, kricket and so on), a wonderful wildlife to explore and so many opportunities to make friends with people from all over the world!
There are many people who support you for every kind of problem you have.
Just be sure that you are ready and able to spend a lot of money, so you will be satisfied with the accomodation, the super organised trips and the relatively high prices.

The University of Canberra has an engaging learning environment amidst an amazing backdrop of natural beauty and wildlife. It's staffed with friendly, helpful support personnel who provide an array of Australian adventure opportunities and work passionately to connect exchange students into the university community. The campus is a short walk from a huge range of shops and well-paying part-time job opportunities.

Overall this has been the most amazing experience of my life! The Study Abroad Program at the University of Canberra is wonderful. There is a great sense of community here and with the work of the exchange leadership team it has only been enhanced!

The Sydney trip at the beginning of the semester is a must! You simply have to go on this trip and I highly advise doing anything else that they plan because it is always carried out with such organization and fun! You get the chance to meet people from all over the world who you can rely on throughout the semester and even turn into travel buddies for the breaks.

Of course there is always going to be room for improvement but this has nothing to do with the study abroad program. I'm talking about things such as housing, cost of living, and other things out of their control. Personally I did a homestay and lived with a local family. Looking back I would recommend staying on campus because you never know what kind of family you will get put with. The worst part of living off campus is bussing to school and dealing with the AHN (Australian Homestay Network). On average it takes me 50-70 minutes to get to school each day, and then there is the ride home. (The AHN's estimate of travel time was wrong and they basically told me tough luck!)

If you can afford it, your best option is living in the New Apartments (aka "Globo"). Coming from Northern British Columbia, Canada I did go into sticker shock when I got here as there are a lot more costs to factor in and a revised budget was in need after a few weeks.

One thing I have noticed is that you can ask a million questions to bus drivers, students, randoms and for the most part they will try to help (much like Canada). However, 50% of the Australians I asked what to do in Canberra said its boring here. Obviously you are not going to ask them this question; there is so much to do! This is the capital of Australia which is very close to 2 huge cities and home to many tourist attractions (lots of them free). Not to mention it's a quick (cheap) bus ride to the beach and even easier accessibility to the night life. If you cannot find things that you enjoy doing to fill your time then you are not even trying! Outdoorsy you say? Go walk, bike, or paddle boat around one of the lakes, go on a hike, find a hot air balloon, jump out of a plane!

Canberra and the University of Canberra is a wonderful place to do a study abroad semester or year. If I wasn't going home to graduate I would have stayed another semester!

Critical Feedback:

Make sure the study abroad program has more funding so we can do even more amazing trips like the one to Sydney, the beach, the scavenger hunt, and the ugly sweater party!!! If Rebecca planned more trips and we still had to pay for them I would still go!!!! She is always so organized, prepared, and knows what is fun!

I love the study abroad program of the university of Canberra. Even before I arrived here I felt comfortable and everything was well organized. WHen I finally arrived everything was a lot of fun. Especially the Orientation Week trip is great because you get to know the other exchange students very well. And because nearly everyone lives at the University of Canberra village, there is always something to do and much fun around!

The program is amazing. I felt like I had a lot of support coming into a place where I was unfamiliar with everything. The only complaint I would have is that living on rez is hard to get used to with how dirty it is. My apartment is so disgusting that we have rats.

Going to Canberra has been pretty fun. My complaints would be that dining places on campus close way too early, and that smoking is allowed on campus, so there's cigarette remains everywhere and the constant smoking smell.

The best part of the experience so far is meeting all the new people and getting to do trips and activities. I think it's great that the UC exchange program staff have been so involved with putting on activities to help the international students feel more comfortable and make friends.

If you're looking for an academic challenge, UC probably is not the place you want to study abroad. But coming from semester after semester of incredibly difficult and strenuous work at university in the USA, UC is a welcomed pause. It's not that the classes don't offer quality information and discussion or that the university has a bad staff -- it's that the workload is significantly less than a 3rd/4th year in an undergrad degree at a vigorous university. Like I said, a welcomed pause.

UC is further from the city center (Civic) than the city's other big uni, ANU, but bus transport is rapid and reliable during normal hours. Wish the bus ran later, as it stops at midnight. That can put a damper on night life in the city, but no worries -- there are so many opportunities to party that it doesn't really matter. There's a big student population in Canberra, so there are a lot of organizations and events based around that. You'll have lots of fun if you take advantage of everything that's out there.

The living situation on campus has its positives and negatives -- some houses are a complete dump, and the standards of upkeep seem to be lower than dorms in the states, but it can often depend on the people you are randomly paired with. I live in Globo (aka the "new apartments") and the structure of the apartment is really nice, my roommates are just a bit messy. But I've suspended my need for obsessive cleanliness and just gone with it. Otherwise, the residences organize a lot of events and opportunities to get you involved, and just living on campus makes it easy to meet Australians. Definitely more of a positive than a negative.

The study abroad program and staff at UC is really great -- organized, helpful, and definitely interested in making sure everybody has a good time.

Overall, I've met some really great people, had a lot of fun, and while it's not the most ideal university or the most exciting city, I'm enjoying myself a lot.

When I first went into the Cooinda Hut to receive my dorm key I saw a sign that said University of Canberra was leading the way in Housing standards. My first thought was that it would be a nice place.

When I got to my room. The whole place was a mess. The kitchen wasn't up to par. Things seemed to look like they were falling apart. In my room I saw similar attributes. My phone looked like poop was smeared on it. When i would try to receive or make calls it didn't work. When told it would be replaced, 4 weeks later and still nothing has happened.

Now that I cleaned the place up, it feels a lot better. The accommodations look like they could be a great place to stay, there just isn't any up-keep with them so they are falling apart. I understand that a part of this is the students before me's fault. But there was a break between semesters when I arrived. There should have been some house cleaning done.

Other than the accommodations, I have been pleased with everything else. Great location and fun things to do.

I've been having a great time here at UC so far. My units are challenging but interesting and the lecturers are willing to help when you need it. I love my housemate but it would be nice if we didn't have to place so many fix-it requests (though I know that is a CLV thing). Canberra is a great city, I find the bus transportation is awesome compared to where I am from, and it's really central for travelling to other cities. I would definitely recommend an exchange to UC!

University of Canberra is a tiny university compared to what I am used to back in the United States but the small setting enhances the exchanges' stay abroad. With a limited time in Australia, no one would like to end up with a gigantic campus where they would have a harder time getting around.

The best thing about UC is how friendly everyone is since. My experiences living on res were wonderful because the people were always happy, relaxed, and easy going. A regular routine on a school week was filled with may educational but also fun activities. At UC you don't have to chose between one or the other. I had time for school work and for hanging out with friends, going out, and on top of that travelling just about every weekend.

Go to UC and I promise you will have an amazing time