An experience i would choose to relive all over again

Accomodation:
Coming to Auckland in the beginning of february two weeks before orientation week the first challenge i faced was finding a place to live. Because WSA (AUT student accomodation) was already booked out i had to find a place to live on my own. At first it was quite challenging and i wasn't sure i would find something. Apartments or rather rooms in apartments in the CBD are very expensive and usually quite small. I exlusively looked for apartments through the website "Trade me". To open up a "Trade me" account as a non NZ / AUS citizen you need a New Zealand phone number and an address in New Zealand. For apartments in and around the CBD i found this way the most promising to find an apartment. A good alternative are facebooks groups like "AUCKLAND FLATS / HOUSES FLATMATES ROOMS & BOARDING WANTEDTO RENT".
Ultimately i got quite lucky and found a place on queen street. Most reviews i read from other students told me to come to Auckland two weeks ahead of the beginning of Uni to find a place and it turned out to be around two weeks till i found a place that suited me.
If the places in CBD are not to your liking look in the suburbs around CBD. For example grafton, parnell or ponsonby.
If you cannot decide if you want to live at WSA or a place outside of the student accomodation you should ask yourself how bad you want to be connected to the student life around WSA because most students meet and plan trips together within WSA.

Studying:
From my experience the workload and the level at AUT are managable. One of the challenges is to fit in all the assignment you will have during the semester and at the same time get as much travelling done as possible. I suggest to put in a good amount of effort on your first assignments so you get a sense of how much work is needed for the grade you want. If you have any questions or doubts always just turn to your tutor/lecturer/teacher and ask them for help. They are really supportive and try to make all the tasks as clear as possible.

Travelling/Student Life:
First of i have to say that living outside of WSA has been quite fun and relaxing because i basically had my own place and didnt have to follow any guidelines or rules of student accomodation. On the other side i learned that to stay connected to the international students you most certainly will have to go to WSA quite a lot to socialize and stay connected to what is going on. Also don't underestimate the time you will have to travel and to do road trips. Before you know it will be exam time and you wont have as much time to travel or all the other students won't have time because they will have to prepare for exams.

There is a lot of cool stuff to do in and around auckland. Definitely take your time to check out the south island and do so as long as the weather is stable.