Study Abroad at Victoria University of Wellington

I picked New Zealand as I have always wanted to go. I wanted to see the world not just as a tourist, but as part of a new society. I considered Europe but felt that experiencing an entirely new part of the world and totally new cultures was the best way to make the most of my experience. That said, being so far from home was daunting which is why I chose an English speaking country – and New Zealand offered the best of both.

The university was very different to Liverpool which was great as it gave me a non Western view of psychology and some ideas for third year. It also had more contact hours which was good as the lectures were shorter, so I didn’t feel like I was losing concentration! Being so far from home definitely made me more independent and helped me understand my learning style, which is basically that I shouldn’t leave everything until the last minute!

I lived in international halls which was great to meet people from all over the world, even my roommate was Japanese! I made heaps of friends and went places and experienced things I never thought I would.

The university was very good and I would 100% recommend studying there. Wellington was a fantastic place and I will definitely be returning. I travelled all over New Zealand which increased my love for the country and culture!

I left a cold Sweden and my home university Uppsala in January and got a warm welcoming by the Kiwis. I travelled the south island for a month and I was not disappointed. Those views were exactly what I came to NZ for, with Mt. Cook as a favorite.

The workload during the semester was a bit more than expected, but the lecturers were great and I learned a lot from my marketing and management courses. It was easy to adapt to the study system with all courses running parallel, but the last month was very hectic.

On the weekends I went on hikes with the tramping club and enjoyed Wellington. Would recommend new students to join some of the clubs to get to know more Kiwis and experience fun events! During Easter break I traveled the North island, visiting Hobbiton, Tongariro, Mt. Taranaki etc. Epic adventures all of them.

After the finals, I went to Australia and Tonga to relax before heading home to Sweden. Well deserved and a great way to end a great semester abroad!

// Andreas

I decided to study a at Victoria in 2014 and to do a Bachelor degree in Biomedical Science, majoring in Genetics.
For this program, there a compulsory courses and a couple of electives, each course running for one trimester with most of them having internal assessments and one final exam.
The first year courses cover a broad range of subjects without going into too much detail. They are nice introductions to the variety of topics and subjects and might give a good idea of what topics are going to be covered in second or third year.
The second year courses are stepping up a bit in how much detail they're covering which increases even more in third year.
A lot of locals think that the first year at University is very hard and difficult which I can understand from their point of view as high school is not very challenging here and transitioning from easy high school to a more academic approach can be difficult. For me personally, I thought that first year was a good revision of what we would learn in the last years of high school (Germany) and the transition into second year wasn't too difficult either as I found it nicer to concentrate on less diverse topics but to study them in detail which continued even further in third year.
Since I did a Science degree, all those courses have practical applications such as set hours of lab work throughout the trimester. The labs were a nice way to learn practical uses of the theory but could be improved by making them more challenging; all labs are provided with lab manuals and instructions on what to do but I think it would be nice to have a stronger focus on creative thinking and being able to establish lab protocols ourselves.
My favorite course at Uni has been Biol252, a second year course studying cell biology and cell development. While the academic staff in this course was very approachable, helpful and passionate, the labs were also designed very well and allowed us to study the development of sea urchins from the fertilized egg to the larvae state before they're ready for settlement. The course Biol219 - New Zealand Flora and Fauna was a great course too - a two week field trip course to study the native animals and plants of New Zealand. I enjoyed the course a lot as it was a nice approach of learning outside of the class room but also to include New Zealand's history and culture.
Academically I would say that Victoria University is a good university but certainly not as challenging as other Universities around the world. The assessments are good but if I'd compare it to the German standard that I am used to, then it is not competitive at all.
However, now I am doing a postgraduate degree at Victoria and I feel that this is way more challenging and with higher expectations of excellent academic delivery than there was in undergrad.
Over all, I enjoyed my time as an undergrad student, especially in such a great town as Wellington is. The view from the University is amazing, the academic stuff is very nice and approachable and everything is on a first name base. Victoria is offering lots of extracurricular activities such as the Victoria Plus Program or the Victoria International Leadership Program, lots of clubs and societies that make it easy to engage with academic and non-academic life of University. Victoria International is also hosting a lot of events to support international students.

I love it here at vic so far as an international student. I think one of the biggest things that made my transition so smooth was how great the uni hall housing is. It makes it easy to meet people and be independent in a new country, which is a really unique thing. I also thought people at vic international reception desk were helpful when I was trying to drop a course. Not to mention plenty of options for things to do on campus, in terms of student life. Additionally events only for international students making it even easier to meet people.

I had a fantastic experience on my exchange to VUW. I found the course work to be comparable to my home university and there was lots of support options if you needed them. Wellington is a fun, safe and beautiful city to live in and gives you great access to exploring New Zealand. My only issue was that I didn't live in University housing and Wellington has an extreme housing shortage! Students struggle to find an affordable place to live so I would recommend organizing something with the school.
Studying abroad was a great experience and I learned so much about different people, cultures and myself. Definitely would do it all over again if I had the chance.

This was an incredible experience that I would highly recommend to everyone. The classes were taught in a format different from my home university, however I was able to adjust and really enjoyed them. The professors were genuinely excited to teach their classes. And the location is amazing. Wellington is an incredible city and really fun, with great nightlife and awesome opportunities. I would do this again in a heartbeat.

I loved studying abroad at Victoria University - the overall experience made me want to move to Wellington! Such a quirky, cool city with so much going on - also just very beautiful. I enjoyed my classes and the chance to learn about prospectives different than what I was used to. My professors were all really nice and accommodating. I loved having more spread out finals than we have in the U.S. I wish I could have extended and studied there longer.

I've spent 5 months in New Zealand and more particularly in Wellington. The life in this city was awesome. There's a lot of activities to do, a lot of landscape to discover. Moreover, even if the weather wasn't that good, people are super nice, that makes the adaptation to the new city way more easier.
Victoria University was amazing too. The buildings are really nice and clean. The organization is on point and I never had problem to contact staff, lecturer. Everything was made to facilitate our integration with local people.
Moreover, there were a lot of services that were provided. University helped me finding a accommodation in a student hall. That was super easy and convenient.
Finally, life in New Zealand is so much different from the life in France. I really enjoyed my time in "the middle earth". I highly recommend people to come in this fabulous country. And for sure, one day I'll come back there.