My uni has one of the most lenient exchange programs in the country, otherwise I would not be able to afford going! Reasons why: - I only had to apply at the end of last year, rather than a year in advance like other Sydney unis, so it was a bit of a last minute decision for me - I only had to maintain a GPA of 2.0 aka a Pass average in order to get in - Every student was guaranteed an automatic $3000 travel grant - Some students got a bonus $5000 scholarship by doing nothing whatsoever (I wasn't so lucky, they did this by uni allocations and I don't think SFU was cool enough)
I don't think this is the standard for exchange programs in Australia; some of my friends had to fight tooth and nail to get in, or relied on an International Studies component to their degree to guarantee a place. If your application process includes a statement of interest, you might want to play up your extra curric involvement and the academic reasons for your decision to study overseas (eg: I said I wanted to study firsthand Canadian literature and analyse the postcolonial implications for a comparative study with Australian lit for my honours thesis... wanky and legitimate and relevant!)
If you're worried about expenses, you can apply for OS-Help from the government (max $5k per semester abroad) as long as you can prove that you'll have at least one semester of your degree to complete once you return. I don't think I can get this, since next semester is my final one, and it's already causing complications with my academic structure. OS-Help accrues a fixed interest rate of 20% which is kind of a lot, but it's added to your HECS debt so you can pay it off later.
Really though, I'd been thinking about studying abroad since I started uni three years ago. I would have gone last year if I hadn't had the paper to work on, and by the time I quit halfway through, thus freeing up my second semester for such an opportunity, it was too late to do the paperwork. I ended up using the time saving up as much money as I possibly could and, since I suspect you're better at that than I am, if you aim to leave late next year your finances/administration shouldn't be a problem.
It's not like you have to pay off HECS immediately! It really depends on what kind of program your uni offers and how competitive it is. I'm just deeply excited that this is finally happening
Reasons why:
- I only had to apply at the end of last year, rather than a year in advance like other Sydney unis, so it was a bit of a last minute decision for me
- I only had to maintain a GPA of 2.0 aka a Pass average in order to get in
- Every student was guaranteed an automatic $3000 travel grant
- Some students got a bonus $5000 scholarship by doing nothing whatsoever (I wasn't so lucky, they did this by uni allocations and I don't think SFU was cool enough)
I don't think this is the standard for exchange programs in Australia; some of my friends had to fight tooth and nail to get in, or relied on an International Studies component to their degree to guarantee a place. If your application process includes a statement of interest, you might want to play up your extra curric involvement and the academic reasons for your decision to study overseas (eg: I said I wanted to study firsthand Canadian literature and analyse the postcolonial implications for a comparative study with Australian lit for my honours thesis... wanky and legitimate and relevant!)
If you're worried about expenses, you can apply for OS-Help from the government (max $5k per semester abroad) as long as you can prove that you'll have at least one semester of your degree to complete once you return. I don't think I can get this, since next semester is my final one, and it's already causing complications with my academic structure.
OS-Help accrues a fixed interest rate of 20% which is kind of a lot, but it's added to your HECS debt so you can pay it off later.
Really though, I'd been thinking about studying abroad since I started uni three years ago. I would have gone last year if I hadn't had the paper to work on, and by the time I quit halfway through, thus freeing up my second semester for such an opportunity, it was too late to do the paperwork. I ended up using the time saving up as much money as I possibly could and, since I suspect you're better at that than I am, if you aim to leave late next year your finances/administration shouldn't be a problem.
Hope this helps!
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