I was enrolled in New York University as a Business Technology Management student for 2 years. I was 17 at the time and felt pressured by my parents to go to a well-known university to study the same major they did. In New York, I quickly realized that I did not feel fulfilled doing my major, and struggled a lot with my mental health. Mental health is a taboo topic in my home country, Indonesia, and that fact alone fueled my life goal of helping people, and so I took a special interest in the way our brain functions in hopes of advancing science and medicine that would be useful for people in the future as well as removing the negative stigma on mental illnesses. I decided it was time to take a leap of faith and moved half way across the world to USYD as I heard very amazing things about their science and research faculty. So, here I am studying Neuroscience and Psychology in a university that I love.
Course Curriculum :
I think the USYD’s neuroscience and psychology curriculum is exceptional. It is not just theoretical and definitely not outdated. Even though it is COVID-19 season, their lectures have been consistently engaging enough to make such a convoluted topic easy to digest. The course’s assignments have been engaging (e.g.- assigned groups, visual presentations, and weekly tutorials) which made it possible to still connect with fellow classmates and faculty members in a time like this. They have also been very fair in their assessment, putting no student in a disadvantage: they consider the hardships that we are all going through and provides special consideration when we are unable to deliver our assessments on said time (e.g. - replacement exams, recorded lectures). In this past year, I have learned so many useful skills that have helped me understand my own mental processes better. I have also been exposed to their wide arrange of clubs and societies that connected me to individuals with various backgrounds that helped me develop many interpersonal skills.
Exams :
SAT 1440/1600, SAT Math II 790/800, AP Computer Science 5/5, AP Studio Art 4/5, AP Environmental Science 4/5, AP Language and Composition 4/5, TOEFL 110/120
Placement :
Since it is still my first year, I have not been offered many jobs as I haven’t been actively seeking. I am confident though that my post-graduate opportunities will not fall short as USYD ranks #1 in graduate employability in Australia, and #4 in the world. I have talked to alumni from my program, and they told me that USYD has a wide network that have helped them find jobs with a good salary (about $100,000 AUD for masters graduate) as well as acquired internships during their uni years that built an outstanding resume. USYD is a named university with a good reputation, so obtaining a degree from there is already an advantage by itself.
Events :
I have not been able to fly to Sydney due to the travel restrictions, but I have been active in its clubs and societies. USyd offers a wide range of clubs - from professional, to cultural, to specific hobbies, they have it all. All of them are either free or have a membership fee that are relatively cheap. It was easy to access and all the clubs that I have joined this year (PPIA USYD, AIESEC Sydney) have been very active. All the other students seems to be very engaged in their extracurricular activities too which makes me more excited to be involved in those clubs and make connections with individuals who share my interests. We use a platform called USU to easily keep track of our club duties, so I would say that joining these extracurricular activities have been no hassle. Despite not being in Sydney, I extensively read about the research programs and facilities in USYD as it is something I would love to pursue later on, and I can confidently say that they have one of the best graduate opportunities and research programs among other institutions. They have a lot of partnerships and connections that help students gain experience in their field. In short, being a Usyd students has it perks even outside the university.
Scholarship :
NA
Faculty :
The faculty members are very pleasant. Lectures are given in a clear and concise manner, and they provide us with a Q&A tool that helps us ask question in real time. The lectures are usually filled with hundreds or thousands of students so it is hard for the professor to go through each inquiry, but we do have assigned tutorials every week that consists of about 15 students and 1 tutor. In my opinion, this is the crucial part of my learning as I was able to connect with my classmates that helped me throughout the semester, and it was easy to engage with the tutors as they let us ask any questions we have about the week’s lecture. All staff members are knowledgeable in their own expertise and always respond in a timely manner.
Hostel :
I have not had the chance to live there, but I have looked up on some apartments that is in a walking vicinity of the school, and it is about 400-800AUD/week on rent alone to live in an area close to USYD. I have also seen that the infrastructure of transportation is easily accessible and rather cheap.
