Photo credit: Taylor Brammer
The University of Wollongong has a good academic reputation and is in a nice spot between bushland and the beach (not far from Sydney). It's a popular study destination for international students. What's it like to study there? If you are a current or former UOW student, let us know by posting a review.
Meeka
BS Geology - loved it
I studied a BS Geology. I am absolutely shocked to see the university rating. However, i think that there may be other faculties that clearly perform far worse than others and hopefully things havent evolved too much. If you are considering a degree in Geology or earth sciences i highly recommend it, not only was it pure fun but there was always enthusiasm in the lecturers approach, never went without a helping hand. There is something about the geosciences that make the people interesting, intelligent and eager to learn and the lecturers were incredible and reflected this. The lecture staff were passionate about helping students further their understanding and make the most out of practical and theoretical aspects of the courses. Hopefully, as in the days i attended, they still use the lecture slides as a guide and jam pack the lecture with great detail. Their new earth science facility was constructed in the past 6 years ( I attended the university in the year it opened) so has some great technology and resources. I know a bunch of people who attended the university before i completed my degree in 2017 and they all agree it is a great course some of which have been past and present employees/colleagues of mine ive met over the years. I personally did not have any issues with the university itself. If you want to improve your experience i would recommend getting involved in the university’s clubs and societies, and don’t be afraid to be curious about your lecturer’s research they may even give you an opportunity to get involved if you show some initiative.
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Student
Not for international student
I feel that this university is not for international students like some other people here mentioned earlier. They do not consider that domestic students can study part-time taking 2 subjects while international students are studying 3 subjects full-time and the whole 1.5 years is squished into 1 year as they also have trimesters instead of semesters. So all the assessments squished at the same time is a nightmare. It is common to have the take-home exams for two subjects open for 2 days at the same time, plus a report for another subject at the same time.
So, I would say the structures and assessments are really designed against supporting the student’s learning experience but instead cause extreme stress, exhaustion, and giving up for international students.
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X
Terrible Courses and Teaching. Many final exam is more difficult to assignment and tutorial sheet. Very difficult to gain feedback for every in-class quiz and exam. Badly Teaching quality!!!
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jamie
Go somewhere else
Having already completed a Masters and a couple of undergraduate degrees, I recognise good when I see it. I didn’t see it here.
Common issues ventilated above with poor resources, four powerpoint downloads for one lecture in excess of 60mb (just for one), chaotic lecturing staff that were unavailable as UOW had cut their contact hours in a bid to save money. Non- Covid friendly courses where students are failed for not attending (the boarder is closed you dolts) and the recording of the lecture failing more times than being successful were indicators of poor resourcing, academics not being supported by IT. It was rather farcical to be kind. At the point of leaving the course after explaining all of the above to be asked to recommend it….I think not.
Get your higher degree elsewhere, especially if quality matters in your Masters.
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Aron
make it last option
very bad experience, no matter if you did the assignment good or not you will get less than the half of the grade. The average grade they give to the students is between 65 – 75. they try their best not to give you more than that even if you have done every thing good and no mistake at all.
in addition, they have bad communication, you would not be able to know who should you contact to know about your courses, or to change your courses. And the get aggressive if you ask. they keep adding courses to you more than what you need. when you aske them to remove them, they will say, since they have been add you cannot remove them.
most of the exam is information that cannot be found in the book or in the power point.
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Nursing Student
University of Wollongong
I have been studying Bachelor of Nursing at UOW for the last three years. Although I cannot speak for other degrees and faculties, Nursing within UOW is a farce; continuous contradictions between what is ‘said’ and what is seen to be done in practice by the faculty. Eg. We are told about the imporatance of being compassionate in nursing, yet when students have been in medical emergencies (literally lying in a hospital bed, drugged up post-emergency procedure), they have been told this is not a good excuse for being unable to attend an exam or hand an assignment in by the due date. Or, a group of students was told “you are JUST students, we (the head academics) do not have to tell you the marking criteria”. Very significant power imbalances between the faculty staff and students.
However, there are some PROS:
– new facilities
– greater scope of clinical practice learnt compared to other universities
– generally very good, and knowledgable tutors looking after subjects
– UOW has good learning support options, e.g., Learning and Development (one-on-one learning help), PAL (subject specific group study), Learning Co-Op. I have been told that the Indigenous Centre provides good support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. I have been told that disability support services are good.
– limited exams!! (Although, some people prefer having exams instead of assessments or vice versa).
CONS:
– VERY limited practical sessions (even pre-covid) compared to other universities
– no impartial student representative council, compared to other universities
– no written policy regarding negative marking schemes (this marking format has been implemented by subjects within nursing without telling students prior to the exam). Notably, other universities have strict policies regarding negative marking schemes.
– extremely subjective assessment marking, E.g., a student can submit an assessment and literally be graded a Fail, then resubmit for a new, impartial mark and be awarded a Distinction.
– very assessment heavy compared to other universities
– alot of paying services have pulled out of UOW, e.g., medical centre, due to VERY poor support from the University.
– according to the news (and emails sent to employees at the uni), UOW has been in A LOT of financial difficulty (even pre-COVID).
– inconsistent heads of academics in nursing during the last two years.
Hope this helps.
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Kayne
Uow is bad support during this covid-19
I study Bachelor of exercise science from 2020. It was very bad experience because the uni shut down only 1 month after the first semester has been started. I don’t really know how the system(moodle, sols message) work. And i have to say there is no SUPPORT at all for my first year there it was terrible experience and every single study date was so stressful because no one support and the tutor or subject coordinator take ages to answer the question in email. They really don’t have enough support at all for the international student. Subject like Biology the subject coordinator was don’t give and f*** at all the tutor as well when they separate us as a group discussion when the time of class finished he’s finished he’s doesn’t care if you struggle you just have to wait for next tutorial class which is very terrible its really hard to pass the teacher was flunked your grades and its was very stressful situation for the international student. If you was to enrolling in this institute please think twice
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Michelle
This review would have been much easier to read if you used punctuation.
jamie
Cheer up
Cheer up Michelle, English is sometimes a second language for some people. International students pay a bucket load to study in Australia. If UOW is happy to take their money, then they should provide the support needed for the students they are cultivating.
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Vignesh
How good is doing Master of Engineering at UOW?
Hello all,
Can anyone tell me how good is the university for doing masters in Mechanical engineering?
Nguyen
Think again if you are an international student who intends to apply Bachelor of Communication & Media here
I’m thinking of transferring to another uni after 2 semesters studied here. I feel like the course is designed only for the domestic student, not the international one. Many classes I took have no instruction for international students, I was struggling a lot to find out how to do my homework and assignments. We are international students, which means we grew up in other countries with the different education system, how could we suppose to know the way everything is done in Australia without instruction. I know not so many international students chose to study Communication, but it doesn’t mean we do not exist. The second thing is the study environment is not healthy, I’ve met too many racists in my classes and the tutors just don’t care. My classmates are rude, they treat me and my other Asian friends like trash, they ignore whatever we said, give dirty look if we raised any opinions in group work, they make jokes of our races and English pronunciation rather than help us to catch up with the lessons. If you are Australian or at least white, this course is for you. If you are Asian, you should consider other courses or other universities.
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Lina
Bad experience
Really had a bad experience with UOW. My main course was Finance where most of the lecturers are hard to understand their English pronunciation, You will be lucky if you come across a good one. In the end, you have to guess what was actually being said, Tutorial can be brief and rushed leaving you with half of the steps while you have to get the rest your own. Come exam even if you have prepared well with the questions and answers, you will not able to get near100 per cent correct because the questions are meant to be harder and very unlikely to get a pass in the first attempt. Subjects, where the course coordinators are not direct lecturers you will be caught up in the middle because what you expect will be different in the exam. Rate UOW 3/10.
Veronica
Highly recommend
UOW is absolutely great, Studying at UOW is one of the best life experience I had.
Campus is garden-like, Library is big and organised.
Most of the lecturers are great.
Employment opportunities are also optimistic if you could achieve credit above.
Highly recommend.
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Ajay
If you don’t mind saying, what course did you study?
mitch
This should be the last option.
Terrible, their quality assurance (student reviews), there dedication to their students, the beautiful grounds is all a farce. In the 3 years I have attended UOW, I have never had the opportunity to give course feedback. They blast information at you and fill your timetable with tasks that are rushed. Their recorded lectures are extremely poor quality, how ever there is no guarantee the lecture will be recorded at all. If you don not attend lectures in person, you are chastised. Lectures will give additional information to students that ‘turn-up’ to lectures, that is not available to students that did not attend lectures. Their website is hard to navigate, and information is hard to come by. Course structure changes yearly eg, the finally year of my course was made of 8 credit point subjects, meaning I needed to take 3 subjects a term. They have changed this, now all subjects are 6 credit points, meaning I need to pick up 2 extra subjects(and 6 more months) that I wasn’t accounting for. There are now minors available that were not available before, found that information by chance when I was lost on their website. They treat mature age students with repugnance and the younger students like foolish children. Exam conditions are terrible, noisy with wobbly tables in cold, overcrowded halls, with timetables poorly planned, with no consideration for students (multiple 3 hour exams in one day). The only kindness is from library staff and the cafe staff. This contemptuous, pompous University has beautiful gardens spanning as far as the eye can see, but students need to park 30 minutes walk away. All UOW cares about is funding and their self importance.
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Kate
UOW is poor in relations to communication and technology.
The coordinators don’t let you know whats happening and you can never log onto the moodle site to find out anyway
Internet is always dropping out on campus and half the recorded lectures don’t work
wouldn’t recommend.
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Erin
I have had the worst experience with the University of Wollongong. They are a rubbish institution with zero concern for their students, and a fixation on generating money. The actual quality of the education they provide is appalling. Their customer service team is useless and unhelpful. I had to submit forms to apply to take a course at a different university (as I was relocating for a time), and they sent me back the forms completed wrong, causing me to miss my deadline for application at the host university. They then blamed me when I had to apply to defer, because I was still enrolled in the original course that I wanted to take, and never processed my deferment. It was an absolute nightmare trying to get anything through the UOW student services and the faculty department. I would highly recommend you go elsewhere for your education. All you’ll get is a very expensive piece of paper at the end, with no support in trying to find employment or anything that other universities do to aid their students beyond graduation.
Sandy
Dont fall for the good reviews. I have met many students who said that UOW is a completely rip off university, with no quality education. They keep holding students for money, basically UOW is a trap.
Tapas Das
why are you telling so! could you please explain it!
Magnus
The university grounds are nice, and most of the lecturers are good. However there a quite a few tutors not suited to teach, and when paying as much as I do, canceling tutorials and calling it an “online tutorial” is not good enough. It even happens that the tutor simply does not show up, or when they do, they sign the attendance sheet and then leave again.
Uni accommodation is very expensive and very poor. The standards of the buildings and services are low, and the prices are unjustifiably high. The buildings are rundown, dirty and poorly equipped.
If you like going to clubs and partying, Wollongong might be a good place to live, if not, there is not too much to do. There is a free shuttle bus going around the city every day, which is good.
Flash
can anyone tell me about info on education, not about beauty of campus, its about the teaching and students credits. so please tell me the info on credits, the way they teach and about mechanical dpt..and also abt the exams and getting percentages…because it matters alot for international students…please respond as soon as possible…….
Jay
well to be fair campus east is trash and for a university not to know the difference between a kitchen and a kitchenette is just messed up, if you are going to lease apartments then the least you can do is actually tell them wwhat they have access to and not overstate the absolute trash that is living on campus east, and for the record it costs almost triple that of other non university apartments, all of which seem to understand what a kitchen is…
Kumar
this uni is joke, they didn’t show my bad rating for the comments.
Wayne McKee
Misinformation
Big push on climate change without looking at all the facts. Like a lot of places, filtered information and algorithms to block out comment that doesn’t suit them.
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Nikhil
UOW has to have one of the most beautiful campuses in Australia. Had some of the best times of my life in Wollongong. The friends I made while studying will be lifelong friends.
The college and university facilities are really good and the library is really big. The campus is filled with things to do and have fun and study at the same time. The student union is quite active.
It wasn’t difficult to get a place in the university. The process took me about one month. I was assisted by an agent in my home country and it was quite simple. I would suggest applying early to get accommodation in the university as they get filled up fast.
Pros: My course was the best part of the university experience. There was a good diversity in my class and excellent professors. It was a really good decision for me personally to be a part of this university.
Cons: The most important advice I would give to all international students is to not only remain in your group of friends but get out there and socialize with the local people and have fun.
Mukesh
Nikhil can you tell about your course..and what do you think about about employment opportunities after graduating from uow??
Adam
What’s the average 4 subject scores required for an admission in mechanical engineering
Exams given HSC India Maharashtra
Gadget
Poor response to international students
I would say that the UOW should replace the enquiry team as their response take a month to reach out to the applicants. They don’t even know regarding the duration of post study working visa duration that the students will get after completing the Master Program. If you guys don’t know, than better not to advertise and motivate international students to study that program. The University is only after money and don’t care about the students. The University should learn from QUT and UC. I don’t even know how the University is ranked as one of the top university in Australia.
Amanda
My overall experience at uni has been a great one.
In Australia we have such a great opportunity to learn and study that I think we too often take for granted – we complain about the work load or the tutors or the assignments – but really we should be so grateful that we have this opportunity the knowledgeable tutors and the abilities and resources to be able to complete the workload. Once all this is in perspective uni is able to be enjoyed in every aspect – not just the ‘fun’ parts.
I live at home and commute to uni. It is a fairly easy drive down the highway from Sydney – not much traffic.
I really enjoy my course. I chose to study what I enjoy and what I’m interested in. I really enjoy the geography, biology and geology aspects but not so much the chemistry. But that is just my personal preference. The course is really good in that it gives you an overview of all the different areas and topics it covers and then allows you to specify in third year what you like the most.
Pros: Wollongong Uni is a very aesthetically pleasing uni. There are beautiful grounds and lots of gardens and duckponds. There are nice lawns to sit on and lots of seats and some cafes too. There is a beautiful big library with helpful staff and other great facilities. A 5-10 minute drive down the road is the beach a 10-15 min drive in the other direction is the shops and directly opposite the uni is the gorgeous botanic gardens.
Cameron
Studying at UOW is the best lifestyle I could have imagined for myself; you have everything you could possibly need.
Wollongong itself is a great town which accommodates the uni student – plenty of part time work for those who need it, as well as accommodation options. Transport to the uni is so easy with the free shuttle bus, trains or even walking there. As well they have free parking for car pooling (3 or more in a car) which is a great way to meet people if you if you live a bit further away. And when you’re not at Uni you can spend your days with friends at the beach or day tripping to other great locations on the South Coast.
UOW is famous for it’s Uni Bar – always providing the best in live music for the region. The cafes at the uni are so great and perfect for daily catch ups with your mates.
Pros: Being so close to the beach means it is easy to go for a dip and be back in time for your next class.