Gold Coast campus
Griffith University is a Gold Coast and Brisbane university with campuses set in bushland away from busy city areas. It's a large university, with 45,000+ students, and is a noted research institution. If you've ever studied at Griffith, you're welcome to post a review outlining your experiences.
Griffith Rating
Australia Ranking 16
Based on world university rankings.
Source: Australian Universities
Source: Australian Universities
L
Totally disheartening experience..
I’ve been studying with Griffith for 3 years now-Bach in Nursing (between 2 & 3 subjects per tri) my 1st year was AMAZING and I haven’t had too many full time… until recently..
Sure, there were always considerable marking errors in multiple assignments over the years (including marking me down for “not having my page number in top R) hand corner” to which I asked my partner where it was to check I wasn’t crazy… & yes it was in the right format to submit) to protest this though, you are met with the statement of “we do not remark your papers”.. & since their mistakes are effecting your grades is just unethical.. But, I’ve always just ended up letting these things go & moving on.
Then recently, I had an experience where I submitted a 5 day extension for an assignment as I still work part/full time (due to paying as I go/unable to get HECs) this included a medical cert where I spoke to the uni & my doc about the reasoning for my certificate being to ease some of the pressure & ensure I wasn’t going into a MENTAL HEALTH placement with my own cup empty (stress related – work, back to back assignments, course content & placement) to which they said they understood.. Then to receive a call from a placement convenor after I had finished my 1st day of placement saying that I am “unfit” to be able to attend 2 days placement due to my med cert which the doc had left out that I was still able to attend placement… Although I do understand their reasoning, it’s what’s next that made me angry.. I was told during that initial phone call that if I got decent marks for my placement, it could support my situation. To which I continued my placement & had amazing feedback & near perfect marks from my CF but…
A few weeks later, I’ve received an email stating I need to repeat my ENTIRE 2 week placement due to missing only 2 days.. (note that THEY had asked me not to attend those 2 days) AND also placed me on a learning contract…?
So the same man who told me I could have my marks considered now was telling me my near perfect marks are irrelevant and it’s the hours I needed to make up for.. So why make me complete an entire placement before telling me that information? Considering he always knew those 2 days would mean a definite repeat. Shocking communication…
After reviving that email, I was so upset on the phone and he did nothing but cut me off and talk over me whilst my mind was jumbling, trying to figure out what to do. He said their decision was “fair” and left me with absolutely no option moving forward but to repeat (bearing in mind this degree makes you Completely time poor & Im paying as I go.. which those 2 weeks really set me behind financially & mentally) this means in the (very little) spare time I do have, I have no money for myself & good luck for Xmas for me this year… I then rang another person in his same role but from another campus whom was actually understanding & empathetic at least. She was able to help me a little by removing my learning contract.. Why couldn’t my own convener do that??
They also offered their mental health services but with what time can I access these?? My CF is even trying to fight for me to which his hands are bound as well. My CF expressed his frustration towards the miscommunication as he also received an email from that same man after the initial call that “If he’s (the CF) is happy for me to attend rest of placement then he was happy too”. Why? If the convener knew? Just to waste my time, money & create more stress? (which was the main reason for the extension..)
There are also other students on placements that are completing “80hrs” in ONE week as they’re on campus due to their “sleep” seeming to count towards their active hours of placement & others that miss multiple days due to sickness, public holidays, etc – which none have had to repeat.. (I know because I’ve also had 2 sick days in the past on 2 weeks with no issues).
It’s also frustrating to hear that other institutes cater for this by making up only the hours you missed, not the entire placement…
I have put my heart and soul into this degree so far & am usually so resilient. For them to dismiss my circumstances completely is just disheartening.. & for a profession that teaches their students that everyone has a different story, they certainly put us students into one “black and white” bag..
I’m so saddened it’s come to this, but I’m now Strongly considering changing institutions asap.. Don’t do it to yourself, Griffith will break you…
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admin
What do you expect
If you go to someone for help, they will try and reassure you, back you up, and say the right things. That doesn’t mean they really support your position.
Asking you to repeat the placement is better than failing you outright. It seems you didn’t pass this workplace test.
If I have a new employee on probation and they don’t make it into work because of stress or other mental health reasons, no way would I give them a permanent position. Too much risk. Life is like that.
T
Hi admin,
I think you entirely missed the point of this post, as stated the reasoning was understood but the Miscommunication was the issue. To not give the facts from the beginning instead of leading someone on and wasting their time and money. As also stated, the extension was to PREVENT stress and ensure patient safety aswell as students and being withheld from attending the placement when completely able to is NOT calling in due to stress or “mental health issues”
admin
Get a grip and get ready for the real world.
I don’t think I missed the point at all. I read the post and noticed a lot of whining and excuses and being expected to be treated like you’re their child or something. No-one has time for this. Nursing is a job that can be stressful and where you’re there to solve problems and get things done. Having someone internally focused on their own issues and expecting others to accommodate them are not good qualities in a nurse. This was an opportunity to learn and I’m facilitating that by pointing out how employers and managers think. You can learn the lesson or stay in a bubble. Be the solution, not the problem, and don’t waste people’s time.
Fei
Agree 100%
that sounds very Griffith 🙂
L
So sorry to hear that.
Would like to talk more about your experience privately as I am experiencing something similar.
Are you part of a union?
Alan Gordon
LUCKY ESCAPE - FROM TIME IN GRIFFITH
LUCKY ESCAPE – FROM TIME IN GRIFFITH
I fully expected Griffith to be like most Universities. I’ve attended and taught at a few. Bureaucratic corporations all, obsessed with promoting their brands and a new forgettable slogan every year. Hopefully, behind the marketing guff you find good content and good teachers. But it’s good communication that holds it all together. I found it hard to communicate with Griffith. Not just being fifteenth in the queue listening to distorted Prussian Marching Music.
I sought a few practical details about the Teaching, the Assessments and particularly the nature and duration of the ‘Internship’. I requested a phone appointment to discuss, at their convenience. They seem to favour endless email ping pong. Ten minutes tops on the phone. They publish their pronouns, but not their phone numbers. Their FAQ answered a lot of questions; but not mine.
.
Long story short, I got few answers and the distinct impression they weren’t that interested. The Convenor wrote that I “don’t need to worry about the Internship” because it was in a future Trimester. By which time I would be effectively ‘locked in’ and have to complete, and pay for, a unit I may see no value in. So I have withdrawn. I was looking forward to completing a Graduate Certificate in TESOL – but there are other universities.
The contributors on this site seemed to confirm my bias about Internships, namely that they’re a racket. A lot of comments also resonated with the feeling I got about the place even before my first Lecture. Obviously I should have visited this site before enrolling. Thanks to all the contributors sharing their experiences here; your advice is more credible than anything I could extract from the Griffith machine.
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Dianna Silly Junior
Study and work in this place both
I’ve had the “pleasure” of both working and studying at this university.
In summary:
Not great for studying, and even worse for working.
For studying, in general, the students here are statistically less likely to have a full-time job compared to those at QUT and UQ. Maybe they’re too busy trying to find a spot in the overcrowded library or deciphering the cafeteria menu.
For working, it’s a different kind of adventure. It’s a dark place (both literally and metaphorically), filled with nepotism, especially in some centralized teams like Finance Service Delivery. It’s like being part of a secret society where the only secret is how they keep getting away with it.
I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, unless you’re into dark humor and nepotism bingo.
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Ceecee
Incredibly woke and anti-Australian
I mentioned the name of a lecturer in the review I had tried to post, obviously that’s unacceptable, so I’ll leave the name out of it. Studying the Juris Doctor, one of the units is so woke, I’m surprised non-indigenous students are even allowed to take the course. I’m mixed race, including indigenous, and I’m disgusted at the anti-Australian, super woke attitudes of the convenors. They completely disregard anybody Australian-born or of mixed race if you’re not indigenous, you will be silenced. Whether you’re born in Australia or you emigrated, you will be made to feel as if you’re an invader.
Their opinion of the Voice referendum outcome is so disgracefully anti-democratic, it’s actually unbelievable. The convenor made it very clear that anyone who voted no, is a misinformed moron. Never mind, that indigenous people like myself accept and acknowledge other people’s opinions, because that’s what democracy is all about. However, if your opinion differs to the convenor’s, then you’re also a misinformed moron. This compulsory unit is all about hatred for Australia and Australians.
Stay well away from law at Griffith, you will be made to feel unwelcome and silenced.
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Ella
An Honest Griffith Education Review from a Full-Time student
I would never recommend Griffith for Education, it’s a waste of time. Not only will you be doing subjects that are mostly made up (and once you start you won’t be able to transfer most credits because they’re made up subjects- I tried with 150 credits and was told only 40 of them from a nearby university could be moved over), but you do a ridiculous amount of placement where you get no support from the university- they don’t even advise you that your supervising teachers are getting paid while you fork out money for resources and supplies for understaffed classrooms (also no preference, yes you will get every crap school in the area as you can’t even organise your own placements- I’ve been yelled at till I cried by liasons and when I mentioned it in a Griffith chat I wasn’t the only one). On my last placement, I was stuck teaching classes ALONE (yes that’s illegal) and have had horrible interactions with education Griffith staff up until this point. I wish I never started my degree here, it’s also embarrassing on placements when you see other well rounded students from other universities and we have a bunch of woke, coloured-hair clowns who can’t even wear a simple lanyard correctly or dress appropriately (or behave appropriately- I’ve seen ‘just out of high school’ Griffith students flirting with CHILDREN). I’m a mature age student, so it’s easy to have that gap of what’s appropriate in a school, but I’m scared for the future teachers at Griffith from my experience! I had another Griffith student literally privately organise to try teach my classes behind my back with my teacher which was so awkward and uncomfortable! Griffith students are not even respectful of other Griffith students and it’s become this really toxic, immature classroom environment but they’re meant to be the adults! I recommend you look around at other institutions because there’s a lot of student and teacher bullying in my experience and if you have any opinion other than one that fits their agenda you get shut down and shamed for it, often even failing you if you don’t agree with a woke perspective. I heard great things from other Education courses from other universities so don’t be discouraged from teaching, just don’t waste your money and time at Griffith to get there. And that’s my honest review, hopefully saves someone else 6 years of their life because they will deliberately fail you if they don’t like you and, in my case, if you speak up about being treated poorly by staff (As you can see from other reviews, I was also physically and verbally assaulted by a staff member and nothing was done they still work for Griffith, I’m traumatized and it crosses my mind all the time- also any academic or mental health help is basically non-existent as mentioned in other reviews the second you try to use all the services they say are available) . Good luck in your studies and where you choose to go! *I know this isn’t everyone’s experience but this is mine.
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JJ Redick
Agree 100%
Ella, I have being working in the fiannce service delivery team before, I totally agree with your comment. Good lucky with you
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Elliot
ZERO STARS. Avoid or it will cost you dearly!
I study a masters of teaching at Griffith and I have steered everyone I know away from that university.
Firstly they pulled me from a prac due to a technical error in their system, embarrassing me in front of a school. They claimed I hadn’t attended online tutorials, when in fact I attended 100% of the tutorials and I engaged. This was my final subject and it prolonged my degree a full YEAR. When I should have been finished earning money, I instead had to blow through more savings. Their error cost me THOUSANDS. Having finished 5 months ago I am STILLLL waiting on my qualification so i can commence teaching work. I have passed everything! Its costing me more money, and they are as unresponsive as the people they keep in the morgue.
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shab
DO NOT GO HERE IF YOU HAVE DISABILITIES OR ONGOING MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES.
The counselling service at Griffith University is abhorrent. I was seeking support for mental health issues because I had just left an abusive household. I was told that my counsellor would be a lovely woman. I can’t even begin to explain how much of a lie that was. In my first appointment, I was having issues getting into the session and this woman was berating me about how I was being disorganised and need to get things sorted beforehand(which I literally could not do BECAUSE INTERNET ISSUES ARE NOT SOMETHING I CAN PREDICT). I am literally the biggest pushover I know, so I apologised to this putrid individual and her only reply was ‘well it’s your appointment you’re wasting’. This literally made me cry but I still continued to see her because again, I’m a pushover. I wish I stopped seeing this person as soon as this occurred. Half way through my semester I fell into a difficult place with my academics. I was initially getting 90-100% in everything because I take my academics very seriously, however, after experiencing violence again, I was being refused resubmission by course convenors and felt like a complete failure whilst also being very scared because by abusive parents were funding my education in the Gold Coast. You may ask, what did this lady do to help me? Absolutely nothing. In fact, she almost pushed me over the edge. She started screaming at me about how I was ‘flopping around’. I was suffering from ptsd and severe suicidal ideation and the best this woman could do was to gas light and scream at me about how I was being lazy and stupid. She told me I needed to leave university and get my shit sorted, knowing full well that I was significantly medically neglected for years and refused help from many psychology services hence why I didn’t want to waste my time getting disheartened by mental health services when I could be getting a meaningful education. This situation was so traumatic that I literally ceased contact with the university. There are SO SO many things wrong with this university such as lying about accessibility and diversity, and course convenors rewarding students who physically attend lectures by giving them assessment answers whilst blocking the mic so that students like me who are stuck at home due to chronic illnesses or disabilities are left at a disadvantage. PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT GO HERE. IT IS AN INSTITUTION THAT EXISTS SIMPLY FOR PROFIT AND DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE STUDENTS. you will get a much better experience going to a university that actually cares about its students.
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Louise
piece of C*AP
Guys. dont go to Griffith, as being working there for 2 years now, I m legtilly admit , its crap and have a reason being called Griffith Tafe, the back office treat student like number, complain students very often for just being asked to do a favor , meanwhile student feed them like mother .
Stay away with GU, go to UQ or QUT, much more better!!!
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Anonymous
Decent, but not perfect.
I studied a Bachelor of Business online from 2020 – 2023 so I can only speak on my experience with Griffith Business School and their online campus.
For the most part, the majority of academic staff/lecturers I had were approachable and friendly. However, I have had a handful of instances where interactions have been hostile, lacked empathy, and at times just straight up weird.
The course content was ok, some units where better than others, but as many others have stated the lectures/content are recycled from previous years and some had outdated content that is no longer relevant e.g. I had one unit that was still using the lecture recordings from 2014/15 and another that just straight up had the lecture slides from a university in Europe (still had the university branding/lecturer’s name etc on the slides from said university). In saying this tho, some units where great and the content was extremely relevant where I learnt a lot. Overall tho, I’d say the content is too focused on the history/concepts/theory behind topics instead of focusing on how to implement and use them in real-world situations (I don’t think this is Griffith specific and is actually common throughout most Australian universities).
From the administration side of things, my experience was underwhelming. I had an issue where my name was incorrectly spelt. I enquired numerous times about this but it was never rectified, it wasn’t until I graduated when you have to confirm your details etc. that they actually actioned my request to fix this.
Overall my experience was decent. I learnt a lot (I will say I wish I could’ve learnt more tho), the staff where friendly, and it looks great on your resume (I live interstate so I can’t speak for the reputation it has in QLD, but interstate Griffith still holds a pretty good reputation with people, I’ve always received comments such as “that’s a good uni” or “I wish I went there”). In saying this tho Griffith is not a Go8 university, if you want that “prestigious” degree to boast about you will need to go to one of those universities. I think the cost of my degree was quite steep (circa $50k) given what I learnt and the fact that I was an online student not using any of the university’s resources (I didn’t even use the online library, just Google Scholar) it should’ve been cheaper imho. I would recommend anyone wanting to study a Bachelor of Business there to do it, but also keep in mind that there are “better” alternatives.
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Arsh
Formal Expression of Concern Regarding Master's Program in Mechanical Engineering at Griffith University
I am writing to bring to your attention certain concerns that I have encountered during my pursuit of a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Griffith University (Course Code: 5728). It is with a sense of responsibility that I share these observations with the hope that they may contribute to the enhancement of the educational experience for current and future students.
Regrettably, my experience with the program has been disheartening, and I believe it is essential to highlight a few issues that I perceive as detrimental to the overall quality of education and student satisfaction.
Firstly, there appears to be a significant financial burden placed on international students, with a recurring demand for payments amounting to $5000, even in instances where considerable effort has been invested. This has led to a perception of the program as a potential financial strain, raising questions about the transparency and fairness of such financial requirements. Moreover, there has been a noticeable disparity between the curriculum and the expected focus on Mechanical Engineering. My observations indicate that the program often delves into topics related to Civil Engineering, deviating from the intended specialization. This misalignment raises concerns about the coherence and relevance of the coursework to the designated field of study. In light of these challenges, I am prompted to caution prospective students considering enrollment in the Master’s in Mechanical Engineering program at Griffith University. It is my hope that this formal expression of concern will encourage a thorough examination of these matters and lead to positive changes that will enhance the educational experience for all students.
Overjoyed by Online Modules
Surviving the Academic Circus: A Candid Review of Griffith University
If you’re short on time and patience, skip right ahead to “The Nutshell” – your education, wallet, and sanity will give you a standing ovation later.
Ah, where do I even begin with my illustrious alma mater? Brace yourselves for a journey through the hallowed halls of my university experience, filled with more twists and turns than a daytime soap opera, and a dash of sarcasm to keep it light.
So, picture this: I decided to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing at this fine institution, and let me tell you, it was an experience unlike any other. Now, I’m not one to sugarcoat things, so I’m just going to lay it all out there – this university is the epitome of excellence in stress induction. If you’ve ever dreamed of feeling like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders while pursuing an education, or if you’ve ever craved a daily dose of stress and anxiety, this is the place for you. I’ve never been more stressed in my entire existence, and that’s saying something considering I chose a career in nursing. My tenure at this university was nothing short of a tumultuous adventure, and the Bachelor of Nursing program I embarked upon turned out to be a masterclass in the art of survival.
Now, let’s talk about the cutting-edge technology they use for their “teaching.” Most of their content is online modules, and let me tell you, they are the epitome of imagination and creativity. These modules are about as imaginative as a blank canvas, as boring as watching paint dry, and recycled more times than a pop song on the radio. They were like a relic from a bygone era, dusted off and presented as “the cutting edge”. You’d think they’d discovered a time machine, but alas, it only transported us to the era of boredom. This university clearly believes PowerPoint presentations are the pinnacle of educational technology.
Engagement and motivation, those elusive creatures, remained tantalizingly out of reach. The university’s idea of an engaging lecture was akin to a somnolent lullaby. It was all about the perfunctory ticking of boxes, and if you dared to seek enlightenment beyond that, well, consider it a quest for the Holy Grail.
Asking questions was a daring endeavour. It felt like shouting into a void filled with echoes of your own voice. The resounding response? “Research it yourself.” It was as though we were all equipped with PhDs in Googling by default.
Now, let’s dissect the enigma of examinations. Some were conducted online, others in person, and each had its unique quirk. In the case of online exams, the delightful surprise of not being able to review and revise our answers was a stroke of genius, though the logic behind it remained shrouded in mystery. Because, of course, why would you want to make sure you didn’t accidentally click the wrong button? And, of course, this revelation often occurred just before the exam, like a dramatic plot twist in a suspense thriller.
You may be wondering about our mental well-being. Rest assured, the university boasted an impressive array of mental health services. The catch? We were too busy moonlighting as researchers to avail ourselves of these services. So, we embarked on a quest to find our own sanity amid the chaos, silently screaming into the void.
But the intrigue didn’t end there. Imagine one of our convenors deciding to don a political hat while continuing to “teach.” It was like watching a Shakespearean tragedy unfold, complete with political drama and academic responsibilities. Contacting this convenor or their elusive colleagues resembled sending messages in a bottle across a digital ocean, hoping for a reply that might someday wash ashore.
Now, let’s delve into the fascinating world of skills acquisition. They don’t just teach outdated skills; they practically unearth them from the annals of history. And their convenors and teachers? Well, they’re like the academic equivalent of rock stars. Who could forget the delightful egos of the convenors and teachers who think the sun shines out of their academic backgrounds? They’ll regale you with tales of past students’ failures and treat you like you just learned to tie your shoelaces.
Hold onto your hats as we embark on yet another bewildering escapade within the university’s mystifying repertoire. Rather than nurturing our growth as competent adults, they opted for a truly peculiar strategy – they condescended to us as if we were children. This, despite the fact that most of us were fully-fledged adults, shouldering responsibilities and brimming with life experiences. It felt nothing short of a surreal, laughable journey, as we were subjected to the indignity of being treated like kids.
Envision this rather absurd scenario: we ambled into the labs with the finesse of a bull navigating a china shop, all the while shackled to an exhaustive rulebook that painstakingly delineated what we were permitted to lay a finger on (which, to our bewilderment, amounted to nearly nothing), what ought to be avoided with the fervour of avoiding the plague (basically, everything), what attire to don (farewell, comfy PJs), and what attire to avoid at all costs. It was an elaborate spectacle, as they placed immense emphasis on student dress codes, right from uniforms down to shoes, all the while neglecting the same degree of scrutiny onto themselves.
But here’s the kicker: it wasn’t our fellow students who flaunted jewelry fit for royalty, fake nails that could double as weapons of self-defense, and eyelashes that could moonlight as windshield wipers in a pinch. No, it was the very teachers who admonished us against such extravagant displays. Ah, the curious wonders of higher education, where instructors set the rules only to play by an entirely different set themselves. It was almost as if we were enrolled in a crash course on etiquette rather than preparing for the rollercoaster of a career in healthcare.
And, as the cherry on top of this delightful concoction, let us not forget the pièce de résistance: we, the eager aspirants to the world of healthcare, had the privilege of financing every resource the university so generously allowed us to use. This included those eerily lifelike CPR mannequins, which appeared to exist solely for university promotional materials and rarely saw any real action. From the extravagant array of nurse gadgets, we practically had to take out mortgages for, our wallets certainly got a rigorous workout.
Now, let’s delve into the labyrinthine world of placements. It didn’t matter if you had already been to a particular placement twice; they would happily send you there for a third round of déjà vu. And if you happened to be an experienced EEN (Enrolled Nurse), well, they treated you as if your years of hands-on experience held no weight, summarily dismissing your knowledge. Because, you see, not having THIS particular degree apparently meant you couldn’t possibly know what you were doing. It was almost as if they believed that donning a university degree had the magical power to transform us all into nursing prodigies overnight.
Complaining about placements felt like a futile exercise. They’d remind you of the sheer volume of students and their inability to cater to everyone’s preferences (like you even had a choice, which you don’t. no preferences for placement. Clear? Good). But they had no qualms about pocketing your tuition fees while failing to deliver on their end of the bargain. If you dared to voice your frustration, you’d be met with email responses that could double as masterclasses in passive-aggressiveness or weeks of silence, leaving you to ponder the mysteries of academia.
Now, let’s talk about textbooks – the unsung heroes of our academic journey. They were pushed on us with the enthusiasm of a motivational speaker. Even if we used them as paperweights more than actual learning tools, they were a constant presence, looming over our academic pursuits like a relentless ghost from the past.
And when it came to assignments, it was like spinning a roulette wheel. You never knew who would be marking your paper, and the inconsistency was truly remarkable. Even if you pointed out glaring mistakes in their grading, they’d nod in agreement and then drop the bombshell that “policy” prevented them from adjusting your grade. It’s like dealing with a bureaucratic maze where common sense goes to die. Or a little bit like playing chess with a pigeon – no matter how good your moves are, they’ll just knock over the pieces and strut around like they won.
Finally, let’s contemplate the university staff – a cast of characters that ranged from the indifferent to the enigmatic. Many seemed to have unlocked the secret to being handsomely compensated for the bare minimum of effort. It was as if they’d uncovered a parallel universe where productivity was optional. They’ve essentially cracked the secret to getting paid for breathing.
THE NUTSHELL
Well, in a nutshell, my time at this esteemed university has been like a never-ending episode of a soap opera, but with more stress and less drama. If you ever wondered what it’s like to pay for an education and then teach yourself most of it, this is the place to be. It’s a world where PowerPoint presentations reign supreme, questions are greeted with a “Research it yourself” mantra, and exams come with surprise restrictions, just to keep you on your toes. Mental well-being? Oh, they’ve got services for that, but good luck finding the time to use them when you’re busy navigating the academic maze solo. And don’t even get me started on dress codes; they’ll scrutinize your attire while conveniently overlooking their own fashion choices. Placements? Well, preferences are a myth, and complaining is just a fun way to receive bureaucratic responses. As for the staff, they’ve got a knack for making a solid pay check while perfecting the art of minimum effort. So, if you’re looking for an education that keeps you guessing and a university that’s mastered the fine art of bureaucracy, look no further. It’s been a wild ride, and I’ve got enough stories to entertain a lifetime of dinner parties. Cheers to the unique world of academia!
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Diane Bruhn
Brilliant, funny and sad analysis of education experience in Queensland
You are wasted in health care, you are a brilliant and engaging writer. I do wonder though, whether you will find the institutions where nurses are employed any better or less stressful. There is a book I read years ago which shares some insight into why modern institutions can be so appalling. The book is called ‘Surplus Powerlessness’ by Michael Lerner. Might be worth a look, because you clearly have much understanding of the follies occurring at some of our educational institutions. Sorry to hear you had to go through such a dismal educational experience, but good on you for putting time into sharing. Maybe some of the better administrators/lecturers out there might learn something from what you have had to say.
G
Go to Griffith, they are great
I have just completed a Graduate Certificate of Forensic Mental Health at Griffith through online study. They have been fantastic, especially compared to where I did my bachelors degree, where I felt defeated. The staff generally compassionate and willing to listen and work with you. I would highly recommend Griffith.
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Victoria
Newsflash - Griffith Uni isn't for little kids. It's time to grow up.
So far, it’s been fantastic. If you come to Griffith Uni (or, indeed, any Uni) thinking it’s going to be like school and nice ‘teachers’ will spoon feed you and look after you and tell you what you should be doing every day, you’re in for a rude awakening. This is a different world to school. It’s time to grow up and learn how to do your own research, write your own essays & lab reports, do your own assignments, and read the course outline, material and assignment marking criteria. Everything you need to get you started on every assignment is presented to you. You just have to pick it all up and run with it. The amount of times I’ve been in tutorials and the same questions are asked over and over again, week after week, by students who have simply not read the course outline or content, is unbelievable. If you’re expecting an easy ride and someone constantly checking that you’re doing your work, fussing over you and emailing you back within 5 minutes, maybe Uni isn’t for you. If you fail your assignments and exams and then blame the Uni, that’s childish and unworthy. There is so much help and support in tutorials and PASS sessions here, it’s fantastic. You just have to seek out the help you need in a mature way and it is 100% there. And, by the way, what’s the point in moaning about fees once you’ve enrolled? Did some of these other reviewers not check the fee schedule before they arrived? Gormless. Uni is what you make it. Stay at home with Mummy and Daddy and get a job if you can’t organise your own academic life and you think it’s ok to blame everyone else if you can’t deliver the standard expected or someone isn’t there at your beck and call to hold your hand. There are thousands of students here and you are just one of many. Do your research, go to the Open Days, figure things out for yourselves. That’s what growing up is all about.
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ally
spoken like a true staff member :)
Spoken like a true staff member who probably did a poor job of constructing a course that actually makes sense and is cohorrent. If I had a dime for every time I found a mistake or unfair marking I wouldn’t of needed to finish my degree :).
G
Lecture?
Is this a review or a lecture?
The issue with fees is that to get a good job, it almost always requires a degree. So it’s almost become this mandatory fee young people have to pay in order to get anywhere. How is that fair?
As other commented stated, marking has flaws, as can assignments
Belinda
You just have to follow the marking criteria? Unless ,that is, the professor insists that ‘they aren’t required to provide you with a rubric or criteria’ in which case every assessment is just a stab in the dark of what they are even seeking from you.
Lex
Help for Forensics and Crim?
Less a review and more like me asking for Reviews. I need help!
I’ve aimed for a Double Degree Bachelor of Forensics/Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice on the Nathan/Mt. Gravatt Campus. I’m still in Highschool now but I’ve put in for some Early Offers and I can still edit it for now.
My issue is the Reviews here. Now I’m nervous. If anyone has done similar Degrees to the one I want, please Reply me. I’d be about 3 Hours from my Home and Direct Family and on my own for the first time ever. I toured the Campus and it was awesome, and the Students who were apart of the Tour and had a similar Degree as mine spoke well of it. But this place has me Second-Guessing. However I’ve not seen Degrees for Forensics anywhere else!
Is the Undergraduate Bachelor of Forensics/Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice a safe choice? I need aid from Teachers even at Highschool because I have ADHD/ASD. I just want to know what really happens and if I’ll be supported.
a
reply
I’m doing a Masters in forensic mental health online with griffith. I like it so far and I agree that griffith seems to offer some interesting degrees other places don’t. I really love the online format.
Speaking more generally about entering an on campus degree following high school, I don’t think you get a huge amount of support and I would recommend staying close to family where you can. Obviously you can apply for support if you have a disability, but in the end, you have to get through yourself and it is a lot of work. I first entered a degree a few hours away from where I lived and caught the train but my experience was terrible. I ended up moving uni to closer to my family. If i could go back in time, I would probably get a skill following high school at tafe (maybe like blood collecting would have been good), and do that while i did uni at a later date. Entering uni straight after school is not a choice I would make again because there is a long delay between actually earning. I still am low income even after graduating and with my goals, it might take quite a few years yet. But everyone is different. I am down that path now and I am not turning back.
Griffith and QUT Graduate
Master of Speech Pathology
I completed the Master of Speech Pathology program at Griffith in 2019. Overall, I was very happy with my experience, and after having completed almost 3 years working as Speech Pathologist, I am very pleased with the quality of Education that I received through Griffith.
Pros:
– Teaching staff for the most part are highly personable and helpful. I had a panic attack after a workshop (combined academic and personal life stress), and had a wonderful supportive conversation with a staff member in their office.
– Staff are eager to receive student feedback about the course. During the course all students were given opportunities to meet with the head of the program privately.
– Great disability support services. After my panic attack, I was recommended to talk with student services about accommodations for my mental health. The accommodations that I was provided (break times and small room during exams), were respected by Griffith staff.
– Focus on practical and Problem Based Learning (PBL). I know PBL isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I personally really liked it, and the case discussion aspect set me up well for something I do almost every week in my work.
– Very qualified teaching staff. All our lecturers had multiple years of either clinical and/or research experience. My current coworkers (mostly UQ grads) are often surprised when a workshop we are watching or an article we are reading was delivered by one of my old lecturers.
– Great support for students on placement. Apart from one incident that I know of, which I will discuss in the cons section, all students were strongly advocated by our placement coordinator. As an example, a friend of mine was placed on a nuerology ward by her placement supervisor. She had a family member recently pass away from brain cancer, and found the ward brought back memories. Despite the placement supervisor being resistant to moving her, the university coordinator advocated for the student and immediately found alternate arrangements for her.
– Intentionally small cohort size. I was part of a graduating cohort of less than 30 students. This is much smaller than average in the speech pathology world. This small cohort means that you have much more 1:1 interaction with staff. All lecturers knew every student’s name, their favourite areas of practice, and their career goals.
– Beautiful campus and fantastic facilities. I was at the Gold Coast campus and was really impressed by the campus as a whole, including the library, anatomy labs, and simulation rooms.
Cons:
– This program is not for everyone. It was highly challenging, and as it is a Masters level, there is a lot of assumed skills. For example, you will not get the wiggle room that undergraduate degrees give you for poor communication skills.
– If you aren’t a fan of self directed and group based learning, you will not enjoy this program as this forms a significant portion of it.
– You are expected to be able to learn a great deal of content in a very short amount of time. Although it is not a prerequisite, I personally highly recommend that anyone applying for this program already have some experience in university level study of anatomy or linguistics. My Bachlor was in Biomedical Science, so my knowledge of anatomy put me in a good position compared to some of my fellow students.
– I had one negative placement experience. The usual placement coordinator was on leave, and we had a person who had very little experience take her place. I was dealing with a placement supervisor who was making very inappropriate comments to me on a daily basis. The usual placement coordinator would have immediately removed me from the placement, but instead I was asked if I would like to continue. I was concerned that if I left I would not graduate on time (something I later found out to be false), and so asked to continue. My supervisor’s behaviour eventually escalated, and I ended up experiencing a panic attack while at placement that landed me in the emergency room (as I thought I was having a heart attack). It was at this point that my placement coordinator pulled me from the placement, and made alternate arrangements. On reflection, I should have respected myself more and asked to be removed, but my placement coordinator could have made my options a lot more clear, and exercised her right to pull me from the placement.
Overall, I am very grateful for the years that I spent at Griffith. I had some great experiences, and if I ever want to get my phd, it will be through Griffith.
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Melody
Hi, your review is really helpful! I’m looking to apply for the program in the future. I’m having some questions I’d like to ask if you are willing to get in touch. Thank you.
Anonymous
Hey melody. Havent done speech myself at griffith but have heard bad things about the speech program and the way staff treated students
Pei
Competitive Entry requirements/ prerequisite
Hi there,
Thank you for such an honest and comprehensive review of the program.
Did you say that the program had only 30 students? And do you know how competitive the entry is? (E.g: GPA cut off & degree background)
Thanks.
han
Bach of Education
Started my bach of education mid last year. While I have enjoyed my time at Griffith I have found that organisation is not one of their main priorities. I was told that my trimester 3 was compulsory as I did start in tri 2, I have now been told that is not the case. During tri 3 my 4 classes were 6 weeks long, I did 2 classes for the first 6 weeks, had a break over christmas and my next 2 classes started again. Because of covid, my classes are now all online, we are still expected to do all of the assignments in half the time with less help than ever. Each of my assignments has been due from 3 days to a week apart, but we are not offered any sort of exemptions for this. How are we expected to achieve our best while given minimal time? The tutors say how disappointed they are but are not doing anything to support us
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Emily
HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE - PLEASE DO NOT ATTEND THIS SCHOOL
Horrible Experience!
As a foreign student, I previously studied with Griffith online as the borders were closed. However, I experienced several terrible experiences when I went to this school. I simply want to post this to warn other students about the reality of Griffith:
1.) The staff and teachers are rude and disgusting towards their attitudes towards students. If you write them an email, wether that’s asking a question, seeking help or otherwise don’t expect an answer from them or at the least a very short replied and late one. They teachers have the worst attitudes when writing back to you, basically putting you in a position where they are on a pedestal and you should be worshiping the very ground they walk on. Don’t expect to be a priority either, you are lucky if you receive the support you need, especially as a foreign student.
2.) They WILL take your money. Lost thousands of dollars towards a school that treated us poorly and decided to take my education elsewhere. If you ever decide to change universities in Griffith BEWARE they will not allow you to. As a student I was blamed for spending money at their college (such disgusting behavior) and that I shouldn’t have studied with them in the first place. Basically be prepared to apply for another student visa entirely (it’s not worth your troubles trust me).
3.) Incapable of taking any responsibility. If you are studying here, you will be blamed for many of the teachers and staffs mistakes. Griffith is a place full of broken promises!
As a student it breaks my heart to write messages such as these as education should be a special and wonderful time for students. However, I would highly recommend you take your money elsewhere unless you want to end up in the position of hundreds of other students like myself.
Zanele
Hey! I hope you don’t me asking. What course did you study at Griffith and which university are you at now?
Emily
No problem at all I was studying marketing at Griffith and switched to QUT. They will definitely treat you better there then Griffith 🙂
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Anonymous
I studied the masters of clinical psychology at this university and left, along with other students, who were traumatised from their experience. Staff and academics were disgustingly rude and disrespectful towards students, reducing many to tears. They maintain a “punitive” approach towards teaching and training students. Their teaching is outdated, and lack of funding means teachers have lack of capacity to update their training. Consequently, what they taught us was extremely, questionably unethical. I have heard similar experiences from other students about their allied health programs, such as speech pathology. I do hope the staff have changed and subsequently, the culture at the university. In contrast, I have heard good things about their political science program in Brisbane.
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Anonymous
VOCAL PEDAGOGY STUDIES - NOT RECOMMENDED
Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University
Postgraduate studies – Music Studies (Vocal Pedagogy)
I would rate the learning experience within this course and with all of the lecturers associated with both the Graduate Certificate in Music Studies (Vocal Pedagogy) and Master of Music Studies (Vocal Pedagogy) with a zero rating if at all possible. The reasons for this are several. However, I will list the few main issues, in the hope that this will assist others to reconsider choosing this course and studies with these particular lecturers.
1. The lecturers are negative, rude and highly disrespectful to deal with. If you make contact by email, you will be lucky to receive a reply to your course related questions at all sometimes. When you do, you are treated like you should get down on your knees and kiss their feet for their generosity of time. Other experiences will include having rude and insulting emails sent to you and also, emails which are highly derogatory written about you and sent both to you (so as you can read the insults) and to all of your other lecturers as well.
2. Some people may find they gain some knowledge from this course. However, I learnt this and more from my private tuition with a really good teacher twenty five years ago. I know that what my private Singing teacher taught me was correct because all of her students have achieved international success and none of us ever had any problems with our voice in singing or otherwise. We learnt a really good technique which protected our voice from damage.
3. After spending my whole life singing without any damage to my voice, once I commenced studying this course, my voice was destroyed. I now have no voice to sing because of incorrect guidance by the singing tutors within the course, who probably had less than a third as much knowledge as I have, but had a University piece of paper, instead of years of study behind them.
In Summary, the course is detrimental. If you are not from Brisbane, you are not supported. If you are somebody who has worked for an extended period of time teaching in the field and worked under a high calibre teacher such as I had (ranked as one of the top ten teachers in the world), then you will be seen as a threat to the lecturers, who in actual fact, on repeated occasions, gave out the most unhelpful and incorrect directions I have ever heard.
They try to promote themselves through a few people achieving success in performance degrees. But, they are certainly not the best voices you will hear at all when you analyse them properly and they have only achieved any success as a result of marketing.
After studying various degrees for over thirty years, this is the worst University (extremely disorganised with incorrect information given out readily and not stocked with recently published books in the libraries); the worst course (the most boring, uninformative, self-promoted degree/s), taught by the rudest, most bitter, cynical and highly toxic educators that you will ever come across.
I do not recommend Griffith University for these courses and I recommend none of the lecturers – not unless you want your voice damaged for the first time in your life, by a bunch of egotistical, know-it-alls, who actually don’t know as much about how to sing as you do – but have talked you down so much that you have lost all confidence in your singing ability. It is a very toxic learning environment, of a highly incestuous nature. My recommendation is for you to study somewhere like the Sydney Conservatorium, Victorian College of the Arts, ANU or WAAPA. They might not be in Queensland, but they are much better institutions and educators to learn through and from.
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Chloe
A detriment to your mental health
Do not study here, it will be bad for your mental health. They say that they’re, “for the students,” but that’s about as much true as Hitler was for the Jews. I have studied nursing here for the past five years. One year, they lost my exam paper and gave me my standard overall grade instead, and another time, they failed me on an exam because they lost my exam paper and tried to tell me that I didn’t attend the exam, which was just outrageous and untrue. I was shocked when I received that email. Another time, I had asked for a deferred assessment date as I was very ill, and when I failed that exam, they wouldn’t give me a supplementary exam as they sit all deferred and supplementary exams at once (which is just plain stupid). I had to repeat a year because of this, but it was partially my own fault. Another year, I got a 6 in my class and passed my clinical placement with flying colours. Unfortunately, it was close to Christmas and my dad had cancer and my brother was deathly ill from a rare disease so I forgot to hand in one sheet from my placement. They only sent two emails about it which got lost in the hundreds of useless emails that are sent to you; they never bothered contacting me via phone or text. They failed me on that class because of the missing sheet and I had to repeat a year; I would have graduated and would be working as a nurse right now if they had bothered to message me on my phone. Recently, they made us use a website to record and upload a video speech assignment. I’m not sure what happened, I told them when I had submitted it that I was having technical difficulties, but only one minute of my 6 minute speech was uploaded, which they refused to let me resubmit so I failed it despite having got 6-7’s in the previous class assignments. They don’t give a toss about their students, they’re inflexible and want to fail you; there’s barely any student support or kindness and it’s caused me to have many anxiety attacks and feel depressed. They’ve actually made me less confident in myself and my abilities, and it has caused made me to revert back to when I was a stressed-out, self-conscious, nail-biting teenager. My palms get sweaty and I can hear my heartbeat in my ears whenever I log into my student emails as I think, “what’s next?” I can’t wait to be rid of them. I will never study here again and I will never recommend them. I friggin hate Griffith.
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Chloe
cont.
ALSO when I contacted their crisis line because I was having a bit of a breakdown and so stressed out, also needed help getting diagnosed with autism, they literally text me back telling me the times the therapist office is open (which is booked out for months in advance). That was it. Disgusting.
The class I failed because my family was hospitalised was also Mental Health Nursing which was extremely ironic to me. I want to sue for emotional damages just because it’s been problem after problem after problem and no help at all. Very disheartening when I had a genuine passion to learn more; this has kind of killed it. I struggle most days with my anxiety, and the issues I’ve had with Griffith has only made my assignment procrastination and class attendance so much worse.
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Neronandruff
Better to bang your head against a brick wall
Currently a student (Bachelor of Business) at Griffith via Online University Australia (oua).
Must say I find the teaching to be rather poor at not useful. I have been in the workforce for 20+ years and studying this course just makes me hate manager who come into positions straight from uni even more. Nothing of value is actually being taught, unless you like writing up assignment after assignment about the most mundane content.
PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STUDY ELSEWHERE!!!
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Bbbbbbb
Degree mill
I totally agree. It is completely waste of time and money . Not to mention, the first year and second year courses seem to be more “English courses” with extra steps. How shameful! There’s even a mandatory CV course ( employability course) , they charge you for 4000 for international students. Oh yeah, don’t forget the language for business course 4000 for another English course for 4 months.. Does it look great on your transcript? CV?
GG
Asking for Help, SOS!!!!
Hi guys, Currently I’m about to transfer my credit to Griffith but after read some of the reviews here I’m so confused between Griffith and QUT.
Could you give me some advice about studying pharmacy?
Sammy
Same here!! Pls give us some advice!!
Abbey
WORST UNIVERSITY EVER
Don’t transfer or study here!
I am studying a double degree bachelor of business and bachelor of psychology. During COVID, 2020, everything was still pretty normal they just put everything online, which was okay for me because I had studied online before. However, 2021 students in criminology, psychology, counselling, and probably more were neglected NEXT LEVEL!. My online course classes went from previous semesters one class per week to once a fortnight, AND went from twelve lectures a semester to ONLY FOUR lectures the entire semester. But students were still given the same amount of content, the school literally said here’s your weekly content and next weeks content, go through it on your own and will see you in two weeks and talk about your assignment. Not to mention half of the “content” was random youtube videos…
There was no support whatsoever, you were expected to teach yourself
Don’t study here, you will regret it!
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AvGirl21
Thinking of pursuing aviation? Fly as far as possible from this wretched place
Wow, where to start?! A $hit show from the beginning.
I started a Bach in Aviation in 2019 and am expecting to finish it early next year. I would like to become a pilot and had no idea where to start my journey, so this was my best option. Don’t let it be yours. Here are some reasons why:
*The course is designed to be completed in 2 years as it is accelerated” – some trimesters consist of undertaking 5 subjects! As a graduate of another well known uni, doing 5 subjects is insanity in itself. Usually only GPA 6+ students get approved of this – not at Griffith. Here, it is expected that you do the 5 subjects, in 2 consecutive trimesters. A recipe for suicide, especially if you work F/T, like myself, or have a family etc.
*They allocate you to “flight schools” much like Hufflepuff and Gryffindor in Harry Potter. Not only is this childish, but the events run by these groups are supposedly “mandatory” -rolls eyes- yes, attendance is taken and recorded in case you want to apply for a leadership position within the group. Nowhere is this mentioned prior to joining the degree. If you have work or another valid reason not to attend, you can forget it because they don’t care.
*Like others on here have said, a lot of the coursework is from other institutions. My aerodynamics lecturer only used slides from NASA, i.e. none were made by the lecturer. The same lecturer admitted that they were suspended as a commercial pilot when they were in the industry…appalling.
*If everything I have said isn’t bad enough, this will convice you. I had some health complications and asked for an extension, which was granted. When I came to submit my assignment, they wouldn’t accept it because “it was late”. I know you’re thinking, ‘hang on, you had an extension’ – I did. They forget they gave one to me!!!! Not only did I have to escalate this to the level above the course convenor, but it actually went to one of the HODs. The best part? When the HOD contacted me, they gaslight me by saying I submitted the assignment late…hello??? I HAD AN EXTENSION.
*As mentioned, I went to another uni, and as such, was taught not to settle for a low quality of teaching. If something is wrong and the uni take the approach as my previous point, there is always an Ombudsman. Contact them.
Ok. Rant over. Well, mostly. Apart from learning nothing, other than what I have had to teach myself, this uni is a bigger scam than online nigerian princes asking for money. In fact, you’d probably have better luck with them, than at Griffith.
John
Sorry to here your experience, but man, I like your reply title, very creative and funny lollll
EE
Stay Away from Griffith University’s Bachelor of Aviation
I’m in Aviation too. This degree has actually made me hate aviation. I’ve had a good friend pass away recently who I was doing this degree with and my mother got cancer early 2020 both affecting my quality of work. I reached out for help admitting I was personally struggling and nobody even responded. I have had no lecturer for aviation science this year (a joke of a course), and have failed it as a result. How can they allow a course to be taught with no lecturer? It also makes me so mad that they use the exams as a passing point, so if you don’t do well on the exam then you fail the rest of the course. Some students do better with assignments then exams. It is not at all fair, and makes the rest of the assessment pieces practically useless and severely effects your academic standings despite you putting in all your effort. The expectations are too high for a degree that gets you nowhere and whose lecturers have no aviation experience. It gets worse by the year and I regret choosing the course and Griffith as my university. There is absolutely no remorse, sincerity or care given. Do not expect any type of moral support if you have unexpected issues with your personal life that are outside of your handling, the university only cares about money.
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Alex
Bachelor of Aviation is hard, tough, but extremely rewarding and interesting
It sounds to me that you clearly did not try hard enough or cared enough about your university studies. I work and have a large family but that doesnt stop me from doing well. Being a pilot is hard work and this course is designed to help you cope with the future workload youll have. On top of this, the courses are delivered by professionals who know the industry very well. The whole reasons someone would take this rather than to go to flight school is to have that extra degree to qualify better.
The flights (there are 6) are designed to network with other class mates who you will most likely be flying with in the future. Yes its mandatory but guess what, its once a week for 3 hours. You also get the opportunity to listen to a professional in the industry talk about his life and what it takes to be apart of this growing industry.
Sounds to me you choose griffith because of the low entry requirements and because you didnt know what else to do. Your not committed, most likely not doing great, and are in denial, blaming everyone but yourself.
For anyone reading this, the university is great and ive had a fantastic time learning and understanding the aviation industry, along with the sciences that come with it. I will say the degree is no easy task, but if you spend around 3-5 hours a day working on assignments and watching lectures you’ll pass easily. Don’t listen to these people who clearly have no understanding of ‘hard work’ and are definitely not suited to the difficult working environment as a pilot.
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Smile
Waste of money
Attended bachelor of Information Technology only to find out that the lecturers were not helping. If you are international student , I suggest not to spend that money to this uni. Especially for online uni after coronavirus. Scam.
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Jonathan
Decent Uni - Bachelor of Criminology
I graduated in 2017 in the Criminology and Criminal Justice course. I enjoyed my time at this Uni. Griffith is often referred to as one of the “lesser” uni’s in Brisbane, but I have to disagree with this based on my personal experience. I felt supported when completing course material and course tutors and convenors were generally quick to respond if I had a query. Also, as you’d expect in a Criminology course, the content is varied in law, sociology and psychology, giving you exposure to various fields that you could consider to specialise in future.
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Abbey
It’s not like that anymore
Hey Jonathon,
Are you still with Griffith?
This year during the pandemic criminology, psychology, counseling and probably other Griffith schools had learning support cut more than half.
I had faith in Griffith until this happened, when our courses were reduced to one class every fortnight and only 4 lectures in the 12 week trimesters. They created modules, which was basically a file full of reading available through mygriffith. If of my subjects was biological psychology and Griffith was literally just giving us content each week to go through alone until we had an online or in person class the next fortnight. One of the weekly modules took me 8 hours to get through, and I still didn’t understand.
I now hate Griffith and can’t believe the lack of compassion and support the uni has.
Oh and also, the lectures and classes were about your assignments … there was literally no support for understanding concepts that will be in your exam…
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Ash
Terrible Teaching Quality
Bachelor of Business – Student.
Do not let Griffith advertisements fool you. It is a money making industry now with really bad teaching quality.
You pay them to give you 10% of information which you can already find on the internet and is delivered through bad lecture classes.
What about the other 90%? That is what YOU have teach yourself, which you could have done by yourself instead of wasting your time. I guess 90% of your course fees goes towards the high quality paper used to print you certificate.
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anon
Its digital
The certificate is digital, lol
Honest Reviewer
Go Find a Better Uni (Griffith is a HOT MESS)
I completed my Masters at QCA and I’m generally not impressed and feel like I should’ve picked a better uni. Such as shame because I had high hopes for my uni experience at Griffith QCA. I’m the type of student who takes studying VERY seriously. From the get-go, admissions was a terrible experience, the admissions officer I was communicating with was such a pain in the @ss and exuded a bitchy attitude in her (mostly delayed) responses which were often comprised on “no, it’s not possible” when I asked about getting credit for prior learning. When I finally enrolled in the program, I spoke to the program director about credit transfer and surprise surprise, she approved my request! The teachers were okay, some seemed more knowledgeable than others, there were a couple of teachers who appeared to be experts but weren’t too great in passing on their knowledge to students. The Southbank campus is disgusting and feels like it hadn’t been deep-cleaned since the 90s. Everything about it was grimy and felt forlorn. I couldn’t find the books I needed at the Library and the lady at the library reception desk was a grump. Help desk folks were pretty useless too. Now back to the program itself, on paper, all the courses sounded great but in reality, I’ve had better undergrad courses. Most of them were fixated on theoretical concepts and lacked practical, real-world and hands-on learning (there was a lot of lazy teaching too, the so-called “Flipped Classroom” style of learning). Most of the courses involved a lot of group work ( every slacker’s dream) which pulled down my grades quite a bit. I was actually expecting more creative, practical work with it being an art and design school and all, but unfortunately, all we got was a bunch of fluff and blah blah blah. Don’t get me wrong, there were a few golden nuggets at QCA (Chantelle from GUPSA was awesome). Overall though, I feel I would’ve been better off at QUT. Wouldn’t recommend it to future students, local and international alike. Griffith is a hot mess of a uni.
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Prospective student
Hi honest reviewer
I was considering doing a Master of Arts in Visual Arts at Griffith. What was your masters in? I am guessing something art related as it is at Southbank campus.
I actually attended QCA when it was at the TAFE campus at Morningside and from the sounds of it they should have stayed there. Did not see any really stunning examples of current lecturer’s work and get the feeling from course descriptions they are more focused on the academic or theoretical side of fine art rather than teaching practical skills. I am a bit alarmed by the talk of cuts and the fact they shut the art supplies shop as well.
Vidhi
Griffith (gold coast) , UniSA or University of Newcastle for bachelor of physiotherapy?
Arushi Jain
Griifith or deakin for bachelor of nursing
Hi. I am interested in Bachelor of Nursing and I am torn between Deakin Waterfront (Geelong) and Griffith Gold Coast. Can anyone guide me on this? I also want to know if there are ample job opportunities in Geelong and Gold Coast. Thankyou 😊
Elaina Massaad
Worst experience ever
I started last trimester and am already looking for another university. Numerous insidences with careless teachers, already had someone plagarise my work in which the teacher couldnt have cared less until i went to the program director. Had a teacher copy and paste my email to another students which was a breach of confidentiality. If you have an issue and tell them you are going to put in a formal complaint then they jump and say sorry but otherwise they couldnt care less. Would not recommend this uni at all
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John
Avoid Griffith University for anyone thinking of studying Information Technology
I completed my Bachelor Degree in Information Technology with a GPA of 6.3 and despite my high GPA I can say with absolutely certainty that this University is an absolute joke and should be avoided by any person looking for a quality education in IT. After putting up with three years of nonsense where do I even begin?
* The passing criteria is ridiculously lenient so there are many who “scrape through” so to speak and barely come to understand the content. These people are able to pass courses and receive their degree which devalues the degree for people who actually work hard.
* Don’t expect feedback from assignments and especially your marks for final exams. Apparently the process of students learning from their mistakes is not recognised to be of any importance to the management of the University.
* The teaching resources are often outdated or not updated and the courses are poorly structured and unorganised with absurd time constraints.
* The tutors and lecturers are sometimes too lazy to assemble their own teaching resources and instead advocate using “self-learning” resources and force you to watch YouTube videos which are FREE despite the fact that you are paying thousands of dollars for these courses.
* The university are perfectly willing to hire foreign teachers who can barely speak English fluently or coherently. I’m not talking about foreign teachers with an accent (that’s fine), I’m talking about people who fail to use the correct terminology and can barely be understood that are teaching highly technical, complex and intricate subjects. Therefore they are not able to satisfy the most basic principle of teaching; communication.
Griffith University obviously priorities profits over quality teaching resources and is fundamentally a business that sells degrees, which in turn, devalues the degree offered. I can only speak for my experience with the Bachelor of Information Technology at the Gold Coast campus but I would not be surprised if other programs are subject to the same nonsensical standards.
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Don
Dear John,
I am going to get a Bachelor Degree in Information Technology, and really want to have a quality education as I want to join the workforce in IT after graduated. Do you have any recommendations? Many bad reviews on this site and no idea where to go. Whereas, some of the university tuition is too expensive. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you very much.
C.D.
Masters of Teaching
They are generally quite slow in returning assessments and I was quite surprised that you cannot appeal the mark for an assessment piece. Often the instructions provided for an assessment is poor/unclear and requires extensive questioning by students. You pay for an allotted time for contact hours in lectures and tutorials; however, for many units they do not or have not prepared enough materials to utilise all this time and they pass it off as time for yourself ….!!! They also seem to be more interested in winding up a class early for their own sake. On a few occasions this can add up to a couple of weeks worth. I even experienced tutorials where they requested we use the time to do surveys for the demonstrator’s own research and has nothing to do with the course. I sometimes found that marks were not aligned with the assessment piece but biased to the markers own personal opinion and interests. They also seem to have a high turnover as lecturers/demonstrators etc that seek positions at other universities. I also find it amusing that they ask for student surveys for units well before you have completed the unit.
I found this course to be very disappointing
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Parth
Which uni to study ?
Hi. Actually i am thinking of persuing a double degree program of masters of Marketing / masters of international business . So is Griffith
(nathan campus) a good choice or i should go for Qut or uni of Wollongong ? It’s really very confusing after reading all types of negative and positive comments.
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DisappointedGriffithStudent
Terrible experience so far!
I am currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Information Technology at Griffith University and so far it is a complete joke. Perhaps it is because I am at the Gold Coast campus, but I find myself not even being able to understand any of my lecturers and I end up watching the Nathan lectures or using YouTube and other FREE resources for help. The courses are structured stupidly and the lecturers don’t seem to like explaining things, pretty much just leaving the students to fend for themselves. Can’t believe they can actually charge people for this garbage, extremely disappointed by how unprofessional this university is.
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Tahlia Briody
Confused Tafe Law Student seeking help
I am planning to study a double degree in Law and Behavioural Psychology. I’ve skimmed through most of these and all I can say is I don’t know what to do. Both the Griffith and QUT pages have similar reviews but I haven’t seen any reviews for this particular course. Does anyone know someone or went through this course? Also, what are the different assessment styles?
Tanya
Poor quality compared to other universities
I’m doing my minor with Griffith (business) and my major through RMIT (Information Tech). Compared to RMIT, Griffith is very low quality. The lecturers are very self obsessed and assignments are marked by other students, so there is a distinct feeling of “passing the buck” and disinterest by the lecturers. There is no feedback and emails don’t get answered. The quality of the learning materials is dated and seems a bit slapped together. The contrast between the quality of lecturers between both universities is significantly different. There is a distinct feeling that Griffith is the university you go to as a last resort.
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Private and confidential
Griffith ranks top 2% in the world, and in some disciplines is in top 0.1%, for a reason.
University has plenty of negatives, but then what place of education doesn’t?
There is some academia corruption, however most of it goes unnoticed by undergraduate students so you wouldn’t even know it happens.
Some lecturers are simply difficult to work with / study under, in terms of marking fairness / overly-rigorous courses.
Some courses (some people call the degree a course, which is inappropriate vocabulary because it leads to confusion) are utterly useless and some are written to a standard below that which you would expect.
The university also likes to pretend that the students all know each other and everyone is friends, when the reality is if you don’t have / make (requires effort) any friends, you will only be attending classes / studying alone, period. The majority of students walk this path, and its fine.
Now lets talk about why I give it a 5 star, but first let me enforce your trust in my words by saying I completed a hard degree (yes, relatively easy degrees do exist) at Griffith University.
1. The facilities may not seem like it at first, but they are world-class. The only better ones you may find would be in the top 0.1% universities, and considering Griffith is top 2%, that is a really positive statement. And that is why I said ‘may not seem like it at first’, because if you expect shiny laboratories / computer laboratories everywhere with top-of-the-range hardware for undergraduate use, you are dreaming. Compared to QUT, Griffith has visibly better facilities for undergraduate purposes.
2. An extension of 1, Griffith has a lot of facilities, as a matter of fact more than anywhere else you may study in a 1000km radius of the University, potentially bigger than UNSW (my first unsure comment, but probably true). Compare QUT to Griffith and you will see that Griffith (just GC campus alone) is over 2 times bigger, all the Griffith campuses put together and maybe 4 times bigger.
3. Relatively small parking issues. If you start your study days before 8am, you are pretty much guaranteed year-round a parking spot (somewhere, not in all allocated parking areas, some are busier than others) on campus. If you start between 10 am and 3 pm, depending if you need to stay 2 hours or over, your chances of finding a parking spot are 50/50. If you don’t mind walking 20 minutes to campus / using public transport near the campus, you can do that too every day consistently (and probably save a lot of money unless you buy a parking permit). Compare Griffith to QUT or UQ and the winner will be decided within a second, as most other Australian universities (in cities) have appalling parking, QUT has none at all and UQ I’m unsure but definitely not as much as Griffith. Nathan campus has twice the parking capacity of Gold Coast.
I want to emphasize how important point #3 is, because it is a long-term benefit. If you live very close to QUT it may be the better campus for you than Griffith under some special circumstances, however if you need to drive (say from Gold Coast to QUT), you are in a world of problems.
4. Some of the staff members are very supportive and can give you pointers for your path, so you walk a good one. For example they can help prepare you to be job-ready, by providing you industry-expert advice on what current trends are / ‘where the money is at’. When you pay your tuition fees, you have to understand you are also paying for this opportunity of domain expert knowledge ‘tips’, they are very valuable and most people don’t bother to learn their lecturer’s name let alone converse frequently with them. Griffith employs some wonderful academics from all over the world.
I’m sure this positive point #4 is valid for all universities in Australia.
5. If you wanted to, you could get involved. Griffith supports students with opportunities to volunteer (the uni actually relies heavily on undergraduate volunteers, many programs / groups in place i.e. STEM Squad / Griffith Mates).
At the end of the day, each and every degree is useless, it is up to you to make it useful FOR YOU. If you just sit at home / library studying the lecture materials in order to scrape it through uni, i.e. get GPA 4, you can expect to have a difficult time finding work post-graduation (if you make it that far, you would be surprised how small the % of graduates is, relative to number of enrollments). GPA 4 does not automatically mean you are unable to perform work-duties in the same field, but it does guarantee your behavior (study, social
i.e. responsibilities) sucks.
The amazing thing about Griffith is, should you strive to be the best that you can be, Griffith has the facilities and staff necessary to make it possible. And best of all, Griffith recognizes and commends good behavior by ways of awards / recognition, which make you stand out in crowds (i.e. Griffith Award for Academic Excellence).
While there are more negatives than those that I commented, I truly believe that the positives outweigh them enough for the university to receive a 5 star rating from me, based on my experiences and what I have learnt in my journey.
As a side note, which is neither positive nor negative, as many others have posted here, Higher Education in Australia is a business, and Griffith is no exception.
It is a double-edged sword, in that corruption exists (especially for international students), and that anyone and everyone can have an attempt at uni, I knew someone who received an OP 23, and got into a Bachelor of Biomedical Science through a guaranteed admission high school scheme, which was easy. OP 23 is borderline mentally challenged & zero care for education, Year 12 result. So it is up to you to make the most out of this fact about Business and Education, if you feel like redeeming yourself after years of negligence toward education, you may find an opportunity to study at Griffith. This is rare because in America you would be forced to go to community college, which stands for almost nothing compared to Griffith University, in most oversea places you would have simply NO SHOT at securing a spot in a top university.
Griffith deserves my 5 star rating, however I made the most out of my experiences, it is up to you to work hard & be able to confidently say its a 5 star university.
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Neronandruff
Facts Please
How is Griffith in the top 2%? Do you have the facts backing that up?
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stink
look it up
Withheld
Education in Australia is a business, especially for international students, don't expect quality or responsibility
Hi all,
I’m almost finished a research masters at Griffith Nathan campus. At times I have been to the Gold Coast campus.
A lot of what I have written below relates to Australian culture (of not accepting responsibility mainly and not being inclusive of others) and also government budget cuts since around 2012/2013 when universities started organising partnerships with recruitment agencies in other countries (especially China) and paying them commissions for each student they brought in. This caused documentation to be faked (the universities don’t check, as long as it looks good enough), a lot of students not properly understanding English in classes and therefore struggling, academics under unneeded pressure due to disorganisation and pushed to pass failing students to “keep paying clients”, or students failing due to not putting effort and classes being disorganised.
A number of academics have told me stories of either them being pushed to “bump up marks” to pass people, or very commonly another “academic reviewer” putting marks up for more people to pass, of course there is the other scenario of students having to retake classes due to the university being disorganised and not accepting responsibility. I believe it was in 2016 that 15 science and 17 environmental academics were “retired” and so in January of 2017, the newer academics were only told then that they had to decide among themselves who would teach what classes. A big issue was that some academics deleted all their course notes and lectures when they left, and there were no copies. The newer academics had to make up their own ones for the start of class in maybe 2 weeks.
Look up “Degrees of deception” by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It is a very good documentary from 2015, I don’t think things have changed much except for it to become more widespread.
Education has become a separate sector in Australia’s economy when mining had its downturn in 2012, and so it is a business of recruiting international students.
Australia has cut down most/all of its engineering industries, so it is less and less likely for teachers/academics to have real practical engineering knowledge.
In general, Griffith is very disorganised, especially the administration staff. I did my undergraduate degree at QUT (Garden’s Point) so only know about post grad at Griffith. From my experience, Griffith is not the place for research students, it doesn’t matter what Griffith has on their website about being “remarkable” etc and showing people allegedly doing research etc in a chemistry lab, you will be left on your own. It is very telling that there aren’t many Australians doing research, largely internationals. That is not an issue in it’s self, but it means it is a lot less likely for international research students to meet and know Australians and how things work when problems arise (Australian culture isn’t socially outgoing anyway to get to know people, usually only when alcohol is involved).
In terms of campus culture, the Gold Coast campus may have more “Western” international students, but there is no official culture to bring people together, you just go to classes and leave if you don’t have friends. There is GUPSA (for post grads), but you have to make the effort to be involved, there is the SRC (student representative council) for other students which may let you know of more options, but don’t expect much.
Griffith has currently no information on their site of the step by step procedure for doing research and how to plan for publishing. I tried to explain this to the administration, but no one cared and kept telling me to go to my supervisor (repeating it just in a different way as though I am stupid and I don’t understand English). Honest academics at Griffith will admit that they don’t deal with the administration unless it is filling out forms because they don’t do anything else and put pressure back on the academics to get things done.
This is not just a Griffith issue, it is largely Australian, but just more exaggerated here. It is normal behaviour for Australians to not care, or laugh things off, but then later expect that you knew what to do and how to do it without anyone telling you.
QUT had is own problems, especially cramming all their engineering maths content into 3 subjects, which they restructured later when I reported it to someone who cared, as others were in denial.
Please thoroughly check online and from your friends what Griffith and Australia is like for international students before thinking about Australia if you want to study abroad. Australia has nice sides to it, but education here is purely a business and they are not used to people pushing for quality, Australians commonly want to try a “quick fix” to keep people happy and not complaining, or at times, they tell you nothing can be done and you have to accept it.
In general, Austalians don’t like it pointed out when they are wrong, and at times will become seriously offended. So it is common for your complaints to be acknowledged, but not seriously reviewed and rectified if a quick fix won’t solve it. People may shrug their shoulders and tell you they are sorry about it but can’t do anything.
Seriously keep it in mind as I’ve been here for 15 years, my English is perfect and I speak to a lot of people about these issues to get their personal experiences and feedback.
John
Bad experience
I did my first semester at Griffith 2019. I am a domestic skilled migrant and this was my second degree. After my first semester I did not feel like continuing after a pretty weird experience that I faced in one of the subjects in Psychology. I was treated as if I cannot communicate and I was failed in all the practicles and they also failed my assignment. I felt for this particular subject, the people in charge was quite nasty and descriminative. I passed the other two subjects and failed this subjects based on basically nothing tangible.
The first practicle role play was craftly schedule right after your academic census date. So you could not even drop out without academic penalty. I lost my money for the subject and also lost credit points simply because my role plays did not meet their criteria.
I believe some staff and lectures at Griffith university is bias and would not recommend anyone those of nationalities where, English is a second language.
Anonymous
Hi John, when I attended this university many international students were failed. There was actually a theory going around that staff were intentionally failing international students, as they would be required to repeat courses and pay more money, to compensate for significant costs due to COVID. So you’re not alone. I also heard of students who failed courses due to their accents.
Pun
This is terrifying. I heard so many bad reviews about this uni from international students. My family is not that financially stable and I’m planning to go to Griffith because of my 20% scholarship. Should I decline the offer?
unknown
I appreciate your thoughtful and honest response. I have been studying at two different unis in Australia for 8 years and agree to your opinion in general – about Australian culture, particularly in academia
Marty
Academically good - poorly organised at times
I am a current M Primary Teaching student, online, full-time.
I have found the teaching staff to be great and the courses to be really rigorous – the assessment tasks are very demanding but they ensure you know your stuff, which is the whole purpose. There are face-to-face lectures online so you’re not stuck just listening to stale, inaudible recordings of the on-campus students’ lectures; the online sessions are fully interactive and are run like classes. My previous master’s (at a different university) did not do this and the experience was so much less engaging.
I’ve also been really impressed with my peers. We formed a closed FB group where we discuss the readings, assessments, general stress levels etc. and I’ve seen some pretty high standards all round.
On the flip side, the overall organisation of this degree has been terrible, especially in this last term. Term begins in four days and I am still not entirely sure when all my classes are. I haven’t found the staff to be uncaring (quite the opposite), I’ve just found the whole thing to be unclear and disorganised to the point of infuriation.
The trimester system, I should also point out, is a double-edged sword. Many of us chose this particular course and university because the trimester system allows you to complete the degree in less time; however, there are only two weeks between submitting the final of a long string of huge assessments, and having to launch into the next term and prepare for the next batch. In between, you need to be checking the student site for updates, ordering textbooks and lining up readings because it’s all go from week 1 of each term. The course is a hard slog with little respite and it’s important to know that going in. We had an assessment due the day before Christmas. We had assessments due throughout January – and a lot of us have our own kids home on school holidays at that time. We generally start receiving emails from the next term’s subject coordinators in the second week of our two-week end-of-term breaks, telling us what we need to do and read in preparation. We also often don’t get our final grades back until the start of the following term (not laziness, it just usually takes about 3 weeks for marks to be finalised after any assessment). If you are doing this course online, start a Facebook group because the support you get there from peers will be invaluable and you will need it.
On the whole, the subjects themselves have been great, my placements have gone well and I couldn’t have asked for a better cohort – but this course has been the hardest thing I have ever put myself through and the organisation of this final trimester has been unbelievably poor and frankly unprofessional.
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Joey
Am an international student still thinking of which UNI to join in Queensland and according to the reviews being posted 90 percent are negative reviews which i think is really ironic because it is in all universities and you cant tell me that all universities are bad….If you look at other websites the students giving reviews are really positive about there uni and also stating the cons so either majority of the people posting the reviews have had really bad experiences in uni ….If posting reviews i think its better to post both negative and positive reviews to avoid discouraging future students.Especially undergraduate students and international students .
admin
Reviews on other websites are generally fake or selectively chosen. The ones here are real. Unfortunately, students with the energy to write a review tend be those who feel hard done by.
Marty
Response
I didn’t say I was hard done by. I gave plenty of positives as well as the negatives. I stand by my comments regarding the course being disorganised, because it is. I have done a double degree and a previous master’s degree at two separate unis and this one has been noticeably less well organised. But I also stand by my comments about most of the staff being very caring and helpful, and the course content being generally quite rigorous.
The trimester system is indeed a time squeeze. That is neither positive nor negative, but important to know, which is why I included it. We had a former program convenor, who also taught one of our first units in the degree, encourage us not to do it full-time. It is simply useful information.
If you choose to take only the negatives away from that, it is your own choice.
Jee Wang
Offer in Bachelor of Fine Art
Hi
I have an offer in QCA Bachelor of Fine Art. Any recommendations should I join or look else where?
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Richard
A degree mill
I did a masters at Griffith and remember fondly one of the lecturers turning up for a class unprepared and telling us to “Google up” some search results to pass the time. For post-graduate studies, this is totally unacceptable. I really lost faith in the place after this.
In my experience, many of the staff strutted around thinking they are the bomb and condescend to the students. Not cool. I’ve also met plenty of Griffith graduates who had literally no idea. Take that for whatever its worth!
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James
I’m currently a fourth year mechanical engineering student from the US at the Gold Coast campus and I can say (at least for me) that Griffith has been very good to me (I don’t know if these experiences vary depending on what degree your studying). The course content up until now have been very relevant to real world applications and the lecturers here were very knowledgeable about what they were teaching, although there were some bad lecturers here and there. In terms of support the staff were great, always emailing me back within 24hrs or sometimes just an hour or two. However if i’m talking about Griffith itself, like mentioned in some of the other comments this college is very dull in terms of aesthetics and culture. The only culture here that I found was the unibar events and parties but not too much going on. Overall i give it a 4 star as for me the teaching aspect is the most important thing for me.
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Jay
Hello James, I’m planning to do mechanical engineering at Griffith. I’m from Canada will get into 3rd year. Please help me with some information. How’s the overall experience and job market after graduation? I want to get as much information I can get before making any move.
Thanks and i’d really appreciate your help
Hayley
Just another number
I have tried Griffith several times both Brisbane and Gold Coast campuses and have really disliked my experiences and ended up transferring to other universities. I am currently studying at Southern Cross and found the administration and staff to be much more helpful and considerate to my needs.
Griffith made me feel as if I was just a number and I had to fight repetitively to get my results updated as they failed me but I actually got a 6 which is a distinction. No apology for their screw ups or anything.
It was by far the least caring uni I’ve been to and it seems they were happy to take my money but not ensure I got anything back in return.
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Nalan Secgin
Griffith is amazing
I have studied at the University of Melbourne, La Trobe and now Griffith.
I am doing my masters at Griffith and my experience so far is great. They are organised, the course content is relevant and practical, and the teaching staff are all from within the industry with a passion for their jobs. Most importantly, resources for the courses are easily accessible and I know exactly what is expected of me. It is student centric; they are very helpful and focused on making the study experience a good one for the students. Even the head of department is contactable for me, and takes a direct interest in how I am travelling (not just me, all students within the degree)
My experience at Griffith has taught me that university rankings do not matter when it comes down to student experience, because my experience at University of Melbourne was appalling. I never knew what was expected of me, the staff were rude and arrogant and treated the students like grade preps, not students within a masters degree, which is why I left and I am now at Griffith
La trobe is also a great uni, the grounds are amazing if nothing else! But Griffith is for me the better of the 3
I would rank Griffith 1, La Trobe 2, and Uni Melb 3
Horace
Selling degrees
I think they are still selling degrees to poorly qualified people who have poor English. Close the place down!
pamela
Griffith not returning phones calls for enquiries
I have been trying to contact the university, first by phone now by email. Been a few days with nothing. Not a good sign. Other universities replied almost instantly
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Chloe
I have attended this uni twice now (deferred to have a child) and both of my experiences were brilliant. Every staff member I have interacted with has been incredible and helpful, I have never waited more than 48 hours for a response to a question, and find ample instruction when it comes to assessment. You won’t be spoon fed, but as an adult learner you shouldn’t expect to be. To address the second year of nursing being self directed, it’s half the trimester to accommodate prac. The work load is actually bareable if you keep on top of it, and the YouTube videos are like mini lectures.
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L
I am a first-year studying BPsychSci. I personally dislike this campus. The lecturers and courses are good but there’s no sense of community. The buildings themselves feel very bland and lifeless. I can’t comment on the people because I’m extremely shy when meeting new people.
The university as a whole feels bleak and almost depressing – just “blah”.
LJ
I kinda agree however they are currently undertaking a large revamp of the entire gold coast campus. The master plan looks really good and I am quite eager to see how it turns out
nandini
hey so you must’ve finished your degree right? what would you like to say now about the gold coast campus? im looking for a double degree in BBusiness and BPsychSci. Would you recommend living on campus or off campus? or with a family? like which one would be cheaper?
Ave
@Matt/ Hello, I’ve been reading reviews on university’s related to Nursing. This uni was considered by I saw your review and would like some input on other universites best suited for studying Nursing. Preferably in Sydney and Brisbane please! -Thank You.
Jason Mattheou
Came to this university from Canada, I had the impression that it was good Uni due. Paid $28,500 to arrive in Brisbane and and find out my teachers are terrible, most people that go to this uni are bottom of the barrel, didn’t get into what they wanted kind of student. Everyone’s ugly, wtf!? 75% of my course is online? I love Brisbane, and Australia but honestly hate Griffith. Only good part is Uni-bar and you don’t even need to be a student!
Adam
Griffith
Hi Jason,
I’m from Vancouver and am considering studying nursing at Griffith. I really thought it was one of the best places to study nursing in Queensland but I’m a bit confused now after reading some of the reviews.
Is there any other uni you’d recommend for nursing?
Thank in advance for any info!!!!
Cheers,
Adam
Debbie
I would recommend James Cook University in Cairns Queensland for nursing.
Sue Grant
Everyone’s ugly? Just listen to yourself. How appalling. Please go back to Canada.
Rose
Studying Fine Arts at griffith, as a first year student it is apparent that staff are teaching for the first time, and therefore come off as untrained and unprofessional.
The southbank campus is in the city so the location is great, however, the campus itself is very small.
Teachers are hard to contact as they do not check their emails, even when assessment is due.
If you’re looking to do fine arts at Griffith, note that all classes are essentially self-directed, if you miss a day it doesn’t matter, which is slightly concerning.
Matt
This university is junk!
I commenced at Griffith in second year entry of a Nursing degree and was surprised how bad it was. To start with the course had no lectures! Like none at all! In its place an online “self directed learning” system whereby you are instructed to read chapters in the textbook and watch linked YouTube clips, making for a very poor learning experience. It’s obvious from this approach that Griffith is trying save money by not paying for lecturers and funnelling everyone onto a computer. Worse still, getting hold of an actual person is a nightmare. If you’re lucky, a course convener ‘might’ get back to your email 3 days later, if you’re even luckier the response ‘might’ even be relevant to your question.
In addition the facilities are so dirty, dated and run down with only the outside of the buildings renovated to look new for potential students doing a campus tour. I’m so disappointed by this university, if I’d known what I know now, I would’ve never enrolled. I’ve since transferred to another university and am incredibly glad I did.
pamela
what uni have you transferred to?
matt i am contemplating nursing as my second undergrad and was considering griffith. Which uni have to transferred to?
San
Terribly disorganized administration and the many tutors are rude or biased. Don’t waste your time here.
Mark
I do not typically write reviews- but people have to be warned about this school.
The dis-organisation of this university is unbelievable.
Upper management are absent, lower administrators are incompetent to deal with minor processes due to an incredible lack in organisational structure.
If you are a researcher or masters student in particular- I would avoid this university entirely.
Staff are untrained, disorganised and only are capable of operating within their (very narrow) field. This is a recurring issue, with the latest taking over 2 months to have a small enrollment article dealt with.
AVOID THIS SCHOOL. Even if you have a scholarship, i would advise you to take your talents elsewhere.
randomstudent
admin
Agree. Administration at Griffith is absolutely terrible. If you can go to a different university like UQ or QUT.
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Mike
I was studying a Degree in IT qualification and finished with 6.6/7 GPA (so consider this review to be fare & non-biased assessment of griffith).
Most of the Nathan campus is dirty with floor & ceiling water stains, mouldy buildings and cleaners only take trash out while not cleaning rooms or toilets.
Seems that the teaching emphasis or priorities is on the lecture’s time that is spent on academic research. Thereby minimising the interactions with students willing to ask questions and do well. Some lecturers were entirely unapproachable and unhelpful. I was not demanding (dominating the teacher’s time) or did not expect for them to do the work for me. I got the excuse that they cannot favour a single student (REALLY!).
Most Griffith lectures do NOT publish the student grades on the student web portal during or after the course, only through the portal do you get feedback which is the final official grade. If you want to see the exam results you have to get management to force the teacher. So the student’s only feedback is the assignment grades handed back during the course, Griffith teaching processes don’t realise learning is open cycle of getting feedback to improve learning.
Some of the courses were only available at the Gold Coast campus which is 90km away and Griffith has no problem with this setup. The student front help desk staff are not trained and thereby not knowledgeable of Griffith processes.
I heard of someone being PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED BY STAFF and they denied it ever happened because there was no evidence and nothing was done (staff still working for Griffith). I think if Griffith fires the staff then they would legally be admitting liability (compensation payout).
Overall, I was very disappointed and would not recommend Griffith University. The university is a business that provides an education service and I did not receive a good service for the fees I paid.
samuel
Currently third year design futures at QCA Southbank, Brisbane campus – I studied at the Gold Coast campus for 18months before moving North. Both campuses have pro’s and con’s. The GC campus is improving, and the support I got from staff there was great. Had parking on GC, expensive and such – but public transport for the most part was very effective, especially with tram system.
Studying at SBank is very different, super close to the city, in a cultural precinct, just a short walk to West End which is famous for relaxed vibe (though slowly becoming gentrified). Campus is small, but great for creatives for the most part as basically all the courses focus on creativity in some form. Great teachers as far as I am concerned. Design Futures is an incredible course, very rich in theory and philosophy, a lot of design thinking occurs and subjects internal to the course also deal with more practical, hands on scenarios – great work shop access.
I have spent some time at Nathan campus – average campus from the looks of it, although I am sure it could be more than it seems. People seem friendly but nothing else near the uni, so it is rather isolated.
Gold Coast: 6/10
South Bank: 8/10
Nathan: 4/10
Terrena Hooper
I was studying a Diploma education-based qualification and exited early at Grad Cert level because I found some of the teaching terrible. Some lecturers were entirely unapproachable and unhelpful. I attended Mt Gravatt, which I found quite isolated and the tutorial rooms very old. I was very disappointed. I had my own transport – I don’t know what public transport is like to that area.