University of Queensland

University of Queensland, graduation day.

Photo credit: SCMP

The University of Queensland is Brisbane's most prestigious university. It's based at the suburb of St Lucia, set against the banks of the Brisbane River not far from the city centre. UQ is often ranked as one of Australia's best research universities. Course quality is generally good according to graduate surveys. If you are a UQ graduate or student, you're invited to rate UQ and post a review.

UQ Rating

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User Rating 2.74 (167 votes)
Comments Rating 1.97 (37 reviews)
Australia Ranking 4
Based on world university rankings.
Source: Australian Universities

Student Reviews

58 Responses

  1. L
    | Reply

    Ranging from disappointing to atrocious

    I commenced around the same time as COVID started, and it seems the university hasn’t recovered. Even the law school in third year subjects and beyond seems to suffer from disengagement from both students and teaching staff, poor class planning, a lack of quality assurance (amazing how bad Jurisprudence is year-on-year). If you respond to the very dry, messy, and self-teaching-reliant way things are done and flourished during the early days of online teaching in COVID, things will be great.

    Economics is so much worse (I wouldn’t trust anyone with a BEcon to actually make any comment about economics). While I’ve only encountered one truly BS subject in law, undergrad Econ feels like it’s all a charade to grab your money.

    Tutors are overworked and underpaid, and the entire system of student tutors is baffling (I can’t really blame individuals with no training in teaching for not being good teachers). The campus and the range of clubs are both amazing, but those can’t really make up for feeling like the core of the university experience (learning) is pretty rough.

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  2. Virginia
    | Reply

    2025 Graduate: Bachelor of Physiotherapy (current student)

    UQ is not as bad as all the reviews say. I must admit, UQ has a very slow adminstrative process and it takes a long time to get anything sorted. I found that the fastest way to get the result you want is to call them relentlessly until they get tired of you. As a whole, it is hard to access support, academic or otherwise. This is because there is often a 2+ day in responses or because there are already too many people here trying to book into a face to face meeting for support.

    In my course, it is highly structured so we don’t get to choose any of our subjects. Our curriculum is written to practically be exactly the same as previous years, which I think is good because the past papers are very similar to the actual exams we get at the end of the semester.

    I find UQ courses to be quite boring, even though I have a high GPA. Even though I have an interest in what I’m learning, learning for the sake of an assessment has always bored me – but this is probably the same as any other uni in the world, and is a criticism of the education system as a whole. There is also the fact that probably greater than 50% of things we learn will never actually be needed for our profession as physiotherapists, but the practicality of my degree is significantly better than other degrees. I get to go to the lab on average once a week, 2-3 hands-on physio specific practical sessions per week, and ~2 face-to-face tutorials per week. The hands on nature of my degree makes it less boring, but still isn’t intellectually stimulating enough for me. Most of my courses are structured relatively well, but I find the most annoying part is when we change lecturers every few weeks – this is annoying because each lecturer has a very different teaching style and students have to quickly adapt to each lecturer, and because lecturers do not really know what has already been covered by other lecturers or in other subjects, they can either teach the same thing again or skip something entirely, which is really time-consuming for students to figure out afterwards during revision time.

    What I also do not like about my degree is the high amount of exams, which is significantly more than most other degrees, averaging to 11-12 (and more each year) exams per semester, excluding assignments and weekly graded quizzes. It’s overwhelming at times, and I know plenty of people who have failed one or more subjects each semester. I know many people who are redoing the subject they failed last year with my cohort this year. It’s an hard degree to pass, and an even harder degree to do well in. Another thing which I do not like is the tendency for a large percentage of our grades being entirely dependent on one assignment or exam at the end of semester (60%+). This is really bad because at the end of semester, we typically get about 6-7 assessments, and it’s also the time when you’ll most likely to get sick because more people are coming to campus, being COVID or the flu with them. Once you’re sick, you can’t catch up and this is especially terrible during or prior to exam sessions because a doctor’s certificate a few weeks prior to exams will not grant you an extension, even though your studying had been affected by your sickness.

    One good thing I like about UQ is that there are plenty of opportunities for students to embellish their CVs to make them look impressive. Lots of programs, clubs and societies, volunteering and leadership opportunities, and job opportunities which can be valuable in getting employed after graduation. One crucial reason why I chose my degree is the ability to be immediately employed after graduation from my undergraduate degree with an acceptable starting salary, in a respected profession, with the ability to further my education, or become either an research academic or clinical physiotherapist, and possibly become an educator once we’ve gained enough seniority. There’s also the fact that the Physiotherapy degree is a good pathway into medicine, as we get to study plenty of the foundations of medicine including anatomy, fundamental biology, and fundamental physiology. Being on clinical placements and working in the field also can give students a taste of how hospitals and clinics work and whether they wish to become a doctor or other medical personnel based on their experiences on placements.

    UQ campus is often quite crowded with people during the day, so it can be quite difficult to find a quiet and isolated place to study in. There’s also the fact that it’s really easy to get lost on campus, even though I’ve been to UQ for years, I still sometimes get lost going to new buildings. A tip I have is to explore all the major libraries in the first week of uni, figure out how to use all the UQ websites including UQ room booking website (Bookit), go and explore all the rooms in your timetable or your exam rooms prior to class/exam so you don’t get lost.

    And as for censorship, I believe that it is actually occurring in UQ, as a few years back (2019) there was a fiasco where a student, Drew Pavlou, was suspended from UQ for defending a Hong-Kong student from Chinese students. It’s not wise to speak about political opinions here, for personal safety reasons, and I do not tell people my nationality to prevent anything adverse from happening.

    All in all, not the worst, not the best, just simply a means to an end.

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  3. Gia
    | Reply

    Huge money grab with no real world usage

    Just finished my third year in Bachelor of Psychology at UQ. Honestly, it is quite a useless degree with no practical real world experiences or usage, unless you want to pursue research or Masters in Psych. However, I admit some professors are very passionate in their course teachings and are quite helpful with the assignment details and coursework. The tutorials and workshop are quite in line with the courses themselves. Yet again, I see no practical use of just the Bachelor of Psychology itself, as it does not teach practice and application, but just theories and research.

    UQ is basically just a money grab factory that partners with multiple international universities to offer their degree certificate that don’t allow you to have freedom in choosing your desired majors and minors. From my actual experience, UQ partners with the university that I attended in my first and second year of the degree before coming to Australia. Every students are required to attend UQ physically or else they would not simply get the degree. As a result, all students studying the degree are to move to Brisbane and go to the campus, which results in huge money grab for UQ.

    I would recommend other degrees that are more useful to study and spend your life on, unless you are very passionate in becoming a psychologist or a researcher. One of the biggest regrets in my life to study this degree.

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  4. g
    | Reply

    If you like theory, UQ is for you, otherwise it’s like hell. The lecturers and staff just talk and talk for like a few hours without going through practical work, all they have are PHDs but they don’t know how to teach.

  5. Charlie
    | Reply

    It’s better than another university in NSW that I went for my studies, but still quite bad overall

    1. Faculty admin staff- they talk to students in a condescending manner. I wanted to change my enrolment and the person I talked to judged me in a condescending manner. There was a privacy problem in another email as they included another student. The university admin staff was a hit or a miss if you want to solve an issue. Dont expect them to reply fast or help you with enthusiasm though

    2. Faculty- my faculty had passionate academic staff that were great and some staff that were so arrogant (kept threatening students). I have never encountered a staff that kept threatening students so this was my first time at this uni.

    3. Overall the city of Brisbane makes up for it with its friendly people compared to my uni in NSW.

    All in all- I dont know why I am paying such expensive fees for faculty and admin to treat me in a condescending manner.

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  6. .
    | Reply

    I’m commenting this on all of the Universities I’m looking at going to because this is actually ridiculous now.
    1. Stop pressing “No” on people’s posts if you just disagree with them. It’s childish and not intended for that
    2. Leave an actually honest review. If you are not capable of spelling your words correctly or using actual grammar don’t bother posting. Don’t leave a harsh review for the sole purpose that, “They failed me and I don’t like that!!!.” Again, childish and ridiculous.
    3. The only 2 options are not 1 and 5 stars.

    Me and some of my friends are all looking for Universities to go to but we cannot find an actually honest or seemingly normal review, and the ones that do seem normal you cannot ever be certain as they’re swarmed with a sea of opposing comments. Grow up.

    • Eloise
      | Reply

      There are likely many international students on here leaving comments, remember their first language is not English. I have found the best universities generally have great reviews. The type of people leaving reviews on here in the manner they are leaving them, likely reflects the overall culture of the university. Do you know what degree you are looking to study?

  7. Zhao
    | Reply

    Rubbish University

    I would rather to giver zero rate if that is possible. I had so many horrible experience even I stay there for only one sememster.

    I share the same negative experience as the other reviewers. I can find thousands of reasons to persuade you why you should not attend UQ.

    1. Snobby: for international students, the university simply treating them like cash cows. I paid the tuition fee before the deadline but that university still sent a warning letter to me with offensive and abusive language terms, they threated to cancel my enrollment if I did not pay the tuition.

    2. Unsupportive faulty๏ผšthe professor who taugth the mathematical analysis is the worst faulty memeber I have even seem. He often simply missed the lecture without any notice, can you image the students sit at the classroom without a lecturer for the whole class length for many times? We have reported the accident for mutiple times but no solution was given. Additionally, he never replied the students’ email.

    In terms of the course called graph theory, the lecturer always rush to deliver his course and assume we know everthings, there was no any tutorial session or help after class. The most feasible solution was to withdraw from his course and the numbers of students were digits only after a few weeks.

    3. Rude staff: the assignment submission system at my school building was down, when I inquired the staff at the office about the situation, he was on the verge of eruption if I posed him one more question.

    When I inquired the other staff about the sport facilities, his attitude was arrogance.

    4. Disorganized administration: no support was given to tell the freshman how to select the units and use the course portal, we even did not clear which courses should we attend to fullfill the requirement. The freshman had to struggle with assisting each other

    5. Greedy: I enrolled in master of statistics, however most of the units in this program were for the undergraduate student so I pretended to attend the “graduate level” courses with undergraduate students. The degree was not accredited by the Australian academic or industry association. somebody told me that only two students enrolled in master of statistics

    What’s more, it took months to fully release my enrollment when I withdrew from this university.

    6. over-praised: given the overall quality of the education and service, that university should not rank among the top 50 in the world, but we all know they can manipulate the ranking system.

    The university boasted they would soon produce the qualified vaccinne during the first few months of convir-19, so what happened next in reality?

    7. Politics: felt like studying in non-democratic countries

    I withdraw from this university after 1 sememster and the life started to become happier. A few years later, I had the opportunty to attend University of Texas at Austin which is true pride for my whole life.

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    • Zhao
      | Reply

      In terms of the point 7, I mean the self-censorship is imposed on campus.
      I heard a conversation between a lecturer and his student. The lecturer said the faculty members usually avoid to talk or include the affairs of a certain country (I think you know where I refer to without explicitly named this country) in case studies for their lectures/tutorials at UQ, because they are afraid that may backfire and irritate the nationalistic students from this country.
      It is unclear whether the UQ administration has officially or privately instructed the faculty members to impose self-censorship or not, I have no evidence. But I think our smart readers will have their own judgement on the docile culture and money worship engraved on the brain of the UQ senior offices, the UQ senior administration should responsible for all these weird and chaotic incidents existed on the campus nowadays.

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  8. Nick
    | Reply

    Terrible admissions process, unprofessional staff.

    The International Admissions office and the way they function is absolutely appalling. Despite accepting an offer in a timely manner, the admissions office screwed up and did not process things properly on their end which resulted in the offer lapsing. Even after demanding an explanation and appealing the only response they had was that I should’ve accepted within seconds and minutes instead of later. They suddenly also came up with the excuse that a staff member was sick and couldn’t process my application. That implies said staff member is the only person working in the office with no other staff and they were sick for more than a month. They refused to take responsibility and was very dismissive. Several staff members were also short and rude towards my parents. Only after we escalated it to the vice-chancellor’s office and after an investigation did the university and admissions office admit wrongdoing. It is clear to me that they were banking on the hope that we wouldn’t speak up, they know that people from my culture are known for being submissive and docile. What this reveals to me is deep underlying issues with the administrative processes and an unprofessional staff culture. It is completely unacceptable and should have NEVER happened. The staff at International Admissions office should be ashamed of themselves for their conduct and the way they respond to inquiries.

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  9. Jake Paulson
    | Reply

    I was not impressed by UQ. It has a very weird and snobby culture. People do not feel normal or at ease in this place. The courses I took were taught in a very disorganized and incoherent manner. I never really learned that much. I got by like everyone else; rote learning, cramming, and regurgitating come exam time. Forget and repeat next semester. That’s how it goes at UQ. I actually taught myself a lot more visiting the library during the long holidays. UQ is all about jumping through hoops and forking over your cash. It’s more a business transaction than an actual education. So, if you want an inflated ego and an empty mind, choose UQ.

  10. Stan Smith
    | Reply

    It depends

    I’ve just seen this page and noted all of these very poor reviews, which I’m sure are valid, but it is important when choosing a university to look past a few reviews.
    I have atteneded UQ for almost 10 years from undergrad to PhD, and I have seen the university culture change dramatically over the past few years, in part due to covid and in part due to the changing demographic of the students.
    University can be the best time of some peoples lives and the worst for others, and it’s dependant on both your course and your outlook. I studied engineering and performed reasonably well, I found my classes decently taught for the most part and had a good time with friends, so I have a fairly positive outlook on the uni in general.
    I certainly understand some of the noted failings of the university, many tutors are not given enough payment to suitably prepare/mark to a high standard (I have tutored and seen this firsthand), so much of the teaching can become dissapointing when you know the cost you are paying. Marking is often forced into a rubric which can wildly affect what mark a work deserves because of this, but as others have noticed, university is ever more becoming business focused, so I believe this is a common trend among our unis.
    The thing to understand is the separation of the institution and the students, the students can be great and you can make great friends, but you shouldn’t look to the university for this, the uni isn’t your friend, it is a business.
    Schools within the uni vary wildly in their quality and study/research cultures, I’ve heard horror stories from some that are unheard of in others.
    If you’re new to uni, try do some more research on the different degrees/schools and see if you can choose something suitable, it’s always alright to change course as you learn more about your subject, and you can take this time to learn where your passions lie. Without some level of passion for the field it is difficult to perform well and/or have a good time.
    So take these all these reviews (along with mine) with a grain of salt, if you select a course that is run well and you like, you will probably learn a lot and have fun, but if you are unlucky in your choice, it might feel awful. If this happens I’d recommend looking at what you could change in your studies to make them more enjoyable, even if it requires a change of major/degree/uni, your enjoyment and passion are the most important parts of this time of your life.

    UQ is like any other modern university, it has pros and cons, and unfortunately the only sure way to find them out is to try. I wouldn’t say this uni can be described as better or worse than QUT/Griffith/etc, such blanket terms are not very helpful, but some areas it does shine and some it does stink.

    I hope what ever you choose works out well, the only advice I can try and give is to be flexible to changes if needed and try make friends while you’re here, it’s the people not the uni which are most important.

  11. Jne
    | Reply

    Very mediocre

    I was thrilled to receive my UQ offer once I had graduated High School but it is safe to say my experience at UQ has been nothing short of mediocre.

    Lecturers:
    While UQ possess some incredibly intelligent academics , these people (“lecturers”) really can’t teach. Many lecturers lack the ability to break down course content into effective and logical structures and are quite typically incredibly slow at responding to questions and queries. In one such event, I asked the course co-ordinator and lecturer a couple questions in regards to an upcoming assignment, after a week of no reply I re-sent the email but didn’t receive a response till AFER THE ASSIGNMENT WAS DUE!!! There was a 3 week window between when I sent the first email and the assignment was due…
    Many lecturers and tutors I have worked with also lack basic English comprehension and can be incredibly hard to understand (to the point where I won’t watch the lecture or tutorial simply because I can’t understand what they are saying).

    Course content in some subjects were strangely set out and often make illogical sense which often left me teaching myself through YouTube and other online resources.

    Online Assessment:
    A year after UQ implementing online examination and assessments there were numerous assessment pieces which I undertook during my undergraduate which still managed to collapse. In one experience, the files were too big once the exam had concluded and when you went to submit it simply cut down the files to submit effectively removing part of the work you had completed. While this would’ve been acceptable during COVID when the online assessment had been implemented, the University had over a year of preparation when I sat this subject. Another online assessment issue was that the timing available on the exam was set incorrectly, while we only had a certain period of time e.g. 60mins to complete the exam, once you opened the exam the timer had been set to 75 minutes. While some students in the subject stuck to the 60 minutes, others thought that it must have been changed to 75 minutes effectively giving them another 15 minutes of working time. This led to numerous arguments and discussions during the tutorials post this examination into what was fair and equitable rather than teaching the content that WE PAY FOR.

    Administration/Exchange:
    I contacted my relative faculty to see if I could talk to someone about doing an exchange semester. After multiple emails back and forth I finally got scheduled a meeting with a member of staff who was going to be able to help me. Once I joined the zoom meeting the member of staff acknowledged that they weren’t actually someone who assisted domestic students go on exchange but rather an international liaison officer who helped international students study at UQ. This meeting was effectively useless and I received very limited information. Please note as well if you ever want to schedule a meeting with someone whether it be a faculty related or student administration related that they will avoid scheduling a call or meeting with you and much prefer to send emails which makes the process incredibly tedious and slow.

    While I could continue this review for a while, I feel as if I’ve touched on some issues which negatively impacted my experience at UQ.

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  12. Dylan
    | Reply

    Not a bad uni

    Pretty prestigious uni; didn’t enjoy my time there compared to QUT. I’d wager it’s good to have on a resume, probably better than QUT unless you’re into something tech-related, but the overall experience will likely be a tad less enjoyable.

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  13. Aaron
    | Reply

    Toxic university

    UQ is a bit of a meme, known for being kind of snobby while simultaneously incompetent. It’s not the worst uni you can go to, but it definitely has a weird culture to it and plenty of useless classes and tutors. Not to mention poor management, and I’m not just referring to them shilling for the CCP. The mental health program is pretty poor, tutors randomly rant about Marxism, and students who raise genuine concerns risk being silenced.

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  14. D. Munro
    | Reply

    Strict grading

    I must admit, I found the grades to be a little lower compared to the grades I received from other universities for a similar level of work, but I actually put this down to the thoroughness of the marker.

    My essays were meticulously graded and thorough and lengthy explanations were given as to why I didn’t get a higher mark (6 instead of my usual straight 7s from my home university, Deakin). To be honest, I prefer to get a lower mark and a comprehensive explanation from a teacher I respect telling me how I can improve, than to just get a higher grade from a teacher that has skimmed my work and written two or three sentences that might as well say “great job!”

    Straight sevens look nice on paper and it’s certainly a boost to the ego, but I’d rather learn.

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  15. D. Munro
    | Reply

    One of the best universities in Australia for studying literature.

    I can only speak to the literature course, and I only did one subject online at UoQ, but I have also studied literature at an undergraduate level online at Deakin University, Latrobe University, Melbourne University and University of Tasmania.

    The teacher we had at UoQ was just superb.

    Sure, the online platform had a few glitches, but I was ALWAYS able to get through to student support who were patient, friendly and knowledgeable – which is MUCH more than I can say for some of the other Universities I’ve studied online with (I’m looking at you Latrobe). I found the quality of teaching and the syllabus to be of an incredibly high standard. The marking of my papers were exceptionally thorough.

    Also, the proactive Covid response of Queensland Uni compared to what my home institute (Deakin University) did (or rather didn’t do) was telling. I certainly felt compared to other universities I have studied with, that Uni of Queensland prioritizes student’s well being more than many. Like I said, I studied literature online so I can’t speak to the campus facilities or to the standard of other courses, but the literature course was exceptional.

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  16. Silva
    | Reply

    Donโ€™t come to this uni if u are not research students

    For those international students who are not interested in undertaking research, leave this disgusting university without any consideration. Probably the most coldest and selfish professors u can find here, your request for consultation would be ignored, no staff will take care of u, in their eyes u are merely a cash cow. The school is filled up bureaucracy, last year when I received the completion letter I waited for another 20 days for the official transcript even I paid for it and hurried them up, because of this I lost a great chance for a potential job. Withal, the worst outcome to study here is that u will only get 4 if u can get 5 in other uni (Griffith, qut); and 5 here in uq usually equals to other uniโ€™s (Griffith, why) 6 or 7.

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  17. Silva
    | Reply

    Worst uni in Brisbane

    The worst uni in Brisbane, donโ€™t recommend any international students from non-English high school education system to choose this nasty uni. High tuition fee with no academic supports, arrogant tutors and lectures who can barely direct u towards your study, huge portion of the assessments are irrelevant to the lecture and tutorial slides. This uni only cares about money so they mark students unreasonably low and a lot of them fail. disadvantaged environment for ordinary international students from underdeveloped countries.

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  18. Anonymous
    | Reply

    Don't expect any help after graduation

    I do not recommend UQ. This is a business not a learning environment. They have no regard or interest in looking after their students or supporting them. Really really horrible experience during my 2 years Masters degree and as an alumni. One you graduate they will not help you with any paperwork or documentation.

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  19. Eric
    | Reply

    Can not recommend UQ

    I studied towards a Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) at UQ and I can fairly say the quality of the lecturers, teaching materials, and courses were often poor. Many instances occurred where you would be told to get textbooks that were never even used in the course as well as exams sometimes not reflecting on the course content taught during the semester. I wish I had not enrolled in this university, but did due to its reputation; in hindsight, I realised that UQ gains its reputation from its research – not teaching. It is definitely not a teaching university and there is little to no help or support if you are struggling. I was there between 2010 and 2013 and they were using a relatively new curriculum shared between several unis under the framework of MEA – this was poorly designed and delivered with lecturers unfamiliar with the course content and with certain lecturers teaching outside of the scope of their knowledge. I went on to study at USQ at a later date and can honestly say that they were superior in a multitude of areas, including teaching quality, student engagement, and quality of learning materials.

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  20. Leroy
    | Reply

    Undergrad Math and computer science student. Uq sucks.

    There is only one good thing I can say about this university. The math lecturers were extremely good. Maybe the lecturers were bad for first year math courses but I can honestly say that every lecturer after that knew their stuff, were nice and were really good teachers. They actually cared about students. In a third year stat course, the lecturer even took the whole class out to dinner out of his own money. No complaints there. The tutors for these courses (especially for the third year courses) are really nice and good too, just like the lecturers.

    Now for the bad. Every single computer science lecturer I had was a douche. Legit wanted to fail everyone. Most people in this one course are there for the 2nd or 3rd time. You message them about something and they don’t get back to you. The tutors have always been rude. The most useless people I have ever met. There is no reason to go to tutes or prac because they don’t answer any questions. Talking about code is considered colluding. Not even catching someone copying code, just talking about it with the person next to you. I only heard about this story because the one time I went to a prac the tutors where proud of that fact that they reported a collusion case. Two students were caught TALKING about code… And this is not just one course, it’s course after course same story, they just want to fail you and the tutors are dogs.

    The students in maths and computer science are incapable of making a friendship. All a bunch of snobs who don’t even say hi if you greeted them first. Maths students do not talk at all about anything and computer science students are just snobs. 95% of the students I’ve met are just plain rude and snobby. A bunch of pigs. I’ve only had 2 good experience with students at UQ, out of countless attempts of trying to find someone who wasn’t a dog.

    Administration people are mentally retarded. There is no other way of putting it. I’ve had some terrible experiences with administration and it took me 6 months to get my question answered. And the arrogance on some of these brain-dead apes is extraordinary. I’ve talked to them once and they made me feel like trash because apparently I had to know the answer to my question. Spoilers, different administration people would give me different answers to my question and each time I had to feel like trash because I couldn’t figure out what the right answer was.

    So I’ve said that students are snobs, lecturers and tutors are trash and admin is retarded. But the most annoying thing about UQ is the politics. You legit are scared of saying anything. If you ask anyone they will all say that they are not political. But if your views are not perfectly aligned with the views of the socialist party, you will get burned at the stake for being a heathen. The worst part about it is that these people are actual apes. I don’t care that they think being a communist is a good thing but they can’t let you have your own opinion and the take a dump on your opinion until you agree with them. How retarded do you have to be to not accept other peoples’ views?

    It’s like being Alice and Alice in Wonderland, if you are not a communist. Everyone is sold on a very dumb idea and you are stupid because you don’t agree. You have no support if you are not a socialist at UQ. The other thing that bugs me are the international students. You are more likely to be understood at UQ if you talking in Mandarin than English. So many international students get their degrees and they don’t even understand the difference between a pen and a pencil. That’s not a joke, I have met someone who didn’t know the difference. The amount of times I have asked an asian person a basic question and they couldn’t answer it, is incredible. And the snobby attitude that I got from these people for simply asking for their names is crazy.

    Keep in mind these are just things I have experienced. It sounded like I am generalizing all of UQ, but that is just how I see it based on the things that happened to me. I have very vaguely mentioned things with very little support of why I think a certain way but it would take too long to clearly describe every single experience. I’ve had so many bad experiences but at this point I don’t even care anymore. I just want to finish and leave all these snobby pigs behind. The typical UQ response I have received countless times is “you must be a terrible person to have so many bad experiences.” To which I say, “yeah I’m not a communist, sorry”

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    • Be better
      | Reply

      You had trouble making friends? That’s surprising, but perhaps it’s because you go around talking about people as ‘pigs’, ‘dogs’ and ‘retards’.

  21. Stephen Born
    | Reply

    Big University - You are a product and if you are not amass produced unit, you are forgotten.

    As a University goes they are so politically correct its insane. However, this care and all hugs apparent approach is not as nice as you would expect. I cannot review the undergrad course because I am not an undergrad, and I am/was part-time.

    So what is it like ? Some of the staff are amazing, but because they actually care they are swamped.

    To be honest, I doubt that they would notice if I dropped dead in the middle of campus because part-timers are literally unseen. There are lots of warm fuzzy emails about bland things but they are totally not applicable to a part-timer. Now as I am a rare beast in doing a part-time course (I guess because I don’t know anyone else being so isolated as i am), I can only say that if you want to do a PhD which is fecking hard without having to do a job as well, find a different university!

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  22. Jane
    | Reply

    Really miss UQ

    I have to say, after enrolling in another uni (USyd) for my postgrad degree that UQ really is much better. Everyone was kinder and less elitist, and professors were more understanding. Although Ive complained about UQโ€™s online courses last year, I have to say that they are not so bad compared to my current uniโ€™s.

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  23. Lockey
    | Reply

    UQ living reviews for a new to UQ

    Looking for best living options of attending UQ?
    Is on campus living a better option and if nit what about the approved off campus and which one? Totally new to this, so any information would be appreciated.

  24. Emma
    | Reply

    Hmmm

    I’m not sure what I expected but it wasn’t what I’m getting. Im in my first Semester studying International Relations and it’s bad. I get that covid makes things harder but I’m literally teaching myself really complex stuff and struggling every step of the way.

    I started in second Sem but I didn’t realise how hard this would make things. I was forced to take on 2 second year subjects (in order to do a full time load – there was only 2 first year subjects out of my entire double degree that were available to start in second Sem). I’m not sure why they allow students to start in second semester when they can’t really “start”, they just have to either drag by or struggle super hard to keep up in a second year class with no support.

    I graduated high school 6 years ago and have just made my way to uni. I assumed that things would be taught from the bottom but they are not. It seems we are assumed to have years of background knowledge about politics, and if you don’t, then too bad. I was honestly so stressed trying to figure out not only how uni itself worked but also wtf was going on in my classes because they seemed to start from a really advanced starting point.

    The workload itself is HUGE. I do 3 subjects now and I am expected to do nearly a hundred pages of reading each week. I understand uni is tough but it’s hard to focus on lectures, tutes, and assignments whilst still being expected to read half a book a week. It’s complex stuff too so reading it is one thing, actually understanding is another. Between work and housework and life in general is seems pretty hard to keep up with. I’m trying to manage my time but I have to feed myself and pay rent. It seems like the course is designed for fresh high school grads who still live with their parents and don’t work. I would expect a decent level reading content from any uni course but I feel like I am drowning in this course. My very first assignment for my intro politics course required me to read about 80 pages of readings then do a comparative essay on the 2. I had no idea about the content of the readings, they’re super jargon-y and complicated and pretentious and it honestly took me days just to read them, let alone write the assignment. I have 3 friends who are at QUT who all said the workload is something they’d expect from an honours class.

    I’ve worked full time for 6 years since high school so I understand sometimes you’ve got to give up time for stuff. But this course seems to have no grounding in real life – it’s so airy fairy and abstract. That could be my fault for choosing this course lol and maybe others are different but let this be a warning if you’re considering it.

    The structure is rubbish too. All tasksheets are random word documents thrown together by tutors/lecturers. There are no solid criteria, structure, or framework. I have no idea where the bar is set and no idea what I’m meant to be doing half the time. There’s no continuity and nothing is clear about what is required of me to pass. Couple this all with covid and it’s just trash.

    Maybe other courses here are decent, idk. I’ve never been to another uni but I think it’s pretty clear that UQ does things in their own way – a way that has no application to the real world. It feels pretentious and unsupportive and the bar is way too high. If you want to be a researcher or scholar or whatever then go for it, this is probably the place for you.

    • laura
      | Reply

      pols / IR

      totally agree, intro to international relations was a ridiculously hard course, same with the other pols subjects i did. for anyone who is interested in taking a pols course, pols1102 was much better but yeah overall the pols subjects i did were not good.

  25. Joe
    | Reply

    All about the money

    The care factor for students who aren’t studying medicine/PHDs is incredibly low, and is becoming increasingly more evident with the current crisis. The administration thinks they’re above any students concerns and are happy to keep taking money from communist Chinese organisations, and silencing any students who speak out. Just don’t come here.

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    • Nick
      | Reply

      The care factor for medical students ainโ€™t that good as well. This is in phase 1 year 1 and 2 . Some Lecture materials are poor in quality and heaps of resources are just given to students and many are expected to know them. These resources are not ideal for studying as they are time consuming and all over the place. The teaching facilities for students prior to covid19 are already stretched to the limit but UQ somehow is struggling to provide adequate PROPER resource for its Med students. They are just interested in taking money from both domestic and international students but are not interested in teaching her students.

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      • Pixel
        | Reply

        Abuse of PhD students

        The care factor for PhD students also isn’t good, and is downright abusive. They use and abuse PhD students for free labor by convincing them that even being asked to work on certain projects is in itself a privilege. They convince PhD students to work for free in exchange for the mere possibility that they can be added as a co-author of a paper.

        I did this, and despite having done the work required to be granted co-authorship – I was accused of not meeting expectations, and the work I did do was unfairly trashed by the first author.

        I also worked as a tutor, and I even had course coordinators advertising payless “opportunities” like helping out on research projects or other work that absolutely ought to be paid.

        The place is a nightmare.

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    • Liam
      | Reply

      Disgusting Organisation

      I can assure you the care factor for medical students and PhD students is also extremely subpar. Their absolute disregard for student satisfaction and mental health is very worrying. If I had a choice I would not partake in this University’s curriculum and send my money elsewhere.

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  26. Meghana
    | Reply

    piece of advice??

    Any international student who has done or who is doing a Master in Life Sciences(such as molecular biology) at UQ?
    How was your experience ? How are international students being treated? Is the degree worth it?

  27. UQ student
    | Reply

    A typical UQ experience

    UQ ranks high because of the research it produces. However, the university is more interested in maintaining their outward reputation as a go8, meeting their politically correct quotas and their courses achieving a nice bell curve distribution of grades, rather than actually teaching their students anything.

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  28. Angie
    | Reply

    Creative industries nightmare

    What a waste of time and money Batchelor of creative industries was for my son. Bugger all support for placement. Real jobs slim, plus requirements for entry jobs not even covered in course. Only jobs out there for those with connections. Biggest waste of time and money for our family. They sold a dream,. Do not sign up for this pointless degree. Please…..thank god he moved on and now has a job, paying well, no thanks to uni. Should get a refund. Rto,s have monitored standards, I question credibility of content, just not current. Enough to even be considered for work. Shame on you academic gooses.

    • What
      | Reply

      Re: Angie

      Angie only QUT offers the Bachelor of Creative Industries, you’ve left your review on the wrong uni

      Lol

      Anyway UQ has very strong Life Sciences teaching. I felt very supported in all my first-year Biology and Chemistry courses (which all have 500+ students), with all the tutors and even Course Co-ordinators opening themselves up to helping.

      UQ student support in general is also very good. I have used them a lot and always felt genuinely looked after.

      4.5 Stars

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      • Tamas
        | Reply

        'Angie'

        She wrote the same comment in the QUT reviews..

        “Angela
        July 29, 2019 | Reply
        Donโ€™t sign up for a dream……please

        Hi, my son wasted his time on this course too. They sold a dream and did not deliver. The degree is worth nothing with no jobs in this industry. Should sue them for taking the money for this course. Please get it out there, itโ€™s pointless enrolling. For any parent wanting to support their family please donโ€™t let them take this course. Only person to get a job had family reading the news, disgusting .”

  29. Rafael
    | Reply

    My experience at UQ

    Very low quality education. School is more interested in just taking student’s money and putting in minimal effort to teach. Student teacher ratio is very high ( a lot of students to one instructor) This effect is seen especially in anatomy classes. 90% of the time, my friends and I have no access to an instructor and we all end up learning things ourselves. The personalised education experience is virtually non existent and do expect to be just one of the students studying at a diploma mill, where the quality of teaching is mediocre at best.

    A lot of lip service action by the faculty and they cannot seem to understand why so many students are struggling and do not like their experience here. Lecture materials are not vetted and not uploaded on time almost half the time. The worse of all is the school of public health. A lot of stuff are not taught but are magically expected of the students. Based on their rationale, you might as well become a research god prior to enrolling in their course.

    The aim of UQ is just to make money off students but they are not invested in the educating the future generation. I am by no means a struggling student but I am appalled by how bad some of the courses are structured. UQ doesn’t want you to do badly (reflects badly on the school) but they don’t want you to do too well as well (grades inflation). This can be a problem especially for many who want a higher GPA. (Problem is that the content is not assessed properly like in the MD program. Assignments are very subjective and depends utterly on which marker you get. You can write a very good piece and get a low grade if the work piece does not fit the palate of the marker and vice versa.

    Ranking does not correlate to good teaching although UQ likes to promotes themselves via their ranking. Embarrassingly, their ranking is not that fantastic and pales in comparison to other universities out there in the world. Nearly all my friends and I regretted studying at this ‘establishment’. I recommend UQ as a last choice option.

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  30. Po
    | Reply

    Hehe

    I think you idiots need to shut up and suck it up. I am doing a Doctor of Medicine degree and I get straight 7s for everything. Maybe you lot are just dumb. Oops, did that hurt your feelings?

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    • Todd
      | Reply

      Wow.

      Straight 7’s for book smarts, straight 1’s for class.

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    • NoName
      | Reply

      NOT a doctor

      That’s no way for a future doctor to be treating someone

    • Po Po
      | Reply

      Ok buddy.

      No you didn’t. You’re clearly an individual with the mental capacity of a wet sponge. Couple that with the fact you write like a 13 year old, I pray you’re trolling. Heaven help anybody that goes to you seeking medical advice.

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  31. Sally
    | Reply

    Okay.

    I studied a Bachelor of Communication at UQ part time over a LONG time (2006 – 2013). The sandstone cloistered main sections of St Lucia campus are indeed beautiful, inspiring and Hogwarts-y. Clubs & Societies are abundant, the uni bar was a cheap and casual place to hang out, the Duhig library (the main HASS library) was great, and many of the subjects and lecturers/tutors were excellent (and many were not).

    Now that I live in Victoria, I feel like my degree holds some sandstone university prestige, in the way that Unimelb and ANU degrees do, without real merit. A beautiful place to study (but painful location for most of Brisbanites), but just a bit of a meh dinosaur university in some regards.

    • Sally
      | Reply

      Also I find the comments about grading kind of unfounded (at least at a university-wide level), as I received many 7s throughout my degree (and have zero network/neoptism affiliations).

  32. Sarah
    | Reply

    Caroline's an idiot

    Caroline, I work at UQ and have processed grades in many Schools. Has it occurred to you that your work may actually not be worth a 7?? There are many students who get just under 85% and there are many who get over 85% If you are unhappy with a grade, there are processes in place to review your work and apply for a remark. If you address and satisfy the remark criteria your work will be remarked by a second marker. If your grade comes back under a 7 there may be a reason fur this ! I administer this process and can tell you, many students are successful in having a piece of assessment remarked and a final grade changed. You are talking rubbish and sounding just like a student who didn’t get the grade they wanted and can’t be bothered following the re-mark procedure. All grade distributiobs are reviewed by the HoS, the process is rigourous, and yes, the turn around time is quick because it has to be, course enrolments can exceed 1000, we have a grand total of 2 weeks to get the papers marked and grades uploaded.. You have no idea.

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    • Ahmed Muhammad Lee
      | Reply

      A dose of truth.

      It is common at UQ for staff to respond aggressively to criticism, it is a part of the culture. It is also common for a different grade structure for overseas students in comparison to local students. This is in reality a multi-million dollars business that has a vested interest in attracting overseas students. For example any comments criticizing China for it’s aggressive military expansion in the south China Sea are quickly slapped down in fear of offending Chinese students. Any conservative comments are slapped down, any comments debunking the established left wing doctrine of staff are slapped down. For a institution that purports to champion diversity any divergent comments are quickly attacked. Want to attend UQ, make sure you are a good little communist first. It is very possible that grades for high achieving local students are artificially kept low to give room on the normal curve for overseas High Fee paying students.

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      • Gavin
        | Reply

        Hmm...

        On the contrary, social science classes are riddled with far-left fallacy. Do you know how difficult it can be to write a paper on a subject that has zero credibility?

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  33. Ruby
    | Reply

    UQ Gatton is better than St. Lucia

  34. Tom Phillips
    | Reply

    UQ has a very big campus, with very nice gardens.
    However when it comes to the buildings a lot of them have fixtures and amenities that seem like they’re from the 1970s. In other words a lot of there rooms are old fashioned, but not the good kind of old fashioned.
    The university created it’s own company for printing called coop, which exists to sell overpriced course booklets with a plastic binder- something like 17$- that you could most likely print off yourself at a normal printer for 5$.
    Then there’s the bookshop where you can find other books and textbooks that are bruited by the lecturers, mainly because they co-wrote them and want you to buy their book.
    You must be very careful when it comes to borrowing books, because if the book you borrowed gets recalled and you don’t check your emails the library will reduce the time you can borrow it, and if it is past 7 days after the altered due date then you will incur an obligatory 20$ ‘processing fee’. In other words UQ is trying to bleed you of everything you are worth by any means necessary, while supplying some very talented, and at other times mediocre teaching staff; well from my experience anyway.

    • Derek Morg
      | Reply

      UQ is a well-established university, with well qualified academics and a beautiful campus.

      Really did think I need to reply to clarify a lot of what this review says.
      Yes, there are buildings made in the 1970s, it is a massive campus that has probably 30,000 students at one time and also a few thousand staff and researchers. They do a lot of renovating and upgrading but it takes time to get to everything. I’m personally pretty happy with the facilities available and the quality of the infrastructure. The campus is open to everyone, come take a look and decide for yourself.

      Coop charges printing at 9 cents a page currently for black and white (18 cents if you print double sided). They also do offer binding services and such. You are not obligated to go to them. You can print your material anywhere you want. They offer a service that’s all. If a $17 booklet costs $5 by printing yourself, I’d like to see the printer that prints at 3-4 cents a page.

      Yes, textbooks are mainly written by professors. There is a rigorous process to ensure that these textbooks are of high academic quality and are typically published by reputed publishers. You are mostly not required to buy the textbook. Here’s another helpful point. There aren’t that many experts in each specific area. If you take constitutional law, there may be 50-60 academics specializing in it at a high level (as full professors for e.g.). UQ would employ a few of them, who them write a textbook on that area of law. If you buy it, you can sell it after finishing the course and mostly incur $10-$20 per book, which is a small percentage of the thousands you paid for the course.

      When you borrow a book, you normally get the typical 2 weeks borrowing time. What the library does, as a benefit, is that they let you keep the book longer if no one else puts in a request to borrow it – often times up to a month. If another request comes in, you get an email to return it in a few days. This instruction is clearly mentioned when you borrow the books and any reasonably competent reader will understand them (and we all should be if we are going to university).

      There will always be things to criticize but in my book UQ gets a lot of things right and is largely interested in a collaborative process to improve its services. The student union is great in advocating for student rights and interests – such as standardized rules on exam procedure, more frequent buses, campus safety issues as well.

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  35. Craig
    | Reply

    Yes Caroline you are right. I worked in the Engineering School a few years ago. After marking all the exams i was summoned by the Dean who was demanding to know why Jenkins only had a 6 grade instead of 7. This fellow had not remarked the exams, and he thought I must be very ignorant not to know that Jenkins always gets a 7. He changed the marks accordingly and I did not work there again. Corrupt.

    • Ahmed Muhammad Lee
      | Reply

      Corrupt?

      So someone disagrees with you and that makes them clearly corrupt? You certainly sound like UQ staff.

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      • Jade
        | Reply

        Your comments are extremely cynical, biased and aggressive, which makes them extremely unreliable. Thank you and I will ignore them all.

        PS: It’s pretty funny to see you label everyone you dislike a UQ staff and leave one-star in literally every comment. That’s some spirit. Also, a good little communist? As a Chinese, I’m glad I am only a socialist and still get admitted.

  36. peter
    | Reply

    Yes, UQ has certainly had a few scandals in recent years. Two of the senior staff at the medical school got 2 year jail sentences for falsifying research results.

  37. Jimmy
    | Reply

    Caroline – don’t you realize that the upgraded grades are reserved for the special few. The Vice Chancellor’s daughter got a special upgraded grade a few years ago so she could get into medical school. Sweep it all under the carpet!!!

  38. Ella
    | Reply

    I attended UQ for two years and recently deferred my studies but I’ve decided to return this year. From my experience during those two years I loved campus life and the clubs within the university, the university has amazing facilities and I loved going on exchange to New York. My teachers have always been well informed though many don’t seem particularly passionate about what they teach.

  39. Caroline
    | Reply

    Very bad experience at this university, and I have been studying for 6 year, have two Master’s and one Bachelor’s degree, studying both in Australia and in Sweden. I have never seen a less organized grading system anywhere and as a student you feel less empowered. Students have no control or say in their grading and it is done last minute, so when the final grade comes out the student has to go through hell and back to try and change a grade. Which seems impossible.

    I have talked to so many students that end up with 83-84/100 for their final grade, including myself, leaving us standing with one or two points under the highest mark for the course (with no reasonable explanation, as the rest of the assignments get the highest mark). It is too much of a coincidence to believe that we always happen to get just below the line and the fact that this happens so often seems to suggest that it happens on purpose. The teachers must be getting paid and taught to never give high grades or 10/10, which is shocking because it is such a high ranked University and it seems very petty. At least talking to the teachers usually means you have some influence and can meet on common ground, but not here. I would never recommend this university.

    • Ahmed Muhammad Lee
      | Reply

      Stastically impossible.

      Absolutely correct, my recent grading in one course, 4 pieces of assessment. 83.5%, 83%, 83%, 85%, giving me a total grade of 84% overall. The feedback on the work did not give any real reasons for this type of grading. I will be appealing and asking for a remark on every piece of work.

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