Enskilda enkäter för Exchange report/utbytesrapport Person 14 Basic Information 1. Name John Carl Philip Hallehn 2. E-mail address: hallehn@me.com 3. Exchange university Deakin University 4. City Melbourne 5. Country Australia 6. First semester of your exchange Swedish autumn semester (HT) 7. Academic year 2014/2015 8. What subject area/s did you study during your exchange? Marketing/International Relations 9. Level of studies at the exchange university Postgraduate 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Management of International Business 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 4 Studies 12. Tell us about your studies on your exchange. If you are stuck for ideas you can for exemple write about: The differences between Uppsala University and the exchange. What were the teachers like? What courses would you recommend (or not) for future exchange students? The relationship between teachers and students. The academic level and quality of your courses. Access to computers. Examinations... Deakin Uni is divided into 4 campuses of which I studied in Burwood (Melbourne). The tutors were very helping and developed personal contact to the students and there were never any problems asking questions. However, the quality of the studies were very low, compared to postgraduate studies in Uppsala. You learned basic things which should have been tought in undergraduate. The workload itself were as it should be, but when it comes to examinations, it felt like the mark you got depended more on the examinator than yourself. Even if I spent the same effort in two different papers, it ended up with me almost failing one of them and receive the highest mark of all students in another. I read through all the course material, something I learned from, but it was irrelevant when it came to examination. From an academic point of view, I think Uppsala University should terminate its contract with Deakin University, but since so many people wants to study in Australia and Melbourne/Deakin Campus can offer so much else except for studying, give them another chance. If you want to get something out of your studies you should pick another University, but if you want to have a good time abroad, Deakin can fulfill the purpose. Orientation and reception 13. Tell us about how it was to arrive and settle in. Deakin offers free pickup at the airport, which is nice. They also have a three day trip for free where you meet all the exchange students. That trip was the best Uni-activity I ve had. Since they re very helpful, all the information you ll need comes to you, often twice. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 38 av 396
Enskilda enkäter för Exchange report/utbytesrapport Accommodation 14. Describe your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satisfied? Do you have any tips for future students? I stayed at Collins st in the heart of the CBD area/city centre. I fixed accommodation myself via Gumtree on arrival. It took three days of which I stayed on hostel from the day I started searching for an apartment until I got one. From there it s an hour on the tram out to Burwood. You ll have to choose between living in Melbourne CBD where most of the activities are offered and campus where most of the international students stay. In both cases, it will cost you a bit over 200 dollars/week. Your finances 15. Describe the cost of living. Did you find CSN adequate? How was the rent in comparison to your rent in Uppsala? Did you undertake part-time work in addition to your studies? When it comes to costs, accommodation is a bit more expensive. Otherwise it s almost the same as in Sweden. You ll get a concession card for public transport and a trip to uni is less than 2 dollars. Free time 16. What did you do in your free time? Did the university arrange any special activities? Where there any activities specifically for exchange students? Were you happy with what was on offer? Melbourne is all about eating and drinking. They offer food from the whole world, from budget alternatives to fancy restaurants. You can spend years trying to find all the hidden bars and cafés in the lanes of CBD. Melbourne s also famous for its coffee culture, and there are certain places you have to visit. Naked espresso for coffee, Manchester Press for brunch, Gazi for greek food and Naked for Satan (Fitzroy) for drinks should be on everyone s bucket list. Melbourne also offers theaters, musicals, footy, horse racing and Formula 1 if you re there in March. Your exchange on the whole 17. Please sum up your exchange experience. If you have any other tips for future exchange students, or any other comments feel free to include them here. There is a reason for Melbourne always being ranked as the best city in the world to live in. It really is fantastic. Based on Melbourne, everyone should get the chance of studying there. However, Deakin University is not living up to the high quality education Uppsala University offers. Approval 18. Your report will be available for future exchange students in printed form at the International Office and will be sent by email to individual students requesting it. Do you also approve the publishing of your exchange report on Uppsala University s website? Yes 19. Do you have any photos you would like to upload and include in your exchange report? - 20. Please tell us a little bit about the picture/s. - 21. Publishing of pictures - Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 39 av 396
Enskilda enkäter för Exchange report/utbytesrapport Thank you for submitting your exchange report! Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 40 av 396
Person 95 Basic Information 1. Name Glenn Johansson 2. E-mail address: glenniis@hotmail.com 3. Exchange university Deakin University 4. City Melbourne 5. Country Australien 6. First semester of your exchange Swedish spring semester (VT) 7. Academic year 2014/2015 8. What subject area/s did you study during your exchange? Management, Marketing Management, Strategic Human Resource Management, Business Communication 9. Level of studies at the exchange university Undergraduate 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Human Resource Management 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 2 Studies 12. Tell us about your studies on your exchange. If you are stuck for ideas you can for exemple write about: The differences between Uppsala University and the exchange. What were the teachers like? What courses would you recommend (or not) for future exchange students? The relationship between teachers and students. The academic level and quality of your courses. Access to computers. Examinations... Ur ett studieperspektiv skiljde det sig väldigt mycket mellan Deakin University och mina ordinarie studier vid Uppsala universitet. Den största skillnaden är man i Australien läser alla kurser parallellt under hela terminen (lite som i gymnasiet), vilket har sina för- och nackdelar. Det innebär att man får en hel termin på sig att bearbeta och fördjupa sig i varje ämne, vilket är bra! Samtidigt blir det väldigt stressigt under vissa perioder, främst då alla arbeten ska lämnas in under mitten av terminen samt under examinationsperioden i slutet av terminen. Undervisningen varierar väldigt mycket i kvalitet och är flexibel (du behöver inte närvara utan kan streama allting online i efterhand). Tre av mina kurser var väldigt stora, till antalet elever, vilket innebar att föreläsningarna blev en aning opersonliga och tråkiga eftersom man bara satt och lyssnade i en stor sal. I nästan alla kurser (units) har man varje veckan även ett seminarium som man ska förbereda sig inför (obligatorisk närvaro under vissa veckor). Personligen tyckte jag att dessa seminarium var det bästa läromomentet då man fick möjligheten att interagera med lärarna och diskutera med andra elever. Överlag tycker jag att utbytesstudenter var mer aktiva och förberedda än vad de inhemska studenterna var. Den akademiska nivån är skiljer sig inte avsevärt från vis Uppsala universitet, det kanske är lite enklare men istället blir det väldigt intensivt under vissa perioder som tidigare nämnt. Jag läste kurserna: Management, Marketing Management, Strategic Human Resource Management och Business Communication. Jag kan rekommendera samtliga då man lär sig ungefär vad man kan förvänta sig. Tentorna i slutet på terminen hade väldigt övergripande frågor som jag tror att alla studenter från Uppsala skulle känna sig bekväma med ifall man förberett sig någorlunda ordentligt. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 280 av 616
Vissa tentor består enbart av multiple choice-frågor dessutom! Den bästa kursen var Marketing Management, dels på grund av att jag hade en bra lärare men också för att man var tvungen att förbereda sig inför varje vecka, lite jobbigt ibland men väldigt lärorikt. En notis är att man för att klara Business Communication behöver göra en muntlig presentation i grupp, man pratar bara i cirka 2.5 minuter per person men en del studenter visste inte om detta när de hade sökt kursen. Man har oftast en föreläsare under hela terminen och en annan seminariehandledare under hela terminen, alla är väldigt hjälpsamma! Relationen är avslappnad mellan lärare och student och ifall du hade tänkt prestera högt är en idé att meddela din seminarielärare i början av terminen att hålla ett extra öga på dig så kan du komma därifrån med ett fint rekommendationsbrev också! Orientation and reception 13. Tell us about how it was to arrive and settle in. Jag kom till Melbourne i januari, ungefär en månad innan det att skolans orientation week skulle börja. Eftersom Australien befinner sig helt på motsatt sida jorden var det högsommar i januari när jag anlände vilket var väldigt skönt och jag hade tid att resa runt lite i landet innan studierna drog igång vilket var ett plus, ifall ni har möjlighet att göra detsamma så ta den! Det är väldigt enkelt att fixa bankkonto och liknande då allting är bra uppstyrt. Kort om orientation week vid Deakin University: Hur roligt som helst (OCH GRATIS)! Man blir upphämtad i buss vid universitet och åker en bit av Great Ocean Road till Lorne där alla utbytesstudenter delas in i grupper och man får göra delta i aktiviteter som surfing, cykling, quiz och liknande. Varje kväll öppnas även en bar där alla naturligtvis samlas! Accommodation 14. Describe your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satisfied? Do you have any tips for future students? Det finns väldigt många alternativ för boenden i Melbourne, marknaden har anpassat sig för det enorma antalt studenter och backpackers som varje år besöker staden. Det går att arrangera boende via Deakin University men det är dyrt och skolan ligger cirka 50-60 minuters spårvagnsresa från centrum vilket gjorde att jag valde att hitta boende själv istället. Jag använde mig av hemsidan Gumtree och hittade boende på en dag, allt beror naturligtvis på hur kräsen man är. Jag bodde mitt i centrum på Flinders street och delade lägenhet med fyra andra för vilket jag betalade 160 dollar i veckan, priserna är relativt höga överlag och man får väga fördelar mot nackdelar i att bo centralt eller att ha lite mer utrymme. Ett bra tips för att bo smidigt är området Richmond som ligger cirka 15 minuter spårvagn från centrum i riktning mot skolan vilket gör att du bor lite mitt emellan. Your finances 15. Describe the cost of living. Did you find CSN adequate? How was the rent in comparison to your rent in Uppsala? Did you undertake part-time work in addition to your studies? Kostnadsstandarden i Melbourne och Australien överlag är relativt hög, snittpriserna är lite högre än i Sverige skulle jag tro (beroende på valutakurs). Man kan äta billigt genom att handla på marknader (främst Victoria market) eller erbjudanden som de stora kedjorna erbjuder varje vecka. Dessutom är det billigt med sushi rolls, som man lätt råkar äta några för många av på grund av priset och tillgängligheten. Boendekostanderna varierar mellan 150-250 dollar veckan beroende på vilka krav man har. En fika eller restaurangbesök går att anpassa till alla plånböcker precis som utekvällar. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 281 av 616
Free time 16. What did you do in your free time? Did the university arrange any special activities? Where there any activities specifically for exchange students? Were you happy with what was on offer? Kulturen i Melbourne är väldigt levande och man finner gatuartiser, kaféer, graffitimålande gränder överallt samtidigt som det pågår någon sorts event i princip varje vecka. Det finns också väldigt mycket sport att se i Melbourne, varje år arrangeras Australian Open i tennis och Formel 1 Grand Prix utöver footy (australiensisk fotboll), fotboll, cricket och andra sporter som spelar varje vecka runt om i delstaten Victoria. Utöver centrum (CBD) rekommenderar jag områden som St Kilda, Fitzroy och Richmond som är fyllda av kaféer, barer, nattklubbar och allt du kan tänka dig. Deakin University anordnar utöver detta många evenemang och fester som är väldigt rolig. Viktigt att tänka på är att Melbourne ligger längst ner i Australien och därför har ett lite annat klimat än resten av landet. Framåt slutet på april, maj och juni sjunker temperaturen till ungefär 10-15 grader och det kan blåsa kyligt och regna ena stunden innan solen två timmar senare värmer som en het sommardag. Your exchange on the whole 17. Please sum up your exchange experience. If you have any other tips for future exchange students, or any other comments feel free to include them here. Jag hade en helt fantastisk termin i Melbourne och vid Deakin University! Ifall jag skulle försöka mig på att ge några tips skulle jag börja med att rekommendera att antingen åka till Australien några veckor före terminen startar, alternativt stanna några veckor efter terminens slut för att resa runt lite i landet. Vid Deakin University får man också välja på olika seminarietider och på så sätt styra sitt schema i den mån det är möjligt, på så sätt kan man försöka få långhelg varje vecka vilket gör det möjligt för utflykter. Det kommer även ett lov i mitten av terminen då de flesta väljer att resa någonting, Nya Zeeland, Indonesien eller Australiens östkust är de populäraste resmålen för 7-10 dagar. Nästa tips blir att så fort som möjligt skaffa ett concession card som påvisar att man är utbytesstudent, vilket gör att man kan åka kollektivtrafik för halva priset! Approval 18. Your report will be available for future exchange students in printed form at the International Office and will be sent by email to individual students requesting it. Do you also approve the publishing of your exchange report on Uppsala University s website? Yes 19. Do you have any photos you would like to upload and include in your exchange report? - 20. Please tell us a little bit about the picture/s. - 21. Publishing of pictures - Thank you for submitting your exchange report! Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 282 av 616
Person 190 Basic Information 1. Name Simon Bergström 2. E-mail address: simon.endby@gmail.com 3. Exchange university Deakin University 4. City Melbourne 5. Country Australia 6. First semester of your exchange Swedish spring semester (VT) 7. Academic year 2014/2015 8. What subject area/s did you study during your exchange? Computer Science 9. Level of studies at the exchange university Undergraduate 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Computer Science 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 2.5 Studies 12. Tell us about your studies on your exchange. If you are stuck for ideas you can for exemple write about: The differences between Uppsala University and the exchange. What were the teachers like? What courses would you recommend (or not) for future exchange students? The relationship between teachers and students. The academic level and quality of your courses. Access to computers. Examinations... The first thing to expect when going to Australia for an exchange is to not expect much at all. Even though that does sound harsh, I will try to justify it by explaining the quality of the courses I took. I chose four units that explored some different areas within Computer Science as I have not decided yet what to focus on in the future. I studied Real-Time Graphics, ios-programming (application development for iphones only), Game Design and Mathematics and Physics for Games. The three areas would then be graphics, apps and games. Even though I really enjoyed the graphics course and I worked on those assignments the most, I was still nowhere near getting a good grade in the unit. This was mainly due to how much they expect you to spend on each unit. When taking four units in parallel you are expected to study around 60 hours a week, compared to the 40 hours a week we do in Sweden. I did not realise this until later and I could have dropped one unit in favour of being able to spend more time on the other three. So this is a major thing to consider when going to Australia, as it seems like it was like this at other universities in the country as well. The second issue with how the units run is the fact that you have nowhere enough time to get personal help, and the communication that is encouraged is using the student portal s forums to ask the teacher and other students for help. While this is a very good thing, it is not enough on its own. I had two types of sessions you could attend, normal lectures and practicals. I thought practicals would be where you got an assignment to complete to practice what you re currently studying and getting help with solving it if necessary, but it was more of a lecture in smaller groups where you were shown how to do what was discussed during the previous lecture (sometimes the upcoming lecture). Because of this it was sometimes very hard to get Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 574 av 616
help if you were stuck, if nobody helped you through the online forum. Of course, this could be very specific to Computer Science subjects, as their nature is very tricky and could in general require a lot of complicated problem solving. The third and last issue is how the units are assessed. I was surprised to learn that you could skip assignments, seeing as everything is counted towards an average. This means you could skip smaller assignments in favour or completing those that are worth more in terms of their portion of the final grade. An example would be having two assignments due at the same time, where they are worth 10% and 20% respectively. You could then skip the 10% assignment to finish the 20% one. This kind of thinking was foreign to me and I did not like it, seeing as I don t find it fair that they plan in such a way that you have to consider skipping things in the first place. On top of that, all units usually had their deadlines the same weeks, and sometimes even the same days, making things even more stressful. As a summary, I would not say that going to Australia was a good academical choice, but I have learned about how universities operate in other parts of the world. My general impression of Australian universities and its local students is pretty disappointing if I am going to be honest. My Australian classmates did not seem to bother much and it was hard to find ambitious and motivated people for group assignments. Orientation and reception 13. Tell us about how it was to arrive and settle in. The orientation that was organised by Deakin University could not have been better, I think! It was a really nice trip to Lorne for three days doing all sorts of things. I think we were around 300 exchange students there and it was an amazing event! Accommodation 14. Describe your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satisfied? Do you have any tips for future students? I lived with my girlfriend in an apartment where we rented a room. We lived with a nice 35-year old woman that was very busy, so we had the place to ourselves for most of the time. It was 220 AUD a week, for both me and my girlfriend, so it was also very cheap. We lived in Kew, which was in between my university and my girlfriend s (RMIT, in the city centre) university. We were quite satisfied with the price, but the location could have been better, as it was quite far from either of our universities. But all in all, I think it was quite okey and it was cheap enough so that we did not have to work extra (thank god, because studying on its own was enough). Your finances 15. Describe the cost of living. Did you find CSN adequate? How was the rent in comparison to your rent in Uppsala? Did you undertake part-time work in addition to your studies? The cost of living in Melbourne is quite high, and I don t think I d be able to live here at all if we did not share our accommodation costs. The loan from CSN is not enough to get around, so you would have to get a job in order to afford going out and following your fellow exchange friends on trips and events. Something that I did not do most of the time, due to not being able to afford. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 575 av 616
Free time 16. What did you do in your free time? Did the university arrange any special activities? Where there any activities specifically for exchange students? Were you happy with what was on offer? There is almost too much to do in Melbourne to be honest! I felt like there was always something happening in the city, and if not, something was always organised by other students or by the university. I tried to do as much as I could but it was very hard to keep up with both studying and hanging out with others or attending events. If I had more time to explore the city and hang out with other students, I would most likely have more to tell here. Your exchange on the whole 17. Please sum up your exchange experience. If you have any other tips for future exchange students, or any other comments feel free to include them here. As a whole I would say I had an amazing time here in Australia. However, it was mostly due to the people here. Other students and the stuff that was happening in the city. The studies was a disappointment though, as I got the feeling that the university was just out to make money. I did not feel like I got enough help and time when needing it, and you have too many assignments overall. It is VERY different compared to swedish universities, but I would still say that it is worth going. Learning this through your own experience is probably better than just reading about it. It is a good experience, I had an amazing time, and I would do it again if I could! Approval 18. Your report will be available for future exchange students in printed form at the International Office and will be sent by email to individual students requesting it. Do you also approve the publishing of your exchange report on Uppsala University s website? Yes 19. Do you have any photos you would like to upload and include in your exchange report? - 20. Please tell us a little bit about the picture/s. - 21. Publishing of pictures I approve of my pictures being published and used in Uppsala University s marketing of international exchanges Thank you for submitting your exchange report! Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 576 av 616