Uni There vs. Here

Just a reminder people here don't use the word 'college' because it has other meanings. Instead of a college student I am a uni student. :)

Many people often ask me what the differences between uni here and uni in the states are. Which is harder? How much time do you spend in class? So here are some of the main differences that effect me. And I must point out this is from an Engineering basis because I have many friends here who have very different experiences than I do.

Hours in class.

This semester I have 20 hours in class. If I had gone to ISU this semester I would have had 17. BUT!!!!!!!! here I only have 12 hours of lecture a week, the rest of it is either labs or tutorials (smaller grouped classes with a tutor to help you out with lecture content). At ISU I would have had 15 hours of lecture and 2 hours of lab a week, although those lecture were most likely a smaller class than my massive lectures here. There's definite pros and cons to both schools.

Available online?

Overall, I find that UNSW has many more resources available online. ALL of my lecture notes are posted there, and they're all quite detailed, making sitting and paying attention in lectures much more enjoyable as I'm not scrambling to make sure I've gotten everything written down. Most of my lecturers also post the answers to all example problems and give other resources you can use. At ISU if you weren't in class you were never going to see those notes again. Overall I find it a lot easier to successfully study outside of class because much more resources are offered here.

Emphasis on Exams

HOLY COW!!!! At ISU most of my classes (MOST not all) had various assignments, quizzes, and exams throughout the semester that helped you gain some points before final exam time. While my classes here do as well, the weighting is much different. For example, in Thermodynamics last year at ISU I had 3 different exams all worth 25% each and then homework due each week that totaled to the final 25% of my final grade. Many of my classes were set up in a similar basis, multiple exams each worth a fairly equal amount although there may have been a little bit of emphasis on the final, and then quizzes and homework as the rest of it. In Engineering here, it's pretty much all in the final exam. Of my 4 classes (which all do have various quizzes and assignments as well), my final exams are worth 60%, 50%, 50%, and 40%. This is one of my biggest complaints about UNSW as I think very few people consider themselves to be 'good test takers.'

And lastly, the thing that makes me miss ISU the most, calculators. :( At ISU it was basically a requirement to have a programming calculator. I love my handy dandy TI-89. It makes life as an engineer so much easier. UNSW has a nice list of approved calculators for use on exams and quizzes, and none of them are programmable. Sad face.

That's all I'm going to post about right now. There's probably other differences as well but this is what's on my mind at the moment. Remember this is from an engineering perspective at both ISU and UNSW. I know it varies a lot depending on what you study.