Email: thomasavink@gmail.com/t.a.vink@tilburguniversity.edu
Study Program: Psychology (Criminology during exchange)
Exchange semester: Summer 2014 (February – June)
Host University: Griffith University
Country: Australia
I
General Information
Griffith University is located in Brisbane, the third biggest city of Australia. The city lies on the east
coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. The university has 5 different campuses, 4 in Brisbane
and 1 in Surfers Paradise (Gold Coast), which is located approximately 1,5 hours south of Brisbane. I
spend my studies at the Mount Gravatt campus, which lies in the south of Brisbane, pretty close to
the Nathan campus. Mount Gravatt is relatively small, but the location is beautiful, halfway Mount
Gravatt itself. The Nathan campus is bigger, and easily accessible with the free intercampus-bus. At
Nathan campus, there are more facilities for eating and drinking. For example, there is the Unibar,
which often has special meal-deals for students, and every Tuesday it is open until 00:00 for partying,
which is fun and relatively cheap as well, compared to normal bars in the city.
In my opinion, Brisbane is a beautiful city, but not every exchange student I spoke with was as
enthusiastic as I am. However, the weather is pretty warm most of the time, but there can also be
huge rain showers that may even last for days. For touristic purposes, Brisbane is not the most
interesting city, but that might be a good thing for students so that there is not too much distraction.
However, I never got bored with walking through Brisbane, especially the South Bank area, a sort of
boardwalk next to the Brisbane river.
Griffith University offers about 300 different studies and programs, spread across the campuses. It’s
good to look up on which campus certain courses are given, because it may not always be easy to
travel between them. However, Nathan and Mt. Gravatt are easy to combine. With all the campuses
together, there are about 43.000 students, from all over the world that study at Griffith.
I chose to study Criminology. It was required to take at least 3 courses, and for me there was not a
limitation about from what year they were. Eventually I took 4 courses, which was not too much, but
even though there are not that many lectures, there are still assignments in every course, so it is
probably better not to take over 5 courses. However, I can’t speak for other studies, so there might
be differences there.
II
Practical Information
Before leaving:
All the material was delivered in time by Griffith University. I recommend being as fast as possible
with registering for courses, since some of them can get full. You have to do this all by yourself, so it
is important to pay attention to it.
Visa procedure and arrival:
Getting a student visa was pretty easy, as soon as you have you Confirmation of Enrolment from
Griffith. However, my visa was only valid for a certain period of time, if you want to stay longer then
that it is good to be on time with requesting a new visa, since some of them may take longer to
receive. My student visa was about 200 euros. There are different student visas, so make sure to get
the right one.
It is possible to get picked up by someone from Griffith, if you decide to live on campus. Although I
did live on campus, I had some family friends that came to pick me up. The pick-up service from
Griffith can be arranged when applying for living on campus. As I mentioned, I lived on Mount
Gravatt campus, and the reception was good. The people are very friendly and they try to help you as
much as possible.
Orientation/Introduction activities:
There are several orientation activities at Griffith. There is the general orientation, the exchange
student orientation and some studies have also orientation activities of themselves. Obviously, the
exchange student orientation is very good to attend. When I was there, there was a special trip for
exchange students organised to Byron Bay, and that was a perfect start to get to know other
students and Australia itself. I really recommend that trip to everyone! I think that participating in
any orientation helps to get to know people, which is very nice of course. Griffith also has a special
organisation, the Griffith Mates, and they are able to help every new student and they also organise
a lot of activities all over campus.
Housing:
I lived on Mount Gravatt campus. There are two options when it comes to living on campus, being
catered or self-catered. Catered people pay extra rent, but that includes food in a dining hall, three
times a day, every day. It is good to book in advance, since self-catered has cheaper rent (but you
have to get and cook your own food) but it has also limited options. I was too late with booking to be
self-catered. Besides living on campus, there are also other possibilities. There are special buildings
for students to live in, for example Genesis and Uni Resort. These are good options as well, it
depends on your own preference. I personally liked living on campus, because it is very easy to meet
new people and it is also convenient to be close to the university itself. Griffith can help you with
finding a place as well.
Living costs:
Living in Australia is pretty expensive. Luckily I had some savings that helped me, but it is probably
good to loan some money from the government as well, although this may differ for everyone. I’d
say it is probably cheaper to live on campus as self-catered then catered. Alcohol is really expensive
in Australia and in no way comparable to Tilburg, so I’d say that Australia is not a good place to get
drunk or whatsoever! Transport is not too expensive, since there is a special Go-card for students
that gives discount to students. When you travel with one, make sure to have your student ID with
you, since the fines are ridiculously high! My study did not require any books, but that may be
different for other studies.
Academic Calendar:
The orientation period was the last week of February, and my courses started the first week of
March. The lectures ended about halfway June, and the last two weeks of June the exams take
place. There is a break mid-way, where students have one week off. There are also some public
holidays, like Australia Day for example. My housing ended after 30th June.
The International Office:
The Griffith staff that is responsible for the International students are extremely helpful. Every time I
had a question, they were very quick in responding per mail. There is also a real office where you can
visit them. I didn’t need that, but the staff is very nice and helpful, so going there is never a bad idea.
Social Activities:
Griffith University offers a range of social activities. During orientation week, there is an information
market with every student organisation, from soccer to bushwalking. The Griffith Mates also offer
activities for students, like playing International Trivia on every Tuesday and stuff like that. All these
activities help in meeting new people, either Australian or other International students.
Culture and language:
I didn’t really experience a culture shock in Australia, since the culture is mainly western. However,
there are definitely some differences, but they didn’t shock me in a way that was unpleasant or
something like that. One difference is that Australian people are very friendly and helpful, more than
people in the Netherlands. A lot of the sentences end with ‘mate’ which is quite fun to hear. Also,
everything is really laidback, especially in smaller cities near the coast. People seem to live very lowpaced, which I like. The language is English obviously, but sometimes the Australian accent can be a
bit difficult to understand. Australians tend to use a lot of abbreviations, so it might not always be
clear what they mean. For example, service station is ‘servo’. It is possible at Griffith to take English
lessons, but I didn’t take them, so I don’t know much about them. I did not meet so many Dutch
people at university. I’m not sure if that is normal, but be prepared to speak English almost all of the
time. In Brisbane, there are not that many Aboriginals, but if you travel to the north or centre, the
culture is different. If you travel there, I would recommend having some information about
Aboriginals and their culture.
Personal experience:
It was really interesting to go to Australia. Although the main culture is not that different, I found it
very interesting to learn about Aboriginal Culture, since I did not get taught about it in Dutch high
school or whatsoever. I think my study in Australia will look good on my resume later. I met a lot of
nice and interesting people, some of them from completely different cultures, en I really enjoyed
hearing their stories about it. I don’t think I would do anything differently or that I regret anything,
although in hindsight living on campus would not have been as necessary as I imagined. Before my
arrival, I was not really nervous about going alone, but more curious how things would go, but I can
recommend going alone on exchange. It is easier to meet people when you are alone, and you get
more into the culture of your country of destination. Overall, I can really recommend going on an
exchange.
III
Academic Information
Academic level at host university:
The courses I took were all in English, and I think that is the only option at Griffith. As I said, I took 4
criminology courses, that are listed further below. I really liked the courses, especially Offender
Profiling, because all the material is from actual crimes and the professor was very good. I would
especially recommend that course. I think the level of the courses is pretty similar to the ones at
Tilburg University. I did one first-year course, and that one was pretty easy, so if you like to be
challenged more I’d recommend taking more second or third year courses. The style of teaching is
also similar to Tilburg, with lectures being more theoretical and tutorials more practical. One
difference is that the courses at Griffith consisted not only of an exam, but also an assignment and/or
presentation, which I didn’t have so much in Tilburg. The teachers were usually very nice and easy to
approach in case you would have a question or anything. I passed all my courses, so I’m happy with
what I achieved at Griffith.
Exams:
Exams are a bit different than in Tilburg, although this depends on the course. Some exams consisted
of writing essays, some of multiple choice questions and some open questions. The open questions
exams usually consisted of about 10 questions, and you had to choose 4 out of 10 questions to
answer. The time for each exam was different, in contrary to Tilburg. Another difference is that once
you are registered for the course, you’re automatically registered for the exam belonging to that
course.
Other:
The facilities were very good at Griffith. The library was easily accessible, although it is not open as
long as the library in Tilburg is. At the Mount Gravatt campus, there don’t seem to be many
computers, but I never experienced problems with getting a computer. It is also possible to bring
your laptop, and use the wifi of the university.
Description of courses:
Prerequisites
None
Exam
Written, short
essays
ECTS
10
2003CCJ,
Understanding
Imprisonment
2011CCJ,
Offender Profiling
None
Written
10
None
Multiple choice
10
3016, Race, Crime
and Justice
None
Written
10
1008CCJ,
Understanding
Social Problems
Comments
Overall not too
difficult, includes
mini-test and
essay
Includes
presentation and
assignment
Very interesting,
includes
assignments
Mostly focuses on
Australia and
Aboriginals,
interesting but
not that easy
Tips for future students:
Overall, I would really recommend students to go on an exchange at Griffith University. Australia is a
great country, and Griffith a great university. I would recommend to start preparing everything in
time, since there are a lot of things to take care of. As I said earlier, keep an eye on the course
registration, so you can be sure to follow the courses you want, and that you are on the right campus
and all.