Student Report
Deakin University
Spring 2015
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
I got an email from BI in the middle of June, saying I was accepted to Deakin University.
Applying for a visa
I had a hard time getting a visa. It did not go through the website system, so after many emails
and phone calls I found out I had to print the visa, fill it out and send it by post. It was
processed a few days later. I got a receipt on e-mail, that is the only confirmation you will
receive. It cost about 3000kr.
Travel
The semester at Deakin started 2nd week of March. Because it started so late I had two months
to kill, therefore I travelled in Asia before I came to Australia. I also travelled the east coast of
Australia before I came to Melbourne. Travelling by plane around Asia and then to Australia
is pretty cheap, and it is easy to travel around by bus or train in Australia.
Housing
It is possible to stay at campus, this is something you have to apply for pretty early, it is
popular so you are not guaranteed a spot. The school also has a website where private persons
can list their spaces for rent: https://studystays.deakin.edu.au.
http://www.gumtree.com.au is also a good website, which is about the same as Finn.no. There
is also https://flatmates.com.au, this is the website where I found the house I stayed at.
I stayed in a house 10 min walking distance from the university. The house was super nice
and it was nice living close to school. I didn’t go to school much, because you can decide to
have school only a few days a week, which will give you plenty of time to travel around and
explore the city. My biggest regret is that I did not live in the city. Great areas to live in are
Richmond and Fitzroy.
Costs
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
NOK 8000
NOK 3000 (total)
NOK 2-3000
NOK 400
NOK 2000
Per month
Culture and language
I had no trouble with language, except for some Aussie slang, but I learned that pretty fast.
Australia is an amazing country! It is very easy to travel around and there is so much too see.
I would suggest travelling before or/and after, because weekend trips are not enough and it is
also fun to stay in Melbourne for the four months you live there. Melbourne is such a cool
city. Make sure you google Melbourne’s best brekky places and best bars and visit them.
(Urbanlist is a good website) Melbourne has some of the best food, coffee and beers I have
ever tried.
Australians are the friendliest people I have ever met. It is super easy to make friends and you
can make friends anywhere you go. They are super hospitable. I had so many great
experiences where we were invited to stay with total strangers, get dinner or borrow their car.
Also make sure to visit Torquay. I went down there to surf every week and met the greatest
people every time. Torquay is the start of The Great Ocean Road, which probably is my
favorite area in the whole world. You drive along the coast for hours and it’s just beautiful.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Deakin University is located in a suburb of Melbourne called Burwood. The university has
four different campuses. The one in Burwood is the one closest to the city. I heard the
waterfront campus is beautiful and you are close to surf and beach, but I am not sure if you
would be able to business units there.
Course registration
I registered for courses around January. The international office at Deakin will email all the
information you need and when you have to do stuff. You can change units during the first
weeks of the trimester.
I had Management, Strategic Management Resources, Business on the Internet and Business
Analytics. They were all very similar to classes I had already had in Norway, so I did not
learn much from them.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
Other:
24th of February
9th of March
5th of June
7th to 19th of June
Easter break
Arrival
The week before O-week we had a welcome trip to a cute beach town outside of Melbourne
called Lorne. We stayed in a hotel for three days and had different activites such as yoga,
biking, surfing, hiking, limbo, quiz and also great meals. It was an amazing opportunity to
make friends. I felt like I had friends from my very first day because of this. It was also an
amazing trip!
The O-week is just a bunch of parties that you can get tickets to. They all get sold out really
fast. You don not get a buddy group or anything like that, so it is not super important to
attend. I went to one party, and I actually was lucky enough to make friends with some really
cool people.
The International Office
They take really good care of the exchange students at Deakin. The lady I emailed with before
I arrived was super nice and quick to respond.
Social activities
Australians are curious about foreigners which makes it easy to make native friends. They are
super cool and easy going.
Deakin Uni has a exchange student group called DSAC which you pay $15 dollars to join and
you get to attend a bunch of parties, theres a movie night, you get to go see a footy game etc.
It is very cool!
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
In each unit you have one seminar and one lecture. The seminar is an hour lesson where you
discuss or do tasks. The lecture is two hours and is similar to BI lectures. The profs are very
similar to Norwegian profs.
I would say the level is not too hard, depends on what classes you choose. I ended up taking
two first year units which were super easy and the second year units had tricky exams.
Exams
Your grades are usually based on a paper half way through the term which counts for 40-60%
of your grade and also a final exam that is two hours long. In some classes there are also
group projects. This is described in the unit guide, so you can find out what your classes
requires. I found it very useful to read through so I could avoid group projects.
Library and technology
Deakin is a very innovative school and therefore their technology is on a high level. For
example are all of the lectures being filmed so you can watch them over again later. The
Burwood campus is relatively new.
The library is small and you have to be early to get a spot.
Description of courses
Course code & name
Exam form
Prerequisites
Comments
none
Approved
as
Elective
MIS 213
Business on the
Internet
MIS171
Business Analytics
MMH230
Strategic Human
Resource
Management
MM132
Management
2-hour written
exam
2-hour written
exam
2-hour written
exam
None
Elective
Includes
Excel
None
Elective
2-hour written
exam
None
Elective
I had the time of my life. Melbourne is an amazing city! It has such a great vibe. I did not
learn too much on the academic side, but it was the best personal experience I have ever had.
Socially I learned a lot, and this is mostly because I travelled here alone and that forces you to
make the most out of it and it gives you the chance to make the exchange experience to
whatever you want. I also improved my English and expanded my vocabulary.
Do not hesitate to contact me through the International Office if you have any questions!