General information about the school
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is divided in two campuses; Gardens Point (Business
campus) located in the city centre and Kelvin Grove located about 10 minutes driving north of the
city. Gardens point is located right next to the Brisbane River and the Goodwill Bridge and also
close to both the botanical garden and the Kidney Lawn (huge park next to the school). Because of
the many different studies and the big amount of students the school is divided into several blocks
(from A-Z). There is about 40.000 students at QUT, however this number is the total number of
both campuses.
You will find both business, laws, engineering and chemistry to mention some of the studies at
Gardens Point.
The study structure is quite different from what we are used to in Norway. In most units you will
have to do several assignments during the semester (reports, presentations, mid semester exam etc.)
which will have an impact on your grade. This removes some of the pressure on the final exam, but
forces you to do an effort during the lecturing period. The lecture theaters are usually a little smaller
then at BI and might vary a lot depending on the size of the class. In popular units with many
students, they usually arrange the same lecture two or three times a week because the class is too
big. This gives you the possibility to choose between some alternatives that will make your
timetable better. In most units there is only one lecture per week and the lecture will usually be for
two hours. In addition to lectures you will have one tutorial in each unit which lasts for about 1
hour. The tutorial is in a class room with only 15-30 people. Usually tutorials are being used to
discuss issues, being placed in groups and do presentations etc. You will be more involved in
tutorials then in a lecture. The relationship with the lecturers is not very formal, about the same as at
BI. I did not have any classes with an attendance policy, however this might not be the case for all
units so this should be checked up with the lecturer.
The school starts the 27th of february, but the orientation week starts at the 20th. 27th of february is
considered week 1. Mid semester break is the 7th week, just before week 7. The break is about 10
days. Week 12 is the final lecturing week and exam period starts around 10th of june. The absolute
final exams are at 26th of june.
Practical information
Information from the University
All information from QUT comes by mail. They will send you all the information you will need
with links and explanations on how to apply for units etc. They are also quick to respond on e-mails
and the international office is really friendly and helpful. You might have to use the QUT web-site
at some points if you struggle with some of the school papers.
Visa procedure and travel experiences
You will apply for your visa online. This is a quite simple process and does not take more then
about 15 minutes. As I applied it didn't take me more then 22 hours to get my visa approved. The
visa costed about 3500 NOK. I booked my ticket down to Brisbane through Kilroy which BI
recommends as they offer a student flexi-ticket. The price was about 9000 NOK, about 1500 more
then what you could get it for without the option of changing the return date. Once ordering the
ticket you should try to plan as good as possible when you want to travel back as you might only be
offered one or two dates within a 10 day period of when you want to go back. Travelling from
Norway to Australia is quite exhausting as it takes between 25-40 hours in total. Be prepared
bringing some comfortable pillows and something to close out the noise on the airplane and some
sleeping pills if you struggle with sleeping on the plane.
Academic calendar
Arrival date: Recommend to arrive a little before the orientation week that starts 20th of february
First day of semester - 27th of february
Last day of classes – About 6th of june
Exam period - 8th of june - 26th of june
Any special events – mid semester break 6th -16th of april, Brisbane River Cruise and Stradbroke
Island trip
Reception
The reception at the school was really good. You will be offered to be picked up at the airport for
free and driven to your temporary/permanent accommodation. As I arrived Brisbane already two
weeks before the introduction week, I went to the University already the first day where I got
information about student card, travelling card, questions I had about the units, student life and so
on and also information about the schools accommodation office. The international office was well
prepared for us to come and helped us out in the beginning. There was also a «buddy» program that
gave us the opportunity to get in touch with an aussie that could help us and introduce us to the city
and the campus. Depending on how long you have been in Brisbane this might be helpful.
Housing
QUT doesn't offer any student accommodations at the campus, you will therefore have to find a
place to stay somewhere in the city or in a suburb outside the city. You should hold this as a high
priority when arriving Brisbane as it makes it easier for you once you have a permanent
accommodation to focus on learning about the city, school life and socializing with other students.
QUT offers an accommodation service in the Z-block that helps you find a place to stay. Usually
this is being done by them gathering a group of people and a real estate agent picks you up at unit
and drive you to 2 or 3 houses so you can take a look at them yourself. This is a very good offer
where you also get introduced for some cheaper options. Rent is being paid every second week,
normally the rent will be somewhere between 125 – 290 AUD a week (around between 750 – 1750
NOK a week). If you want to live fancy, Urbanest will probably be your best option, however this is
quite expensive. I lived in a big house with about 20 rooms in East Brisbane, a suburb about 10
minutes with bus from Brisbane city and had a wonderful time there. By living in a big house you
get to know many other exchange students right away, even though your house probably wouldn't
be the best place to study as it is barely ever quiet. The house had two kitchens, a great backyard,
three showers and two toilets in each floor and two living rooms. I will absolutely recommend to
live in a big house as you get to know so many people and you always have someone to travel with
if you want to go somewhere. You should be prepared that not all real estate offices in Australia are
very professional and that you might face some issues with them, such as getting mailbox key,
getting stuff removed from your room, get something fixed if it's broken etc. Be prepared to ask for
what you will need before you sign the contract and do a good inspection on the room for damages.
Costs
As mentioned, renting costs can be between 3000 NOK a month and 7000 NOK a month. If you
choose to share room with someone you will save quite a lot of money which will give you more to
spend on travelling. The price level in Australia is quite high, however pretty much everything is
cheaper then in Norway. If you choose to make a decent dinner back home it will probably cost you
between 30-45 NOK. Buying a beer in a bar/night club will cost around 30-40 NOK. Travelling in
Australia is quite expensive, especially if you have to fly. A return ticket to Cairns, Melbourne or
Sydney from Brisbane will be between 600-1800 NOK. Travelling in the city is also quite
expensive. Once you get down to Brisbane, you should go to the University and get your
studentcard right away. With this you can get a GoCard (travelling card) with concession (student
discount). You don't pay a monthly fee with this card, but you charge it up with cash when needed.
A typical 10 minutes bus drive will be around 10 NOK. However if you want to travel to the Gold
Coast it will only cost you around 30 NOK, a trip that takes about an hour and a half with public
transportation (train and bus).
Cell phone bills would not be very high, depending on how much you use your phone. For 40
dollars you can get unlimited calling and texting in Australia with 4GB internet included which
should be the maximum of what you will have to spend, however you will probably have to spend
less. Make sure to bring an unlocked phone when you travel, otherwise you will have to buy a new
one with a new sim card.
Text books for the studies are quite expensive, somewhere between 600 – 900 NOK. I solved this
out with borrowing the books from the school library for free through the entire semester.
Using your norwegian bank card might also be expensive for you as they tend to charge you around
12 NOK every time you use it. I will therefore recommend to check if there is any banks back home
that can offer free usage abroad (I think Skandiabanken might have this), otherwise you should get
an australian bank account. Westpac or Commonwealth are the two biggest and I have good
experiences with Westpac. It costs about 400 NOK to transfer from a norwegian bank down to an
australian bank, so make sure that you transfer big amounts every time so you don't waste lot's of
money in the transferring process.
A final advice is to bring several different identifications. Norwegian drivers license is accepted ID.
You can also get an australian 18+ card to use when going out, this card costs around 250 NOK and
takes two weeks to get. Make sure never to bring all your ID while going out as it is a really
complicated process to get new ID once you loose most of it.
Social activities
QUT offers both a River Cruise and an Island Dreaming trip in the beginning of the semester. I
strongly recommend to attend these two events, specially the Island Dreaming trip which is great
fun. Surfing, hiking, kayaking and partying get you in touch with many other exchange students, it
is really worth the money. This is the two main events that the school arrange for the exchange
students. Connect with the other students on Facebook and join the international groups to catch up
on the events coming up as most of the students have something going on all the time. Exchange
students stick together down here, but you also get in touch with aussies in the tutorials. They are
really friendly and open with the exchange students so it is all up to yourself to get in touch with
them.
There is several student organizations at school that you can join if you want. They will be on
stands during the orientation week and the first week when the school starts. There are also two
norwegian organizations, NorSK and ANSA Brisbane that hosts events where many norwegians
attend if you would like to meet other norwegians.
It is also quite normal that exchange students organize trips together as there are many cool places
to travel close to Brisbane, such as Byron Bay, Noosa, Fraser Island, Coolangatta and Surfers
Paradise.
Culture and language
The Australian culture is quite similar to the norwegian culture in most ways, however the aussies
are more laidback and social then norwegians. They don't stress under any circumstances which
might be both chill and frustrating at times. Australians in general are friendly, positive and
unformal.
The language shouldn't be any problem as most of them speak clear and simple english. I strongly
recommend to live and hang out with internationals forcing you to speak english, rather then to
hang out with other norwegians at all time. This makes it way easier for you to get the language
quick and you also learn way better by speaking english at all times. In my house I lived with
around 15 native english speakers which gave me valuable training and extended my vocabulary a
lot.
Academic information
All courses are being taught in english and all textbooks are written in english. Depending on the
courses you pick I will probably say that the workload is bigger at BI then at QUT. Obviously this is
also so because the exchange program has a pass/non-pass. Teaching is more practical back home
because of the tutorials where group work, presentation and other activities are being used. The
level of the textbooks is about the same as back in Norway, but usually when writing papers you
will have to gather several other sources and use them as references in your text.
There are different kinds of exam forms, usually multiple choice, short answer questions or an
essay. The final exams last for 2 hours so they are way shorter then what you are used to from
Norway. They rarely count more then 50-60% of your grade because of former assignments you
have done so the exam pressure is not as big as here. Most of the exams questions are from
presentation slides in lectures and mini issues from tutorials.
Students got access both to the online and the school library at all times. The online library is very
useful when writing papers as you get academic references there. There are quite many computers
in the library building, however they are generally quite occupied. I will strongly recommend that
you bring your own computer. You connect to the school internet the same way as you do at BI. You
should be prepared that the internet in Australia in general don't hold norwegian standards in what
comes to speed and stability.
QUT use their QUT Virtual/QUT Blackboard (same as BI's Its-Learning) to hand out information
about the units and the assignments. You might also need the Blackboard to hand in papers and you
can get your marks back online as well. Both the QUT Virtual and the QUT Blackboard is good
pages once you get to know them.
Description of courses
CLB 101 – Australian Culture and Society
Prerequisites: None
Exam form: 20% of your mark is a presentation, 30% is a multiple choice quiz in the end of each
tutorial about the subject from last lecture and 50% is the final exam which is divided in two parts;
one short essay (500 words) and one short answering questions.
Comments:
Not relevant to the business study, but in learning about australians and their culture. The unit is
quite easy and popular among exchange students. The unit is quite practical as 50% of your grade is
from presentation and multiple choice quizzes.
AMB303 – International Logistics
Prerequisites: You have what you need from BI to take this unit
Exam form: 20% of your mark is a presentation with a supporting paper (1000 words), 30% is a
paper of 1500 words and 50% is short answering final exam.
Comments:
Relevant and required from BI that you take a chain supply management/logistic course. Difficult
level is average, the unit is quite theoretical.
EFB312 – International Finance
Prerequisites: You have what you need from BI to take this unit
Exam form: 40% of your mark is a mid semester exam, 60% of your mark is a final exam. Both are
multiple choice.
Comments:
Relevant for business studies, covering international monetary policy and trading. The unit is
theoretical and difficult level is above average.
MGB225 – Intercultural Communication and Negotiation skills
Prerequisites: You have what you need from BI to take this unit
Exam form: 60% of your mark is a paper of 2000 words, 40% is negotiation simulations in the
tutorials where you get marked on your preparations and evaluations of the negotiation simulation.
Comments:
Relevant to the practical life in business, learning about differences in cultures that may lead to
issues in negotiations. The negotiation part is really good where you get 5 different cases where you
have to prepare a strategy and tactics and predict what the other team is going to bring back at you.
The difficult level is about average and the unit is about 50/50 practical and theoretical.