“I am just about to finish my first semester as a Postgraduate Finance student at USyd, and I can tell you one thing for sure, the experience has been priceless!

“After finishing my undergraduate degree, I felt like I still needed to develop as a student and most importantly, I wanted to get away from London for a while and discover another continent and culture. I wanted to have more sun in my life, and there’s no better place to be able to have a great education and at the same time be able to enjoy the outdoors than Sydney.

“I am sure some of you might be thinking, how do I choose my course, university or city? I was in the same place, but after doing my initial internet research, I was fortunate enough to have come across Study Options and that made the whole process a lot easier.

“They were so helpful to me, answering all my questions, via email and telephone and when I had narrow down my choices to 5 universities, I sat down with Stefan Watts for about an hour, and that was it. He was so helpful, he has lived and studied in Australia before and was able to give me some great tips and clarify my remaining doubts about moving abroad.

“I can firmly say that the whole application experience would not be the same without them! But remember, they are here to help us, so appreciate all the effort!

“But do not be scared to take the jump and get on the plane. The people in Australia are very open and respectful to others, the campus is always full of activities, there are so many clubs and societies, (please make sure you join at least a couple), and if it takes you more than 2 days to get to know somebody, you must be doing something wrong!

“I have joined the soccer team and a couple of business school societies and this has made my adaption a lot easier here. Regarding accommodation, I made the choice to apply and was fortunate enough to get into one of the residential colleges within the University of Sydney – Saint Andrew’s. Even as a postgraduate student, the life at a residential college is very unique one. There are so many social and cultural activities, such as choir singing, acting, dancing, academic and faculty dinners and of course, the inter-collegial competitions. It is a vibrant environment and one that will enable you to meet some incredible people along the way. If you have any extracurricular talents, and think that you are good enough to represent the university in any of the hundreds of teams, of even your desired college, you are more than likely to receive financial support in exchange for your participation in those teams, do not be afraid to apply, it can make your life here a lot easier.

“Like London, Sydney isn’t a very cheap place to live, but as I knew that beforehand I came prepared to find a part-time job as soon as possible. To be able to work at any venue that serves drinks, in Australia, everybody needs to have a RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol). It is a very straight forward certification to obtain, you only need to fill in a questionnaire, of about 50 questions, which they send you the reading material for, and pay a fee of about AU$100. Finding a part time job is also another way to get to know people in the city and the city in itself.

“In regards to the University and the course, the University of Sydney is one of the most respected universities in the country, so do expect to spend a lot of your time preparing for classes and revising, and do not let any material accumulate, as there are plenty of assignments between exams. In my case, I had the option to choose between many lecture times and days to suit my preferences. I am currently doing 4 subjects per semester and I have to be at university at least 4 times a week, for a minimum of 16 hours. However, USyd provides many extra free workshops and tutorials for most of the subjects, so for some weeks I can easily find myself spending up to 22 hours at the university. In addition, the University has an enormous exchange programme available to students, with universities from Canada, USA, Asia, South America and Europe. Please check it out, as it can be another opportunity for you to visit another country whilst studying!

“Taking everything into consideration, this has been by far, one of the most exciting 4 months in my life, and I am positive that the remaining 18 months on the course will be just as awesome!

“Do as I, and many others did before, with the help of Study Options, go and study in Australia or New Zealand, you will make incredible memories for the rest of your life!”