[學習] 昆士蘭大學心得感想:學校與課程介紹 My Experience of Studying at University of Queensland: Introduction of UQ and the Program

*English version below

一方面是怕文章太過冗長，所以這篇先簡單介紹一下學校和我的課程，算是比較工具型的目的，讓大家了解這裏的制度，之後再來詳細分享從申請到學習的過程與心得。另一方面是當初說要來澳洲讀書還滿多人不理解，大概是因為台灣人出國留學國家近10年來以美英兩國為主。但其實根據教育部的我留學生出國簽證資料顯示，民國103年時澳洲留學的簽證人數為5,237人，已經超越英國的3,826人，成為僅次美國（14,135人）、排名第2的國家，因此我覺得應該要讓大家了解一下澳洲留學的相關資訊。


[學校與課程簡介]

校名/ 昆士蘭大學 University of Queensland

學制/

• 第一學期從二月開始
• 第二學期從七月開始  (兩個學期都可以入學）
• 學期長度：實際教學十三週、學期中間有放假一週、期末考前有溫書假一週

學校特色/

• 歷史悠久：1909年建立，為昆州第一所大學
• 校譽優良：澳洲八校聯盟之一；該聯盟是澳洲享譽國際的八所頂尖研究型綜合性大學，包含墨爾本大學、澳洲國立大學、雪梨大學...等等。學校排名則大約落在全球50名左右。

課程名稱/ 旅遊、飯店與活動管理碩士學程

課程特色/

• 我選擇的是「授課型」碩士，意即不用寫論文，修課完成就取得學位；另外也有研究型碩士選擇，要繼續念博士的人就要選擇這個啦～
• 大學是相關領域畢業的可選擇1.5年的碩士，而我不是所以要讀2年
• 兩年課程的畢業條件是基礎課程＋三個領域要修滿32學分（一門課2學分），所以有些人是一個主修，然後隨意修其他兩個領域的課；雙主修，不修其中一個領域；或不選主修，三個領域各修幾門課程

優點/

• 布里斯本與台灣只有2小時時差，想馬麻時可以聯絡～
• 兩個學期都可以入學，所以準備時間比較彈性
• 授課型碩士對想要繼續深造但不想寫論文的人很適合
• 學校國際學生很多，因此給予學生的幫助很多，從學業到生活都有
• 學期比台灣短，暑假從12-2月有三個月長！（寒假是1個月）

缺點/

• 台灣學的是美式英文，所以需要花點時間適應
• 學期短所以比較緊湊，第一個月上完就要期中考
• UQ學費年年漲，而且比一些學校昂貴
• UQ是學術研究型大學，有一說是相較之下，業界比較喜歡偏重實務的昆士蘭科技大學

✎✎ English Version ✎✎

In this article, I'm only writing about the information of education in Australia, and I'll save my thoughts on studying here for the following post(s). The reasons for this are to make my posts concise, and to let people know more about the education system here since Australia has surpassed the UK and become the second place of Taiwanese students' choices of studying abroad.

[Profile]
University Name/ 昆士蘭大學 University of Queensland

Semesters/

• Semester 1：Feb.
• Semester 2：July
   (Students can start their programs from either semester 1 or 2.)
• Length of a Semester: 13 teaching weeks; 1 week of mid-break; 1 revision week before the final exam period.

University Features/

• History: Founded in 1909, UQ is one of the oldest universities in Australia.
• Reputation: A member of Australia's research-intensive Group of Eight, including Australian National University, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, etc. According to the official website, UQ is a top 50 university as measured by the Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities.

Program Name/ Master of Tourism, Hospitality, and Event Management

Program Features/

• I chose the master degree by "coursework", which means that I will get my degree by taking courses but not by doing research.
• Students with bachelor degrees in relative fields may study the 1.5-year program; others like myself may study the 2-year program.
• The graduate requirement of the 2-year program is to obtain 32 units (2 units per course) by taking all the foundation and core courses, and some of the other courses in the three fields. Therefore, students may graduate with one major, double majors or non major.

Advantages/

• The time in Brisbane is only 2-hour earlier than the time in Taiwan so that it's not a problem to contact friends and families in Taiwan.
• Students can start their programs from either semester 1 or 2 so that there's less pressure when preparing to apply.
• Coursework degrees are suitable for students who would like to learn more without the pressure of writing a thesis.
• There are a lot of international students in UQ, and therefore the uni provides both academic and living assistance.
• Semesters are shorter than the ones in Taiwan and the summer vacation is 3-month long! ( The winter vacation is one month long though.)

Disadvantages/

• American English is taught in Taiwan, so Taiwanese students need time to adjust to Australian English.
• Due to shorter semesters, the courses are more intense, and the period of midterm exams is only a month after the semester starts.
• Due to the policy, UQ's tuition fees become higher every year. UQ's fees are higher than some other universities as well.
• UQ is research oriented. I once heard that the employment rates of QUT graduates are better than UQ.