The two years of graduate school that I thought I could prepare, change, and decide a lot in two years came to an end. In hindsight, the disappointment is much greater than what I gained.
Sometimes, I think that the University of Technology, Sydney, or other universities in Australia are similar, so I summarize my regrets and the content of the courses. The experience is limited to the UTS Master of IT and may be slightly different from other schools.
– One of the most common pieces of advice I read when I went abroad was to study English as much as possible in Korea, and this is really the right answer. If you are thinking of studying abroad or whatever, please come and study English in Korea. However, when you encounter foreigners, it is not easy to cross the gap because of cultural differences rather than English. Therefore, don’t think about what will happen if you go abroad to study. Whether you’re abroad or in Korea, you have to study English on your own, and you don’t get English by walking around Sydney.
– When I was about to enter university, I heard a lot of stories about UTS IT being difficult and that I had to study all night to avoid failing the subject, and I had a lot of friends who failed, but now that I think about it two years later, I don’t think it’s wrong, but I think I need to adjust my perspective a bit. Well, if you go to college, you should set your grade goal at the Distinction Average. In fact, it might be better to study for the sake of the top of the field. That way, you can actually get a distinction.
When I look at the students around me, there is a group that always works hard, a group that says that they can only pass and get a diploma at all costs, and a group that often fails. In particular, since there are so many international students at UTS, there are many students who live in college roughly, and many students work part-time jobs 3~4 days a week to earn a living, so they don’t have enough time to study, but in the end, their friends who work hard and are smart work and study to gain experience and improve their grades.
– I graduated from undergraduate school early and because of my age, I naturally chose UTS graduate school, but now that I think about it, I hope that those who are thinking about studying abroad now should seriously consider undergraduate studies in terms of career change or a fresh start.
The most important difference is that life in graduate school is a bit dull. There are a lot of people who come from office workers, so they study effectively, they don’t have time at school, and their friends who are currently working at companies are so busy… As a result, they are less likely to hang out with their friends and have no opportunity to improve their local English. If you spend your undergraduate life with foreign friends who used to go to bars, play MT, and joke with your friends, your local English will improve a lot more, and in terms of IT skills, there are many friends who are smart and hackers.
Graduate school is two years, undergraduate is three years, and if you’re a little older, you won’t be able to live like you did when you were 20, but if you can afford it, I definitely recommend it. The proportion of foreigners is much lower there.
– What I was particularly disappointed about at UTS was that I didn’t get to participate in campus activities, but UTS has a lot of clubs like other schools, but if you don’t think it’s easy to live in a club with freshmen who are 19 years old on average, it’s a good idea to join an organization that aims to develop global leadership, such as the Build Society. Students of all grades can participate in various seminars and workshops for one year, learn a lot, and find contact with society. I found out late in my second year and joined by myself, but unfortunately I couldn’t overcome the barrier of awkwardness and stiffness in English, so I hope that if possible, I will join hands with a friend so that I can go steadily. Since they are young and don’t mind new faces who don’t speak English, you will have to prepare one of two things: hold your friend’s hand or put a huge iron plate on your face.
– In addition, there is a program called Working Solution that helps foreign students prepare for employment, and there is also a free course for foreign students that intensively teaches pronunciation, composition, and PT during vacations, which are very useful programs, so please participate in them.
– The jam is that UTS is surprisingly quite a large organization, and there are a lot of hidden organs, so it’s like an onion. You might graduate without figuring it all out for two years. It’s good to study the school as hard as you do and pull out what you need to extract. For example, I was introduced to Volunteer Jobs through the aforementioned Working Solution, which is called UTS: Shop Front, which connects students’ classes with the needs of budget social institutions in and around Sydney, allowing them to gain credits and social experience, as well as help with design, technology, and planning for social institutions. In fact, if I had known about Shop Front, I could have joined the project right away in my first year. Anyway, I’m still providing web-related technical help to the connected communities at Shop Front.
– If you are unable to participate in various programs on campus, we recommend that you start Alba from the day you arrive in Australia. Many foreign students work in convenience stores, ramen factories, and cleaners because they don’t speak English and don’t have any experience, but if possible, they are encouraged to start with something that will help them in their careers and gain on-the-job experience even if it is unpaid. Personally, I’m very disappointed that I started volunteering in the 4th semester. Once you enter the Volunteer.com.au, you can easily find a suitable position.
– Lastly, I would like to briefly summarize some of the lessons. Some classes are worth the money, some are easy, but there are also elective courses that require a lot of depth and a lot to learn. If you put off difficult classes according to the progress of the class and tutorial, you may be able to count for several nights and fail when you submit the assignment later, so you need to prepare in advance. In any case, having a good assignment group determines more than 50% of the success of the course. Still, you should always run with the determination that you will do 100% of the group association, and in fact, even in a group of 4 people, you will do 50% of the work yourself. Beware of lazy students and Yamche students.
. Advanced Internet Programming
: Learning J2EE, EJB, and MVC based on Weblogic 10.3.3 and Oracle, it can be quite difficult to follow if you lack Java basics, the class content is good, the professor is good, the tutor is good, both are from working developers. A must see. The tutor was Korean, but it turned out to be him. => (16) Kevin TV – YouTube
. .Net Enterprise Development
: Programming using ASP.Net 4.0 and Entity Framework, it may be quite difficult if you have weak C# basics and no experience in n-tier development. The class was average, and the tutor was good. The tutor is a working developer, and two of the students who took this class got a job at a company where he is the head of the development team. A must see.
. Project Management
: A subject that everyone finds difficult, it can be even more difficult if you don’t have practical project experience. Learn how to write an Australian project plan. Highly recommended.
. Building Intelligent Agent
: In this class, all you need to do is develop your own IA program and submit the report. 100% Freedom. If you are interested in IA, you can work on your own projects with the support of your professors. Of course, there are no exams. I was amazed by the creativity and realistic sense of the local Australian students. Who said Australians are lazy?
. Game Programming
: I went in because I wanted practical skills. Learn 3D game development using MS XNA 4.0. If you’re interested in games or physics engines, that’s great, but the requirements are pretty high.
. Lans and Routing
: CCNA Parts 1 & 2 in one semester. It was nice to learn the basics of networking, but the pace was very fast, and I would have failed if I didn’t have a friend in the same assignment group who had some networking.
So far, so far, but there was something to be gained.
. Business Application Development
: You will learn UML, which is very useful, but you don’t learn much because the professor is crap. A class that confirms the fact that you can teach even if you don’t speak English. Classes are not very difficult.
. Database
: A class for students who don’t know anything about the basics of DB. If you don’t know anything, it might be a little difficult, but if you have some DB experience, you just need to be able to use ERD and optimize under the given conditions.
. .Net Application Programming
: C# beginner’s course, it was a bit difficult because I didn’t know anything about programming, but the level required was basic.
. e-Market Trading Technology
: Learn the basics of IA and process a Java program that automatically trades under certain conditions. You don’t have to know Java at all, but if you know a little bit of C-type language (class + method), the rest is all about ideas. I give a good score.
. Enabling Enterprise Information System
: The process of analyzing requirements and creating a development plan. Easy and well scored. You don’t learn much. Beginner course.
. Internet Programming
: A course for beginner Internet developers that covers html, PHP, Java Applet, the level of difficulty is easy. A goal-slapping class that teaches the same techniques as 10 years ago. Still, it can be difficult for people who don’t know anything about the internet.
. Unix System Programming
: Learn Shell Programming and Perl. It’s a basic course and it’s easy, but it was nice to be able to learn Regular Expression.
So far, it is a rather beginner course to learn at university, and the content is somewhat disappointing, but it is a suitable course to lay the foundation. If you have experience, be sure to get an exemption.
. Information Technology Professional & Society
: One of the classes that is worth the money, I can’t tell if I came to an English school or not, but it is a compulsory course.
. Research Preparation
: Training for writing an academic paper? Personally, it’s a waste of money, but it’s a compulsory course.
. Reflective practice of IT
: Another subject worth the money, English writing + personal projects. After all, it is a compulsory subject as it is a worthwhile subject.
The last three subjects should be removed from the compulsory subject group. I don’t understand what you are teaching these things to graduate students. No matter how poor the English skills of foreign students are, it is better to increase IELTS from the admission requirements and omit these subjects. However, as long as there are students like me who want to enter university without an IELTS score, and there are people who teach these subjects with a rough and easy approach, I don’t think it will go away.
Roughly speaking, the classes are divided into three patterns.
1. It’s a waste of money, but it’s a must-have course
2. The process of building an IT foundation (useful only if you don’t have an IT background)
3. A somewhat difficult but learning process
Lastly, the way to mix these subjects is that if you follow the recommended curriculum presented by the school, it will be more time-management to enroll in a mix of easy classes (groups 1 and 2) and difficult classes (3) as appropriate as possible. If you concentrate on three courses in a particular semester, it can be really physically difficult to keep up with the classes.
I wish you a successful study abroad life. ~