Details

• Australia
• MACEMS-25
• Graduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months
• Contact: Login to see contact information

1. Preparation

As part of the CEMS MIM I was assigned to go to Sydney to take part in the exchange program. Since CEMS is a very standardized program there was not much preparation needed as far as course choices etc. is concerned. However, I needed to get my visa, housing and flights organized - thankfully the whole CEMS community (active students, alumni, and future Sydney students) was very helpful. Finally, I got a spot in the Queen Mary Building, which is the cheapest student accommodation close to the main campus - it was decent and had everything I needed. When booking my flights I decided to split the journey, which allowed me to reduce the costs of the flights and spend the money rather on two additional trips. I flew from Munich via Istanbul to Singapore, spent some days there and then continued towards Perth, where I travelled around WA for one week before I eventually travelled to Sydney.

2. Accommodation

As I said, I was living in the QMB student dorm ( it costed a bit more than 1000 €). Its location was alright, the room was modern, I shared the bathroom with the floor and the kitchen with the whole house (which was definitely an experience). Therefore, I would recommend renting out a room in a town house somewhere close to the water - if you were able to spend a bit more of money on housing.

3. Academic life at host university

The campus of USYD feels like you are in an Oxford movie (maybe Harry Potter). It is very nice to stroll around, has a lot of cafés, restaurants and sports facilities. However, all Cems courses were taught on a different campus, which is in CBD. Its is quite nice regarding the central location and feels like an office environment as it is on the 16th/17th floor of an office tower, it has meetings rooms, chill out areas, class rooms, a kitchen and two lovely campus managers who almost always provide you with leftovers of executive meetings. The teaching style is quite similar to WU. I had to take all Cems core elements and could only choose one elective which was a USYD MIM core (Data Driven Management Decision Making), it was taught by a very enthusiastic stats prof and I can recommend taking this subject compared to the ones that my friends chose. Overall, grading is very tough at USYD and "you did a great job on this assignment and I was stunned by your paper" can result in an unequally satisfactory mark.

5. Every day life in the host country

Australia overall is a very safe country with some exception in Western Sydney and the far north of QLD. I always felt safe when I was out, also during the night. Public transport is ok, but for trips you should rent out a car. In Sydney, you are eligible for a student concession card which caps your weekly expenditure on public transport to something between 20 and 30 AUD. In QLD every transport fare is only 50 ct even between cities like Gold Coast and Brisbane, in Melbourne CBD public transport is even for free. Aussies live a very active liifeytely, they get up early, gor for a sunrise run, swim and then head to work, therefore coffeeshops already open at 6 am but also close at 3 pm. Nightlife is ok, but not comparable to Europe as places like CBD are quite empty by midnight and alcoholic beverages are very expensive (around 10 euros for a beer). So, in my experience Australia is something for hikers, surfers, swimmers, runners, or for anyone that wants to become a bite more active.

6. Testimonial

I had the time of my life in Australia. I could meet so many people from all over the world, experience the Aussie lifestyle, see a heaps of beaches without being fed up with it. My highlights will also be the bbq on the beach, the friendly people and the vast amount of untouched land and nature.