Details

• Australia
• MASIMC-17
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 3 months

1. Preparation

Before applying, it is important to know that - unlike other universities in Australia - the Melbourne Business School (MBS, part of University of Melbourne) is an MBA school. That means: 1. It has a different term schedule: instead of trimesters, it has 4 terms per year, and the term that corresponds to the winter semester is term 4, starting around mid September and ending early December. 2. It educates students who are mostly already active in the workforce, between 25 and 35 years old. While they bring in a lot of valuable working experience, they have limited time budgets and might not have a lot of time for leisure activities. 3. Grading is curved and relative: That means your mark will be compared against the class average and to get an A, you have to perform significantly better than the class. It's common to get the equivalent of the Austrian "C", and it's harder to get both "A" and "D", respectively. If you care about your grades a lot, this might be a concern. 4. You'll need 2 years of full-time working experience before. In my case, it was 1 year full-time and 2 years part-time. After reaching out to the International Office, I learned that both the MBS and WU were quite tolerant with that. In case you're unsure in your situation, I would advise you to reach out to the International Office yourself to check before applying. 5. Classes are taught at night (6-9pm) and/or on weekends (both Saturdays and Sundays).

2. Accommodation

You have two main (affordable) options: 1. Student Accommodation 2. Private Shared Housing Benefit of 1) is that you can book far in advance and have peace of mind. Drawback of 1) is that it is quite costly for what you get, and student dorms tend to be quite central in the CBD (where it tends to be very busy and loud). There are also not seldomly lock-in periods of 6 months and extra costs for booking outside the usual trimester schedule (which will apply to you if you choose to study at MBS). Benefit of 2) is that you'll get to know some locals (Aussies or many other nationalities) that can help you have a smoother start. Also, it tends to be more cost-effective (you get more room space for a lower weekly rent). Drawback of 2) is that - unlike in Austria - rooms are rented out quite spontaneously. I was looking to find a place by start of September and only successfully locked in a sublet agreement by mid August. Not seldomly, people in platforms like "Flatmates" would tell me I am way too early and that they're looking for someone to move in next week. Overall, I was happy to live without peace of mind way ahead of my exchange and opted for 2). I was very lucky and lived with a Colombian couple in Abbotsford, 3067 VIC (very nice, quiet, and green area about 15-20mins out of the CBD). Staying with them was a core part of my experience here.

3. Academic life at host university

The campus is significantly smaller and less modern than the WU Campus. Still, studying there was a very pleasant experience. It features a more comfortable and cozy setting. The campus offers a nice cafeteria with great options and events where you can meet all sorts of people. Lecture halls are well-designed, technologically well-equipped, and pleasant to sit in. Academic culture - like at WU - is very professional. Teaching style tends to be a mix of lecturing and interactive elements (little cases and group projects), similar to WU (speaking from experience in the SIMC master). Exams are held very professionally with supervision. In my case, all exams were open-book, but AI was not allowed (and strictly supervised). Course quality is generally high. There are both weekday courses (always taught at night from 6-9pm) and weekend blocked courses (both Saturdays and Sundays). You can distinguish them from the Term 4 Timetable provided by MBS.

5. Every day life in the host country

Melbourne offers a great quality of living, similar to what you're used to in Vienna. It features: - Culture & arts (and many events), - Coffee (!!!) - this is a big one if you're a coffee lover, you literally cannot run out of places to go to - Food - with so many different cultures here, you'll never get tired of eating out - Acceptance and open-mindedness: Migration to Australia is huge, particularly Melbourne. With so many nationalities present, you'll likely be accepted for who you are and feel very welcomed. - Sports: Aussies love their sports, and Melbourne is a big hub! Especially outdoors sports. - Green areas: filled with parts and reserves and the Yarra River, there is plenty of green space to breathe and relax. Public transport is not great, but it does the job. You'll not have as smooth an experience as you do in Vienna. The trams are quite slow, and tend to get stuck in traffic (Melbourne is quite a car-dominant city). My recommendation is to get a bike - cycling is a big thing here, it's generally safe, and you'll get to know the city quite well very quickly (and it's so much faster than public transport). Public transport is also quite expensive (at currently AUD 5,50 per ride). It uses a card called "Myki" that you can tap on and off with during your rides to deduct your fares. Melbourne - like Vienna - tends to be generally safe. At least in my experience (notably as a man), I have not felt unsafe at any point during my stay. In the vicinity of Melbourne, there are many great options for daytrips (Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island, Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula) or longer trips (Tasmania, Adelaide, Sydney, etc.).

6. Testimonial

My exchange in Melbourne has been a fantastic opportunity to visit Australia, get to know the country in more detail than I could have during a vacation, and to expand my horizon and see how things are done on the other side of the world. The best part was to feel what it's like to live in Melbourne: I took part in sports events and classes, cycled through the city, and got to know many people from both Australia and other parts of the world living in Melbourne together in harmony. This was very likely an experience that was unique to the couple of months I spent here in Australia.