Details

• Australia
• BBE-18
• Undergraduate
• SoSe 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 10 months
• Contact: Login to see contact information

1. Preparation

Apply to QUT early, you'll need a confirmation of enrolment to apply for the visa, and the faculty itself are generally quite slow with paperwork and approving things (for example I emailed them about wanting to switch out a course in the beginning of March, got a reply in June). The exchange team is really helpful though and generally reply fast. The uni offers to organise your healthcare, but they book it for much a longer duration than your studies - it'll cost more because of it. The visa expiration will be tied to your healthcare so depending on how long you want to stay this is not necessarily a bad thing, but if you book it yourself you can specify the end date and save a bit. Once you have confirmation of enrolment and healthcare you can apply for the visa. If you're from EU they pretty much auto approve it. If you're non-EU or there is some issue with the application (e.g. if you've been to a high risk country before you might need a medical check) it can drag out though so plan accordingly. I recommend getting there a a week before welcome week so you can get settled and get to know the place a bit beforehand. Welcome week is really a must, there are heaps of events around campus and you will meet a lot of people during that week, also everybody is new and looking for friends so it's the easiest time to get to know people.

2. Accommodation

I lived at Student One Elizabeth Street, lots of people on exchange stay either there or at S1 Wharf Street. I paid 300 aud per week, but they have increased it quite a bit since then, so depending on your budget looking for a flat share might be cheaper. At student one the earlier you apply, the cheaper it will be (I applied in August, a flatmate of mine around January/February and paid 80 more per week). It's also cheaper if you book it for longer (for us it was 40 weeks minimum, I believe they changed it to a year since then). If I remember correctly you can cancel your contract a bit before you arrive, so there is not much risk in booking even if you're not 100% sure if that's where you would stay. The dorm is in the CBD so everything is really close, uni is a 10min walk away. I had no issues with safety anywhere in the country. One drawback I had with the dorm is that it was in a really busy part of town and I had some issue with street noise even at night, so if you're sensitive to that it could be a problem. But I lived in the room closest to the street, it's probably better in other ones. Also as long as everything works fine, there really are no complaints but as soon as you need something repaired they will take their time.

3. Academic life at host university

QUT has two campuses, Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove, you will have all your courses at GP, but I recommend visiting KG as well it's quite a nice area. Campus is a really nice place, it's also next to the Botanical Gardens, it's a good place to go on a walk if you need a break. The uni has a medical practice as well, that's the easiest place to go to a doctor if you need anything. They also have a gym and swimming pool. There's no attendance requirement for most courses, and most lectures and tutorials are recorded so you can watch it on canvas. I took Finance and the only courses where I had to go were the two capstone tutorials. This makes it really easy to study in your own pace and plan trips or other activities. Their marking style is a bit different than at WU, getting full marks is generally harder. They don't explicitly grade on a curve but they do try to make sure not everybody gets the best grade, so you might get harsher results than you would expect. There's a rubric that tells you what they look for in assignments but sometimes the marks still feel a bit arbitrary. I highly recommend asking for a review, most professors will be happy to regrade an assignment or exam since not many people actually ask for it. Especially for exams, it might be somebody else than your professor who grades it initially, and the regrading is usually more lenient - for one of my courses I got 9 extra marks in the end.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport is not as good as in Vienna but within the city I had no problems with it. A ride is 50cents in South-East Queensland, so it's definitely the best way to get around even if it takes a bit longer. The uni has many clubs and societies, there's one for exchangies, rock climbing, surfing, volleyball etc. You can also join clubs at UQ so look into those as well. I honestly can't imagine a better city for exchange than Brisbane. The climate is great, summer is really long and winter is more like late September than actual winter (the other cities do get colder so plan your trips around that). There are lots of options for day trips, I highly recommend Gold Cost (Burleigh beach specifically) and Straddie (also good for camping). For a weekend trips Noosa and Byron Bay are both great options.

6. Testimonial

Doing the Double Degree has definitely been one of the best choices I've made, and I cannot recommend it enough. Australia is a beautiful country to live in, the nature is truly amazing and even the more touristy spots don't feel crowded. And it's really special that you can go to the best places and there will barely be anybody there. I also loved the laid back casual attitude of Australians, they are very friendly and easy to talk to. I've also made many close friends while I was there.