Gumal Ngurang (1 Viewer)

[jokay22]

Hi all, I'm an international student & thinking of taking an MBA in UTS.
I'm also thinking of getting a room in Gumal Ngurang. Do you have any advise for me?
- I heard that some room has balcony & one that doesn't get an air-con instead.
- Is it easy to get food from there?
- How many ppl live in 1 apartment?

Tell me anything.. Thx in advance..

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Hey,

I live at Gumal, and have been there for 18 months now. It is extremely convenient. 15 min walk to the heart of Sydney city. 2 mins to a shopping complex where there are supermarkets etc. 2-5 mins to UTS city campus.

All the apartments have balconies. There is only airconditioning on one side of the building, because the other side does not recieve direct sunlight so there isn't a big need for it. I think that the 1 and 2 bed apartments are on the side where there is no air con.

There are studio apartments (1 bed), 2 bed, 3 bed, 4 bed, 8 bed and 9 bed apartments I think. I live in a 4 bed apartment. In your bedroom you get a bed with a mattress, a desk, a wardrobe with mirror, a bookshelf and a filing cabinet. You have to supply your own bed linen. Then in each apartment there is a kitchen (gas stove top, microwave... no oven. There is an oven available on the common room on the roof) with a small lounge room with a sofa and a dining table. You have to supply your own cookware. Also, there are two bathrooms in each apartment... one with a basin and toilet, one with a basin and shower. In the eight and nine bed apartments there are six bathrooms, with three of each type, and an extra big kitchen and lounge room.

Up on the roof there is a big common room with a big kitchen that you can also use, a large tv with cable television and several sofas. There is also a large outdoor roof area where you can have barbeques, eat, hang out and study. There is also another tv and sofas downstairs in the lobby.

It is a pretty good place to live, very very convenient close to the best bits of Sydney. There isn't a huge social life but there are a few planned residential events and orientation events at the start of semester. There are people from all over the world, lots of different ages, and studying lots of different degrees.

Put Gumal as your first preference, then Bulga (which is around the corner from Gumal and has 5 bed apartments.... but it is a lot older, Gumal is quite new) as your second because Geegal is a lot further from uni and the supermarket, and Blackfriars is really crappy. You will probably get a place in Gumal anyway because it is quite a large building.

 

[jokay22]

Wow thx, great to hear it from someone who really experience it.
The studio also has a gas stove, hasn't it? Cos in SUV (USYD) the studio only has a microwave, whereas the other has gas stove.
Since u live in a 4-bed apt, u get an air-con, don't u?
Is the weather still manageable in Summer & without air-con?
I really want the 2-bed apt since the price is almost alike with the 3-bed. Great bargain I think =)

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Wow thx, great to hear it from someone who really experience it.
The studio also has a gas stove, hasn't it? Cos in SUV (USYD) the studio only has a microwave, whereas the other has gas stove.
Since u live in a 4-bed apt, u get an air-con, don't u?
Is the weather still manageable in Summer & without air-con?
I really want the 2-bed apt since the price is almost alike with the 3-be. Great bargain I think =)

Yeah the studio has a gas stove I think. I have air con in my apartment, but it isn't really powerful or anything.

It's hard for me to say if the heat is tolerable or not because I am kind of used to the heat.... it depends on what kind of climate you are used to I guess.

The 2 bed ones I have seen are nice and big because they are designed so people in wheelchairs can live there if they wish, so they are really spacious. Haven't seen a 3 bed one. The 2 bed ones only have a really tiny balcony though I think.

 

[White Rabbit]

Just get a fan - the dorms at CSU only had heating and the summers in Batho are just as bad if not hotter than Sydney and I used one of those $20 fans from Big-W and it kept me cool. You don't really need air con - I've never used it in my entire life (school aside), and those fans worked wonders. Good luck with UTS though!

 

[jokay22]

Yeah, I think a fan will do & as long as I got the balcony, it'll be fine..
Does the balcony accesible from the living room or from each & everyone's bedroom?

Thx for taking time to explain. I just hate the UTS website, it has only 1 page on Gumal Ngurang with no detailed pics. Check out the SUV website, it's great, very detailed, comes with pics & floorplans too. When I asked for additional infos from the Housing Service, they said that the only info they have is on the website. How helpful is that!?

 

[jokay22]

Hey Ashlee, when I surfed the other thread, I learned that you've also apply to USYD's SUV before finally admitted to UTS's Gumal Ngurang? Care to tell me why you choose UTS over USYD or Gumal Ngurang over SUV?

When I log in the online application, I've to pick my top 4 preference. Can I just pick 2 preference only? But the chances to be admitted's going to be smaller huh? Do you get your first preference?

 

[krisk85]

wat is the rent like, and all the other fees/bills?

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Chose UTS because they have a better journalism course.

SUV is really nice, I actually worked there for a while at the start of the year in the servery. It's pretty similar in terms of room size and apartment size to Gumal, but it has more outdoor space, a lot more residents and some services like a bar, servery and shop.

The rent is all on the UTS Housing website, housing.uts.edu.au it depends on the room size and which building you are in.

A fan would work fine if you get in a room without air con. The rooms without aircon don't get direct sun and have shutters on the balcony for shade so apparently it isn't too bad. Balcony is accessible from the living room.

I got my first preference when I applied. Gumal is the largest building, and most of the apartments are 4 bed or 8 bed... just fill in all the preferences, you will probably get one of your first two, especially since you are applying early.

And yeah, the housing website doesn't have much info.... it needs more photos and stuff, the SUV website is very good. But SUV is much bigger, and is owned by a separate company to the uni so it is designed to make profit, where UTS Housing Service is a service for the students, not a business.

 

[jokay22]

I see. Good choice then Ash..
While I'm still confused whether to choose USYD Master or UTS MBA =( Still contemplating it tho..

U know, I asked around about SUV in USYD thread.
One of the answer I get is that SUV has no heater & no air con at all.
I can live without an air con, but I dunno if I can live without a heater there.
I bet Gumal has heater, hasn't it?

and THAT person said UTS's worse than SUV.
I guess he hasn't visited Gumal, eh?

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Gumal isn't worse than SUV if you are talking about on a room and apartment basis.... they are pretty much similar. The other UTS residences are worse though. Gumal isn't as big as SUV and doesn't have an outside area, that is the downside.

It is basically like an apartment block.

You could always buy a little heater if you end up at SUV. Gumal does have heating. Sydney winters aren't that cold anyway.

Pick based on your degree more than the accomodation, it's just a place to live, the degree is the most important thing.

 

[jokay22]

Ashlee,
how about the internet connection.
Does Gumal provide a unlimited access or..?
If I should have a wireless provider, do you have any recommendation which one?

Thx..

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Yeah there is no internet connection, most people connect wirelessly through unwired or iburst. I have unwired and it's not too bad.... apparently the signal is better in some parts of the building than others. There are phone lines in the room so you can pay for broadband access and a landline phone, but it is pretty pricey to get it connected, the wireless providers are much cheaper.

They used to have an internet connection last year at Gumal but it was horrible.... dropped out all the time, was super slow and quite expensive. And the company ripped so many people off in this building (including me) because they encouraged you to pay for the whole semester to get a discount... and then since you had paid and couldn't threaten to disconnect when you rang to complain that your connection wasn't working they basically just ignored most people. It sucked.