Is the University of Western Sydney really as bad as people make it out to be? (2 Viewers)

[WannaBang?]

I mean, I've heard so many people say they don't want to attend UWS because "it's like a Tafe" and "because it's a shithole". Is it really that bad, or is a degree from UWS worth the same as a degree from another, more mainstream university? I'm asking because I want to do a degree in Economics and Law and I'm more than certain I won't reach the requirements of USyd or UNSW.
So, what do you guys think? Is UWS really how people make it out to be? Or is it just another Uni?

 

[fernando]

it's getting better.

 

[WannaBang?]

id love to know this too.

im thinking of going to UWS because id get sick of traveling into the city (60-90mins) to get to either USyd or UNSW..

btw. ive also heard that it has a "crap" social life

Yeah? What course are you thinking of doing?
A shotty social life is a negative because you've got to enjoy yourself to be able to achieve good marks.

 

[Besodeiah]

i think the criticism is understated actually

 

[ari89]

UWS has an absolutely horrible social scene in relation to other unis especially as everyone is spread around 6 or so campuses. To counter this I just happened to make a crap load of friends who live within a 5km radius.

The course content for the degrees is the same from uni to uni, especially with law where there are special requirements (such as core subjects) for the degree to be accredited. Furthermore, the same textbooks are used by most unis a lot of the time (and a lot of them are written by UWS teachers).

Any claim that the teaching quality (specifically for law) is poor is false. I'm a private school kid so if the teachers were shit I would be the first up themself snob to complain.
Edit: The business subjects don't usually have the best tutors tho...

The idea that a UWS degree is not worth the same as the same degree at another uni is simply the subjective perception by specific groups of people or employers. E.g. For law the prestige of USYD and UNSW is seen as a favorable by employers. However, this is not necessary. Personally I know UWS law graduates who have overcome this obstacle to get into top tier law firms such as Mallesons and AAR. But it must be said that the representation of UWS in top tier law firms is far below that of USYD and UNSW so if that is your aim be prepared to work really hard.

And remember, if you go to UWS you're not stuck there forever. You can transfer without an issue (especially to Macquarie law which has a piss easy transfer requirement for law.) Or you could finish your economics degree first and enroll in graduate law at another Uni. Or you could do a postgraduate LLM at a university more reputable in the industry.

But tbh, the only real reason why I like UWS is because it saves me traveling far.

 

[WannaBang?]

UWS has an absolutely horrible social scene in relation to other unis especially as everyone is spread around 6 or so campuses. To counter this I just happened to make a crap load of friends who live within a 5km radius.

The course content for the degrees is the same from uni to uni, especially with law where there are special requirements (such as core subjects) for the degree to be accredited. Furthermore, the same textbooks are used by most unis a lot of the time (and a lot of them are written by UWS teachers).

Any claim that the teaching quality (specifically for law) is poor is false. I'm a private school kid so if the teachers were shit I would be the first up themself snob to complain.
Edit: The business subjects don't usually have the best tutors tho...

The idea that a UWS degree is not worth the same as the same degree at another uni is simply the subjective perception by specific groups of people or employers. E.g. For law the prestige of USYD and UNSW is seen as a favorable by employers. However, this is not necessary. Personally I know UWS law graduates who have overcome this obstacle to get into top tier law firms such as Mallesons and AAR. But it must be said that the representation of UWS in top tier law firms is far below that of USYD and UNSW so if that is your aim be prepared to work really hard.

And remember, if you go to UWS you're not stuck there forever. You can transfer without an issue (especially to Macquarie law which has a piss easy transfer requirement for law.) Or you could finish your economics degree first and enroll in graduate law at another Uni. Or you could do a postgraduate LLM at a university more reputable in the industry.

But tbh, the only real reason why I like UWS is because it saves me traveling far.

I've heard that if you put UWS as a first preference for UAC, they give you a sum of money and also some extra UAI points. Do you know how many bonus points you can get? Because I heard you can get bonus points for living in the western suburbs, for putting UWS as a first preference, and if you achieve a band 5 or 6 in a subject relating to the field of study you want to get into. E.g. If I was to achieve a band 5 or 6 in Legal Study, I'll be awarded with 5 extra UAI points. Any info about UWS will be appreciated. I would research it, but I would much rather a person who is actually studying there to answer my question.

Also, do I have to be doing Advanced English to be able to get into Law at UWS?

 

[KnifeySpoony]

I'm pretty sure the max amount of bonus points you can get for uws is 10.

 

[ari89]

I've heard that if you put UWS as a first preference for UAC, they give you a sum of money and also some extra UAI points. Do you know how many bonus points you can get? Because I heard you can get bonus points for living in the western suburbs, for putting UWS as a first preference, and if you achieve a band 5 or 6 in a subject relating to the field of study you want to get into. E.g. If I was to achieve a band 5 or 6 in Legal Study, I'll be awarded with 5 extra UAI points. Any info about UWS will be appreciated. I would research it, but I would much rather a person who is actually studying there to answer my question.

Also, do I have to be doing Advanced English to be able to get into Law at UWS?

This UAI stuff is all new so I have no idea. (Except for the sum of money thing...I think you're referring to the 'Start Smart Scholarship' where the best 20 or so people with UWS as a top 2 preference get a one time payment of $2000.)

Regarding law, advanced English is not a requirement at any of the Unis. However, being skilled in English will be very useful as law is very language orientated.

 

[Wooz]

I've heard that if you put UWS as a first preference for UAC, they give you a sum of money and also some extra UAI points. Do you know how many bonus points you can get? Because I heard you can get bonus points for living in the western suburbs, for putting UWS as a first preference, and if you achieve a band 5 or 6 in a subject relating to the field of study you want to get into. E.g. If I was to achieve a band 5 or 6 in Legal Study, I'll be awarded with 5 extra UAI points. Any info about UWS will be appreciated. I would research it, but I would much rather a person who is actually studying there to answer my question.

Also, do I have to be doing Advanced English to be able to get into Law at UWS?

Your talking about the triple advantage bonus scheme, where if you live in the GWS region u get bonus points, relevant band 5 & 6 subject bonuses, and $2k if you get ur uac first pref for UWS.
http://future.uws.edu.au/ug/law
Triple advantage bonus points scheme: http://future.uws.edu.au/applynow/hsc_ug/pathways/triple_advantage

 

[doink]

Try hard to get into law @ usyd, unsw, maq or uts. The unfortunate fact is that people graduating from those universities have a slight edge over you (not because of teaching quality) because they have been around longer and some firms still only hire usyd/unsw graduated, it is some stupid thing about prestige that you would typically expect from a humanities field but it is getting better and they are taking a leaf out of the sciences book and realising its about the marks you get not which uni you attend.

And advanced english is something you should seriously consider doing if you do not wish to be at a disadvantage, since law comprises of alot of writing with sophisticated language getting into the habit wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea. Don't worry about legal studies though it is useless for law.

 

[melsc]

No, its not that bad.
Like all Universities it has its good and bad points. Prestige being something it lacks.

For law the degree is more practical than most uni's which is being increasingly recognised, it means that you get assessed in moots (mock court) rather than traditional essays, something I miss at Macquarie.

Lucky for you, Economics is also on Paramatta campus as is law so there will be no extra travel for you (which is the issue most people have).

Some of the things I didn't like at UWS:
1. The attitude of other students - most were apathetic and I wasn't feeling challenged, a lot of them acted like they were forced to be at uni and this frustrated me.
2. The ability and attitude of the academics - UWS has some great academics (Katrina and Simon for law <3) but like all uni's it has some shockers. The worst is some teach down, thinking because you go to UWS you are stupid.
3. Travel - Arts law was spilt across capuses andat one stage with the electives I chose I was looking at 4 campuses in some semesters.


All that said you will be taught the same stuff often out of the same textbooks that students at other universities are studying. With law in particular all universities are required to teach certain things. You will also benefit from new buildings and the sexiest moot court around. Its not some primitive campus and despite my transfer there are elements of UWS I miss and find lacking at Macquarie.

That said there is always the option to transfer out if you hate it, provided you put the effort in

University is what you make of it though, you can do well if you get some work experience, get involved with extra-circulars and get decent marks.

There are many successful UWS grads and I havent had it impact badly on me. I recently got a part-time job with two barristers (one of which is a SC) and both asked me about both UWS and MQ but mainly if I prefered one or the other, they couldn't careless where I went and I just make sure that I counter act the lack of prestige with good marks and other reputable activities.


Good luck

And advanced english is something you should seriously consider doing if you do not wish to be at a disadvantage, since law comprises of alot of writing with sophisticated language getting into the habit wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea. Don't worry about legal studies though it is useless for law.

I disagree. Do the English course that will get you the best UAI and the one you can handle. Even advanced english does not adequately prepare one to write at university level. All this is learnt at university and they even have courses to help people learn these skills. The art of legal writing in particular is a difficult skill to learn and your first law subjects teach you these skills.

 

[jackmurray1989]

Also depends on what career path you want to persue when you graduate. Prestige only counts in some areas.

 

[bigboyjames]

i trasnferd from uws to uts. i miss UWS way way way more.....UTS just sucks man

 

[leoyh]

UWS probably isnt that bad man. just ppl look down on it cause its not as renowned as the other unis. its kinda like looking at branded and non branded clothing. most would prefer the branded. but anyway, i hear some employers discriminate against UWS students o__o. not explicity, but u can kinda tell. so it'd be pretty hard to get a job (in the commerce field that is)

 

[wrong_turn]

the 10 extra uai points im pretty sure what your referring to is the stats test. it is also marked up by the uni in which regions they will take students.
depending on your stat score, you can get into a course within 10 points of your stat score. eg stat score = 90, uai = 80. the maximum course uai you will be able to get into would be a course ranked at 90 uai.

i disagree with uws being the same standard as say for example usyd and unsw. im not trying to be judgmental, but the fact is that uai scores in getting a place to unsw or usyd is still higher than at uws campuses.
as a result, the coherts at unsw and usyd would be a lot more competitive than in uws. the reason is that you will be competing with the top 1% in the state for your marks in law.
therefore the reason employers may tend to employ a graduate from unsw or usyd is that they realise that it was challenging enough to get into law in the first place, but to also succeed in being being challenged throughout uni life. they might know what it will take in the workforce and may have a better idea of how to deal with it.

 

[Trajan]

TBH, I was thinking about transferring to UWS but they don't really offer my major. So I guess that idea is shot.


They should have named UWS along the lines of Macquarie....perhaps Barton university or something which would help alleviate some of the negative stigma that is unjustly associated with Western Sydney.

I don't think it's that bad, a lot of peole are graduating from there year after year, getting employed in every field.

 

[chicky_pie]

If you think UWS sucks you might as well go to TAFE because TAFE is better than UWS :rofl: but why should I discuss this kind of stuff? I got 30 for my UAI.

 

[Laphonso-Ellis]

To answer the OPs question, in the simplest terms and the most convenient way possible, simply- YES.

 

[incentivation]

TBH, I was thinking about transferring to UWS but they don't really offer my major. So I guess that idea is shot.


They should have named UWS along the lines of Macquarie....perhaps Barton university or something which would help alleviate some of the negative stigma that is unjustly associated with Western Sydney.

I don't think it's that bad, a lot of peole are graduating from there year after year, getting employed in every field.

With its connections to Western Sydney, it should have been named The Whitlam University, Gough Whitlam University or similar. I believe it already has a research facility named the Whitlam Institute..

UWS contains a large cohort, of which a great percentage are not up to university standard due to the idea of exposing those who would not have otherwise pursued university education. Ultimately, it is through institutions such as UWS that university education has become devalued in many areas.

If the organisation was to intiate a name change as mentioned, reduce the number of places offered, centralise the learning areas to one or two campuses it would have a profound effect on the quality of its students as a percentage of the total cohort (and incidentally the UAI's) and dramatically improve the rate at which the university's reputation would improve in terms of producing high quality graduates.

Culling many of the pointless academic programs would also help.

 

[WannaBang?]

med sci??

any one have comments for this please?

I've got a mate doing med science, other than that, I've got no constructive comments. Sorry.