Residential Colleges in Uni of Queensland (3 Viewers)

[sunnybuns]

hahaha..i'm a canadian randomly coming to australia.

 

[sunnybuns]

Just got an email back from cromwell about references:

Hello *,

If you received an academic reference when you left school or from education qualification received since school, then submit that academic reference. The Principal needs some idea of your academic ability. It it not acceptable to submit two personal references.

Regards,

Rhoda Hooper

not any help since i dont have either of those types of references. Guess I'm going to have to run around my old highschool and hope some of the teachers are there

 

[Billy Shears]

I'm looking for help!
I have an interview at Cromwell in november, but have never been interviewed for anything before, what do I need to know? Can I prepare for it?
Can someone help me (e.g. Starbaaa, Crikket and the rest)

 

[Trev]

Billy Shears, I had an interview at Cromwell but I did not get in, I had a combined interview with my friend who actually did get in.
Being the absolute cock he is, the president (Mr. Begbie) of Cromwell for some reason, unknown to all that had an interview with him, was confronted with the fact that he was "next to his wife as she died by her side", people I have asked about this were confronted by this fact that is so no relevant to whether we attend Cromwell or not!
Anyways, honestly I do not know anyone that recieved a UAI equivalent of below 80 at Cromwell, but I have been told that Johns College does not accept anyone with an OP below 5 (ie. below 90 UAI). Goodluck with your application to Cromwell, and if you get in I will definately see you around seeing as though I am always there as it is an awesome college that I have lots of friends at!

I just realised I strayed away from the question you asked:
a) I tried preparing for it (I just read over my friends 'med interview' tips, that cost a few hundred
b) I "failed", according to Begbie (fuck he's an absolute cunt) there were too many applicants that are doing engineering - he did not want too many engineers. [Tip: this is bullshitting along, but if you want to do engineerng which is one of the most common courses, say you are aiming for a different course like physio or dentistry if you have the marks for it, or something like that which colleges want!)
c) Goodluck, honestly you never have a 100% chance of gaining entry to a college at UQ, but if you do, fuck it's so much fun!

 

[starbaaa]

Um, I don't know that there's a whole lot you can do to prepare yourself. I mean, most of the questions are going to be about you. Have a think about what you can contribute to college life (I know, stupid concept. But you'll probably be asked it), and try and recall everything you've ever participated in. Sports are good, so is music (seriously, even if you sang in the school choir in yr 5, or can strum 3 chords on the guitar. Play it up, they'll love it), and anything 'cultural' (I'm thinking debating, public speaking, that sort of thing). And anything involving teams. Seriously, rack your brains for everything you've ever participated in, and then brag about it. They love involved people. But don't go overboard, obviously. Other than that, you'll proabably be asked something obscure about what freedom means, and then be given a mini-lecture on what responsibilities you have now that you live away from home, and how college is a very unique environment. Thats about it, really. Oh, and you'll proabably be asked on how you heard about/decided on Cromwell. If a family member went there, mention that, if not (and this is what I did) talk about how you were looking at all the college websites (or visited them at open day, or whatever), and Cromwell struck you as the most community-focused and friendly college, somewhere you felt you could really fit in.

There's probably something in what Trev said about the engineers thing. However, I wouldn't reccommend lying, especially if you've already sent in your application and it says engineering... but yeah... he (I mean Begbie) probably doesn't want too many engineers. And don't worry about the UAI thing. There are at least a couple of people who got under 80. I only got 81. It won't matter too much.

Well, good luck. Anything else you want to know?

 

[Billy Shears]

Thanks Trev,
I've got friends doing interviews for UNSW in 2 days and another with an interview for St Johns in october so I'll try to mooch interview tips off them

 

[Billy Shears]

"b) I "failed", according to Begbie (fuck he's an absolute cunt) there were too many applicants that are doing engineering - he did not want too many engineers. [Tip: this is bullshitting along, but if you want to do engineerng which is one of the most common courses, say you are aiming for a different course like physio or dentistry if you have the marks for it, or something like that which colleges want!)"

Crap! I want to do engineering

Thanks for the advice too Starbaaa, I'll have to join the school choir, band, debating, public speaking, gardening, lawn bowls, european handball, boys netball and procrastination clubs/teams before school ends (in four days woohoo!!!!!)

 

[starbaaa]

I'll have to join the school choir, band, debating, public speaking, gardening, lawn bowls, european handball, boys netball and procrastination clubs/teams before school ends (in four days woohoo!!!!!)

lol, good luck with that!

 

[Spon888]

Is there a deadline for submitting applications for Residential Colleges??? I've probably missed it, but surely there has to be some sort of application drive AFTER the QTAC round of main round offers right?

ps, how competitive is it to get into a residential college? i.e. does anyone know how many places are there, and how many applicants apply? The website just says they are in 'high demand', so how hard is it to get in?

 

[starbaaa]

Last year the deadline was the end of October, and I'm pretty sure thats the same this year. So you're not too late, if you send out your application in the next couple of days.

As for competitiveness, I'm not really sure. Obviously different colleges are in higher demand than others. At a guess, I'd say that John's and Emmanuel are probably the most in demand, but they're also the biggest (350-400 maybe? Not sure... Trev or someone can probably correct me). And yeah... I'm not sure how many people apply... the single-sex colleges probably are less competitive... wow, I'm informative.

 

[Spon888]

Last year the deadline was the end of October, and I'm pretty sure thats the same this year. So you're not too late, if you send out your application in the next couple of days.

Da...how can this be...surely they have to be able to accomodate people who have no idea where they will be going next year...because we're still finishing exams and waiting for the Main Round Offers...

 

[starbaaa]

Da...how can this be...surely they have to be able to accomodate people who have no idea where they will be going next year...because we're still finishing exams and waiting for the Main Round Offers...

Well I'm sure you have at least a rough idea of where you want to go. And you can always refuse a place in college if you get one. I did that. At a different uni I mean. Well obviously.

 

[Billy Shears]

Is there a deadline for submitting applications for Residential Colleges??? I've probably missed it, but surely there has to be some sort of application drive AFTER the QTAC round of main round offers right?

ps, how competitive is it to get into a residential college? i.e. does anyone know how many places are there, and how many applicants apply? The website just says they are in 'high demand', so how hard is it to get in?

The deadline is October 31.
As for the competitiveness, I have a friend who isn't expecting to get in so he rang up the administration type people and apparently Union and Emmanuel are the easiest to get into.

 

[Trev]

King's is really easy to get into, we generally don't have enough applicants.
John's is probably the most competitive, it has a highly regarded reputation and doesn't generally accept anyone with an OP less than 5 (which is around 90 UAI).

 

[Spon888]

Well I'm sure you have at least a rough idea of where you want to go. And you can always refuse a place in college if you get one. I did that. At a different uni I mean. Well obviously.

Yea I have an Idea of where I want to go, but it depends on the marks that you get and if you get the offer for that place. So if you were like me and applied to many universities, thats a lot of residential college applications, which could be saved if they quite sanely had some application time (at least for Year 12 school leavers) after Main Round Offers are released.

But thanks anyway, I'll look into it now, since the deadline is 31Oct.

 

[Trev]

I doubt they'll put out any acceptance letters until after the UQ results come out, because then they can see if second years are able to return / be accepted.

 

[Legolas]

I'll be staying at International House next year! Having read through some of your postings, it looks like I'll have a good time there.

Out of curiousity, do the IH residents who frequent this forum know each other in person?

 

[Spon888]

I'll be staying at International House next year! Having read through some of your postings, it looks like I'll have a good time there.

Out of curiousity, do the IH residents who frequent this forum know each other in person?

Will that be your first year there? If so, how did application work? I have yet to do one, because I'm waiting for offers to come out, but is there an interview process and can it be done over the phone?

Also what other information is there on the College? - How many rooms there are, Facilities (gym, tenniscourts?, aircon etc)

EDIT: "Vacancies 2007
Currently we have NO vacancies for Sem 1, 2007, both for post graduate and undergraduate accommodation. " - Woops, I'll have to look somewhere else

 

[Legolas]

Spon888, have a look at the UQ accomodation page. It has links to all the colleges including brief descriptions of each one.

The application process for International House starts in September and most places are offered in October/November so you do have to apply quite early on to get a place. Having said that, it may be worthwhile to give the other colleges a call to find out if there are any places avaliable.

Also, the snippet you posted above mentioned only Semester 1. Often exchange students stay here for one semester, so if you're keen give them a call in May to enquire about any places in Sem 2.

 

[Trev]

I'm friends with two chicks moving to IH from Women's and John's college, they love it. Residents of IH call themselves 'housies', umm, they're the crappest at sport haha. Cricket (I think that's her name on BOS) is the social convenor for all the colleges this year and she's a pretty awesome girl she's at IH.
I dunno what else... all housies love it there though, it's about half/half Australian / other races.
Umm, they have an awesome party sometime in first semester, I forget what it's called though....