Hi everyone,

I live in Toronto, Canada and am planning on studying abroad for a year (probably next year or the following one), and my #1 choice is Australia. I'm in second year now, so I'd be studying in Australia for my third or fourth (senior) years.

Maybe it's weird that I'm asking on TA, but as TA's, I would love to hear your advice and opinions.

I know Australia has a good trance scene, and a very good psytrance scene too (which is what I'm mainly interested in). The universities (therefore, cities) that are available for me to study at are:

- Australian National University (Canberra)
- University of Melbourne
- University of New South Wales
- University of Queensland
- University of Sydney

Right now I'm considering Melbourne and Sydney. Basically what I'd like to ask is (a) "where is the trance scene," (b) what are your views on which cities are suitable for foreign urban students and, if anyone is informed, (c) "what university has a strong computer science department/program." By "computer science" I don't necessarily mean IT or Computer Programming per se (which, by themselves, I would avoid). In addition to systems and web programming, I'm also interested in theoretical aspects, especially artificial intelligence.

Thanks for any input on any of the above or anything else that I should consider in my search. I very much appreciate your feedback!

i'll try to help answer some of your questions

currently, i'm an IT student doing a course in RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology). a few years ago when having to choose which uni, i was faced with either RMIT or Melbourne university which i see is on your list. i chose RMIT over melbourne uni as i read/heard that RMIT had a great computer science/IT department. Compared to other uni's, they taught you things that were very up-to-date, less theoretical based and definitely more practical. they have a habbit of throwin u into the deep end quite quickly which is a lot more realistic when u head out into the real world. having studied there for almost 5 years now, i can vouch its pretty true. Melbourne Uni, on the other hand is no doubt a reputable uni. However, I cant help but feel it only clearly excels in such courses as law, medicine, arts etc. in terms of IT, during my decision time, the department seemed to lack in facilities, was very theory based and taught dinosaur languages. things have probably changed since then however.

One of the factors that will influence ur decision though, since you're coming down for exchange, is the experience of lifestyle, and Melbourne University is definitely one for that. The way the whole structure of the university is like a little town with a slight vintage feel to it. Cafe's, bars, lawns. a very relaxed environment where you'll meet an array of people. RMIT on the other hand, is kinda smack plonk in the middle of the city. You won't find many people hangin around. people are in and out.

in terms of following where the scene is. you would have to choose either melbourne or sydney. personally, i havent actually stepped out much into the scene so i wont be most reliable but sydney seems to be a lot healthier for trance + hard/nrg with an insy bit of prog house [sweetchili?]. melb may be the opposite, since a lot of great prog players are based from here infusion, chable, ivan gough, kasey taylor, nu-breed etc. etc. actually, think bout it. in melb, u get everything



including the huge arena parties!

hope that somewhat helped and g'luck in ur decision!

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"Stupido is the hot chick that fooled us!"

come to sydney!!!

but melb trance scene is prob better :/

melbourne owns

Here's my advice...

Melbourne or Sydney in terms of dance scene are pretty much equal. But Melb is the pick.. "The worlds most livable city".. <-- No shit.

In regards for unis. I only know for Melbourne.. Don't goto Melbourne Uni for anything IT. There are only two good faculties in Melboune Uni, Medicine and Law. R.M.I.T Uni, Monash Uni, Swinburne Uni are the ones you goto for all your IT courses.

True Melb uni does have the 'lifestyle', it's pretty much it's own town. But that's not to say that other unis are out in the sticks. You can always easily find accommodation etc. around the other universities, and i'm sure if you approach them they will even help you out.

I guess u can read these forums and make your own decision about the Melb dance scene.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

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Uni of NSW has a very good computer science department

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Go to Melbourne... The best city to live in, in Australia I reckon.

I know people who have studied Comp Sci both at Melb Uni and rmit. RMIT is more practical, Melb Uni is more theoretical... Also for some reason Melbourne tends to be considered one of the more prestigious uni's around. The lifestyle is awesome, I'll give it that.
But the best place to start is the websites of the universities you're considering attending, You'll be able to find descriptions of all the subjects on offer start here: www.unimelb.edu.au

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Notice how all the Melbourne people have to tell you their opinion that Melbourne is better .. Sydney people don't tell you Sydney is better, simply because we don't have anything to prove

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quote:

Originally posted by webmeister Notice how all the Melbourne people have to tell you their opinion that Melbourne is better .. Sydney people don't tell you Sydney is better, simply because we don't have anything to prove

BOOM!

I can't comment on the whole study thing, coz IT aint my thing but as for the psy goes... melbourne seems like a pretty good option. The psy scene is not massive, but its quite big
There are heaps of outdoor parties happening all of the time and the psy dj's do come out and play this yr there was infected mushroom, astrix and bamboo forest, hallucinogen, fractal glider, benza are playing in november along side others.

I do believe that melb and syd would be very similar, most internationals do play in both cities, but maybe melb has the upper hand a bit. A few clubs around town to belt out a bit of psy, best time is probably on sundays hahah not the best for study

the east coast is a shit hole!

west is where its at!

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quote:

Originally posted by webmeister Notice how all the Melbourne people have to tell you their opinion that Melbourne is better .. Sydney people don't tell you Sydney is better, simply because we don't have anything to prove

hehe u beat me to it - ur post is exactly what i was gonna say!!

i'm not gonna get into the whole "which is better - syd or melb?" debate, cos it's pointless......but, i do have a lil observation.....and i'm not from either city so i guess u could say my opinion is somewhat "objective"......having been to both cities lots (i'm in sydney at least once or twice a month, and i used to be in melb lots cos my ex lives there), the thing i've noticed most is that melb seems a lot more insular - lotsa melb ppl seem to forget that there actually is a world outside melb *lol* sydney-siders in general seem a tad more open to things beyond sydney.......i think it's probably a product of geography tho - melb is more isolated, and the closest cities to it are ummm, a tad crap (i was born in adelaide and i grew up in hobart, so i have a right to say that...hehehe), so i guess that's why melb ppl seem a bit melb-centric.....sydney just has a more 'worldly' feel to it......i guess if u really wanna immerse urself in one place i'd choose melb, but if that's not ur thing i'd choose syd........

probably gonna get flamed to pieces now - but, just giving my perspective as an 'outsider'

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