The University Of Queensland

Great relaxing campus. I studied here and the campus is just beautiful. It’s quite large compared to other university campuses and this just means there’s more places to hang. The lake is serene and peaceful. Definitely a must to check out. People take wedding photographs here too!

The University of Queensland is where I connect and spend most of my time here. In top 1% in the world, I’m glad to be part of it!

Long story short — it’s a gorgeous campus (St Lucia), with good facilities and is highly-​ranked within Australia. There’s excellent public transport infrastructure (bus and ferry), and the faculty is generally very good at what they do — I’m not going to rate the University on its teaching or research merits, because that’s best done subject-​by-​subject and metric-​by-​metric.
There’s a couple of minor quibbles. If you’re an undergrad, there’s not an awful lot of 24 hour study space available. All food options on campus are generally closed by 9−10pm, and the stores are basically a lolly shop, pharmacy, two book stores and two news agencies, most of which will be shut at 5pm on weeknights, and operating with restricted hours on the weekend. Because it’s a suburban campus, there’s not an awful lot of options close by — if you’re used to an urban campus (e.g. University of Melbourne), you’ll find being 20 minutes away from the city to be a bit painful at first. There’s also not amazing road infrastructure leading to the Uni (though this is more a problem with Brisbane itself), and the main transport corridor (Sir Fred Schonell Drive) is frequently a parking lot due to accidents or breakdowns elsewhere in town.

If you want to do postgraduate research in Qld this is the university to do it at, unless your specialisation is specific to one of the others (eg Marine Bio == James Cook, Creative Arts == QUT, etc). But if you’re interested in something in the Humanities or the harder Sciences (such as Physics) this is your institution. Medicine and Law are also very strong (because see comments below about private school students). Forget Business. Booking keeping and management torture techniques could just as easily be taught at a TAFE.
This is a research university with a strong teaching component and in the global top 100 universities. If you are snotty little private school student you’ll be right at home in something like Medicine or Law, but all faculties are overrun with these kids. However if you’re not prepared to work and study hard please stop wasting the over-​worked staff’s time and don’t bother coming here: leave the places for the hard working state school students. If you’re a state school student and you get good grades and prepared to do four years of hard work then you should DEFINITELY APPLY to UQ! Tis place needs less of the snotty private school undergraduates clogging up the place with their stench of privilege and more of the diverse state school intake. Also you will get a top notch tertiary education.
If your passion is research and learning then this is the institution for you. Some disciplines its the only University in QLD that will teach it.
I have a master’s degree from this institution and I’m doing a PhD.

I work here currently, so I may be a little bit biased.
I also finished my degree here and not only is this university one of Australia’s best, it’s also one of the only ones who have the program Masters of Health Economics (bar Monash). There’s my interesting fact of the day.
This university boasts some fantastic faculties, the Arts, Engineering Architecture and IT, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Science, Medicine, Business Economics Commerce and Law… to name a few. It’s a fantastic institution, with great staff and student benefits.
Key date to be there 1 week prior to classes starting in the beginning of the year, MARKET DAY!!!

As the sandstone walls of Forgan Smith loom over me, I still remember the trepidation I felt fifteen years ago when I arrived at UQ for the first day of my pharmacy degree. I was a lowly eighteen year old student and orientation week did little to dispel my fear of this hallowed institution. Four years later, I’d become an expert on UQ — the Great Court, the refectories, the Schonell theatre, the student union and best of the Book Café.
As most alumni of UQ will tell you, an annual visit to this place is a must. It’s an eye opening experience how much things have changed. The Schonell theatre and the Pizza café boasting its famous A-​Z pizza are still there but now there are countless cafes, noodle bars, sushi stations and book shops. There are also some fantastic running and cycling tracks that I wistfully wish I had time to test out.
On the weekends you can occasionally spot, UQ alumni brides and grooms taking some scenic wedding photos in the Great Court of the Lake area.
As far as academia goes, I did not enjoy my pharmacy degree though that was more to do with personal interests as opposed to the talented and professional staff. Many of my friends who have graduated from UQ recommend it for science, health, law and the arts while QUT is reputed to be better for IT and engineering.

Well, UQ certainly has a good reputation – I’m told it’s one of the best (/​most prestigious?) universities in Australia. Without knowing anything about other universities, all I can give is my personal experience, as a student who has completed her undergraduate in the Faculty of Arts and is going on to do honours.
In terms of the quality of teachers and resources at UQ, I’ve had a pretty good experience. As a student of the Writing major, in the school of English, Media Studies and Art History (EMSAH), however, I would advise potential writing students to think twice before enrolling. It depends on what you’re looking for, but QUT could probably offer a broader range of writing courses with more focus on the creative side of things. When I look back on all the courses I took at UQ, the ones I got the most out of where not the writing courses, but the English Literature and French courses. That may just be a personal thing, but I feel the quality of some of the writing courses wasn’t up to UQ standard.
Aside from the very specific example I have given regarding my experience at UQ, everything about life on the St Lucia campus is pretty great. Nestled in a bend of the Brisbane river, it’s kind of secluded from the outside world. There’s a healthy atmosphere with people jogging or cycling the UQ loop and sports happening on the numerous ovals and courts dotted around campus. There are cafes galore, places to eat, a cinema, an art gallery, a hair dresser, book stores… pretty much anything you could need.
So, in terms of the overall university experience, UQ St Lucia makes for a pretty good package.

It is hard to sum up my feelings about the University of Queensland in a few short sentences. I could almost right a novel about the my experiences here but I thought I would write a little about my first impressions of the University and then give some tips and hints.
Now the first time I walked around the St Lucia campus I was struck by the beauty of the sandstone buildings that create the Great Court area. This is what you see in all the pretty pictures of the university but it really is breathtaking in real life. The more you look the more detail you realise is in each individual carving in the buildings and the meanings they have for the faculties within them. The Great Court is what I always imagined a university would be like. I soon ventured into the classrooms inside. Being in the humanities, these classrooms were old and in desperate need of repair. There were broken tables, dodgy air conditioners, peeling paint but it all added to the idea of the struggling arts student. Having also had classes in engineering buildings I can say that some of the newer ones are pretty swish and clean and you are lucky if you are in there.
The student union complex is a little bustling centre with shops, a salon, pharmacy, dentist, bakery, refectory, and much much more. I almost did not know what to do with all the choice in food. There are also Wednesday Markets held here offering everything from bargain books to sunglasses. There is plenty to do on campus that doesn’t involve classes, like drinking a few jugs at the Red Room, going to the Schonell Cinemas, perusing the UQ Art Museum, or just chilling with friends over coffee. There are few libraries on campus as well and rooms full of computers for your use. The university really is like a mini world of its own, one I could easily live in. Now I could gush about this place that has been such a massive part of my life over the past 5 years but I will stop here and just give a few hints and tips.
1. The UQ Art Museum is free and the perfect quiet spot to escape the hustle and bustle of campus.
2. The Fryer Library has some great spots for postgraduate students to study with plenty of room on the desks to spread your books out.
3. The line for the computers in the SS&H Library goes quick about 10 mins before the hour as a good portion of the people will leave for their next class.
4. Subway is open late :-)
5. You can get jugs of beer at the Pizza Caffe and they have a student discount and often have other deals on that you get from their pizza box.
I could give you a hundred and one other tips and hints but I think the best part is finding these things out for yourself…