My name is Sam Wong-Pan, I am 20 years old and I previously did an exchange to New Zealand from Sydney.

I am currently studying for a bachelor’s in Applied Medical Sciences, and you can find my first article here.

I travelled to New Zealand from July 2023 to November of that year as part of a university exchange program.

Why New Zealand?

As an Australian citizen, New Zealand was probably one of the most convenient and efficient places to complete the exchange. Due to the legislation between the countries, I did not have to apply for a visa and had working rights even as a student.

Furthermore, my family was generally earthy and enjoyed a good adventure. I had many treks in mind and wanted to go on adventures. I also wanted to see my friends who were there and go on escapes with them. I was able to do this and travel to both the top and bottom of New Zealand. Road trips were easy since it was easy to rent a car as a student.

Experience in New Zealand

Arrival

In my opinion, I felt as though New Zealand was similar to Australia. On arrival, I did not have my friends from Sydney, and this made it a little frightening. It was also colder in terms of weather, and there weren’t as many beaches as Sydney. I found that it wasn’t too exciting since there was ample opportunity to travel outside of Aukland.

Traveling and Friends

The highlight of the trip was embracing the change when you move. Meeting new people and exploring a new place were both worth it, especially since these people and experiences then stay with you lifelong.

My favourite part about the whole thing was leaving Auckland. I had to spend all my time during my studies there, and leaving it to go on a tour of New Zealand felt amazing. I finally got to embrace the culture and take in life. I went on a week-long camping/backpacking trip with my friends; we went from Auckland to Wellington and Queenstown. We were able to try skiing there, then move on to Milford Sound, which had beautiful terrain.

Work-Life Balance

An early fact I learned about the New Zealand workload was that it was harder than in Australia, and the environment was a lot more difficult and hectic.

Not only this, but it was harder to land a job.

Further, the university makes sure you are not there just for vacation, but really using the opportunity to grow as a student. The workload was hectic, and they gave me a lot of classes, and my schedule was generally full. I had to do an ending exam for all my classes (which I had 4 of) which equated to around 60-70% of my final grade. They also gave me a full workload of schedules, projects and essays for every class; it was like a lot of work and sometimes the mandatory tutorials. I found this a bit annoying. I often found myself stuck on days where all I could do was study, even though I had other things I had to do too.

Application Process

You apply to the exchange university through your university. Universities in Australia are partnered with various other universities across the world, and I was able to apply to exchange with one of them. Most universities in Australia have an exchange program that you can use to go abroad. As for tuition fees, you are required to pay only the tuition fee to the university you are attending at the time.

While applying, you need to submit a statement of purpose, and apply for certain classes for exchange; these classes line up with your degree. Then, you need to see if you can find equivalents at the transfer university for your credits, workload and material. Finally, you need to apply through a website for the study abroad program, which your home university has to approve. Once both sides approve, you are able to transfer for a time period officially.

Statement of Purpose

Questions to Answer

A few questions I had to answer consisted of:

• What is an experience with cultural exchange and interaction that you remember? How did you take it?

• Since you will be an ambassador for Australia, how do you plan to represent up well?

Other questions included general questions if you were to be in a job interview. These included; What's one problem-solving experience you had in your life? These questions would give you a paragraph to answer.

General questions included:

• What university do you want to attend?

• Where would you like to transfer to?

Since I wanted to go to New Zealand, the University of Auckland was the only university I could apply to.

Expenses

Rent in New Zealand cost me around $350 (NZD) a week. General expenses depend on the lifestyle you live. Personally, it cost me around the same as how much it would have if I were in Australia.

If you are going on an exchange program, you must keep aside a fair amount of money for expenses and emergencies.

Are Exchanges Worth It?

Exchanges can be either great or a complete flop depending on where you go and how your values line up with that country. Most people travel abroad for a change of dimension, and to experience a new culture, food, language, etc. I found that New Zealand was not what I sought in the academic sense, but I found joy in the exploration aspect.

However, overall, exchange programs are 100% worth it, as they offer you a chance to try something new. If not now, when will you enjoy life and learn new things? I would recommend exchange programs no matter where you are going.