THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY (USYD)
My experience of studying at USYD and living in their residential college International House (IH)
Currently I am pursuing the Master of Management (CEMS) program at the University of Sydney Business School. I lived at International House (IH) Sydney and can therefore also share my insights of living in one of their colleges. On this site I will share my experiences of studying at USYD, living at IH Sydney and Sydney in general as a beautiful city. I will also provide some application advice for students who are interesting in the Master of Management (CEMS) program at USYD.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY (USYD)
My experience of studying at USYD and living in their residential college International House (IH)
Currently I am pursuing the Master of Management (CEMS) program at the University of Sydney Business School. I lived at International House (IH) Sydney and can therefore also share my insights of living in one of their colleges. On this site I will share my experiences of studying at USYD, living at IH Sydney and Sydney in general as a beautiful city. I will also provide some application advice for students who are interesting in the Master of Management (CEMS) program at USYD.
APPLICATION FOR THE CEMS MIM
Required application documents and some application tips
The exact application procedure for the CEMS MIM can be found on their website. In the first step I had to provide a copy of my undergraduate degree, a recent version of my CV and a motivation letter outlining my reasons for applying for the CEMS MIM. Once all your application documents are complete you will be invited for an interview which takes place in the form of a maximum 6 minute video where you are asked to answer the following questions:
Why are you applying for this program?
How will you contribute to the program?
Talk about one successful experience and what you learnt from it.
Talk about one failure and what you learnt from it.
Any other additional information that you would like to provide.
Above you can find my motivational video for the CEMS MIM that you can watch for some inspiration on how a motivation video could look like. Please note that this is just one way of going about it and it is important that you find your own way of expressing your ideas/motivation. Here are some things that you might want to think about before recording your motivational video (they are based on numerous motivation videos that I watched on YouTube):
Do you know the structure of the study program at USYD well? Did you also conduct some further research on some of their courses?
Did you conduct research on the Global Alliance of Management Education (CEMS) and know the exact program structure? Do you know the selection criteria for the CEMS MIM?
Did you watch some motivation videos from other candidates on YouTube to gain further inspiration (just type in ‚Motivation video for CEMS MIM at USYD‘ in YouTube)?
Can you film the video in a location that is quiet and has a plain background?
Do you know your text/messages well enough to not read off the screen?
Here are some last tips from me:
The CEMS MIM has a strong language component and graduates are required to speak at least three languages (one of which can be the mother tongue). Can you somehow try to integrate this aspect in your video? I for instance introduced myself in Spanish to demonstrate this crucial aspect of the CEMS curriculum.
The program tries to educate people who aspire to play a leading role in the direction of global enterprises. What does globalization and cross-cultural understanding mean to you? I for example used the example of International House where I lived together with people from 30 different nationalities.
The program tries to promote ethical and sustainable leadership. Can you think of an event where you demonstrated strong integrity?
LIVING AT INTERNATIONAL HOUSE (IH) SYDNEY
Very convenient location; small rooms; less international than I was hoping for
After my very good experiences of living in International House Melbourne, I decided to again live in International House but this time in Sydney. I wanted to be on the safe side again and therefore applied for residency at IH from Germany. Another reason why I applied for IH was its very convenient location - the Camperdown and Darlington campus can be reached in walking distance. The application process was very simple and I only had to answer one page of questions about my person together with a non-refundable application fee of $100. An interview was not part of the application process. My time at IH Sydney was okay but not comparable to my experiences in Melbourne: The college hosts fewer events for its residents and I also found the rooms very small and noisy (next to the main road). The food at IH Sydney is more or less the same from week to week and leaves room for improvement especially for a vegetarian as I am. I was also a bit disappointed when I figured out that 70% of IH residents came from Asia and that there was no balanced mix of residents from different countries. This was not quite what I was hoping to find in an ‚International House‘. So, if you want to be on the safe side IH is okay for a semester or two but I can‘t recommend it for a longer period of time.
STUDYING AT USYD
What should you expect as a student?
The University of Sydney is consistently ranked in the top 50 in world university rankings and ranks 1st in graduate employability in Australia. They are usually the third best university in Australia after the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne. The Business School received the last accreditation from AMBA this year and is now a triple crown accredited business school (top 1% of business schools worldwide). So, it should be no surprise that courses at USYD are intensive in terms of workload and you should expect to devote quite some to your studies: A typical day in the CEMS MIM starts at 9am and you will usually have lectures till 5pm and once you are home you need to work on assignments or group projects. Most courses in the CEMS MIM are thought in intensive mode and you will have one subject the entire day (from 9am till 5pm) which also means that the course will finish earlier than regular courses at USYD. I still remember the motto of one of my lecturers in the first semester who said to us: „No pain no gain guys“. I think this motto gives you a glimpse into what it means to be a CEMS MIM student at USYD (don‘t take the slogan too seriously...it was more meant as a joke). However, all the hard work will be worth it as you are taught by outstanding professors from whom you will learn a lot.
IMPRESSIONS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
Their campus is ranked in the top 10 of the world‘s most beautiful universities by the British Daily Telegraph
THE CBD CAMPUS
State-of-the-art campus in the city centre close to Westfield Shopping Centre (133 Castlereagh Street)
The Master of Management (CEMS) program does not take place in the Camperdown or Darlington campus where most of USYD courses take place. Instead, the CEMS MIM takes place in the CBD campus in the heart of Sydney right next to the main shopping streets. This location is usually used for the executive education of the Business School and as a CEMS MIM student you therefore benefit from exclusive access to a state-of-the-art campus. The Business Schools owns two entire floors in the building: The 17th floor is mainly used for lectures while the 18th floor features small breakout rooms with monitors and whiteboards as well as a quite study area. All courses that I have taken in the CEMS MIM so far had a strong practical component and as a student you will find yourself very often in the breakout area to brainstorm ideas together with fellow classmates (see picture below where we brainstormed ideas for a strategic proposal for Ecco). The CEMS MIM at USYD features some CEMS exclusive courses such as ‚Chinese Institutions and Business‘ that I can highly recommend to students who aim to pursue a career in the Asian market. I feel very privileged whenever I am in the CBD campus due to several reasons: First of all, I can enjoy a stunning view over Sydney from the 17th floor. Next, I also meet a lot of business people in the elevator on my way to the CBD campus and connected with employees from Sephora and PwC (both companies have their offices in the same building. Lastly, I can also escape the crowded Fisher library during exam time and instead study in the CBD campus. I am sure you‘ll like the CBD campus as much as I do! ✌️🔝
CEMS CLUB SYDNEY
An amazing add-on to the CEMS MIM at USYD
The CEMS Club Sydney organizes a myriad of corporate, social, alumni or sustainability related events for CEMS students from the University of Sydney Business School. The overall goal of the club is to bring together CEMS students with corporate partners, NGOs, charities and alumni. Thereby both students and corporate partners can benefit from the information exchange. I am a member of the Corporate Team of the CEMS Club Sydney and organize together with my four other team members for instance rotational breakfasts, company visits, consulting and working in Australia workshops. I highly recommend that new CEMS students join the club as it gives unique access to a number of amazing events. The latest events of the CEMS Club Sydney can be found on their website.
LIVING IN SYDNEY
The state capital of New South Wales - multifaceted, beautiful harbour & beaches, pricey
Sydney is so far my favorite city (I hope that no Melbourne enthusiast is reading this...). The harbour sometimes reminds me of Hamburg which is my favorite city in Germany. I immediately feel at home when I am in Sydney and the first things that people probably associate with Sydney are: The harbour, the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, Finding Nemo, surfing, Bondi and Manly Beach. However, Sydney is far more than this and offers so many other unique places that wait to be discovered. Are you ready for the challenge?
OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS ABOUT MY STUDY EXPERIENCE AT KLU? ASK ME!
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