Day two, or really 1.5 in Newcastle. Alex picked us up bright and early for our half day at Newcastle. There’s a bit of construction on campus right now, so their office has been moved into the city temporarily. They still have support on campus for our students … classes started today, but there main operation was a few minutes from the hotel. Alex gave us a brilliant overview of the offerings at Newcastle, which, regardless of how many times I hear it, is impressive! Everything from engineering to nursing to aboriginal literature is open to study abroad students with very few restrictions!

But what I was really amazed with, and truly surprised by, was the Newcastle campus. Imagine this … the campus has 26,000 students. That’s HUGE, in a city of 500,000, right? Well, campus is so well designed and is truly a bushland campus (see photos for explanation of what that looks like) that it really has a small campus feel to it. School started today, and while there was a ton of energy around, at no time was it too much or crazy or “wow, this school is just too big”. Campus is beautiful! Green and lush and green and wow! Bad description, I know, but that really was the picture! Everywhere you look there are trees and bushes and flowering plants. Campus is really bright, but with lots of cover from the trees, you know that even in the summer it’s going to be really comfortable.

We walked around the student union which includes a ton of shops, a dentist’s office, a sub shop, and bar among others (see photo for complete listing); the library, which is high-tech and huge; the sports facilities, complete with an Olympic size pool, basketball court, squash (racket ball) court, weight room, spin room, and well, everything else you would expect from sports facilities.

All this, in about four hours … as shortly before 1pm, we were off to the airport for our flight to the Gold Coast!

So, why, as a student, I would choose Newcastle: great location! In a smaller, compact city with a ton to offer, but close enough to Sydney for weekend trips. HUGE academic offerings. Benefits of a large school (amazing library, student support services, and academics) with smaller campus feel. Completely beautiful bushland campus! Super easy access to surf-able beaches.

Why, as an advisor, I would recommend Newcastle to my students: again, amazing academic offerings. Progressive, hands-on/ field-based approach to education.  Only a few thousand international students on a campus with 26,000 students equals higher Oz to international student ratio.