Yup, thanks for the answers. I've some questions about australian law schools. How much are the course fees and accomodation fees? Do you mind to share with me? I would appreciate it. Thanks..
Ok lets break it down:
First lets talk about tuition fees.
I am guessing you are Singaporean and therefore would pay full international fees with no government help/sponsorship/scholarship etc. Australian law schools go by credit points or load so depending on how many units you take that particular year or semester that would determine your fees. On average, a normal student taking a full time load can pay from approximately $15k to $25k Australian dollars a year.
On the upper end fee range $20 - $25k you have Melbourne, Monash, UNSW, University of Sydney etc, notably these are often in the larger cities and more "prestigious".
On the lower fee ranges you have the University of New England, Griffith University etc which if I am not mistaken charges as low as $13k (Australian dollars) a year. And a whole range of universities in between.
DO note that most universities INCREASE their fees annually and this may be as much as 10%- 20%. Some are nicer and they allow you to "lock in" the fees you enrolled at, meaning you pay the same amount every year until graduation.
I should point out that a higher fee does not neccesarily mean a program of better quality and each law school should be looked at for its individual merits and your personal situation. You may even find that despite paying a larger sum of money in a prestigious university you may receive less individual attention or resources as there are a great many other students competing for said attention and resources.
However, the University of New England for example is situated in Armidale, and it is a university town, meaning that there is nothing around it for miles and miles and it might not be a first choice for alot of people. BUT in such tiny towns there is the advantage of reduced living costs.
Which brings us to your second question on living costs. This varies tremendously depending on which city you are in. I would probably rank Australian cities in order of:
Sydney
Melbourne
Brisbane/Perth/Adelaide
Darwin
Any other tiny towns
with Sydney being the most expensive.
It would also depend on your lifestyle whether you want accommodation with an ensuite or would you be willing to share. Whether you are on campus or off, and your Internet usage (terribly expensive here). Also within the cities there are the CBD areas (think Orchard road) and the suburbs (think Clementi/Woodlands), and of course CBD areas would be more expensive. However you may want to balance accommodation and travel costs. No point finding cheap rent 50KM from your university and having to pay the difference in travel costs. On campus accommodation might be more expensive but they are usually situated on campus, easy walk to class.
I would say a good estimate would be anywhere between $150 - $250 dollars a week on accommodation in the mid range cities (Brisbane/Perth/Adelaide) and $250 - $350 for the larger cities.
Best would be to do some research - university websites often have on/off campus accommodation links for international students on their webpages. Just click around and check your university's area housing prices.
Why do you want to study law in the first place? Not to discourage you, but if you are looking at practice in Singapore, you would have to apply for the "higher tier" Australian universities, ANU, University of Melbourne, UNSW, University of Sydney, UWA, Murdoch, Flinders, University of Tasmania, Monash University, University of Queensland. And these can be pretty tough to get into. What were your previous qualifications and how well did you do on them?
Disclaimer: Please note that the all information given in this post is given in good faith, based on the best knowledge of the author. The author makes no claims of accuracy on any information and all readers are advised to reasearch and verify all information with the appropriate authorities.
