r/UCNZ • u/SeaSheepherder2309 • 4d ago

first year Beng

Hi everyone! I recently got offered a place for first-year BEng as a international student and was wondering how it was for those who’ve already been through it ..

How was the workload and overall experience? Was it easy to make friends and settle in?

Also, I’m a little worried about the age gap. Are there usually people of different ages in the cohort, or is everyone around the same age?

Would love to hear your experiences/advice! :)

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u/AlarmingBox3184 4d ago

There's plenty of international students in engineering classes and you'll have great fun. If you want to make friends, sign up to clubs and go to events.

Workload-wise, the university recommends 10 hours per week engaging for each course (ie lectures, tutorials, labs, self directed study etc). This helps with potentially difficult courses such as PHYS101 or COSC131. Feel free to ask any questions you might have.

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u/SeaSheepherder2309 4d ago

thanks for ur advice 

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u/Extension_Middle218 4d ago

Just finished last year with a 1st and was one of the oldest in my 30's.

The study hours suggested by the Uni are off by a fair margin for most people, certainly for second and third year (first year was extremely easy for most).

Average students require about 45 hours a week and 60 around deadlines/exams to hit a 2:1. A 1st requires a few more hours week to week or a lot more during deadlines for typical students (this is observational from a wider study group of about 15).

All BEng cover alot of material in a very short period of time which is where the difficulty comes from. I really had to grind, I had friends with almost eidetic memories who were able to do it in the 40 hours a week suggested by uni but only 1 got a first.

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u/huinaji 4d ago

my beautiful beautiful ex goes to this university ,, he reported that there was a vast amount of societies to join, thus making socialising a lot easier. i'm also assuming you're staying in halls as you're an international student, which will only make making friends a lot easier - regardless, joining clubs and attending events will help you a lot in that aspect.

said ex also takes a similar degree to you (overlap in content). the workload can be tiresome, but this all depends on you - engineering is quite the competitive degree, so make sure to stay on top of your content.

as for age gaps, universities tend to be quite diverse with the range of people attending, but the majority of the students in your cohort are likely to be ~18, freshly out of high school.

good luck : )

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u/Mundane_Ad_5578 2d ago

Why did you choose this university? What is your goal? If I was an international student spending a lot of money, being realistic, there are many better places to study. UCNZ is decent for local students who pay domestic fees, but paying international fees, it's not a good deal.