Originally posted by santaslayer
also, i was wondering if standards vary that significantly between unis?.and CM_Tutor, why dont u give us ur opinion on this topic? 
Ok, I will
- I've been meaning to get back to this thread for a couple of days.
I would start by reiterating the point that i made at the start of this thread: 'better' on Uni's depends (to an extent) on what you are looking for in an employee, and it certainly depends on the field in question.
If it were Chemisty, for example, I'd go the USyd grad. If it were BEd(Physical and Health Education), then UoW has a great 'rep. For communications, go UTS. For Law, I'd prefer UNSW or ANU.
Earlier in the thread, KeypadSDM made the comments that:
I'd go for USyd usually because I know the standard of the departments at USyd is much higher than UOW. Especially for engineering.
and
I'm saying they have more access to knowledge because of better facilities (my specific example being engineering). This gives the students a greater ability to learn more, and thus become more knowledgeable.
This is a valid and important point. If you are looking for familiarity with the most up to date equipment / analysis techniques, then a Uni like USyd - with its greater money, etc., and hence better facilities, is likely to produce the superior graduate - and this is even more true at post-graduate levels.
For example, in my area at USyd we are in the process of building the best equipped lab in the Southern Hemisphere, with state-of-the-art equipment. The group is led (in part) by a Federation Fellow - earning at least double the standard Professorial salary - who has a great international reputation. With a background like that, a grad from another Uni in this field would almost certainly come off second best.
Overall, if I had to choose, it would still depend on the position in question. For a tutoring job, for example, communication is paramount, and given similar knowledge, it would be the deciding factor (note, for a tutoring job, I wouldn't be keen on either with a 60 average, unless they were very strong in the particular subject in question). To be a lab assistant, running routine analyses, then experience with relevant equipment would be more important, which is likely to favour USyd over UoW.
Remember also that a University education is not only about acquiring subject knowledge. In many ways, it is the development of generic skills - problem solving, critical thinking, communication, teamwork, ... - that is at least as important. Someone with these skills will be able to overcome deficiencies in knowledge of specific areas - someone without them will not.
