![\"australia\"](\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2015\/02\/australia.jpg\")
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Start Course Planning Here<\/a><\/p>\n View Estimated Semester Budget<\/a> (Organized Geographically)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Office of International Education Scholarships<\/a>\u00a0(Need-Based, Merit-Based, Region Specific, Language Study)<\/p>\n JCU International Student Scholarships<\/a>\u00a0(Merit-Based, STEM)<\/p>\n External Scholarships<\/a><\/p>\n Speak with the Office of Student Financial Assistance for Options<\/a><\/p>\n Established in 1970, James Cook University (JCU) is a leading Australian research university and is ranked in the top four percent of the world\u2019s higher education institutions. \u00a0The curriculum is dedicated to ensuring that it\u2019s teaching, learning and research is of high quality and designed to deliver practical benefits to the local region. \u00a0It is a highly diverse community with many nationalities, cultures, religions and languages. \u00a0The large international student population comes from over 100 countries.<\/p>\n The University conducts nationally significant and internationally recognized research in areas such as marine sciences, biodiversity, tropical ecology and environments, global warming, tourism, and tropical medicine and public health care in under-served populations.<\/p>\n James Cook University is located in Queensland, the second-largest state in Australia, situated in the northeast of the country. It is surrounded by the spectacular ecosystems of the rainforests of the wet tropics, the dry savannahs, and the iconic Great Barrier Reef.<\/p>\n There are two campus\u2019 available to SMCM students: Townsville and Cairns<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Townsville is Australia\u2019s largest tropical city with a population of around 185,000. \u00a0It is a thriving coastal city and port, and a stepping-off point for visiting the Great Barrier Reef. \u00a0The resort regions of the Whitsunday Islands and Mission Beach are within easy reach, as are historic outback towns such as Charters Towers.<\/p>\n Cairns is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Australia. \u00a0Attractions include two World Heritage natural environments – the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the Wet Tropics ancient rainforests; nearby resort regions include Port Douglas and Mission Beach; the Atherton Tablelands and outback Queensland is within easy reach.<\/p>\n Students can take classes during JCU’s Trimester 1 (Spring) or Trimester 3 (Fall) at either campus. They are recommended to take 4 courses for a full trimester load, but no more than 2-3 STEM courses at a time. There is also a special option to add a block course; reach out to the OIE for more details about this.<\/p>\n SMCM students are eligible to enroll in most subjects in any study area<\/a> at JCU, provided that pre-requisites and other requirements are met, allowing you to take courses within your major as well as opportunities to take courses on topics that are uniquely Australian. \u00a0JCU\u2019s 3-credit courses are deemed to be equivalent to SMCM\u2019s 4-credit courses, so most students elect to take 4 courses while they are abroad.<\/p>\n Take a look at the JCU course catalog or “Subject Search” to make sure they’ll have academic offerings that are relevant for your path to graduation. It’s a bit confusing, so please watch this video<\/a> to get started. In September 2024, JCU launched their new Global Experience course tool.<\/a> Use that link to browse courses that will be available in 2025 and refer to the subject search to pull course descriptions!<\/p>\n Class structure may be very different from what SMCM students are used to. \u00a0Many classes will require students to attend two parts: a lecture and a tutorial. \u00a0Lectures may be very large with hundreds of students and involve very little interaction between students and the faculty. \u00a0Tutorials are generally much smaller and are reserved for discussion, projects, and group work. \u00a0Science classes may also offer a practical (lab) which can be several hours long, once per week. \u00a0Depending on the class, you may also find that there are very few assessments throughout the semester, meaning that 60-80% of your grade could be entirely dependent on your final exam. \u00a0Excellent time management is required to be successful in your courses at JCU.<\/p>\n Please note that the grading and credit system is very different at JCU.\u00a0 JCU credits will transfer as 1.25 SMCM credits. SMCM will round up or down based on the conversion. Example: A 3 credit JCU course will transfer as a 4 credit SMCM course. Credits will transfer in accordance with the SMCM transfer credit policy. Please see the following chart to understand the JCU grading scale and how it converts back to SMCM:<\/p>\nStudy Abroad Budget<\/h4>\n
Financing Studying Abroad<\/h4>\n
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Academics<\/h4>\n