Summer in Sydney

Why Life in Sydney

The gateway to Australia, Sydney is a dynamic and cosmopolitan city that combines culture, history, and beautiful scenery! Sydney is Australia’s largest and oldest city, with a multicultural population of nearly four million. Located along the southeast coast of the Tasman Sea, Sydney has one of the world’s most stunning harbors, with easy-to-reach sandy beaches in every direction. As a student studying in Sydney, you can enjoy some of Australia’s most famous sites, such as the Sydney Opera House, Harbor Bridge, Bondi Beach, and the Royal Botanical Gardens.

Are you a sports fan? Don’t miss out on one of the many fan-driven sporting events within the city. Food enthusiast? Dine on dishes from all over the world thanks to Sydney’s international food scene. Want to take a break from the city and enjoy nature? There are five major national parks around Sydney with 8,000 square kilometers of open space, easily accessible by train.

Visitors to Sydney will agree that the city has a reputation as an international center for commerce, arts, fashion, culture, entertainment, music, education, and tourism.  Best of all, Sydney has an enjoyable temperate climate with warm summers and mild winters. It’s the perfect place to explore the city or hit the beach! With its wide range of cultural, historical, culinary, and sports opportunities, Sydney, Australia, is the perfect location for your study abroad experience.

Live La Vida Local

• Cockatoo Island

  Take the ferry to explore this UNESCO World Heritage Site in the middle of beautiful Sydney Harbour.

• Fish Markets

  The largest working fish market in the southern hemisphere - open from 7am every day. Book a behind the scenes tour to see the real wholesale auction that kicks off at 5.30am.

• Chinatown and Powerhouse Museum

  Find your favorite flavour of dumpling when you visit Chinatown. Then pop to the nearby Powerhouse Museum – this is an interactive museum dedicated to science, technology and design. If you want to grab some bargains you can also stop by Paddys Market!

• Hyde Park

  Visit the Australian Museum (Australia’s first museum), the ANZAC memorial, St Mary’s Cathedral and Hyde Park Barracks – a good dose of Aussie culture and history.

Location

You’ll share a room in a modern youth accommodation centrally located in the city with easy access to the University of Sydney and all the main attractions of Sydney. All locations are less than a 20-minute walk to campus or a 10 minute train ride.

Students will share bedrooms with other CIS Abroad students and each floor has a gender-segregated bathroom.

BONUS: All CIS Abroad students will get an Opal Card for public transportation and a SIM card.

This housing option also includes a travel agency onsite to help you book all of your Australian travels and they usually include a discount. This youth accommodation also offers organized events (outside of CIS Abroad excursions), examples include: Yoga Class, Trivia Tuesday, Day out at the Glebe Markets and more!

Meals

You’ll have access to a shared kitchen area complete with refrigerator and oven so you can cook dinner with your friends. For times you don’t want to cook, there’s also a cafe 700 meters from the front door!

Inclusions and Amenities

• BathroomShared
• Bed linens
• CommuteWalkingPublic Transportation
• Double Room
• Kitchen Equipment
• Study Areas
• Triple Room
• Wi-Fi

Inclusions

Program fees are in US dollars and include the following:

• CIS Abroad Orientation
• Student union and club fees
• Local Australian mentor
• University of Sydney official transcript
• CIS Abroad support services before, during, and after the program
• Academic advising
• Financial aid counseling
• Assistance with travel arrangements
• Full-time tuition & fees
• Housing (shared bedroom in apartment, single supplement fee)
• Pre-departure and on-site orientation
• Airport pickup
• Medical & Accident Insurance
• The Local Life cultural program

Welcome & Orientation

Your program will kick off with a comprehensive orientation. You will learn more about the culture and vivacious city around you. We’ll explore some of Sydney’s countless attractions, from beaches to business districts. We’ll also sit down to discuss program and behavioral expectations, with topics such as culture, slang, and where to go and what to do when you settle into your new home in Sydney.

Farewell & Re-Entry Program

Though you’re not an astronaut returning from space, re-entering your home culture after being abroad can be shocking to the system. We’ll walk you through some of the things to expect, rehash your time abroad so that you can remember the highlights and, yep, we’ll feed you again as part of our farewell to Australia.

We believe that study abroad is still possible during the COVID-19 pandemic, but certain policies and procedures will need to be in place to ensure every student can be safe and healthy during their semester abroad.

Learn more about CIS Abroad’s Risk Management Team’s three step process for operating  our programs around the world and important program refund policies.

Read more below for information related to this program:

On-Site Program Modifications

We want your time abroad to be an experience of a lifetime. We also know that it is a unique time to be going abroad. Below is some helpful information to you so you can make the best decision for your finances, academic career, and personal health and safety.

Our Financial Commitment

CIS Abroad is working with international partners to create refund and withdrawal policies that limit the financial impact on students and families should COVID-19 change a student’s plan to travel. See our refund policy page for more information.
To insure yourself from additional loss, such as the loss of airfare, or any other non-recoverable loss after your program begins, we recommend purchasing trip protection insurance, aka CFAR/IFAR insurance.

Our Academic Commitment

CIS Abroad has carefully selected programs where there is minimal to no academic risk.*

If a student must quarantine or miss classes due to sickness, remote academics are guaranteed. These may be synchronous or asynchronous, i.e, live or recorded.

If a city or country goes on lockdown due to sickness, remote academics are guaranteed. These may be synchronous or asynchronous, i.e. live or recorded.

* If a student cannot travel to their destination due to COVID-19 restrictions, remote academics are guaranteed on select programs and in certain courses. If accessing remote academics from the US are important to you, please contact our advising team to learn more about which program locations or courses are right for you.

Our Health & Safety Commitment

CIS Abroad has developed a site-specific risk management plan for every location so that health and safety protocols are monitored, managed and communicated throughout the semester. We have developed a COVID Care Package included in our program fee to make traveling and living in a host country easier on students, especially those first few weeks on-site:

• COVID compliant airport pick-up and transfer to housing (except for Barcelona’s programs).
• Access to quarantine housing upon entry, if quarantine is required when entering the country; this housing may incur additional charges.
• Information and assistance on meal delivery, if quarantine is required when entering the country.
• COVID-safe classrooms and campus facilities as well as access to masks, hand sanitizer, and cleaning supplies according to country and location specific standards.
• Vaccine requirements for all participants to ensure COVID-safe program excursions and guaranteed housing with vaccinated students.
• Access to accommodation if isolation is necessary due to positive COVID test or exposure; this housing may incur additional charges.
• Access to COVID testing; this testing may be an additional charge.
• Medical and accident insurance that covers COVID-related illness (except for on programs operating in the USA).
• Cultural activities and reflection that emphasize safe, local exploration geared to the specific context of being abroad at this special time.

*if quarantine is required upon entry, we will let you know 60 days before a program starts, or as soon as the information is known to CIS Abroad. Your program coordinator will keep you updated as to any changes in dates, arrival, local restrictions and costs. If it is required, this may entail an earlier departure date and an additional housing and meal cost.

We recognize not every student, family, or university will allow travel this year, despite the risk mitigation outlined above. Should students apply for 2022 programs, and then choose to defer to a future program, we would be happy to move that student’s application to a program with a later start date. We are committed to providing our innovative virtual programs to meet your internationalization goals.

Excursions

We plan to show you the best of what your location has to offer this term; great culture, great food, and interesting people. On the Excursions tab, you can see the day or overnight trips we usually offer. It is too soon to know if we can offer those same experiences or if we’ll stay a little closer to our program base. Just know that great experiences await you.