I hear people talk about America’s focus on Liberal Arts education, but what advantages does that offer me, as a prospective Australasian applicant?
Australian, NZ, and British universities lock you into one field. Liberal arts education lets you explore many different areas from many different perspectives and even the quirky intersections of different fields. I think its the best option if you don’t know what you want to study. Even if you do, it’s quite naive to think a 18 year old knows. (e.g all the kids who want to be doctors)
It really depends on what you want out of an education. If you feel like the purpose of tertiary education is to provide you with an opportunity to learn knowledge specific to a certain industry to prepare you to work in that industry, then staying in Australia would give you just that. If you feel like the purpose to tertiary education is to equip you with the skills to learn, even after graduation, and to prepare you to work in any industry, as well as set you off in a journey of life long learning and self-discovery, then a liberal arts education may be better.