Beautiful country Past Review
By A student (Brandeis University) - abroad from 01/15/2017 to 05/21/2017 with
Arcadia: Dublin - University College Dublin
It was definitely a worthwhile experience. I felt like I learned sooo much about Irish history and culture, which is so rich and fascinating. I also definitely learned a lot about being on my own, cooking my own food, paying for everything myself, etc. That was a valuable lesson on independence and the kind of support system I want to have around me in the future.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The classes at UCD are absolutely gigantic so it's basically impossible to get one-on-one interaction with professors, and since they're very lecture-heavy, they can be kind of boring. They do have resources about academic support if you search them out, although I never did. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Glenomena Residences have attached bathrooms in every room which was awesome. The kitchen was reasonably well-stocked with 2 fridges, freezer, toaster, stovetop, microwave, sink, and drying rack. But beware - there was no oven! |
| * Food: |
Irish food is eh, and I mostly cooked for myself. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I never used healthcare options because I was never sick. They did provide us with insurance, which cost was included in the overall program cost, which was a pretty good deal. |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
That's more of a maybe. I didn't like how big & impersonal UCD felt, so I would have chosen a smaller school. I would have loved to have gone to Trinity. It also would have been cool to do an internship or other alternative experience since going to school in Ireland felt almost exactly like going to school in the US. |
Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
I would say I spent about $50 every 2 weeks for a huge grocery haul, and then between that time I would stock up on essentials like milk and bread, so I was probably spending a total of $50-70 or so a week on food. Drinks and social events can be expensive, and most of all travel was expensive. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | probably $50-70/wk; very rough estimate |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | There are a ton of free things to do in Dublin, so we focused on those instead of doing things like the Guinness Storehouse, which has 18 euro tickets a piece. All the major museums are free, there are tons of parks to visit, there are really nice places to hike, etc. Be creative in finding alternative activities to do. Also, even though a lot of people go out like 3+ times a week, you don't have to do that to have a good time because it gets really expensive to spend all that money on drinks. Also, most importantly, cook for yourself. I ate out once a week max, and otherwise cooked for myself and saved the leftovers, which was a really good way to save money since groceries themselves aren't horribly expensive. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 0 |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Everyone warns you, but you really don't need as many clothes as you think you do. I really thought I was being conservative with what I was bringing, but I didn't wear half the clothes I brought. Especially in Ireland, you never need shorts and you very rarely need short sleeve shirts, especially if you easily get cold like me. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Avid AdventurerThe wardrobe you packed was better suited for a semester of camping than club hopping. Outdoorsy, you might forgo a crazy night out for an early all-day adventure. You'd rather take in the rich culture of an old town than the metropolis of a modern city, but for you getting off the grid is ideal. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Irish for Beginners |
| Course Department: | Irish |
| Instructor: | Cathal Billings, Aoife Doyle |
| Instruction Language: | Irish/English |
| Comments: | I highly recommend taking an Irish language course when in Ireland. UCD offers a beginners class taught by a really helpful tutor. It just adds an awesome extra dynamic to being in the country, helps you understand the culture so much better, and also helps you pronounce things like Irish names and the words on Irish signs. It was a hard class, because Irish is kind of a hard language, but the work load was reasonable and it was just so much fun. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | I didn't even try to transfer this back for specific credit, but I think I will get general university credit for taking it. |
