Some advice for a Belgian student

Niina

Hi!

Probably should introduce myself first, I'm Nina, 17 and from Belgium. This year I'm in my final year of secondary school and considering to study in Ireland next year. Why, you ask, because I have a particular interest in Celtic studies, something I can't study here. Also, I really like Ireland, and it's people, well some of them..:D Now of course, I need to choose a university and that's quite hard because it seems like there are a lot of possibilities. Should I go to Dublin, Cork or Galway? Haven't been in any of those cities yet. Can anyone tell me about the (dis)advantages? If I choose arts, what subjects should I choose? I'm interested in studying Irish but appearantly that's not possible on an academic level as I have no previous knowledge. Hm, a lot of questions I know, but I thought I could use some advise from actual Irish students.

Thanks!!

Chakar

Niina wrote:

Hi!

Probably should introduce myself first, I'm Nina, 17 and from Belgium. This year I'm in my final year of secondary school and considering to study in Ireland next year. Why, you ask, because I have a particular interest in Celtic studies, something I can't study here. Also, I really like Ireland, and it's people, well some of them..:D Now of course, I need to choose a university and that's quite hard because it seems like there are a lot of possibilities. Should I go to Dublin, Cork or Galway? Haven't been in any of those cities yet. Can anyone tell me about the (dis)advantages? If I choose arts, what subjects should I choose? I'm interested in studying Irish but appearantly that's not possible on an academic level as I have no previous knowledge. Hm, a lot of questions I know, but I thought I could use some advise from actual Irish students.

Thanks!!

Well this forum is for UCD which stands for University College Dublin.The Arts degree here has a lot of choice its based on the modularisation and semesterisation system which is a better system than other universities in Ireland.

You can choose loads of subjects most of them range from History to Statistics and Canadian Studies.

Dublin is grand, a bit expensive but otherwise its fine.

Umaro

You'd probably be eligible for the Erasmus grant each year which is about a grand or so.

gubbie

Chakar wrote:

Well this forum is for UCD which stands for University College Dublin.The Arts degree here has a lot of choice

Duh... and don't you think that she has more chance of knowing that this post is for UCD students then what modularisation and semesterisation is?

its based on the modularisation and semesterisation system which is a better system than other universities in Ireland

Thats debatable. They've had loads of problems with it in and around the college.

Dublins class and if I were you I'd live on campus-it takes away a lot of hassles and you'll meet loads of foreigners there. Greatest decision I ever made was to go away for college. Although I heard that the arts degree is better in UCC but thats only opinion

Blush_01

To my mind Galway would be the best place to go if you're interested in the Celtic side of things, but that's just my opinion.

I wish you the best of luck with your decision though.

Chakar

gubbie wrote:

Duh... and don't you think that she has more chance of knowing that this post is for UCD students then what modularisation and semesterisation is?

Obviously not

Blush_01

I'd be pretty sure, if I was you Conor, that Niina knows that UCD stands for University College Dublin. Now, she probably also understands the modularisation and semesterisation side of things, but in this case your presumption (striking again - my, my) was that she was ignorant of who she was asking advice of, but completely aware of the finer points of the course she was asking advice on. Do you see something strange going on there?

Niina, the best thing to do, if at all possible, is to talk to people who have done the subject combinations you hope to do and see how they like their courses, in each of the respective colleges. I think I know someone who did Celtic Civ. or Irish Folklore, I'll get him to send you a PM if he was in those classes.

Chakar

Blush_01 wrote:

I'd be pretty sure, if I was you Conor, that Niina knows that UCD stands for University College Dublin. Now, she probably also understands the modularisation and semesterisation side of things, but in this case your presumption (striking again - my, my) was that she was ignorant of who she was asking advice of, but completely aware of the finer points of the course she was asking advice on. Do you see something strange going on there?

Well she didn't mention if she knew or not that this was the UCD of Dublin boards.ie forum while the modularisation and semesterisation.I was thinking that she would find out about it herself.

jimi_t

Interest in the Celtic Arts?
Interest in the Irish language?

I'd definitely advise UCG (University College Galway) - it has a nice campus, far cheaper accomodation and living expenses in comparison with Dublin, and is situated the closest to the biggest Irish speaking and "traditional" Irish region in the country - Connemara.

gubbie

Chakar wrote:

Well she didn't mention if she knew or not that this was the UCD of Dublin boards.ie forum while the modularisation and semesterisation.I was thinking that she would find out about it herself.

.ie means Ireland. What other UCD's are there in Ireland? I ran a quick google and it all just comes up our UCDD.
I agree with Blush
That is unless the UCD she was looking for actually stands for "The Union of Country Delinquents" who just happen to do the Arts course she's looking for, then oops, my mistake, and cheers Conor for setting her straight

On an edit-wouldn't it also be easier if she choose a city with an airport like Dublin or Cork seeing as she is a foreigner

Niina

Hello there!

I do know what UCD and UCC stand for. Sorry if that wasn't clear. I've done my research, there should be six universities in the republic of Ireland. UCD, Trinity, UCC, NUI Galway, NUI Maynooth and UL. Right?
So, thanks for your help so far. Some people say it would be a good idea to choose Galway as for the Celtic side of it. That's what I wanted to do at first but then I started to think about airports and stuff, like somebody already mentioned. From Belgium, I can fly to Dublin and Shannon with Ryanair. Is there a good connection between Shannon and Galway? I know how to get from Shannon to Kerry experienced that during the summer. Another point is that I'd also like to take English as a subject, in Dublin it's not possible to take both archaeology and English, which I'd like...
Erasmus is not an option for me, it's only possible when you're in your second year of college, I'd like to do a full degree in Ireland. Still not sure how realistic this is though. It's not really the easy way and lots of people tell me I'm crazy. (they don't need to, I know I am) There's also the language aspect, my English isn't that bad (is it?) but is it good enough for studying at university? sigh... lots of questions.. Guess I'll go and ask my questions on the NUI Galway board aswell..

The_Minister

Just out of curiousity, are you a walloon?

jimi_t

Niina wrote:

Another point is that I'd also like to take English as a subject, in Dublin it's not possible to take both archaeology and English, which I'd like...

Whats your source for that? As far as I know, you CAN do it - in UCD anyways.

themole

Niina wrote:

Guess I'll go and ask my questions on the NUI Galway board aswell..

the boards nuigalway forum is not that busy, there will be more people here. http://www.sin.nuigalway.ie/

I went to NUIG and can reccomend it. I did engineering though, so I don't know about your course.

NUIG actually has a faculty of Celtic Studies, so it might well suit your needs better.

Niina

I'm not Walloon, I'm Flemish
I thought I'd read somewhere on www.ucd.ie/horizons that when you have to choose your subjects in the first year of Arts, the combination of English and archaeology isn't possible. Could be wrong of course, hope so actually.

themole

Niina wrote:

I'm not Walloon, I'm Flemish
I thought I'd read somewhere on www.ucd.ie/horizons that when you have to choose your subjects in the first year of Arts, the combination of English and archaeology isn't possible. Could be wrong of course, hope so actually.

From the link, and the pdf therein you appear to be right.

Archaeology, Eniglish and Politics seem to be in the same group

Blush_01

Niina wrote:

Hello there!

I do know what UCD and UCC stand for. Sorry if that wasn't clear. I've done my research, there should be six universities in the republic of Ireland. UCD, Trinity, UCC, NUI Galway, NUI Maynooth and UL. Right?
So, thanks for your help so far. Some people say it would be a good idea to choose Galway as for the Celtic side of it. That's what I wanted to do at first but then I started to think about airports and stuff, like somebody already mentioned. From Belgium, I can fly to Dublin and Shannon with Ryanair. Is there a good connection between Shannon and Galway? I know how to get from Shannon to Kerry experienced that during the summer. Another point is that I'd also like to take English as a subject, in Dublin it's not possible to take both archaeology and English, which I'd like...
Erasmus is not an option for me, it's only possible when you're in your second year of college, I'd like to do a full degree in Ireland. Still not sure how realistic this is though. It's not really the easy way and lots of people tell me I'm crazy. (they don't need to, I know I am) There's also the language aspect, my English isn't that bad (is it?) but is it good enough for studying at university? sigh... lots of questions.. Guess I'll go and ask my questions on the NUI Galway board aswell..

Your English is fantastic, and you will probably find parts of the English course a lot easier than Irish students, as you have been taught formal grammar and punctuation, something which the Irish curriculum sadly lacks.

Jonny Arson

themole wrote:

From the link, and the pdf therein you appear to be right.

Archaeology, Eniglish and Politics seem to be in the same group

Yeah that's correct, Archaeology/English/Politics have always been part of the same group (D), however it may be still possible to an elective from Archaeology or English alongside the other depending on timetable constraints - I can't say I know this for fact so do check this out with UCD