Irish College Life

eamoss

Me and one of my friends were having a conversation about how America portray its student life in its movies and how it compares to Irish college life. How do you think its does compare? Or even UK student life how does it compare to the Irish one?

Like what is the deal with the fraternities?

What I am asking what is US/UK college life really like?

For me College life is very odd because I am in Maynooth and I have moved from a big town to a small village. Like I have to go into Dublin to do anything but yet its cool in the way everyone on the village is a student from the college.

EDIT:
Thanks Jimi-Spandex

Jimi-Spandex

You should use "like" more in your sentences. And it's portray, not pretray.

Hope this helps!

ryanairzer

From watching movies and playing The Sims 2: University, fraternities/sororities are big fancy houses full of hot people and nobody pays for anything and they have greek letters and stuff.

Hope this helped.

Merrick

Well if we're going by movies, everyone in college in the US is pretty, except the nerds, unless they're a cool nerd with a major part in the storyline. Nobody needs to do a great amount of work, everything they need is paid for by rich parent/scholarships, frat/sorority members can have parties all the time and never fail their exams.
Real life Irish college: none of the above.

Peyton Manning

College is truly awesome.

That is all.

FOGOFUNK

College is a load of my swiss. Drop out now and get a job.

stepbar

You don't mean that I hope......

projectmayhem

i'm only in college because i need a degree to get anywhere close to what i want to do. if i could obtain it tomorrow i would...

FOGOFUNK

I do mean it. Every school guidance meeting pushed me to go to college without exploring any other avenues of getting a qaulification.

There is not enough awareness in this country of alternative routes into careers.

Overheal

College in the US is really probably like that because if you can afford to get in you can afford to buy your degree... worked for George W.

seriously though college doesnt work like that for most people - either you cant afford it or you do part time in a community college and that 4 year degree actually takes you about 8 years or more to attain because who goes to college full time? who can afford to in the USA? nobody but the aristocracy.

which explains why im here, taking advantage now of all the years of income tax my family paid to the Irish Govt so I can get an affordable college education... bless them.

Dudess

FOGOFUNK wrote:

I do mean it. Every school guidance meeting pushed me to go to college without exploring any other avenues of getting a qaulification.

There is not enough awareness in this country of alternative routes into careers.

True. But you can have a good laugh in college. And lots of sex.

Dave!

One of my (American) lecturers in UCD commented that American students are alot more enthusiastic about their college course/subjects. Irish students in general just do the bare minimum and get on with it, whereas the Americans will take an active interest and do extra-curicular work. I don't know if maybe American universities give you more freedom to choose your subjects... I know in my course, in first year, I got no choice at all in what classes I could take. There were set history and computer science classes that I had to take and that was it. I'm in second year now and there's alot more freedom, and thus I take more of an interest in the classes, since they're the ones I wanted.

Also whenever I tell any foreign mates that I live with the parents while I'm in college, they think it's very strange.

Dudess

DaveMcG wrote:

Also whenever I tell any foreign mates that I live with the parents while I'm in college, they think it's very strange.

Yeah, a guy I know from England said the same thing - that there doesn't seem to be as much of a moving away to college tradition in this country. But in the UK, universities are kind of league-tabled so, say you live in Liverpool and you want to study psychology and it's available at Liverpool University but Nottingham University is more recognised for its psychology degree than Liverpool University, then you move to Nottingham. Maybe the university you go to has a bearing on your career prospects, but I'd say that depends on what field you want to get into. I'm sure it wouldn't really matter where you studied, for instance, history. Then there's the whole Uxbridge thing but that seems to be another realm entirely.
I personally think it would be ludicrous to move away when you don't have to - I know it would be more fun but think of all the expense you'd be spared. I wanted to study arts, I'm from Cork, so I went to UCC. Simple. Then the postgrad I wanted to do wasn't available in Cork so I moved to Dublin - in that case I needed to. Saved a lot of hassle, expense and I still got to experience the whole going away to college thing.

Sleepy

It all depends on the course your taking really, I mean no-one's gonna pass an engineering/medecine/advanced science course if they're partying every night. Commerce or Arts students, however, can get away with it pretty easily.

Dudess

Well now Sleepy, as a former arts student, I really would have to say... that I wholeheartedly agree with that comment.

Kold

Every college seems **** in comparison to my college (Crawford, Cork). 300 students, loads of personal attention, and they don't seem disappointed when I turn up at 2pm and tell the truth about being bollocksed the night before. Oh, and a 1:9 ratio of guys to girls.. who tend not to be superficial oompa loompas.

rossie1977

Sleepy wrote: »

It all depends on the course your taking really, I mean no-one's gonna pass an engineering/medecine/advanced science course if they're partying every night. Commerce or Arts students, however, can get away with it pretty easily.

alot of my ex-classmates would disagree with this statement they had to repeat or never completed their business degree due to excess partying

Dudess

Kold wrote: »

Every college seems **** in comparison to my college (Crawford, Cork). 300 students, loads of personal attention, and they don't seem disappointed when I turn up at 2pm and tell the truth about being bollocksed the night before. Oh, and a 1:9 ratio of guys to girls.. who tend not to be superficial oompa loompas.

Hmmm. Probably because it's an art college.;) I was on that campus a couple of times meeting mates - stoner central! Is it still as much of a ****hole?

Firetrap

Oh they're alike. Apart from the dorms and the fraternities and the students who want to learn and the sex and and :eek:

Kold

Dudess wrote: »

Hmmm. Probably because it's an art college.;) I was on that campus a couple of times meeting mates - stoner central! Is it still as much of a ****hole?

Yeah, falling apart around us but we just put sweaters on and try not to bitch because we love our home Or are you implying that it's a ****hole because of the amount of stoners?

Borneo Fnctn

FOGOFUNK wrote: »

I do mean it. Every school guidance meeting pushed me to go to college without exploring any other avenues of getting a qaulification.

There is not enough awareness in this country of alternative routes into careers.

Yeah fair enough. Don't go to college if you don't want to. The world will always need ditchdiggers. But don't discourage others.

Terry

jackpalance wrote: »

Yeah fair enough. Don't go to college if you don't want to. The world will always need ditchdiggers. But don't discourage others.

Whooooooo!!!1
Yeah!!!!!!!
Freshers ruleeeeeeeeee.

I'm out of work at the moment, but when I was working I often pulled in over €1500 a week and I never went to college. Ditch digging indeed.

That was a 4 day week, by the way.

Borneo Fnctn

Terry wrote: »

Whooooooo!!!1
Yeah!!!!!!!
Freshers ruleeeeeeeeee.

I'm out of work at the moment, but when I was working I often pulled in over €1500 a week and I never went to college. Ditch digging indeed.

That was a 4 day week, by the way.

I may have sounded very pompous there, fair enough. But imagine what would happen if nobody went to college because "it's a load of me swiss."

Voodu Child

jackpalance wrote: »

Yeah fair enough. Don't go to college if you don't want to. The world will always need ditchdiggers. But don't discourage others.

FWIW guys on shovels can make more money than half the wasters who went to college and did some pointless arts degree.

But imagine what would happen if nobody went to college because "it's a load of me swiss."

Imagine what would happen if everyone went to college because that was the 'done thing'. Yep, nobody to build the college in the first place, nobody to service the car/bus that gets you there, nobody to...etc

Black Swan

eamoss wrote: »

What I am asking what is US/UK college life really like?

I'm at USC (University of Southern California). Our motto here is "Work hard! Play hard!" I believe USC students take the 2nd part very seriously!

indough

voodoo_child wrote: »

FWIW guys on shovels can make more money than half the wasters who went to college and did some pointless arts degree.

Imagine what would happen if everyone went to college because that was the 'done thing'. Yep, nobody to build the college in the first place, nobody to service the car/bus that gets you there, nobody to...etc

By the same token, if noone studied 'pointless arts degrees' you and your children would not have received anything resembling an education.

jj99

i studied in america, and they work really hard, harder than most ppl i know, you have to be in to get into frat parties unless your a hot girl. more house parties cause of 21s but usually just w/e.

Borneo Fnctn

voodoo_child wrote: »

FWIW guys on shovels can make more money than half the wasters who went to college and did some pointless arts degree.


Imagine what would happen if everyone went to college because that was the 'done thing'. Yep, nobody to build the college in the first place, nobody to service the car/bus that gets you there, nobody to...etc

Look I'm not saying everybody should go to college. I'm not saying nobody should go to college either. What I am saying is that FOGOFUNK should not say silly things like "college is a load of me swiss" and "get a real job". You agree?

mac123

Terry wrote: »

Whooooooo!!!1
Yeah!!!!!!!
Freshers ruleeeeeeeeee.

I'm out of work at the moment, but when I was working I often pulled in over €1500 a week and I never went to college. Ditch digging indeed.

That was a 4 day week, by the way.

do you mind me asking what you did exactly?

It wasn't me!

mac123 wrote: »

do you mind me asking what you did exactly?

Sold. Drugs. Children. Fill in the blanks.

mawk

Kold wrote: »

Every college seems **** in comparison to my college (Crawford, Cork). 300 students, loads of personal attention, and they don't seem disappointed when I turn up at 2pm and tell the truth about being bollocksed the night before. Oh, and a 1:9 ratio of guys to girls.. who tend not to be superficial oompa loompas.

kold,
your post intrigues me and i wish to subscribe to your next class party.

college in america?
lots of work.
lots

and frats? they do a lot of sitting around studying or playing videogames during the week. then they drink for an hour before vomiting on the weekends.

cause americans cant drink. i swear to god. they drink like 13 y/o girls. just chug whatevers close for half hour then pass out. I went to loads of frat parties and they all end up with people vomiting an hour in.

EdgarAllenPoo

College life my hairy hole. The only people who can partake in "college life" are those who live on campus or spitting distance from the college, not unfortunate feckers like me who spend four hours a day getting there and getting home.

Voodu Child

indough wrote: »

By the same token, if noone studied 'pointless arts degrees' you and your children would not have received anything resembling an education.

No, because I said 'pointless', making the distinction between actual qualifications and airy-fairy ones.

Im sure we all know someone who ambled through an arts degree with no real idea of what they wanted to do in life, and ended up with some daft qualification in philosophy or ancient greek literature....just because the guidance counsellor told them to 'go to college.' I know a few :rolleyes:

EdgarAllenPoo

I always wondered why people bothered studying subjects like that, aside from teaching or lecturing what sort of a career could they get you?

It wasn't me!

To be honest, the majority of jobs these days don't care what your degree is, as long as you have one. Of course, I'm studying Latin and Philosophy, so yeah, shine on, bright future.

Terry

mac123 wrote: »

do you mind me asking what you did exactly?

Tiling.
2 bathrooms a week. 2 days work in each bathroom.
Or a large kitchen floor, which takes one day.
Patio, one day.

Plasterers, electricians etc. make similar money.
However, Tiling has only recently become a recognised trade in this country (look out for chancers) and anyone with more than ten years experience (yay me) does not need to pass any training course.

AlmightyCushion

Terry wrote: »

I'm out of work at the moment, but when I was working I often pulled in over €1500 a week and I never went to college. Ditch digging indeed.

That was a 4 day week, by the way.

I'm in the wrong profession.

Outer Bongolia

indough wrote: »

By the same token, if noone studied 'pointless arts degrees' you and your children would not have received anything resembling an education.

This brother is on my level

indough

voodoo_child wrote: »

No, because I said 'pointless', making the distinction between actual qualifications and airy-fairy ones.

Im sure we all know someone who ambled through an arts degree with no real idea of what they wanted to do in life, and ended up with some daft qualification in philosophy or ancient greek literature....just because the guidance counsellor told them to 'go to college.' I know a few :rolleyes:

Those subjects are only pointless or 'airy fairy' if you have no intention of following them up with a related career. There are careers available in both areas. When you adopt the attitude that such subjects are pointless to study then you're no better than the people who doesn't go to college is this or that.

dame

DaveMcG wrote: »

One of my (American) lecturers in UCD commented that American students are alot more enthusiastic about their college course/subjects. Irish students in general just do the bare minimum and get on with it, whereas the Americans will take an active interest and do extra-curicular work.

Ever heard the phrase "Extra Credit"? That seems to be a big thing in America. Of course we'd all be doing extra like that if we were getting something out of it.

Kold

mawk wrote: »

kold,
your post intrigues me and i wish to subscribe to your next class party.

Crawford class parties do indeed rule.

leninbenjamin

i don't get why people blab on about college life. college campus's are dull, lack resources and over crowded. courses themselves tend to be more tedious than stimulating even for those who actually enjoy their area, and most lecturers would rather be in their dept or lab researching than giving lectures but do so for monetary reasons. when most people talk about "college life" being so great, they should really be saying "living away from home and not having a real 9 - 5" is great. end of.

AlmightyCushion

College would be a lot better if my course didn't have such bullshít subjects like management behaviour in organisations or intra-personal skills. I hate those subjects. :mad:

Firetrap

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

College would be a lot better if my course didn't have such bullshít subjects like management behaviour in organisations or intra-personal skills. I hate those subjects. :mad:

Hey! Wait til you join the workforce. Those sound like the bullsh!t courses my employers love sending me on. The only difference is, I get travelling expenses

Kernel32

College students in the USA have motivation to work harder. Many come out owing a lot of money because they had to take out student loans to get through. 20k, 30k, 40k, 50k and more aren't uncommon. In Ireland the government along with Mammy and Daddy pay for most of it so a lot of students treat it like secondary school but with less rules.

Dudess

leninbenjamin wrote: »

i don't get why people blab on about college life. college campus's are dull, lack resources and over crowded. courses themselves tend to be more tedious than stimulating even for those who actually enjoy their area, and most lecturers would rather be in their dept or lab researching than giving lectures but do so for monetary reasons. when most people talk about "college life" being so great, they should really be saying "living away from home and not having a real 9 - 5" is great. end of.

Depends on the college really. For instance, DCU is indeed a dreary wasteland, but UCC is absolutely gorgeous. You're making major generalisations.

Sonnenblumen

Terry wrote: »

Tiling.
2 bathrooms a week. 2 days work in each bathroom.
Or a large kitchen floor, which takes one day.
Patio, one day.

Plasterers, electricians etc. make similar money.
However, Tiling has only recently become a recognised trade in this country (look out for chancers) and anyone with more than ten years experience (yay me) does not need to pass any training course.

Not bad going but how come you're out of work ? I mean the boom might be slowing but it is still very much going??

Dudess

Kold wrote: »

Yeah, falling apart around us but we just put sweaters on and try not to bitch because we love our home Or are you implying that it's a ****hole because of the amount of stoners?

To be fair, in spite of being either stoned or tripping 100 per cent of the time, you have to hand it to those Crawford students - the way they held protests a few years ago over the state of the place, that was mighty militant of them
Nah seriously, what a dump. It's an absolute disgrace that you have to work in facilities like that - freezing your arses off every winter. But the new School of Music is fabulous. Hopefully Crawford is next. Although I heard talk of it being moved to the CIT campus. Not really a good environment for an art college, in my opinion.

AlmightyCushion

Firetrap wrote: »

Hey! Wait til you join the workforce. Those sound like the bullsh!t courses my employers love sending me on. The only difference is, I get travelling expenses

It's not the actual subjects, it's the fact that I could be the best programmer in my course but if I fail these subjects I don't get my degree. They also end up bringing down my average as well which sucks. In all the real subjects I get over 70, on the bullshít subjects I get between 50 and 60.

Xavi6

My three years in college were the best years of my life and it had nothing to do with the course, although 12 hours a week left plenty of time for partying. It's what you make of it really. I didn't live on campus so that was a hinderance but I made sure I crashed on someone's floor just to be involved. Like most things college isn't for everyone. I don't feel I learnt an amazing amount but I got my piece of paper at the end and had to do very little to get it.

rossie1977

universities in ireland do need an overhaul. i have been on both side of the fence, IT and university.

i had 35 hours of lectures a week in the first two years and it took me 4 years to do my degree in Athlone (2 years cert, 1 diploma, 1 degree), whereas most commerce degrees in universities only have 12-15 hours lectures a week (and you never have to come in at all because all the notes are put up on the internet :rolleyes:) and you get a degree in 3 years The exact same degree that took me 1 year longer :mad:

i probably shouldn't complain as i never did a LC in the first place and i really enjoyed my time in 3rd level both undergrad and postgrad