What are the 5 best and worst things about TCD?

ilovemybrick

jmccrohan wrote: »

Maybe it was just for the laugh*

*assuming you are talking about the soc in your sig

groan

Jonathan

ilovemybrick wrote: »

groan

What I mean is that most comedians these days seem to just pick on a group or minority in society and make fun of them for their gain.

Maybe you were just that group on the butt of all the jokes. I doubt there was major seriousness in the jibes.. maybe just came across that way when you were constantly on the end of them

wesclark

I remember at the Smedias after 2 awards had been presented, and neither had been won by TCD, the MC said "Don't worry Trinity, you don't have to be first for everything" and the crowd emited a collective Nelson Muntz-esque "haha".

Irish people traditionally denegrate achievement if it is judged to be flashy or obnoxious (essentially a firm collective belief in the concept of hubris). The founding ideology of the state is that we were all meant to be happy in our nationhood of "comely maidens on hillsides", and there was limited desire to shake up the economic order to enrich ourselves until at least the 60s. We may have been a nation of socialists if it wasn't for the catholic church.

But modern mass media has created a new trend to seek to emulate the lives of wives of successful Dublin solicitors/footballers/entrepreneurs, and this is a coexisting aspect of how modern Irish people see society. However we respect nobody more than someone who "beats the system" (Bertie, capitalism is still viewed as "cute hoorism") and being a manifestation of having success within orthodox structures (going to TCD) smacks of reneging on the founding ideal of the state, and obviously that College has a British/AI heritage gives that festering resentment focus




Sorry, I just started writing there, don't even remember the thread title!

shay_562

+ Location
+ Beautiful campus
+ Really great clubs/societies (by comparison to what I've seen/heard in other colleges)
+ The GMB, much as it has a cliquey reputation, is one of my favourite "unique" things about campus.
+ The reputation

- Terrible sports facilities (coupled with DUCAC, who seem to despise anything that isn't rugby/football/cricket, or at a push GAA)
- Admin can be a bit dodgy.
- Some departments (*cough*French*cough*) seem to hate students as a whole, though to be fair I don't think this is TCD specific.
- People make assumptions about you, particularly when you do BESS.
- Fun being outlawed by the stereotypical Crusty Old Dean (where's a good Bra Bomb when you need one?)

kowloon

jmccrohan wrote: »

How so?

If you're only starting it's est not to make assumptions about the place, you might love the arts girls! On the other hand if you just mean going back to a course you've already begun then I retract my statement.

maninasia

- Sliding down the geology building stairs when pissed
- Having a laugh with your mates talking to your mates honkers down behind the toilet in the student rooms before <snip> drinking home brew made on campus
- Riding my bike about 50miles/hour thru hordes of tourists late as usual
- Not attending a single 9am start lesson in final year and nobody gives a sh$t, just pass your exams
- Knocking the heads off of UCD boxing club (and vice-versa) , then going on the piss with them all night and even putting each other up in our rooms after partying too hard
- Beers outside the PAV in summer sunshine
- Hanging around the GMB and joining every club/society on campus for free drinks
- Great pubs and clubs around it, real Dublin atmosphere


- Getting my bike nicked 3 times by knackers from Pearse St.
- Dealing with being a northsider, getting a bit of stick for it from inside/northside (got past that after a year or so)
- Lecturers not as impressive as other countries (good in Ireland though)
- Opaque exam marking systems (cry to your tutor and get another chance)


I went to DCU for a while and Trinity just has the atmosphere and history that is hard to beat....and I am a northsider. It's not any more cliquey than UCD and always had a lot of characters.

Boston

ApeXaviour wrote: »

Also for any smart alecs, I'm aware there are also numerous uninteresting doors some can exit via.

I've a magic key that lets me in and out via three secret doors around the college perimeter (I've only found two of them), and no I'm not taking the piss.

Jonathan

kowloon wrote: »

If you're only starting it's est not to make assumptions about the place, you might love the arts girls! On the other hand if you just mean going back to a course you've already begun then I retract my statement.

Retract that statement.

Starting in October means: going back to college to in October rather than mid september as is with most colleges.

I think it is kinda obvious from the rest of the points that ive been there before tho.

Randomness

Best / Worst Random Things........(well off the top o my head)

+ walking through front arch into college
+ the characters, traditions, old stuff, silly big words, cobbles & craic
+ having everything dublin city centre has to offer at your finger tips
+ the fact that when you get off public transport your right there
+ you could be sitting in front of the pav on a sunny day and the world could be ending outside the gates and you wouldn't realise

- ok obviously if the world was ending that would be bad....
- closing the gate across the road from the dart? why? - ok i know the official reason but it'd be so handy if it twas open
- trying to stand still in the long queue for a computer - there is only so many times you can read the posters on a wall
- outside the arts block rivals beijing for pollution levels (cig smoke)
- the toilets are a bit crap (haha crap. i just realised the pun. laugh laugh)


Best / Worst Official Type Things.......

+ International reputation
+ Wide range of courses
+ High standards
+ Clubs / Socities
+ Good environment / atmosphere for education

- Admin staff like to kill students with their evil looks
_ When people from outside Dublin ask you where you go to college and they either pause or think your a Protestant
- When people think your course (BESS) isn't even a real degree
- Generally departments / schools like to send you back and forth between each other before they finally decided to help you
- THE worst thing....the unwillingness of college to FULLY embrace this wonderful thing called technology and use it to make small changes which would make a BIG difference in the efficiency and effectiveness of daily college life and ultimately improve the college going forward (haha going forward) - also I wanted that guy ROB to win SU President a) because he was funny and b) because of "iCollege". - good reasons to vote for him, I know.

heyjude

Heffo wrote: »

Good:
- excellent lecturers (though depends on the course)

:eek::eek::eek: yes, it very definitely depends on the course

ZWEI_VIER_ZWEI

wesclark wrote: »

Irish people traditionally denegrate achievement if it is judged to be flashy or obnoxious (essentially a firm collective belief in the concept of hubris). The founding ideology of the state is that we were all meant to be happy in our nationhood of "comely maidens on hillsides", and there was limited desire to shake up the economic order to enrich ourselves until at least the 60s. We may have been a nation of socialists if it wasn't for the catholic church.

But modern mass media has created a new trend to seek to emulate the lives of wives of successful Dublin solicitors/footballers/entrepreneurs, and this is a coexisting aspect of how modern Irish people see society. However we respect nobody more than someone who "beats the system" (Bertie, capitalism is still viewed as "cute hoorism") and being a manifestation of having success within orthodox structures (going to TCD) smacks of reneging on the founding ideal of the state, and obviously that College has a British/AI heritage gives that festering resentment focus

Quoted for truth.

straight_As

Thanks for all the replies guys and gals.

From the sounds of it, TCD appears to be a great place, steeped in tradition.

However, its reluctance to update mechanisms (such as the admin), would seem to show a slightly backwards attitude on behalf of the TCD hierarchy.

But that, I suppose, is a very subjective opinion. Some may see it as a good thing?

Thanks again for the responses.

Admin is better then in UCD from what I am hearing.

Flamed Diving

I have been in touch with the admin in the Economics department loads of times and I have found them most helpful.

Time Magazine

Deleted User wrote: »

Admin is better then in UCD from what I am hearing.

UCD admin forgot to tell me I had to send more stuff into them. And when I called they also told me that it'd be fine, the offers would be sent out in time.

I had to bypass them and go straight to a lecturer to get it sorted.

Fuckwits.

Jimdw

Heffo wrote: »

Good:
- ...
- a surprisingly fantastic international reputation
...

Not the highest, 58th place in Europe. Cambridge in England is 2nd in the World. Still it's not bad for Trinity.

Économiste Monétaire

53rd in the world, actually. Credit where credit is due - it's impressive that an Irish University, scraping by with funding, is that high. I don't know where you got 58th in Europe.

Podge_irl

Its 53rd in the world in the Times rankings, its significantly lower in the Shanghai rankings. Anyway, these rankings are all quite subjective and a bit useless.

The Times one is quite good for a general, undergrad based approach.

Jimdw

UCD_Econ wrote: »

53rd in the world, actually. Credit where credit is due - it's impressive that an Irish University, scraping by with funding, is that high. I don't know where you got 58th in Europe.

It's 53rd in the world. Pardon me.

Flamed Diving

Podge_irl wrote: »

Its 53rd in the world in the Times rankings, its significantly lower in the Shanghai rankings. Anyway, these rankings are all quite subjective and a bit useless.

Chinese universities tend to do well in those rankings, isn't that funny?

:rolleyes:

Podge_irl

Flamed Diving wrote: »

Chinese universities tend to do well in those rankings, isn't that funny?

And English universities seem to do abnormally well in the Times one. Just another reason to pay less attention to them.

j1smithy

Heffo wrote: »

Good:
- excellent lecturers (though depends on the course)
- a surprisingly fantastic international reputation
- nice campus in a great city-centre location
- more of a 'university' atmosphere than other Irish universities (UCD Dublin)
- the Pav

Bad:
- administration is quite retarded
- sports facilities aren't the best (Santry)
- generally old-fashioned in many respects (this is good and bad, though mostly bad. For example: no online exam schedules)
- the printers in the arts block
- can be quite cliquey, with annoying groups such as Team England at large

I thought Team England was just a myth? I didn't think they actually existed as a group. I agree the cliqueyness is annoying like the group who published their "2008 Hotties list" on the last day of term... who does that?

nedward

Randomness wrote: »

_ When people from outside Dublin ask you where you go to college and they either pause or think your a Protestant

I just say I go to DIT any more. So much better reaction.

shay_562

j1smithy wrote:

I agree the cliqueyness is annoying like the group who published their "2008 Hotties list" on the last day of term... who does that?

Oh man, I remember seeing that in the Buttery a day or two before The Event That Must Not Be Named. Of the 8-9 of us sitting around we recognised two of the names. Evidently, we don't associate enough with the Beautiful People of the college...

ApeXaviour

j1smithy wrote: »

I thought Team England was just a myth? I didn't think they actually existed as a group. I agree the cliqueyness is annoying like the group who published their "2008 Hotties list" on the last day of term... who does that?

I think I've known a wide range of people in my 6 years at this college, yet I've never encountered this team england. Though I've heard they're a trinity halls phenomenon. It appears a lot of english students are thrown in there (while americans tend to be herded to goldsmith).

I thought Team England was just a myth? I didn't think they actually existed as a group. I agree the cliqueyness is annoying like the group who published their "2008 Hotties list" on the last day of term... who does that?

No, they actually exist. I lived in Trinity Hall and did a course with about 30-40% English students, found them really annoying. And I AM English really, since I lived in the UK until age 10 and my mother is English, but I don't go for the whole Team England thing. It's really cliquey.

I know it's obvious but your view of TCD depends on your course. I did French so the negativity of that department and the annoying people in it (Team England, D4 snobs, people who thought they were cleverer than the rest of us) clouded my view of the whole place. The Arts block was like a fashion parade, I felt very underdressed coming in in jeans and runners - it wasn't a very 'college like' atmosphere in that way. The people I know who did Engineering or Science have a completely different view of the place though. And not to say the Arts block was completely bad, there are lots of good things about it and college in general. I don't know if anyone has mentioned Societies yet, there is an amazing selection of them at TCD, one of the best things about the place in my opinion.

Tricity Bendix

The Arts Block is only a fashion parade if you let it be. Some people seem to be developing a selective memory complex. All types of femmes attend courses based in the Arts Block, not just Rugger Buggettes, D4 heads, and BESS girls. I was often to be seen in trackies and a hoodie or rugby jersey, looking like I'd just woken up (often times this was the case) and no-one ever batted an eyelid.

Yeah, I turned up in jeans and Converse every day, I certainly never dressed up, but a LOT of people did. It isn't 'selective memory' as you call it, because I've been going into TCD a few times a week for the last year and it still seems like a lot of girls, if not most, make a good bit of effort - full make-up, expensive clothes, miniskirts etc. My sister was over from England and she commented on it as well. Most girls on her course walk around in pyjama or tracksuit bottoms and hoodies. It's not really a big deal but the 'fashion parade' thing definitely exists, and not only among BESS girls and D4 heads.

Ron DMC

[quote=[Deleted User];56911239]My sister was over from England and she commented on it as well. Most girls on her course walk around in pyjama or tracksuit bottoms and hoodies.[/QUOTE]

Pyjamas? Whoa! Unbelievable. How do people think that's a good idea?