BEST ACCOMMODATION (in semester 2)

katybi

Hi everyone!

I'm an New Zealand student and I'm supposed to come on an exchange to UCD in January for one semester!
Can anyone tell me the best accomodation...???
I'm 20 so a little worried that Merville, Belgrove might be a little to young? (or not?? Also a little worried that coz it is 2nd semester everyone will like have their apartments in the residences all set up)
I want like a place where its easy to make friends and have a good time... where does everyone think is the best for my situation? cheap but nice...

One last thing... if you are on a restricted budget is catered or non cratered better? because in New Zealand if you were sharing an apartment you would go shopping and split the bill ... is that the same over your way?

thanks soooo much.
:pac: :mad: (pacman eating the angry man haha)

errlloyd

Well catered is never a good economic idea.

Merville and Belgrove aren't too young for you. They are younger then you, but its like a year or so. Anywhere on campus is expensive, but you'll meet mates so much easier.

So just check the other accom threads to see what other people say about living in ucd.

katybi

Oh thank yea i'll have a look at the other posts on the topic.
Just one other thing... Do you know if there are more 2nd years at Merville or Belgrove?

Thanks in advance,

jenga-jen

This year was the first year they opened all residences to all years so I think you'll find a mix off all years within the different residences.

Also, if you can cook/fend for yourself I wouldn't pay the extra cash for catered IMO.

eily

What uni in NZ are you coming from? I studied abroad in Otago last year! Generally the set up in terms of flat shop and flat dinners isnt what I experienced in NZ. People generally cook for themselves here. The catered option in Roebuck is very expensive so I definitely would not recommend it.. I think it is catering more towards people intimidated by the prospect of cooking for themselves after the comforts of home! We have a Centra shop in the centre of our campus accomodation area where you can get the basics to feed yourself, and Tesco the supermarket is about 15/20 min walk away. In terms of being too young, like the other posters have mentioned all the student residences are now open to people of all years, so there could be any mix of students in the flat. In my Glenomena apt at the moment there are 3 Americans, an Italian and another Irish girl, all age 21. Dublin is expensive yeah in comparison but I'm sure you'll have a brilliant time!

katybi

eily wrote: »

What uni in NZ are you coming from? I studied abroad in Otago last year! Generally the set up in terms of flat shop and flat dinners isnt what I experienced in NZ. People generally cook for themselves here. The catered option in Roebuck is very expensive so I definitely would not recommend it.. I think it is catering more towards people intimidated by the prospect of cooking for themselves after the comforts of home! We have a Centra shop in the centre of our campus accomodation area where you can get the basics to feed yourself, and Tesco the supermarket is about 15/20 min walk away. In terms of being too young, like the other posters have mentioned all the student residences are now open to people of all years, so there could be any mix of students in the flat. In my Glenomena apt at the moment there are 3 Americans, an Italian and another Irish girl, all age 21. Dublin is expensive yeah in comparison but I'm sure you'll have a brilliant time!

thanks for the advice im at auckland university. Otago is great ay just went down there last week to c my friend. (on an off note how cold in Dublin in comparison to Otago??? ahha ) oh thats kinda annoying that you dont split the food bill that would be perfect, to like cook a night a week! sweet so u think it is more economic to buy ur own food ? that is such a sweet mix of people you have in your room, i hope mine is as good. from your experience which hall do u recommend as a whole?

Thanks sooo much!

eily

katybi wrote: »

thanks for the advice im at auckland university. Otago is great ay just went down there last week to c my friend. (on an off note how cold in Dublin in comparison to Otago??? ahha ) oh thats kinda annoying that you dont split the food bill that would be perfect, to like cook a night a week! sweet so u think it is more economic to buy ur own food ? that is such a sweet mix of people you have in your room, i hope mine is as good. from your experience which hall do u recommend as a whole?

Thanks sooo much!

Yeah I miss it! Well if you could stick a winter in Dunedin, there's nothing that Dublin can do to surprise you! (Having said that, last winter was a huge freeze over, piles of snow and ice and the country isnt used to it so there was havoc with all our transport etc) Hopefully it wont be as bad though this winter! On the plus side though, the flats here wont be as cold as they were in Dunedin, I dunno if the flatting is the same up in aux but in dunedin we relied on the heat pump to stay alive! Yeah the flat dinners were great its a pity that that hasnt caught on! One thing that might sway your choice of where to live is the fact that Glenomena and Roebuck don't have ovens, they have a microwave and an electric cooker and toaster. For some people this is a problem (making pizza). Merville have ovens. Its hard to know which residence to recommend to you, I picked Glenomena because traditionally it was the final year/postgrad residence, compared to Merville/Roebuck/Belgrove housing first years. I thought that maybe other final years might target Glenomena too, even though any year can live here now.. There definitely is a mix in all of the residences. There seems to be a load of internationals here in Gleno and a good few in Roebuck too so based on that, and the fact that Roebuck is a slightly longer walk from the centre of campus I'd go for Glenomena!

katybi

eily wrote: »

Yeah I miss it! Well if you could stick a winter in Dunedin, there's nothing that Dublin can do to surprise you! (Having said that, last winter was a huge freeze over, piles of snow and ice and the country isnt used to it so there was havoc with all our transport etc) Hopefully it wont be as bad though this winter! On the plus side though, the flats here wont be as cold as they were in Dunedin, I dunno if the flatting is the same up in aux but in dunedin we relied on the heat pump to stay alive! Yeah the flat dinners were great its a pity that that hasnt caught on! One thing that might sway your choice of where to live is the fact that Glenomena and Roebuck don't have ovens, they have a microwave and an electric cooker and toaster. For some people this is a problem (making pizza). Merville have ovens. Its hard to know which residence to recommend to you, I picked Glenomena because traditionally it was the final year/postgrad residence, compared to Merville/Roebuck/Belgrove housing first years. I thought that maybe other final years might target Glenomena too, even though any year can live here now.. There definitely is a mix in all of the residences. There seems to be a load of internationals here in Gleno and a good few in Roebuck too so based on that, and the fact that Roebuck is a slightly longer walk from the centre of campus I'd go for Glenomena!

OH well thats good yea the only thing im kinda nervous about is the weather haha. oh really i think i can live without an oven a stove top normally does the trick! I thnk i might apply for gleno especially because of the international student coz i want to travel after and it would be mean to find someone who wanted to do the same. But gleno is more expensive ay. Do u know how much more money it is per semester ? does gleno still have a kinda party atmosphere or not? coz I want to study to get good marks but I also want to get the most out of my exchange socially.

You've been such a good help thanks so much!
Kate

eily

katybi wrote: »

OH well thats good yea the only thing im kinda nervous about is the weather haha. oh really i think i can live without an oven a stove top normally does the trick! I thnk i might apply for gleno especially because of the international student coz i want to travel after and it would be mean to find someone who wanted to do the same. But gleno is more expensive ay. Do u know how much more money it is per semester ? does gleno still have a kinda party atmosphere or not? coz I want to study to get good marks but I also want to get the most out of my exchange socially.

You've been such a good help thanks so much!
Kate

Yeah, I think that per semester Glenomena and Roebuck are €2,856 versus €2,388 in Merville/Belgrove, it is expensive alright. Yeah like people do party here, there is an apt of internationals above me and they seem to have great craic, and the lads in this apartment like to have a good time too. The international office here organised activites for the incoming students, welcome receptions, daytrips, and it organises a buddy programme too whereby you can if you wish be put into a group of students, some Intl. and some (possibly one) Irish who all meet up and get to know one another to help you guys settle in. There is an international students society also which organises social and cultural events, so you're bound to meet many likeminded people who you could travel with.

Thats ok, I remember going and having a million questions too so its no problem at all!

Kayly

Hi eily, was looking at this thread and just wondering , when do lists open for putting in your name to apply for on-campus accomodation? Ive trawled thru the ucd website but still am not clear on this. This is for a prospective (CAO) 1st year student for Sep 2011. Thanks in advance

eily

Kayly wrote: »

Hi eily, was looking at this thread and just wondering , when do lists open for putting in your name to apply for on-campus accomodation? Ive trawled thru the ucd website but still am not clear on this. This is for a prospective (CAO) 1st year student for Sep 2011. Thanks in advance

I'm not exactly sure, best bet is to keep an eye on this site http://www.ucd.ie/residences/studentpages/apply/ or you could give the Accomodation office a ring on 01 7161034.

Kayly

Thanks for that. Had also emailed them and just found out from reply that application is not open on the website till april.

katybi

eily wrote: »

Yeah, I think that per semester Glenomena and Roebuck are €2,856 versus €2,388 in Merville/Belgrove, it is expensive alright. Yeah like people do party here, there is an apt of internationals above me and they seem to have great craic, and the lads in this apartment like to have a good time too. The international office here organised activites for the incoming students, welcome receptions, daytrips, and it organises a buddy programme too whereby you can if you wish be put into a group of students, some Intl. and some (possibly one) Irish who all meet up and get to know one another to help you guys settle in. There is an international students society also which organises social and cultural events, so you're bound to meet many likeminded people who you could travel with.

Thats ok, I remember going and having a million questions too so its no problem at all!

Oh sweet thanks soo much u have really helped me to c all my options!!! Ill have to weight them all up and c which one to pick.

Thanks,
Kate