Which university?

augmented reality

Hi,
I currently have engineering in UCD down as no.1 on my cao, followed by TCD but I don't think I want to go to TCD.
I live in Waterford and am now starting to consider University of Limerick.

Would I be better off going to UCD or UL? I definitely won't be commuting to either. A good few of my friends are going doing mech engineering in UL an I know that shouldn't be a factor in my decision.

What I'd really like to know is would it make much of a difference having UL on my CV or UCD, especially abroad?

I've also heard that UCD is quite impersonal as the class sizes are huge (>240) whereas the UL classes are only around 50.

Thanks!

pljudge321

I think i gave you some info in another thread but I might as well give some more.

With in Ireland both UCD and UL have very high engineering reputations, internationally UCD would be more more well known so it could make a difference but probably not as much as your final grades in either college.

I didn't find UCD engineering impersonal at all. The large classes of 250 are only for first year courses and then joint maths classes between all of the different streams during 2nd and 3rd year. Depending on your specialisation your class could range from around 30 for say chemical engineering to around 100 for mechanical engineering.

End of the day you will get a good degree from either university. My advice is to look at the modules for the courses and make you decision based on that. UL also seems to offer work placements in 3rd year while UCD doesn't which can be an advantage/disadvantage depending on how you look at it.

Also do the omnibus entry if you go to UL, you'll have to do it if you go to UCD, lots of people go into direct entry courses doing something like mechanical engineering only to discover they hate thermodynamics or something like that.

the candy man

im in first year doin mech eng in u.l so i hope i can shed some light on the subject for you, in u.l the aero eng, mech eng, bio eng, c.a.e.d eng and engineering choice people do the same first year so in lectures you can generally expect 90 - 120 people there. then you have labs and tutorials where you can have anything from 12- 30 people presant depending on the size of the lab/ tutorial. the course is quite intense but at the end of first year everyone is given the opertunity to change course into any on of the diciplines i said above so it doesnt really matter which course you pick for first year , you can change no problem regardless your grade.

the plus of u.l is that you have 8 months of paid co-op in third year which is handy for experiance + the money side of things

FesterBeatty

Have you thought about DIT Bolton St? Which branch of engineering are you looking at?

Darren1o1

I would say go to a program with a dedicated coop. All programs seem to be reasonably similar but with minor differences. It seems the biggest difference in getting a job is experience! DCU and UL have dedicated coop programs, there may be others, It is very difficult to get one by yourself (Although I did in second yr). I went to DCU and luckily got a chance to work in Automotive industry in Germany. I know it really help me get a job after grad, now in the US working away.

ArtSmart

FesterBeatty wrote: »

Have you thought about DIT Bolton St? Which branch of engineering are you looking at?

+ 1

Dilbert75

I'm doing a taught Masters that's shared between UL, UCD & TCD and, from my perspective, it appears that TCD are the only ones who give half a $hit about their students.

One module that we did in UCD in January we were supposed to have our assignments submitted by March 11th - they've not been given to us yet. We have notes from only 1 lecture across 3 days and I've been shouting for them since but not got them.

UL are little better. In January we got the results from the exam we did in May - hopefully in June we'll get the results of the December exam along with the May exams. One of my class-mates had his thesis project cancelled after two months of trying unsuccessfully to contact his supervisor. The course secretary is brilliant but the rest of them leave a lot to be desired.

That said the co-op is very important. I would urge you to consider also CIT - they used to have a good reputation for Engineering.

cozzie55

First off UCD or UL on a CV won't make a major difference, its mostly the grades employers look at. I would assume that Engineering in UL is accredited by Engineers Ireland, but you would need to look into that.

I will say that some companies especially straight after graduation will only take on certain students. I have been told that for example "Punches" will only take on UL students if they can because the company is based in limerick whereas "ARUP" tend to like students from dublin colleges. It is not always true but some times companies like to give graduates just starting out from the nearest colleges the best opportunities.

I am slightly biased towards UCD as I am currently doing engineering in UCD, but I am from Limerick. The main reason I went to UCD instead of UL was so that I could study structural engineering.

The main advantage I can say UCD has over UL is that in UCD you can opt to do the engineering science program which basically means you can do a three year science degree in engineering(Bsc) and then continue on to do a two year masters(ME) afterwards. If you feel that you do not wish to do a masters then you can opt for a four year degree in engineering(BEng). Oh and there is an 8 month work placement if you take the eng science route.

If you want to do civil eng(which is more focused on chartership than mech eng for example) and want to gain membership to Engineers Ireland after college, you will need to have done a two year masters to become a chartered member after 2013.

Presuming you want to become chartered but say you end up going to UL, you will have to go on and study for a further 2 years masters meaning you will have been in college for 6 years. If you go to UCD you will only be in college for 5.
Some people will tell you that staying in college as long as possible is great but believe me i'm coming to the end of my 4th year of 5 and at this stage I'm starting to feel old and am looking forward to leaving next year, hopefully getting a job and some proper money for once. The rest of my friends feel the same about it. The thought of another year of it is bad but if we thought we had two years left I don't know what we'd do.

enda1

What do you want to do and into what industry and where would you like to work when you graduate. In all honestly though, chose your university not just on the course but also on your university. Consider location, facilities, transport, campus etc. etc.

In this list, for me TCD wins every time, though depending on the first question - what is your final goal, there may be a better choice.

desertstorm

I'm gna jump in too and say don't strike out TCD, finishing up 3rd year mech. now myself

Facilities/campus life all that stuff is great and I've several friends living in town and loving it (quite jealous actually, I'm commuting at the min)

As for things like no work placement, I really wouldn't worry about it, there is work there available to you if you go looking for it and really want them, and the lecturers will help you. One of our lecturers has already managed to source summer placements for about 12 people all over the place - Brazil, Germany, America, Ireland and India, and a few other lecturers arrange some paid research work during the summer (I'll be doing research)

Even outside of College connections I was able to get work experience last summer, so again I wouldn't let that be a factor to write TCD off

This is the Mech. perspective but I've heard Civils and Electronic/Computer guys are finding it pretty good too. And don't let large class sizes deter you either, you'll get help if you need it and you're split into smaller tutorial groups

On a general note, definitely do a course that starts off mixed (omnibus/general engineering whatever they call it), I was set on Civil going into college and then was left in a toss up between electronic&computer versus mech eng!

Overature

id reccomend DIT as a good number 2 option