Living in Dundalk as a Student

flyswatter

Hi all,

Just wondering where the best places to live in Dundalk are as a student?

I go to DKIT at the moment and want to move up full time next year.

The student estates are good enough value but I've heard bad stories about burglars targetting students laptops and stuff like that. E.g Rockfield, College Heights.

I have a friend from college who had his laptop stolen in one of those estates. He is in a central much safer location now according to him and his housemates. I've been there and it's a good secure spot.

Then there is the on campus accomodation. Very close to the college, good facilities apparently but 80 euro per month, don't know if I can afford that as it's 1 person per room, 1 bed and bathroom.

Any recommendations? I've been on daft and sites like that. Might try and ask around soon for room mates.

kyosushi

I trust you won't mind me saying this or it may be the way I understand English . You say and I quote "there is the on campus accomodation. Very close to the college, good facilities apparently but 80 euro per month, don't know if I can afford that as it's 1 person per room, 1 bed and bathroom."

When I was a student I would know how much I could afford to spend on rent . Your rent 960euro per year is peanuts to what I had to pay .

All you need to do to keep yourself safe on campus is to work 3 hours per week . Another 3 hours and you could afford to fill the fridge , with a final 3 hours you could afford to have a whoop-dee-do-la party every Saturday night.

Job done.

flyswatter

kyosushi wrote: »

I trust you won't mind me saying this or it may be the way I understand English . You say and I quote "there is the on campus accomodation. Very close to the college, good facilities apparently but 80 euro per month, don't know if I can afford that as it's 1 person per room, 1 bed and bathroom."

When I was a student I would know how much I could afford to spend on rent . Your rent 960euro per year is peanuts to what I had to pay .

All you need to do to keep yourself safe on campus is to work 3 hours per week . Another 3 hours and you could afford to fill the fridge , with a final 3 hours you could afford to have a whoop-dee-do-la party every Saturday night.

Job done.

Thanks for the reply. I guess prices might have gone down. Depends on the house though.

Yeah, I will hopefully get some kind of a job this summer and then hopefully keep it through the year.

Did you study in Dublin? I'm guessing rent would be very high in places there.

kyosushi

let's say I now study part time to get my credits , I have my own residual income from a business idea spawned while at school .

Good luck at DkIT and finding a safe place to live .

Rossin

My friends live in glen wood, there are 4 bedrooms and a kitchen....€50 a week each.

€80 a month sounds very cheap. Houses would def not be that cheap....

petes

Rossin wrote: »

My friends live in glen wood, there are 4 bedrooms and a kitchen....€50 a week each.

€80 a month sounds very cheap. Houses would def not be that cheap....

I read this thread yesterday and I thought the €80 a month was a typo. That is very cheap and as Rossin said a house share would still be a lot more expensive.

flyswatter

Sorry, its eighty per week per person : )

Rossin

ah that makes more sense! well i can only speak for my friends really as i commute but they're quite happy in glenwood and if i decide to move up ill probably go there myself, you might be able to get more responses from the dkit forum even though it appears it's rarely used of late

flyswatter

Rossin wrote: »

ah that makes more sense! well i can only speak for my friends really as i commute but they're quite happy in glenwood and if i decide to move up ill probably go there myself, you might be able to get more responses from the dkit forum even though it appears it's rarely used of late

Yeah, thanks, I've never heard of Glenwood. Will look it up.

Yep, the DKIT forum gets very little posts these days. Only a handful of regular contributors. I'm one of them, you could probably count them on one hand.

Weird, as there must be over 6,000 students there now and probably will have a larger student set by next year.

Rossin

its across from the hospital, take a right at the garage

best of luck!

chrabo

hey if u like drinking all the time, set up fire in cars and live like 1000s of this idiots move to rockfield.

GL

Hank_Jones

Depends what you are looking for,
College Heights and Rockfield would be quite loud, drunk students etc,
College Manor the same, but to a lesser extent.

The other estates relatively close to the college include Langfield, Glenwood and Priorland Grove,
although they wouldn't really be considered college estates.
They would be more family orientated and definitely quieter than the college estates.

Also €80 is a lot of for those college apartments.
Being a first year, they will probably try to stick you with a tiny apartment (tiny, think shoebox)

katemccb

wer in college manor quiet enough rent reasonable 65 week bins and sky included and bills are cheap have no trouble since moved house is nice also!!:)

Atomic Pineapple

College manor seems to be the best for a college estate, I used to live in College Heights (51) and spent two great years of my life there, its meant to have gone downhill now though.

If you can deal with being woken up some nights with noise outside I think college manor would be fine.

Cpt Tremendous

My mates lived in the college accommodation in first year but moved into a house in Glenwood afterwards. For what you're getting, the college apartments are pretty expensive, I know a few people who are looking to live elsewhere because of the price.

You can rent in Glenwood for €50-€65 a week and it's far quieter than other estates. The likes of Rockfield and College Heights have a bit of a reputation and history for being rough and have a high risk of crime.

The most secure would be the college apartments but again, it's only if you want to spend the money. You can still get a secure place in Glenwood for cheaper though.

Best of luck finding somewhere, hope this helps

Jaffusmaximus

"College manor seems to be the best for a college estate"

College Member is a Residential Area not a College Estate, this is popular misconception, there are more families living here with myself included.

Hank_Jones

Jaffusmaximus wrote: »

College Member is a Residential Area not a College Estate, this is popular misconception, there are more families living here with myself included.

In fairness, college is even in the name.

With the close proximity of the estate to the college,
you can hardly fault people for referring to it as a college estate.

Jaffusmaximus

Yet the word college is not in Rockfield or Glenwood and these were referred as "college estates". Our residents committee in College Manor did raise the issue of changing the name but we all actually like it and feel it is not an issue. If students choose to live here they will be surprised to find it is mostly full of family's. On my street alone there is only 1 house rented to students yearly with there rest families.
I really don't think students who move here now look out their windows and see children and family's going about their daily business and think they are living in an estate purely built for the purpose of housing students.

Hank_Jones

I'm sure you are right and there probably are more families than students.
However, someone considering it as a college estate can't really be faulted as there are large amounts of houses that are rented by students throughout the college year.

I would think that you are irritated by students living in your estate,
especially when you moved to an estate so close to the college and realised that a large number of students were living there....:pac:

Jaffusmaximus

I grew up not far from College Manor in a housing estate riddled with drugs and violence so a few students ain't a problem and as I said there are not a large number of students living in college manor these days anyway compared to when we moved here when the estate was built in 2006. Its an ideal location for families as it is close to schools the town and amenities.

I only take exception to the area being called a "student estate" as it was not built for the sole purpose of accommodating students as the term "student estate" would apply. Students living here are subject to the sames expectations of proper behavior as any other resident would be in any residential estate.

Atomic Pineapple

It's not a student estate, its a college estate

Jaffusmaximus

From May to Sept please refer to College Manor as a "residential area"

From Sept to May please refer to College Manor as a "resident/ethnic student minority area"

Atomic Pineapple

I still refer to it as a college estate as when I was there 5 years ago thats all that was there. I was in college heights and college manor was built for my next year and while not as student focused as heights it still seemed fairly heavily student orientated.

I left college heights after 2 years but I could see it was beginning to get families in so its no surprise that 3 years later its been populated by families.

Rossin

im thinking of moving up this year, how soon to college start date should i start looking for a house etc?? would 1 or 2 weeks be fine?

Hank_Jones

Rossin wrote: »

im thinking of moving up this year, how soon to college start date should i start looking for a house etc?? would 1 or 2 weeks be fine?

Sure that would be fine.

Just wouldn't put it off until August as you might not be able to get what you are looking for.

Rossin

august is too late??? im not back till mid sept...hopefully stay in glenwood or something similar

Hank_Jones

Rossin wrote: »

august is too late??? im not back till mid sept...hopefully stay in glenwood or something similar

Depends on what you are looking for really.

You could probably get a room for yourself in any of the estates up to the end of august and most likely after that.
But if I was in your situation, I would probably start looking now so that you can get the best deal and best possible house for yourself.
If you're looking for a house for yourself and a few others I wouldn't put it off at all.

Do you know the area at all?

Atomic Pineapple

I agree with Hank, you should start looking now, you'll have more choice and the option to book the better houses first, if you know your going back now's the time to look before the CAO offers come out.

Rossin

ill more than likely be getting a room by myself and hopefully in the glenwood area or a similar estate, thanks lads soon as i know for definite ill get on it

Rossin

lads im looking at moving up in sept and some of the numbers ive rang are looking for a group to take the house rather than peeps separately, so if anyone is looking for someone to fill a room give me a heads up, im hoping to pay about €50pw and live in an estate similar glenwood, well any estate thats not a mess basically ive posted this in the dkit forum as well

paulc216

I paid a deposit on a house in Rockfield manor, nice house but so far im the only 1 that has paid a deposit. Rent is only 55 a week so if any1 is interested ill be happy 2 share a house with yaz

Nesta99

paulc216 wrote: »

I paid a deposit on a house in Rockfield manor, nice house but so far im the only 1 that has paid a deposit. Rent is only 55 a week so if any1 is interested ill be happy 2 share a house with yaz

Throw in a playstation, few dutch gold in the fridge, and any type of football to kick around the green at 3am on a thursday night and you will have no end of takers. Not that i would know personally...:P

paulc216

Nesta99 wrote: »

Throw in a playstation, few dutch gold in the fridge, and any type of football to kick around the green at 3am on a thursday night and you will have no end of takers. Not that i would know personally...:P

Hahahah yea ill stick with the xbox and the the bud bt the football i can do

longhalloween

paulc216 wrote: »

Hahahah yea ill stick with the xbox and the the bud bt the football i can do

Hah I'd love to take it. But I live in Drogheda so I can't justify moving up...

Atomic Pineapple

longhalloween wrote: »

Hah I'd love to take it. But I live in Drogheda so I can't justify moving up...

I lived just outside Ardee and I still moved up to Dundalk when I was at college, best decision I ever made for both social and educational reasons!

longhalloween

longhalloween wrote: »

Hah I'd love to take it. But I live in Drogheda so I can't justify moving up...

You'll get a room for 50-60 quid a week easily right around the corner from the college, you'll spend nearly that on the bus.

Atomic Pineapple

Deleted User wrote: »

You'll get a room for 50-60 quid a week easily right around the corner from the college, you'll spend nearly that on the bus.

On top of that you get to stay in the college till 9 pm in a proper environment for studying and after that walk home and go get scuttered drunk!

Also while Drogheda is "only" half an hour away the bus timetable has to taken into account. When I was commuting to Dublin it was an hour and 10 minutes each way but I had to leave the house over 2 hours before class started and wouldn't be home til 2 hours after the end. Obviously won't be as bad Drogheda-Dundalk but it still has to be considered.

longhalloween

Buttonftw wrote: »

Also while Drogheda is "only" half an hour away the bus timetable has to taken into account. When I was commuting to Dublin it was an hour and 10 minutes each way but I had to leave the house over 2 hours before class started and wouldn't be home til 2 hours after the end. Obviously won't be as bad Drogheda-Dundalk but it still has to be considered.

I drive so its 20 minutes door to door for me. Thought first order of business is to befriend people who live in Dundalk so ill always have a comfy couch to crash on :-)

The Guvnor

The life of a college student! Making me jealous lads!:D

longhalloween

The Guvnor wrote: »

The life of a college student! Making me jealous lads!:D

Go back. This is my second time in college. :D:D

The Guvnor

LOL!

What course has 2-3 hours of lectures per week...:D

longhalloween

The Guvnor wrote: »

LOL!

What course has 2-3 hours of lectures per week...:D

Arts?

cournioni

The Guvnor wrote: »

LOL!

What course has 2-3 hours of lectures per week...:D

You could always try the part time courses*







*May involve the student to be expected to work full time!

The Guvnor

The temptation...

I think running a business with two newly launched brands is enough for this year... LoL

Maybe I'll have to make do with a few on campus parties...

Icarian

I would advise anyone remotely civilised to stay away from Rockfield Manor. I moved here to work and signed a 1 year lease... Huge mistake. Students act like yobs, coming back at all hours of the night and morning shouting and screaming, tearing around in cars and blasting their car stereo at high volumes. It's absolute hell for people here who have to go to work in the mornings and families with young kids. I wouldn't mind the odd party, but I just don't understand why people have to shout and scream at each other from across the estate at 2 or 3 am in the morning. And this is a very regular thing.

I guess if you're a young fella, a bit of a yob, and want to drink, be loud and thrash the place then you might enjoy it, but anyone else should stay clear. Anyone thinking of moving here, I would ask that you try to be considerate of non student residents, we put up with alot of crap, please try to be quieter after 1 am, stop thrashing the place and don't drive dangerously around the estate. People have pets here, it would be too easy for one to get run over the way the lads here are carrying on.