Accomodation

eimsbgl

Hiya,
i'm hoping to go to UCD next September but i'm not sure if i should live on campus or off campus.. I know its cheaper to be off campus but not sure which would be better for first year. could any of ye tell me what ye did or what you would suggest?
Thanks

Gingy_Ste

hey,
I'm a first year at the moment going into exams but over all its that much better if you stay on campus but maybe not blackrock campus as i heard it's a bit of a pain.
I stayed off campus which is much cheaper but kinda annoying to tell the truth.
anyway hope that helps

eimsbgl

ya thanks your comment is appreciated.. would there be many first years living on the campus? also what did you think of ucd when you started? i won't know anyone so kinda nervous

Gingy_Ste

yeah a load of first years actually stay on campus in first year and its a great place a bit big a first for like a day or two but after its grand and you should join loads of soc's and clubs to make friends and meet ppl and talk to ppl doing the same course it all helps and leads to good fun

MacieC

I'd suggest you live on campus for few reasons :

First off, since you don't know anyone in UCD, living on campus will help you socialize more quickly. If you live off campus it's gonna take a bit longer to socialize unless you do join some societies and participate in them (dram soc, law soc and musical soc, are pretty good).

Plus, UCD created a new system when applying to accomodation, you can browse the list of all the appartments available and check who is gonna occupy the appartments (degree and year). Hence, you can easily find 1st year roomates and maybe people that are gonna be in your class.

Unless you get spoiled stuck up brats as roomates, living on campus during the 1st year is pretty good because it's cheaper and you can embrace the full college life. Then you may think to go off campus for your 2nd year because I have to admit college accomodation becomes quite boring when you're a second year if you've already lived in it in 1st year.
Campus accomodation is actually cheaper because I know some people who are stuggling to pay the bills of their off campus accomodation. It might be pretty stressful and you don't wanna start off you college life by worrying about bills and landlords !

When I was a 1st year Merville and Belgrove were the only residences available to 1st years, so you could meet a lot of people. But now, most residences are open to first years so you might bump into a lot of them everywhere. I'm a final year and I live with 1st years actually (to be honest that drives me nuts because some 1st years party at lot more than final years that's why I'm saying that you'd better go off campus for 2nd or 3rd year, but not 1st year).

Just make sure to find actual " first years " when choosing your appartments.


Overall, UCD is a great place to meet people but you can have a really good 1st year if you live on campus, for sure. Plus, I'm pretty sure you'll be meeting a lot of people during orientation week. Yu don't need to worry.

Oh and if choose to live on campus, Belgrove is full of 1st years but the appartments are less comfortable than in Merville.
Glenomena became full of 1st years also but there are a lot of erasmus and final year and it's pretty calm in general. Roebuck is really good too.

eimsbgl

thanks that is helpful, I have an interest in music so could you tell me more about the musical soc? Doesn't matter if you don't know.

Also I was thinking of going to Roebuck, do you know if there'd be first years here?
Thanks

MacieC

Well, I was involved for a short period in the choir of the music soc last year and all I can say is that you'll deffo meat A LOT of people. We did some two hours rehearsals every Wednesay and I remember we did Happy Ending by Mika and another song by Journey. It's a very active society. They are open to new members and they're very welcoming.

The society also set up two major musicals a year :
They did Glee last year. This year, they did Beauty and the Beast. Can't remember what the others were. When they create the musicals they have A LOT of differents opportunities to get involved : You can audition for the choir, the main roles, the dancing, the acting or just as a background assistant with the costumes and all that. As I said, it's a very active society where a lot of people are involved, that's really a lot of fun if you have enough time to participate.

Yep, this year there were 1st years in Roebuck, but Roebuck is usually crowded with Australians, Americans, French and other international/erasmus students. But there are deffo some first years although it's actually the smallest of all residences so the crowd is changing from year to year. The interior is amazing though, it's very modern and very very clean !
You'll bump into 1st years in all residences anyways. If you want something as comfy as Roebuck but with a lot of first years, Glenomena is also a good place. It's the same inside design as Roebuck.

I wouldn't recommend Belgrove though. Sure there are a lot of first years, but the appartments are quite old and the heating doesn't work during winter time in some appartments common area. Merville would be better than Belgrove but I'd go for Roebuck and Glenomena when it comes to comfort.

aine92

MacieD didn't mention there but Roebuck is scandalously expensive for the plebs like us and to be honest I'm not sure if its much better, the walk to campus buildings, especially science is a massive trek, especially with a big dirty hangover! I wouldn't go for old Merville, bit of a kip but New Merville is all done up and is much nicer. These are cheapest. Belgrove is ok, but if I could choose it'd be glenomena all the way!
I lived off campus in Stillorgan for the year and my rent came to about €300 a month inc. bills and stuff but I did have to get an €80 30 day bus ticket to get the crappy 11 or walk the 30mins into college.

With regards to being nervous, I absolutely hated college at the start. HATED. But you have to give it time, its a massive adjustment and you'll grow to love it like I do now and all my friends do. I'm a peer mentor for your group and there'll be so many of us to show you around, teach you how to print and all that jazz that freaks you out at the start so no need to worry. They say you make most friends living on campus but I lived with (who was) a randomer and we became great friends and then our friends became friends etc etc so no matter what, friends will be made!
Good luck in your exams, hope you'll be a UCD-er next year!

MacieC

aine92 wrote: »

MacieD didn't mention there but Roebuck is scandalously expensive for the plebs like us and to be honest I'm not sure if its much better, the walk to campus buildings, especially science is a massive trek, especially with a big dirty hangover! I wouldn't go for old Merville, bit of a kip but New Merville is all done up and is much nicer. These are cheapest. Belgrove is ok, but if I could choose it'd be glenomena all the way!
I lived off campus in Stillorgan for the year and my rent came to about €300 a month inc. bills and stuff but I did have to get an €80 30 day bus ticket to get the crappy 11 or walk the 30mins into college.

With regards to being nervous, I absolutely hated college at the start. HATED. But you have to give it time, its a massive adjustment and you'll grow to love it like I do now and all my friends do. I'm a peer mentor for your group and there'll be so many of us to show you around, teach you how to print and all that jazz that freaks you out at the start so no need to worry. They say you make most friends living on campus but I lived with (who was) a randomer and we became great friends and then our friends became friends etc etc so no matter what, friends will be made!
Good luck in your exams, hope you'll be a UCD-er next year!

I didn't mention the price because I assumed she already knows it since she wants to take Roebuck. And Roebuck and Glenomena are the same price (both 5,600 a year including bills) ! The difference with Merville-Belgrove price is just 800E it's really not that terrible. Moreover, the walk to the science building will be the same no matter where you live unless you live in Belgrove. I know what I'm talking about since I lived in Belgrove, Merville and Glenomena and most of my courses were in the Science or Agriculture building. The walk is the same 10 minutes from all residences !
Merville and Glenomena are in the same structure and Roebuck is just a 1 minute walk from Merville and Glenomena. It's really not that big of a deal. At least she's on campus, you can't have best of both worlds.


Yes, all the bills are included in the pricing so Roebuck and Glenomena are 5,600 a year and Merville and Belgrove are 4,800 a year.
And no kidding, but the distance between Roebuck and the Sciences buildings is never gonna be worse than the distance between off-campus housing and the campus in itself.

But don't choose Belgrove because even though it's only like a 2 minute walk to the library or Science buildings, living there is just a pain ! No heating, common bathroom. Gosh, I can't believe I actually survived that 1st year there.

Don't be afraid, I'll survive for sure At first, you might feel a bit lonely and lost, but you'll deffo catch the train quite quickly.