DCU freshers week

liamtech

Hello! I'm a newbie to this area of boards- Ive been accepted to DCU this year as a mature student, and have two Highly important "Academic Questions"

1. Is there a DCU freshers week, and are the lectures on that week(PLEASE SAY THERE ARE NO LECTURES!!!!)?

2. Are there still 2 Pubs on campus, or has one of them closed -

Being a mature student i obviously have every intention of studying hard and probably wont have time to socialize;)

But, being of sound mind and disposition, i thought i would my options opened!

Incidentally im LIVING for september - I havent been in college since 1999, and that was only for 2 years, in tallaght IT!

Any other points you could give me would be most welcome, my friends!

Wolfe Tone

There is a freshers week, as for lectures I honestly cant remember, I think there may have been last year but they were just intro things nothing major. I was sick so I missed most of the activities for my freshers week last year

Only one pub, its decent enough, they have a late license for Tuesdays which is always packed and decent craic, they have a cheap pint of lager too(Its called Olm), if you want a more traditional pub theres the Slipper just across the road. (bit of a rip off beer wise for me, decent for the football, do some decent food too)

Join some societies would be the main one.

What we did last year was have a meet up at the start of the year in the pub, folk from this forum, was a bit of craic, we will do that again I say, come along to that and meet some new people

Noodleworm

Theres orientation week, Which is when freshers will get a schedule of things like talks, meet their class and lecturers for the first time and do some fun stuff on campus like social events, theirs no classes that week.
The week after Lectures start and the rest of the colleges come back, that weeks is often called Freshers week though. So easily confused.

Oh and do go to to a boards meet up, I went to one when I started, Its great getting to know a few people so early on and really makes the first few weeks a bit more fun.

liamtech

Sounds savage - Il definitely do the boards meet up, i obviously want to make a good few new friends.

So what happened to the second pub - did it close? Id say most nights out will probably be in town anyway?

By the way is there a rag week?

I have to say i know its months away but im in a real great humor about going back to college - I remember freshers week in tallaght, it was savage - Loads of activities, drinking games, and nights out in town - I just hope my course has a fairly decent amount of like minded people -

Regardless of whether it does or not, im gonna sign up to a number of societies!

ROLL ON SEPTEMBER!! And the old college life... lectures, reading, and then a well deserved few Pints! I feel like a teenager again!:cool:

So is this induction week an ACTUAL Freshers week, or is it kind of unofficial? I want BANNERS and PROMOTIONS!!!!

Daysha

liamtech wrote: »

So what happened to the second pub - did it close? Id say most nights out will probably be in town anyway?

Closed and with good reason. Everything's located in the Nubar which has the usual pub times except Tuesday when they have a late license till 2am. Getting that new ownership nearly 2 years ago was one of the best things to happen the college.

By the way is there a rag week?

Yup. It's nowhere near as mad as some other colleges but we have one.

So is this induction week an ACTUAL Freshers week, or is it kind of unofficial? I want BANNERS and PROMOTIONS!!!!

Orientation week is an actual freshers week in that there's only freshers and the odd few others around the place. The SU should have stuff organised every night, but in terms of a proper college atmosphere wait till freshers week.

Garseys

Yeah as everyone said, Orientation Week is just freshers and the odd few stragglers about campus (and the SU.)

Freshers Week and Clubs & Socs Week(Week 1 and 2 respectively) are definitely your chance to see what the place is like in terms of Social life.:)

sketchz700

In my opinion i dont think mature students should be able to get into university.. they didnt do the work in the leaving cert.. and yet take up a place just because their over 23 or whatever age..

I believe they should be made do the leaving certificate again and gain the points like anyone else.

Wolfe Tone

sketchz700 wrote: »

In my opinion i dont think mature students should be able to get into university.. they didnt do the work in the leaving cert.. and yet take up a place just because their over 23 or whatever age..

I believe they should be made do the leaving certificate again and gain the points like anyone else.

troll lol lol

Abdul Abulbul Amir

sketchz700 wrote: »

In my opinion i dont think mature students should be able to get into university.. they didnt do the work in the leaving cert.. and yet take up a place just because their over 23 or whatever age..

I believe they should be made do the leaving certificate again and gain the points like anyone else.

They go through the interview process, which takes account of prior academic achievement. Also mature students tend to perform better than average, so the university gets a return through a better students and a lower drop out rate.

liamtech

Garseys wrote: »

Yeah as everyone said, Orientation Week is just freshers and the odd few stragglers about campus (and the SU.)

Freshers Week and Clubs & Socs Week(Week 1 and 2 respectively) are definitely your chance to see what the place is like in terms of Social life.:)

Sorry i dont get this - Are Orientation Week and Freshers Week two seperate weeks - I think thats what Daysha was saying - two separate weeks!

you couldnt confirm whether there are lectures that week - I would obviously intend to go to the lectures as i dont want to fall behind

liamtech

sketchz700 wrote: »

In my opinion i dont think mature students should be able to get into university.. they didnt do the work in the leaving cert.. and yet take up a place just because their over 23 or whatever age..

I believe they should be made do the leaving certificate again and gain the points like anyone else.

With all due respect i did get the points and did go to a third level institute - I could have chosen DCU but at the time (10 years ago) the courses were different -

I am now taking the opportunity to go back to college, as is my right. Everyone has the right to a university education in this country my friend - Places are allotted for mature students before a the leaving cert even begins - ANd in this day and age many are returning to third level - Most mature students did do their leaving certificates -

Im quite shocked by your opinion my friend - Your concern seems to stem from a Paranoia that we "Matures" are stealing all the "Younglings" college places- It doesnt work like that - Stating that "They didnt get the points" is covering a great many people with a VERY broad brush stroke. Like myself, they may have gotten the points and simply decided to go to an IT... or leave the education system in order to work or travel.

JemimaPD

liamtech wrote: »

Your concern seems to stem from a Paranoia that we "Matures" are stealing all the "Younglings" college places- It doesnt work like that - Stating that "They didnt get the points" is covering a great many people with a VERY broad brush stroke. Like myself, they may have gotten the points and simply decided to go to an IT... or leave the education system in order to work or travel.

I completely agree with liamtech, I too am a mature student who had to attend an interview plus submit all relevent materials to back up my status that 1) I could afford to be in college and 2) to prove that i've thought it through and I'm most likely going to complete the diploma/degree.
Mature students are entitled to go to college just like students who have just completed their leaving cert. We would most likely have personal experience in the area that we are studying so our input is just as valid as a leaving cert student would have having just read about it in the text books and completed an exam.

Wolfe Tone

My complaint about matures is that they aren't lazy enough, always make me feel guilty.

jennyq

liamtech wrote: »

Sorry i dont get this - Are Orientation Week and Freshers Week two seperate weeks - I think thats what Daysha was saying - two separate weeks!

you couldnt confirm whether there are lectures that week - I would obviously intend to go to the lectures as i dont want to fall behind

Orientation Week ("Week 0" of the semester) is a week where there are no lectures, just welcome/introduction talks from the university, your course chairs, the SU, etc. for first years. First years are posted out a schedule of what talks, etc. they should be going to a few weeks beforehand. Most students from other years aren't back in DCU yet but some do come up as it's a good chance to meet up with people & head out before lectures start. The SU usually has events organised every night on campus which are a great way to meet people, including the Orientation Ball.

Freshers Week (Week 1, the real start of the semester) is the week after Orientation Week, when lectures start for everyone in all years. As it's the first week back on campus for most people and nobody is under pressure with their workload yet there's a good atmosphere around and there tends to be lots of events organised during the week as with Orientation Week, including one of the biggest nights of the year, the Freshers Ball. It's a good idea to try go to lectures in this week even though there's lots of other stuff going on cos the lecturers usually explain how the course is laid out, what your assessment is, etc. and usually they don't keep you the full 50 minutes in the first lecture anyway so it's not too much effort

So in summary, no lectures in Orientation Week, lectures start in Freshers Week.

RebeccaWatCom

Hi there! i just had to post a message to say that ive been accepted as a mature student, too, this year, and i was also in it tallaght for two years, in 2001 though. Small world hehe !

DCUlad

God why are Mature Students so annoying ?

All sitting up the very front in their gang, constantly asking questions, taking WRITTEN notes at lectures, attending every lecture, handing assignments in on time, etc, etc.

God some of them would drive ya mad. How are they so interested?

johnmcdnl

DCUlad wrote: »

God why are Mature Students so annoying ?

All sitting up the very front in their gang, constantly asking questions, taking WRITTEN notes at lectures, attending every lecture, handing assignments in on time, etc, etc.

God some of them would drive ya mad. How are they so interested?

they'd be great to have for a group project though