Few questions about WIT

chamakh4pope

Well, I'm thinking of heading to wit next september and wanted the opinions of anyone there already.
What's the best student accom like and where'd be the best place to stay (In terms of price/Distance to the college or town)
Also what are the facilities like?

Cheers

Bringthethunder

chamakh4pope wrote: »

Well, I'm thinking of heading to wit next september and wanted the opinions of anyone there already.
What's the best student accom like and where'd be the best place to stay (In terms of price/Distance to the college or town)
Also what are the facilities like?

Cheers

Cant tell you what's the best place for accommodation but I can tell you this. The college is cold, computers regularly crash, you have to use your WIT card to pay for everything and there is only around 2 top up stations in the whole college so expect to Q, the canteens serve up the same stuff every day and parking is a nightmare.

callaway92

Bringthethunder wrote: »

Cant tell you what's the best place for accommodation but I can tell you this. The college is cold, computers regularly crash, you have to use your WIT card to pay for everything and there is only around 2 top up stations in the whole college so expect to Q, the canteens serve up the same stuff every day and parking is a nightmare.

Was in the F rooms this morning and it was fine. In IT now and I'm boiling hot.

The college is cold

The ones in the IT building are perfect. Library ones are poor, but there are so many sockets for a plug for your own laptop charger, you'd be fine.

computers regularly crash

Student Union take cash for printing. Main Canteen take cash.

you have to use your WIT card to pay for everything

You can top up online, from your phone or from the college atm. There are 3 extra top up stations in the college now to ease the top up queues (which really are only ever busy at lunch time, not something to stop someone from going to college here).

there is only around 2 top up stations in the whole college so expect to Q

4 different places here to get lunch. Get freshly made rolls/wraps upstairs in the gallery instead of the same stuff everyday.

the canteens serve up the same stuff every day

This is true

parking is a nightmare

Man, you must hate this place.


I recommend Manor Village or Riverwalk for first years.

Bringthethunder

Oh and you have to have a minimum of 2.50 on your WIT card to get a 1 euro can of Coke out of the vending machine. On the plus side the library is impressive.

queev1988

After being abouts to a number of Universities over the years etc through field trips research etc WIT aint that bad! Yes parking is a nightmare, the canteen sucks (gallery is nice though), some lecturers are down right terrible but the IT facilities are decent, there is always a good buzz about the place and the Carriganore facility is shaping up really well!Like all places, there are pros and cons, but in this case I'd be inclined to say there are more pros. For example Im in my final year of chemistry and unlike alot of ITs and Universities the hands on experience with the instrumentation is second to none!

Sully

Accommodation Summary here;
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056732641

I tend to find the college fairly warm most of the time tbh. Cant say I ever come across it that cold.

Don't find the computers in the IT Building crash but I haven't used them in over a year so maybe they have rapidly declined. The Library was always very poor when it came to IT and there isn't enough sockets (that work) for Laptops from what I can see being in there every day.

The WIT Card is a pain in the backside, but you can think previous Students Unions for not sorting this. A lot of students complained about how restrictive it is, the lack of top up stations for those with cash and being limited to only €1 & €2 coins (IIRC, it was briefly €2 only for change for a bit). Security was the concern according to the union when this was raised who didn't at that particular time, in my opinion, fight the issue hard enough for whatever reason and so it continued. The SU President at the time I remember it being last raised (now I am not involved in the SU anymore so it may have been raised since) is now involved with Campus Services as a Director so maybe the current SU will be able to twist his arm to fight it a bit harder. Or maybe the investigation into Campus Services by the Dept Of Education will see changes for how this whole WIT Card works, but I think the investigation is looking at bigger issues. Either way, its an ongoing issue nobody appears to want to sort.

You can get some sweets/fruit/food/drinks (incl. tea & coffee) from the canteen with cash. You can also go and get food from the college bar, The Dome, with cash (unless they changed that). I always preferred the Dome for food. The Gallery is good for food but I think its card only and usually very busy. You can also get photocopying, binding etc. done in The Project Spot using cash. You are restricted to using your WITCard only for the vending machines with a min. amount on the card and also the only shop on campus, Spar. Using your WITCard in the Canteen/The Dome will give you a discounted price than you would get if paying for cash. Access to the computers, the public printers, and library are WITCard only.

Parking is a nightmare in most colleges. There is additional spaces in the Regional Sports Centre to cater for the overflow and a bus service to bring people up/down.

brian plank

Bringthethunder wrote: »

Cant tell you what's the best place for accommodation but I can tell you this. The college is cold, computers regularly crash, you have to use your WIT card to pay for everything and there is only around 2 top up stations in the whole college so expect to Q, the canteens serve up the same stuff every day and parking is a nightmare.

chamakh4pope

Well these issues don't seem to be too bad, easily avoided I'm sure, so that's grand! Cheers for taking the time to answer the questions there.

seven_eleven

College street campus > Main campus. Tis a lovely spot.

Media999

Bringthethunder wrote: »

Cant tell you what's the best place for accommodation but I can tell you this. The college is cold, computers regularly crash, you have to use your WIT card to pay for everything and there is only around 2 top up stations in the whole college so expect to Q, the canteens serve up the same stuff every day and parking is a nightmare.

Pretty much all nonsense.

Wear more than a tshirt and bring your own laptop if the heating and PCs arent up to your standards. Top up your WIT card through phone in 30 seconds with no queue.

Parking is only a problem at beginning of year until people drop out and shops usually sell the same things every day. What canteen doesnt serve chips and all the usual stuff every day. What do you want exactly?

3 different places to eat and plenty of places in walking distance.

You sound like a lad who is too used to living at home with mammy.

Howlin1

Media999 wrote: »

3 different places to eat and plenty of places in walking distance.

In the cork road campus there is the gallery (downstairs), the gallery (upstairs), the bistro, the dome, oscars (in the library) and I think you can get food in the nurses building and the T&L building as well.
In the bistro you can buy food with cash.

There is an eddie rockets and mc donalds about a 10/15 minute walk from the college as well.

Tucker688

I do not recommend Riverwalk anyway, id say go for Manor Village if your a first year, great crack there. Food is grand and the college is nice and a good standard, college is more about the friends and crack you have and your final year the study, its a great place for college, i had three great years there and many of the people i know loved it.

Aoifey!

seven_eleven wrote: »

College street campus > Main campus. Tis a lovely spot.

Hon the college street!

Tucker688

Poor enough and cold

Media999

Tucker688 wrote: »

I do not recommend Riverwalk anyway, id say go for Manor Village if your a first year, great crack there. Food is grand and the college is nice and a good standard, college is more about the friends and crack you have and your final year the study, its a great place for college, i had three great years there and many of the people i know loved it.

Tucker688 wrote: »

Poor enough and cold

Whats this? A split personality?

Did you forget you already replied?

a fat guy

It's horrible after your first few years. I'm a computing student and in these are my experiences:

The internet in the library is absolutely terrible, they don't have enough sockets for everyone, almost all the books are decades old, but it does look lovely like a lovely building...

Actually, aside from the Tourism and Leisure building, the internet is terrible all over the college. I've brought my laptop to the computer services on campus and the excuse was that there weren't enough addresses for students, which is hardly my fault.

It took me an hour to find a working printer once, since all of the ones I tried one day had something wrong with them (The downstairs library one worked, thank god).

And the computers in the I.T. building are mixed. Some are decent (Win 7, 2 gigs ram) others are honestly laughable (XP and 500mb's ram). And you'll often find ones that stay broken throughout the year, as no-one is bothered to fix them.

We didn't have a lecturer for programming practicals last year (This particular lecturer is pulling this act off again this year on a different year of my course), and the flexible semester co-ordinator was 100% useless in helping us find placements.

This year our study week was almost entirely taken up by exams and presentations, which should never happen. It's called a "study" week for a reason.

One of our lecturers isn't printing any notes and is telling us to print out pirated copies of the book, for which we can only find old editions. Meaning that all we can get are out-of-date notes, which he's barely bothered to fix. Not to mention that we have two different lecturers for that modules practicals and lectures, both of which were telling us to do our projects differently, which confused us all to no end.

Architects have it bad too. If I could have gone to any other college, I would have.

Howlin1

The internet in the library is absolutely terrible, they don't have enough sockets for everyone, almost all the books are decades old, but it does look lovely like a lovely building...
Actually, aside from the Tourism and Leisure building, the internet is terrible all over the college. I've brought my laptop to the computer services on campus and the excuse was that there weren't enough addresses for students, which is hardly my fault.

Try the W building, the FTG room or the nurses building?

It took me an hour to find a working printer once, since all of the ones I tried one day had something wrong with them (The downstairs library one worked, thank god).

The printers this year are laughable. The usb printer outside spar has worked what? A full week since it was put in last year?

And the computers in the I.T. building are mixed. Some are decent (Win 7, 2 gigs ram) others are honestly laughable (XP and 500mb's ram). And you'll often find ones that stay broken throughout the year, as no-one is bothered to fix them.

I find the ones on the first floor are the best out of the lost and the ones on the 2nd floor the worst (granted I haven't used the ones on the 2nd floor since last year and I use my laptop for most things now).

We didn't have a lecturer for programming practicals last year (This particular lecturer is pulling this act off again this year on a different year of my course), and the flexible semester co-ordinator was 100% useless in helping us find placements.

A bit late now but I would mention this to your Class Rep/Course lecturer/Stephen in the SU

One of our lecturers isn't printing any notes and is telling us to print out pirated copies of the book, for which we can only find old editions. Meaning that all we can get are out-of-date notes, which he's barely bothered to fix. Not to mention that we have two different lecturers for that modules practicals and lectures, both of which were telling us to do our projects differently, which confused us all to no end.

Also I would mention this to your Class Rep/Course lecturer/Stephen in the SU

johnnykilo

a fat guy wrote: »

It's horrible after your first few years. I'm a computing student and in these are my experiences:

The internet in the library is absolutely terrible, they don't have enough sockets for everyone, almost all the books are decades old, but it does look lovely like a lovely building...

Actually, aside from the Tourism and Leisure building, the internet is terrible all over the college. I've brought my laptop to the computer services on campus and the excuse was that there weren't enough addresses for students, which is hardly my fault.

It took me an hour to find a working printer once, since all of the ones I tried one day had something wrong with them (The downstairs library one worked, thank god).

And the computers in the I.T. building are mixed. Some are decent (Win 7, 2 gigs ram) others are honestly laughable (XP and 500mb's ram). And you'll often find ones that stay broken throughout the year, as no-one is bothered to fix them.

We didn't have a lecturer for programming practicals last year (This particular lecturer is pulling this act off again this year on a different year of my course), and the flexible semester co-ordinator was 100% useless in helping us find placements.

This year our study week was almost entirely taken up by exams and presentations, which should never happen. It's called a "study" week for a reason.

One of our lecturers isn't printing any notes and is telling us to print out pirated copies of the book, for which we can only find old editions. Meaning that all we can get are out-of-date notes, which he's barely bothered to fix. Not to mention that we have two different lecturers for that modules practicals and lectures, both of which were telling us to do our projects differently, which confused us all to no end.

Architects have it bad too. If I could have gone to any other college, I would have.

A lot of these problems aren't WIT issues, I found a thread a few weeks ago about IT Blanchardstown which was basically more or less exactly what you described about WIT. Unfortunately the lack of investment in IT's coupled with the recruitment ban on lecturers until 2014 mean that lots of lecturers have to teach courses they don't particularly know (or perhaps aren't interested in), and the money isn't always there for new PCs or to put towards repairs. I know it shouldn't be this way, but third level funding is a political issue at the end of the day.

It's the same everywhere; some lecturers are great while others you really wonder how they actually got a job in the first place. I'd imagine the Universities probably get more funding than the IT's but look up any of the threads on the ITs and you'll see students in those ITs list problems exactly like you have.

Bringthethunder

At the end of the day there's always going to be some students who will back the college no matter the amount of problems the college has. You know the kind, there the one's who wear the WIT hoodies and run for class rep. I've done full and part time courses in other institutes and overall the WIT is the worst in my opinion so unless you have no other choices go somewhere else.

callaway92

Bringthethunder wrote: »

At the end of the day there's always going to be some students who will back the college no matter the amount of problems the college has. You know the kind, there the one's who wear the WIT hoodies and run for class rep. I've done full and part time courses in other institutes and overall the WIT is the worst in my opinion so unless you have no other choices go somewhere else.

I'm not a class rep and don't have a WIT/Course hoody but still like the college very much.

KillMona

Hey guys, I'm just throwing this into this thread because there's no point in creating a new one. Just wondering, do any of ye know which WIT building the arts course are held?

brian plank

a fat guy wrote: »

It's horrible after your first few years. I'm a computing student and in these are my experiences:

The internet in the library is absolutely terrible, they don't have enough sockets for everyone, almost all the books are decades old, but it does look lovely like a lovely building...

Actually, aside from the Tourism and Leisure building, the internet is terrible all over the college. I've brought my laptop to the computer services on campus and the excuse was that there weren't enough addresses for students, which is hardly my fault.

It took me an hour to find a working printer once, since all of the ones I tried one day had something wrong with them (The downstairs library one worked, thank god).

And the computers in the I.T. building are mixed. Some are decent (Win 7, 2 gigs ram) others are honestly laughable (XP and 500mb's ram). And you'll often find ones that stay broken throughout the year, as no-one is bothered to fix them.

We didn't have a lecturer for programming practicals last year (This particular lecturer is pulling this act off again this year on a different year of my course), and the flexible semester co-ordinator was 100% useless in helping us find placements.

This year our study week was almost entirely taken up by exams and presentations, which should never happen. It's called a "study" week for a reason.

One of our lecturers isn't printing any notes and is telling us to print out pirated copies of the book, for which we can only find old editions. Meaning that all we can get are out-of-date notes, which he's barely bothered to fix. Not to mention that we have two different lecturers for that modules practicals and lectures, both of which were telling us to do our projects differently, which confused us all to no end.

Architects have it bad too. If I could have gone to any other college, I would have.

a fat guy wrote: »

My sister goes there and she said they all hate it.

They have to travel back to the main campus (Cork road, not college street) to get in contact with the college and everything, it's meant to be horrible.

If you're asking because you're thinking of going to WIT, then for gods sake don't do it. I'm in my fourth year here and they messed up 3rd year terribly and fourth year is going bad now too. After second year, they just don't care about you anymore.

aww, did someone have a bad week? seriously though, pics of the sister or gtfo.

Bringthethunder

brian plank wrote: »

aww, did someone have a bad week? seriously though, pics of the sister or gtfo.

You sound like your just delighted to get out of Wexford i suppose anything would seem brilliant.

johnnykilo

KillMona wrote: »

Hey guys, I'm just throwing this into this thread because there's no point in creating a new one. Just wondering, do any of ye know which WIT building the arts course are held?

They're in the College street campus.

brian plank

Bringthethunder wrote: »

You sound like your just delighted to get out of Wexford i suppose anything would seem brilliant.

we invented the strawberry ffs. what could be more brilliant than that?

KillMona

johnnykilo wrote: »

They're in the College street campus.

Oh thanks for the reply Sorry to ask, but what student accomodation is the nearest to the College Street campus?

Howlin1

Manor village, De Bruin or the Garden apartments. There are apartments and houses around that students can rent as well. (They are all 3/4 minutes from College Street)

KillMona

Howlin1 wrote: »

Manor village, De Bruin or the Garden apartments. There are apartments and houses around that students can rent as well. (They are all 3/4 minutes from College Street)

Sound. And does anyone know whether the Criminal Justice course is in the College Street campus too or is that in the Cork road one?

callaway92

KillMona wrote: »

Sound. And does anyone know whether the Criminal Justice course is in the College Street campus too or is that in the Cork road one?

College Street

fwiw don't let which Campus the course is on influence your decision. please!

KillMona

callaway92 wrote: »

College Street

fwiw don't let which Campus the course is on influence your decision. please!

No I was just wondering as a friend is interested in doing Criminal Justice.

On another note (and again sorry for all the questions) but does anyone have any info on the BA in Psychology? There's some older threads there but does does anyone have up-to-date knowledge of it? Like for example class size, difficulty etc.? Even if people have friends doing the course, any info would be helpful at this stage. The website is a bit limited when it comes to the course.

Tucker688

This is a reply to the College street campus

neilk32

a fat guy wrote: »

It's horrible after your first few years. I'm a computing student and in these are my experiences:

The internet in the library is absolutely terrible, they don't have enough sockets for everyone, almost all the books are decades old, but it does look lovely like a lovely building...

Actually, aside from the Tourism and Leisure building, the internet is terrible all over the college. I've brought my laptop to the computer services on campus and the excuse was that there weren't enough addresses for students, which is hardly my fault.

It took me an hour to find a working printer once, since all of the ones I tried one day had something wrong with them (The downstairs library one worked, thank god).

And the computers in the I.T. building are mixed. Some are decent (Win 7, 2 gigs ram) others are honestly laughable (XP and 500mb's ram). And you'll often find ones that stay broken throughout the year, as no-one is bothered to fix them.

We didn't have a lecturer for programming practicals last year (This particular lecturer is pulling this act off again this year on a different year of my course), and the flexible semester co-ordinator was 100% useless in helping us find placements.

This year our study week was almost entirely taken up by exams and presentations, which should never happen. It's called a "study" week for a reason.

One of our lecturers isn't printing any notes and is telling us to print out pirated copies of the book, for which we can only find old editions. Meaning that all we can get are out-of-date notes, which he's barely bothered to fix. Not to mention that we have two different lecturers for that modules practicals and lectures, both of which were telling us to do our projects differently, which confused us all to no end.

Architects have it bad too. If I could have gone to any other college, I would have.

This is pretty accurate, especially the part about the flexible semester. They have one flexible semester co-ordinator for the whole college and she can not find time to reply to anyone.

I'm in third year currently we had assignments and presentations due all through Study week and we have some assignments due the first week in January where I had booked a trip to England with family months ago. One of our modules we only have 20% of the assessment done and it's now week 14.

Sully

I am a computing student in WIT. I'm external right now but I have a fair bit of experience of the college. While it does have its problems, like anywhere else, my own experience wasn't a touch as bad as some are saying it is. Some of the problems come down to money - third level funding is at a crisis point at the moment and colleges are crying out for money but the state cant afford to give it and the student unions wont allow them implement a better funding model. Their policy is that it must remain pretty much free.

Now its been a few years since I used the IT Building for the computers, but I always found them very easy to use without a problem. Yes, there tends to be computers that are out of order but its in the minority. It sometimes help to notify Computer Services, just in case they are unaware.

The wireless in the college was always ****e and unreliable. If its not down, its up but you cant even access it or its slow - even during quieter periods of the year. They appear to have put in new wireless access points but judging by the talk here and within the library, its still ****e. I always ended up using a room where I could just connect via Ethernet and didn't use it much outside of that.

The library I only use for study and find the very back (Masters) to be the quietest and the best to study. The new system for booking seminar rooms is an improvement on the old way. I find it very good to study in overall tbh. There are a few faults, such as talking in groups downstairs, but its quieter than the group study area on the top floor. Likewise, nothing stopping you from eating/drinking - during exam time its a mess. They don't appear to send cleaners around like they used to, but that's down to cutbacks I assume. Overall, its a great place to study though. The books are a bit dated, but they did the trick for me.

Car Park has improved and additional spaces are available only a short walk from the campus in the Regional Sports Centre. Majority of the rooms are warm and comfortable.

Course problems will be different per department and have been there since I started. The School of Science is one of the better departments, but if you experience problems with your course, the content, the lecturers or so on you should know that you can raise the issue with the course leader and the Students Union. There is a structure in place for dealing with issues like this. Most of the time it appears to work with a bit of pressure. The sooner you address it, the better.

If you have an assignment due at a particular date, there is nothing stopping you submitting it earlier. If its an exam, and its during term time, than sadly you have no excuses. In my course we had a fairly strong say in submission dates when it came to them hitting study / exam weeks.

Bears and Vodka

KillMona wrote: »

Hey guys, I'm just throwing this into this thread because there's no point in creating a new one. Just wondering, do any of ye know which WIT building the arts course are held?

johnnykilo wrote: »

They're in the College street campus.

They are not. They are in the industrial estate place now according to my friend who does Arts.

callaway92

Bears and Vodka wrote: »

They are not. They are in the industrial estate place now according to my friend who does Arts.

Yup. All Arts courses in the building listed as AT on timetables yo'

notfromhere

callaway92 wrote: »

Yup. All Arts courses in the building listed as AT on timetables yo'

art is in collage street, part of social care is in the atb