Advantages of Halls over normal accomodation

Dropping No Eaves

Hey, I'm probably going to be going to Trinity next year (took a year out to travel) and I was just wondering if anybody with experience within Halls could tell me whether they think it was worth it?

My friends currently in Trinity and Dublin are going to be organising accommodation in some apartment or other next year and I'd very much like to live with them, but I've heard Halls is great for making new fwends and such in first years.

Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeers.

Legion.

Halls is great for first years for the reason you said, making new friends. But if your friends are looking in to an apartment with all of you that could be a very good option because it isn't a good idea to bank on getting Halls. I'm from Donegal and assumed I was pretty much guaranteed a place, but it didn't work out that way. That meant I was left to go on a mad scramble at the beginning of September and actually had to stay with family friends for freshers week as I had nowhere sorted (luckily I had friends in Halls so I didn't miss out on the craic). I did get very lucky and got digs across the road from Halls so I'm over all the time and have made plenty of friends. So while Halls is great, if you can be guaranteed something with friends already that may well be worth looking in to.

RedMickeyMouse

Possibly in the same boat as OP, but my friends from here in Cork who are in Dublin are in UCD and I assume any accommodation sought by them for next year (they will be in second year) wouldn't be equally suitable for both of us in terms of getting to our respective Colleges. I'm also on a gap year and would be going alone to Trinity, knowing no one. Is Halls the most ideal option? I'm hoping to possibly study BESS or Business and German.

guernica

I was in Halls (many moons ago:D) and it was great for making friends, especially from different courses - some people that weren't in Halls only made friends from their course (not that there's anything wrong with that) but in Halls you meet loads of people from loads of courses. And you always have someone to play with in the evening (not great when you're supposed to be studying i suppose...)

Ash_M

I would 100% recommend Halls for a first year student - it is an excellent way of getting to know a good broad range of people early on, and flatmates are a nice built in way of having someone with whom you can figure out all the new things college throws at you in the first couple of weeks. I also feel that meeting new people rather than resting on the laurels of previous friends is a good call. Knowing people in your year is good too, as I've come across occasional frustrations with flatmates of different years as people start to diverge on the party/study balance.

Regarding RedMickeyMouse's post, I currently live with a UCD student and another Trinity student and it works just fine for all of us - the girl in UCD does have to get a bus while we walk in, but it's at least as convenient as Halls would be were she going to Trinity. Leeson St/Ballsbridge/Doneybrook area tends to work pretty well as a compromise, especially if you have a bicycle or aren't adverse to public transport being involved.