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Is Trinity College properly "up there"

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245

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    #32
    Permabear
    Closed Accounts Posts: 39,022 ✭✭✭✭Permabear


    This post has been deleted.


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    #33
    randylonghorn
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 29,509 Mod ✭✭✭✭randylonghorn


    TSMGUY wrote: »
    I didn't know enjoying Joyce was a pre-requisite for studying English?
    It isn't, thankfully, or there would be far fewer students of English (and a lot of faculty would have some explaining to do as well).

    Walking around with a long scarf wrapped around your neck, a mystical expression on your face and Ulysses under your arm is however a prerequisite for a certain type of bus wanker English student! ;)


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    #34
    TSMGUY
    Closed Accounts Posts: 855 ✭✭✭TSMGUY


    randylonghorn wrote: »
    Sez it all tbh! :rolleyes:

    Just out of curiosity, I went and did some googling!

    In 2015-16, Cambridge had 580 undergraduate students of English.

    Linked here is the list of academic staff for the Faculty of English at Cambridge. There's over 100 listed.

    How likely is it that any university in Ireland will ever see that kind of staff:student ratio? For that matter, most universities in the UK and around the world would probably offer human sacrifice to Mammon if they thought it would result in that level of funding / staffing.

    And we're not even talking about a STEM subject or one which is a buzzword for governments / employers, and those tend to attract additional funding.


    And this is a lot of the reason why the universities at the top of the rankings tend to stay there, and why it is very difficult to break into that elite.

    That level of staffing will generate huge levels of research.
    That level of staffing allows for and supports both excellence in research and in teaching.
    That level of staffing / funding and the consequent reputation of the university attracts the very best staff to apply for posts.
    The quantity and quality of research generated; the "big names" attracted to the university; the consequent reputation of the university; etc. ... all this in turn will attract huge amounts of research funding.
    And this funding in turn allows the cycle to continue.
    Well Cambridge operates a massive collegiate system so the English students will be split between several constituent colleges. And Cambridge is pretty much renowned for it's very close one-to-one supervision system, so it's gonna compare very favourably against other Unis.


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    #35
    Hazydays123
    Closed Accounts Posts: 215 ✭✭Hazydays123


    RianF2 wrote: »
    IMO Trinity is way too overrated. UL is far superior in terms of industry ready student. Eight months of a work placement is really useful. I know other colleges have work experience but AFAIK the one in UL is the longest and best established. Also, on a side note, rents in Limerick are far cheaper than in the big shmoke. Averages out at 75 per week for houses in Castletroy.

    But think of how lovely you'll look standing on front of the campanile in front square in your graduation photos :D

    Trinity is visually quite iconic and I think that sways some people (wrongly of course). It's all the same really if you're doing a vocational degree.


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    #36
    randylonghorn
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 29,509 Mod ✭✭✭✭randylonghorn


    TSMGUY wrote: »
    Well Cambridge operates a massive collegiate system so the English students will be split between several constituent colleges. And Cambridge is pretty much renowned for it's very close one-to-one supervision system, so it's gonna compare very favourably against other Unis.
    All true, but doesn't detract from my point.

    Perma, desist from the grammar nazi-ism and nit-picking, please, I don't want to have to brush the cobwebs off my ban-hammer. ;)


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    #37
    TSMGUY
    Closed Accounts Posts: 855 ✭✭✭TSMGUY


    Permabear wrote: »
    This post had been deleted.
    Jesus, I was poking fun at your obsession with absolutely unimportant minutiae and you only substantiate my point further by digging out the most circumstantial and dry "facts" that help you preserve your ego. I daresay having strong opinions on books (which I admittedly expressed flippantly, almost as if I thought I was on boards.ie and not in an undergraduate interview) that I don't like will be an asset. You strike as a very punctilious and brain-proud pedant who's used to being right. And maybe you are about trivial things like where commas should be placed in casual forum answers, but people like you almost invariably never produce great works of literature. Ironically, it was very officious, by-the-book people like you who deplored the avant-garde style of Ulysses and complained it broke "all the rules." I'd rather retain my individuality than turn into a robotic sycophant who "simply adores Joyce!"

    In a nutshell, get over yourself.


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    #38
    Curb Your Enthusiasm
    Registered Users Posts: 3,468 ✭✭✭Curb Your Enthusiasm


    The snobbery on this thread is hilarious.


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    #39
    randylonghorn
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 29,509 Mod ✭✭✭✭randylonghorn


    And you can sheathe your claws too, lad! :p

    Snit officially declared closed! :p

    (edit: @TSM, not you, Curb!)


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    #40
    TSMGUY
    Closed Accounts Posts: 855 ✭✭✭TSMGUY


    randylonghorn wrote: »
    It isn't, thankfully, or there would be far fewer students of English (and a lot of faculty would have some explaining to do as well).

    Walking around with a long scarf wrapped around your neck, a mystical expression on your face and Ulysses under your arm is however a prerequisite for a certain type of bus wanker English student! ;)

    lmao, love the Inbetweeners reference. A big part of Cambridge's lure for me is that so many great comedians went there (Simon Bird from the Inbetweeners being one of them.)

    I wanna be a briefcase wa**er too!


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    #41
    Pickpocket
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,104 ✭✭✭Pickpocket


    Permabear wrote: »
    This post had been deleted.

    It seems I was premature with my earlier "double ouch" but I'm quite certain this time.


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    #42
    TSMGUY
    Closed Accounts Posts: 855 ✭✭✭TSMGUY


    Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »
    The snobbery on this thread is hilarious.

    ayyyy, I agree, and I really hoped it wouldn't descend to this. By the way, Curb Your Enthusiasm is having a ninth series!
    randylonghorn wrote: »
    And you can sheathe your claws too, lad! :p

    Snit officially declared closed! :p

    (edit: @TSM, not you, Curb!)

    Calling it a "snit" just makes us look like massive pansies:D Don't even wanna argue now that you've called it that.


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    #43
    Jawgap
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,297 ✭✭✭✭Jawgap


    Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »
    The snobbery on this thread is hilarious.

    Must be a UCD grad :):D


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    #44
    randylonghorn
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 29,509 Mod ✭✭✭✭randylonghorn


    TSMGUY wrote: »
    lmao, love the Inbetweeners reference. A big part of Cambridge's lure for me is that so many great comedians went there (Simon Bird from the Inbetweeners being one of them.)
    Personally, I'd be more inclined to cite Stephen Fry, who actually studied English at Cambridge. ;)
    TSMGUY wrote: »
    Calling it a "snit" just makes us look like massive pansies:D Don't even wanna argue now that you've called it that.
    I love it when a plan comes together! :cool:


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    #45
    TSMGUY
    Closed Accounts Posts: 855 ✭✭✭TSMGUY


    randylonghorn wrote: »
    Personally, I'd be more inclined to cite Stephen Fry, who actually studied English at Cambridge. ;)

    I love it when a plan comes together! :cool:

    Don't get me started on Stephen Fry, his autobiography i"The Fry Chronicles" is part of why I decided on good ole' Cambridge. Not to mention Hugh Laurie, John Cleese and too many other awesomes to mention.

    By the way, it seems to be the perfect time to link to this article where Fry brands everyone who didn't enjoy Ulysses as "philistines"
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3810193.stm


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    #46
    Permabear
    Closed Accounts Posts: 39,022 ✭✭✭✭Permabear


    This post has been deleted.


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    #47
    TSMGUY
    Closed Accounts Posts: 855 ✭✭✭TSMGUY


    Permabear wrote: »
    This post had been deleted.

    Which college did you go to?


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    #48
    randylonghorn
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 29,509 Mod ✭✭✭✭randylonghorn


    You were in the habit of wearing a long scarf when you were a student, weren't you, Perma? :D


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    #49
    Pickpocket
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,104 ✭✭✭Pickpocket


    Permabear wrote: »
    This post had been deleted.

    I was the one that first brought Joyce into this conversation, so it's only fitting that I'm the first one to leave. I know when I'm beat.


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    #50
    TSMGUY
    Closed Accounts Posts: 855 ✭✭✭TSMGUY


    randylonghorn wrote: »
    You were in the habit of wearing a long scarf when you were a student, weren't you, Perma? :D
    I imagine he still does.
    Pickpocket wrote: »
    I was the one that first brought Joyce into this conversation, so it's only fitting that I'm the first one to leave. I know when I'm beat.

    I thought I ran into a pseudo-intellectual d*** but it seems I ran into a real-life, bona-fide intellectual:eek::eek::eek::eek: Starting to question which one is worse now.......


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    #51
    Wanderer78
    Registered Users Posts: 28,944 ✭✭✭✭Wanderer78


    ah ignore ranking and all that crap. just pick a course you think you ll enjoy in whatever college its held in. ive been a student in a couple of irish institutions at this stage including trinity, all have their own advantages and disadvantages. only you will be able to tell the differences and which one best suits your needs. finances will be a concern as well so bare that in mind. best of luck in your studies.


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    #52
    Permabear
    Closed Accounts Posts: 39,022 ✭✭✭✭Permabear


    This post has been deleted.


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    #53
    TSMGUY
    Closed Accounts Posts: 855 ✭✭✭TSMGUY


    Permabear wrote: »
    This post had been deleted.
    Oh, cool, this is a list of colleges I'm considering.
    Ivy League Schools

    I'm just taking the piss, although you do have a way of seizing upon absolutely innocuous statements and critically dissecting them as if I'm trying to publish a paper on JSTOR. I've been digging through your post history and, apart from your baffling admiration of Ayn Rand, you seem like a decent guy.


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    #54
    Pickpocket
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,104 ✭✭✭Pickpocket


    Permabear wrote: »
    This post had been deleted.

    So you're rich and well read. And I bet your girlfriend's gorgeous as well you successful bastard.


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    #55
    TSMGUY
    Closed Accounts Posts: 855 ✭✭✭TSMGUY


    Pickpocket wrote: »
    So you're rich and well read. And I bet your girlfriend's gorgeous as well you successful bastard.

    Get a room!


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    #56
    Permabear
    Closed Accounts Posts: 39,022 ✭✭✭✭Permabear


    This post has been deleted.


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    #57
    Pickpocket
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,104 ✭✭✭Pickpocket


    Permabear wrote: »
    This post had been deleted.

    Ha, The Incredibles.


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    #58
    TSMGUY
    Closed Accounts Posts: 855 ✭✭✭TSMGUY


    Permabear wrote: »
    This post had been deleted.
    Well, it bears mentioning it was my 89 year old grandfather who thrusted his first-edition copy of Ulysses into my hands and said it's "a load of ****e", which, given his expansive knowledge of Latin and the Classics, represents genuine dislike rather than intimidation. I think there's tendency to defend seminal novels and force others to "see" something that they're "missing" when all too often, for very subjective reasons, a supposedly great book can come across like incoherent **** to some. I'm afraid Finnegans Wake isn't very funny to most people, myself included. At the very least, it gave us the name "quarks" for subatomic particles. It is, in my view, syphilis meets stream-of-consciousness.


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    #59
    Wanderer78
    Registered Users Posts: 28,944 ✭✭✭✭Wanderer78


    TSMGUY wrote: »
    Well, it bears mentioning it was my 89 year old grandfather who thrusted his first-edition copy of Ulysses into my hands and said it's "a load of ****e", which, given his expansive knowledge of Latin and the Classics, represents genuine dislike rather than intimidation. I think there's tendency to defend seminal novels and force others to "see" something that they're "missing" when all too often, for very subjective reasons, a supposedly great book can come across like incoherent **** to some. I'm afraid Finnegans Wake isn't very funny to most people, myself included. At the very least, it gave us the name "quarks" for subatomic particles. It is, in my view, syphilis meets stream-of-consciousness.

    my poor father would be turning in his grave if he heard you say that, very funny:)


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    #60
    TSMGUY
    Closed Accounts Posts: 855 ✭✭✭TSMGUY


    Wanderer78 wrote: »
    my poor father would be turning in his grave if he heard you say that, very funny:)

    Is your father James Joyce, by any chance!


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    #61
    Wanderer78
    Registered Users Posts: 28,944 ✭✭✭✭Wanderer78


    TSMGUY wrote: »
    Is your father James Joyce, by any chance!

    hahaha na


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