Hi Queens!
I'm planning on going to uni in Ireland for medicine (2022 courses, dw), and was wondering if you Irish Queens could help me out a little. The two I've been looking at the most were UCD and Trinity: which one is better, what have you heard, what can you recommend? (Also if you have any other med school recommendations, would love to hear about it! The more info, the better!)
Also, due to COVID, I can't go visit and explore, which is such a shame... what are some things it's good to know before moving there (especially for internationals - i'm an EU citizen)? What's Dublin (and the people) like? Tell me everything 😃
Thanks Queens, appreciate all the help and info! 💕
Take care of yourselves x
Trinity is the most prestigious uni in Ireland, but is closely followed by UCD because UCD is the biggest.
trinity is in the city center, and UCD is about 5k out from the center.
I am currently studying in UCD, I'm doing a masters in psychological science there and I have found the school of psych to be amazing but I don't have any experience of the med school. I was once in the med library a few years back and it was super fancy! 🤣
the main issues with studying in Dublin is accommodation and the cost of living is quite high.
I am born and raised in Dublin so probably a bit biased but I love Dublin more then anywhere in the world, especially on a sunny day! It isn't a massive city and there isn't a lot of high rise.
not sure how helpful this is so if you have any more questions that I might be able to answerr please let me know!
@Sammi Trev Thanks Sammi! You said the living costs are quite high, if I may ask, roughly how much do you spend a month on accomodation and necessities (like food)? And... I mean, you may be biased, but Dublin is a wonderful place to be (from what I've heard) 😊 Have a wonderful day x
Ahh how exciting, Lili!
I'm sure the Irish queens can give you loads of advice, but just wanted to comment as a past international grad student at an Irish uni (Queen's University Belfast) for my Masters degree. Absolutely loved it! I'm American/dual EU citizen and there was a real concerted effort to help international students get acclimated.
QUB had all internationals come two weeks earlier and all grad students one week earlier to get settled before things get super busy with freshers week, etc. I'd definitely recommend doing that if you can, especially with not being able to travel during Covid. I had never been to Belfast and didn't know a soul when I landed - terrified! But you make friends so quickly, especially when everyone is new and excited to explore the city or show it off if it's their home. Met my absolute best friends and spent so many weekends 'home' with them all over Ireland. So so much fun. Both Trinity and UCD are such fab unis, so I'm sure they have excellent internationals/erasmus programmes for support and to get you settled, too.
I lived in Belfast obv, but we some of my Irish friends are from Dublin so we went about once a month. It's such a beautiful city and so friendly, albeit slightly on the pricier side as far as European major cities go. You'll have an amazing time and get the best education! xx
@Lili Gyopar I've a lot of friends who studied medicine in NUIG, located in Galway on the west coast, who have gone on to have very successful medical careers. The main hospital is a teaching hospital and affiliated with the university. Galway is considerably more affordable than Dublin and is a vibrant, welcoming and beautiful place to study.
@Lili Gyopar Hey Lili, I'm currently studying Radiography in UCD, to be fair the campus is lovely and it's a nice bit outside of the city centre for my liking but still only a short bus journey away! The school of health science is very nice, I've had a few lectures with med students and all the lecturers are very good. The library has very good facilities but now with covid we don't have any access to the health science library and a lot of the books aren't online which can be frustrating!
Again the only thing I'd point out like@Sammi Trev did us that accommodation can be quite costly, on campus can range from just under €7,500 to about €10,000 for 2 semesters depending on how big/new the accommodation you select is. To be fair the on-campus accommodation is lovely and so handy but for me it was just too expensive. I stayed in a family home for some of my time at UCD, to be fair they were very good to me and it worked out a lot cheaper and I only stayed there while the semester was ongoing so not sure if something like that would be an option for you. If you're looking for an idea of accommodation I'd go on Daft/Collegecribs/Rent.ie and you'll get a fair idea of what you'll get for your money.
If you've any other questions queen just pop me a message 😌
I actually work in a university (doenst offer medicine) and international students come to Ireland in their masses for all aspects of their education.
Have you looked at the faculty in both universities? is there anyone in either that you would admire, usually its the faculty that draws students from abroad. Also do you know anyone else who is studying in ireland? Or anyone who has studied medicine in Ireland. I think Trinity would have more of a "status" with it, but I definetly would look at the faculty and the speciality they offer. Accomodation in all parts of Dublin is really expensive, Id imagine the international office in both Universities would be somewhat helpful in pointing you in the right direction. UCD is quite far out of the city and a very large campus, as far as I know its only accessible by bus if you dont live close enough to walk or cycle (or drive obviously) while Trinity is right in the centre of the city and no matter where your accomodation is it would be easy to get to.
If you were to rent a 1 bed apartment in dublin city you would pay around €2000 - but there are other options, there is designated student accomodation in the universities but are hard to get, then there are shared living space accomodation which I woudnt be mad about but would be more affordable - they are aimed at students. There would also be the option to share accomodation - ie rent an appartment with a group, this would be the cheapest way particularly if you know anyone also studying in Ireland.
I would touch base with the international office in both and see if they can send you any information.
Best of luck with your studies!!
@Lili Gyopar hi Lili so exciting planning to move abroad for study 🌅. I havent studied medicince (im a boring law and accounts grad from Belfast) but I went down afterwards to do my trainee 3 years with a firm in Dublin, kinda like a student ife as was over 30 in the intake so like a class. Med school will be intense and with lots of classes it works out well to get to know people in the class, as I had heard a few doing arts with weekly lower volume of classes they were only in for an hour or 2, 3 days a week didnt really get to know their class mates that well as all were living in diff parts of Dublin and leaving just after classes not staying on campus. A few loved UCD for the fact people stayed about as out of city.
I found Dublin was a fantastic city - not too big and easy enough to navigate around on the buses (after a few times getting lost!!) I always felt safe and there was a great buzz about in it. People were so friendly in general and I found ones I worked with came from all countries so we were all 'blows ins.' It was more expensive than 'up north' in terms of food and that but you get used to it and find out where to shop/eat and socialise. Housing was tough enough to get and more like being interviewed - I shared with people and found it on daft and totally landed on my feet with a great crew of 3 others who I am still friends with. I lived North side in Drumcondra and then Clontarf both areas I loved always a buzz - nice coffee shops and close to the sea. I did hear rent is on the up as lack of places although i would suggest not going too far out and shopping around, prices might have came down post covid. I also know a few stayed in B&Bs for the first few weeks to get a feel for areas and be able to house hunt. Any house hunting questions or living areas etc sure give me a shout 😊
All the very best and where-ever you go im sure you will make it great - with a fab attitiude you can do anything 🤩xx (sorry I tend to not be concise i write essays!!)
@Elise Karam @Sorcha FS @Niamh Byrne @Anne Hamilton Black @Una McElroy Omg thank you Queens so much for all the info! You are all so helpful and supportive! Will definitely pop a message if I have specific questions, thank you!!💕 wishing the absolute best to you all!
@Niamh Byrne good luck with your radiography course, I'm sure you will do absolutely fantastic (it's the Queen mindset)! 😊
@Una McElroy no problem whatsoever, love reading mini-essays 😄
@Niamh Byrne Ahhh fellow UCD head!!
@Lili Gyopar I still live with my parents, as it hasn't been feasible to move out so I am not great on cost of living! (I do take care of most of my own costs though! I just get cheaper rent! lol). I do most of my food shop in Aldi, and there are plenty of aldi's and lidl's around which is challenging the other supermarkets to bring prices down a bit!
Socialising I have found can be as cheap or expensive as you like, back when we had clubs open there would be the usual student nights etc running!
