University: Griffith College Dublin
City: Dublin
Country: Ireland
Continent: Europe
Field of study: business administration
Study type: Academic gap year
After graduating from high school in 2018, I decided to do an academic gap year at Griffith College in Dublin, Ireland. Some time before that, in May 2018, I became aware of MicroEdu. After an initial personal meeting with Ms. Rebekka Pietschmann in the Frankfurt office, we looked together for a university in the English-speaking region that best suited my wishes and ideas for my stay abroad. She was instrumental in supporting the application process, so that it ran smoothly and quite easily. Mrs. Pietschmann and her team were always available for questions– still during my time in Germany, but also during my time in Ireland. If she had any questions, she contacted the International Office of the Irish university, and I was always able to get help within a short time. Check toppharmacyschools.org to see University of New Brunswick study abroad opportunities.
Accommodation
Parallel to the application process, she provided me with information material and internet addresses for flat-sharing communities and student dormitories. However, finding an apartment turned out to be much more difficult than I thought. I first applied to the Griffith College Dublin dormitory. Looking back, I can say that it was good that I only ended up on the waiting list there. Because in the meantime I did some more research and finally decided on the New Mill student residence from Uninest Student Residences. It’s only a seven-minute walk from my university. This accommodation is perfect- Only built two years ago, very good functional rooms, bright, friendly, clean, modern. I liked it so much that I decided to spend my Dublin stay there.
In New Mill I had my own room with an en-suite bathroom, and I shared the living room, kitchen and balcony with my roommates. The number of roommates can vary, there are either four, six or eight people. Personally, I lived in an apartment with seven other students. My roommates were not from Ireland as expected, but rather from all over the world. This gave me the opportunity not only to meet new people, but also to expand my knowledge of different cultures. At first the number of roommates sounds like a lot, but it is spread out very well, since everyone in my apartment goes to a different university and therefore has a different daily routine. In the dormitory there is also a gym, a large communal kitchen, a lounge with a pool table and table tennis table – all residents can use the premises. I felt very comfortable there.
Contacts
Just before I left for my trip to Ireland, MicroEdu gave me the contact details of a student who attended Griffith College the year before. That helped me a lot, because she gave me a lot of information and tips about my studies, the university, the city and customs and was also able to answer many of my countless questions.
Courses
I took business courses at Griffith College Dublin. These were exclusively courses from the first and second semester of the BA in Business Studies course, including, for example, Business Management, Financial Accounting, Macroeconomics and Microeconomics, … The size of the courses was very pleasant with around 100 fellow students. For almost all courses it was necessary to write at least one term paper over the course of the semester and an exam on the content of the course. The language level in the courses was demanding, but it was easily manageable by regularly repeating the new vocabulary. The materials, in the form of scripts, slides and notes from the lecturers, for the individual courses were provided by the university. It was always possible to obtain further material from the library.
Leisure
Dublin has a lot to offer in terms of leisure activities: the city has a great nightlife on the one hand, on the other hand you can quickly go hiking in the nearby Wicklow Mountains or you can easily use public transport to get to the nearby port town of Bray and Howth. Here the ‘cliff walks’ can be recommended. As Ireland is a relatively small country, you can get almost anywhere on the island within five hours. So nothing stands in the way of a trip to the ‘Cliffs of Moher’ or to ‘Galway’ .
Griffith College excursions
Griffith College also offers a great range of excursions and trips are offered to a wide variety of places in Ireland, from surf trips to adventure trips you can do everything. At the end of the summer semester, the Students Union also offers a very nice festive ball. In addition, there is a fairly good range of sports, which is varied for the size of the university. You have the opportunity to play your personal favorite sport, from basketball and badminton to volleyball and Zumba.
Credit
It turned out to be a bit difficult to continue my studies in Germany in the third semester after my stay abroad in the same course. All courses from German universities are usually credited, but with a different ECTS point weighting and it is therefore usually not possible to start in the third semester or to continue my studies as I had hoped. A lot of correspondence with the faculties is required.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I can say that my stay in Dublin was a great opportunity for me not only to get to know the country and its people, but also to complete the first year of my studies. I can really recommend studying abroad in this form to everyone. In my opinion, the capital of Ireland is the perfect place for it.
