University: Griffith College Dublin

City: Dublin

Country: Ireland

Continent: Europe

Field of study: business administration

Study type: semester abroad

Application phase

I knew from the start that I wanted to go to Dublin. So I googled and came across MicroEdu. After I decided on the GCD, MicroEdu was very helpful in sending my application quickly and completely to Ireland. If you had any questions, it usually only took 1-2 hours for an answer. Before you travel to Ireland, Florian Burkhardt from the GCD Office Germany is available for further questions directly to Griffith College and will answer them very quickly and reliably. Check mcat-test-centers.com to see California State University Chico.

Arrival and housing search

Even before I looked around for alternatives, I could rule out the GCD dormitory, which is right on campus. 500 euros a month for a room shared with another person is simply too expensive. I don’t even have to start with the single room for 900 euros. After seeing these rooms at friends’ house, I realized that I did everything right, because not only are the rooms small, but you also have to share the bathroom and kitchen with another double room, whereby you happen to be dating people all over the world is thrown together. This can be an advantage, but in some countries our hygiene standards are being trampled on.

Before the flight I booked a hostel for the first 4 days and from there I called what felt like 30 people for the first 2 days who had either advertised an apartment on Daft.ie or on Facebook. After looking at 3 apartments on the third day, which were in a good location but I wouldn’t have wished on my worst enemy, I happened to see a promising Facebook ad and called directly. The landlord was happy that a German called and invited me to come and see the house the next morning. In his opinion, the Irish and southern Europeans are “messy and ruin everything”. I’m not sure if all old Irish think like this, but mentioning that you’re German can only be an advantage.

So on the 4th day I found a huge 3-room apartment, which was right on the sea and only 2 S-Bahn stations from the city center. I could choose my roommates myself. The cost was €500 cold per month per person (€1500 cold total), which is expensive but reasonable for Dublin apartment prices, which can be roughly compared to Munich.

Some others were not as happy as I was, so some only found an apartment after 3-4 weeks and then often only an “emergency accommodation”. This is because there are quite a few students looking for housing in September, so it’s recommended that you fly into Dublin for a few days to look for a place to stay as early as July or August if you want to avoid all the hassle.

Studies

The university and the campus area are very nice from the outside, a little cramped from the inside and not as modern as you are used to from German universities. However, there is a beautiful, very new canteen on the site, including a university pub.

Courses: Before I went to Dublin I honestly didn’t think about what courses I wanted to take. This is not necessary at all, since you can attend all courses that you find interesting in the first 2 weeks and only then have to decide which courses you want to take. It also doesn’t happen that courses are too crowded, so you can be very relaxed there.

The courses themselves reminded me a little bit of school. You are much more involved in the lecture in the form of group work and small presentations, which you have to give very often. Even if you are not a native speaker, you don’t have to be shy, as the proportion of foreign students is well over 50%. At least in the business area.

The level of the courses is clearly lower than in Germany, so many things are explained for a very long time before everyone understands them. Officially, every course has compulsory attendance, which is only important for non-EU students for their visa. So you can stay at home after a night of drinking. However, I had to hand in a term paper in all courses during the semester, which was very extensive at 2500-3500 words. In the fall semester, the exams are all written in January. My exams were all 3 hours long, since they are also very writing-intensive compared to Germany. For example, in all 4 exams I didn’t have a multiple choice, but rather 4 questions that had to be answered in detail.

On-site support is very good. The International Office answers all your questions, no matter how stupid and superfluous they are. In addition, the contact with the lecturers is completely different. All lecturers soon know the names of all students and also greet and talk to the students outside of the lectures.

Leisure time and livelihood

The GCD Students Union is located on the GCD campus, and offers numerous clubs and societies. In addition to sports clubs such as football, rugby or basketball, there is also a paintball society, politics society and even a beer pong society. All this contributes to finding a connection relatively quickly. Furthermore, many excursions to the many beautiful sights in Dublin and Ireland are offered, which are always very cheap and very fun.

In Dublin in general you can actually see all the most important sights in one day, but there is a very beautiful old town (Templebar), which also offers a very active nightlife. The nightlife in Dublin in general is absolutely great, there are tons of beautiful pubs, which are always well frequented. There are also many clubs, which are mostly very stylish and not too expensive at 5-8 euros. At least the entrance fee is not expensive, where we would have arrived at the cost of living. Partying in Dublin is definitely not for the small budget. There are always specials, but you should reckon with an average price of €4.50 – €5 per pint of beer (approx. 0.57 liters). Long drinks are usually incredibly expensive, €8 upwards. Going to the famous Tempel Bar region is even more expensive. You pay around €6 for a beer here. However, it’s often worth it, because there are always and everywhere incredibly good live bands that are really fun to listen to. However, it often happened

The cost of living can be compared to those in Germany. However, you have to avoid the Spar supermarkets in the city center, because they are ridiculously expensive. However, if you go to an Aldi or Lidl a little further from the city center, you will find about the same prices as in Germany.

Conclusion

In summary, the semester abroad at the GCD was a complete success, also due to the fact that I quickly found many multicultural friends with whom I experienced a lot. You also take a lot more with you from your studies than from many lectures in this country, because you are simply much more actively involved in the lectures and not just pressing around on your cell phone for 90 minutes.

Thank you for reading, if you have any questions you can ask the MicroEdu team for my email address.