University College Dublin

Transcription

1 REPORT 1 exchange application process PREPARATION It is important to take the time for your motivation letter, financial plan and CV. These documents are very important and it took me two full weeks to complete these. You need time to rewrite your letter or improve your English. It is also important to receive a signature on time. Once you are selected to go abroad, there are a lot more documents you have to complete for your exchange application process. This will take about one day to finish but keep in mind that things can be unclear and that you have to contact your sending or receiving university. This will take some extra time. counselling & support at Utrecht University I have been to every meeting from the international office about the exchange application. This is a good manner to prepare yourself to go abroad. In the first meeting they will tell you everything about the application process and in the second meeting you will hear more about the costs, receiving a grand, things you have to manage with the receiving institution etc. Furthermore, the international office is always willing to answer your questions about everything. academic preparation I earned all my ECTS points from year 1 and 2. I experienced this as enough academic preparation. language preparation My English was, according to the Erasmus language test I made in August, at a C2 level. I experienced this as enough language preparation. I did not take the LEAP courses because I had the feeling that my English was good enough to understand people and to write essays or exams. I passed my VWO exam English, I have my CPE certificate (a LEAP course can be very handy when you do not have this certificate) and I am used to speak English (I have family who live in America). finances I completed my financial plan. You can find information about the costs of studing at University College Dublin on their webiste. I was lucky enough to have parents who were willing to pay for everything. Furthermore, I received the Erasmus scholarship, my scholarship from DUO and a compensation for the OV card. study programme (content and organisational issues) STUDY ABROAD PERIOD In June I chose six courses. I received a document with all the courses in semester one and the content of these courses. Applying for these courses was very easy and there was a lot of information available about how to do it. When I was studying in Dublin I discovered that some courses were nice and handy but other courses were difficult and boring. It was no problem to drop courses or to choose other courses. The only thing you had to do was sending an (of course there was a deadline to change courses but there was enough time). Eventually I chose five courses: Introduction to the Irish Legal System, Company Law, Environmental Law & Policy, Criminal Justice & Penelogy and Evidence. Six courses was a little bit too much because you have to read a lot of books and articles. academic quality of education activities Most of the courses only have a lecture, once a week. You can ask all your questions in these lectures and sometimes the lecturer will ask questions to the group. But you should not forget that it is different than you

2 are used to at University Utrecht. There is no weekly assignment you have to make and the reading list can be very confusing. There are different books and you have to choose which book you will read. Futhermore, they expect that you read some extra things by yourself (this will give you a higher mark at your exam). There was only one course that had a tutorial, there were four of these tutorials in total. The tutorials are very intensive, you have to make a big assignment and discuss this in a group of 5 people (you are the only foreign student). The teacher will ask you a lot of questions, so you have to be prepared. counselling & support at receiving university abroad The support at Univerity College Dublin was very good. There was someone from the international office who answered all of your questions and responded in less than a day on your s. She helped with everything and made studying at University College Dublin so much easier! transfer of credits This is still in progress. welcome & orientation programme STUDENT LIFE The week before the lectures started there was a welcome & orientation programme for law students. I did not participate a lot in these activities because I had to find accommodation. But if you already have an accommodation I would definitely participate. You meet all the exchange students who study law and you learn a lot about the university, how your schedule works, the library, administrative business etc. Furthermore, two weeks before everything started the Erasmus organisied activities. I participated in a lot of these activities. For example: high tea, trips to highlights in Dublin, a walk in Dublin, dinner. I really ejoyed these activities. All the exchange students, not only those who study law, are there. You can meet people and make friends. Most activities are free or cheaper than the normal price. accommodation Accommodation is a huge problem in Dublin and I want to warn everyone before you decide to go to Dublin. It is very hard to find accommodation, it almost seems impossible. You have to be prepared to stay in a hostel for two weeks in Dublin before finding accommation It took two weeks to find something and I did everyhting I could. In the end it turned out that even the University College Dublin accommodation office could not help me. Eventually I found something via via and I lived with a young couple. You have to be prepared to share a house with a family because finding a place in a student home is impossible. leisure & culture I travelled a lot in Dublin. The nature is so beautiful and there are so many nice places to visit. With the paddywagons bus it is very cheap to visit places in Dublin. You can also choose to go away for a few days and book a hostel somewhere, this is very cheap. Futhermore, I travelled to Edingburgh in Scotland. Tickets to fly are very cheap if you book at the right moment and it is lovely to see some new places. The people in Ireland are very friendly. They will always help you and you have a lot fun with them. suggestions/tips You can always send my an if you want to have some extra tips. Some very nice places to visit are: Galway, the Guiness storehouse, Edingburgh, Glendalough, the Cliffs of Moher and all the little markets in and around Dublin. CONCLUSIONS would you recommend this university/destination abroad to others? please explain

3 I would recommend this university/destination to others. The university is very good, there are a lot of courses to choose from, the courses are interesting and you will learn a lot of new things. Furthermore, there are a lot of foreign students at University College Dublin, it is easy to make friends and to organise activities (trips or nights out). However, keep in mind that finding accommation will take a lot of time and patience. There is even a change that you will not find anything. do you have any additional advice or comments? REPORT 2 exchange application process PREPARATION Make sure you start as soon as possbile with the application process (especially with getting all the signatures!), because you have to do a lot of things and time passes before you can go to the next thing. counselling & support at Utrecht University Sometimes I had the feeling that the people from the International Office did not know all the correct procedures, maybe because part of it is about the Erasmus scholarship. However, it makes it confusing. It is inconvenient that the International Office is only open two times a week for 1,5 hour. That is not enough. academic preparation I followed Legal English for Academic Purposes at the UU. I learned a lot of basic things about the common law system and I improved my English. I recommend this course to every student who is going abroad to a country with a common law system. language preparation I followed Legal English for Academic Purposes at the UU. I learned a lot of basic things about the common law system and I improved my English. I recommend this course to every student who is going abroad to a country with a common law system. In the beginning, I had problems with understanding some of the teachers, because they had an accent, but you will get used to this soon. finances Dublin is a little bit more expensive than the Netherlands. The most expensive thing in Dublin is housing. You certainly have to think of euros per month. study programme (content and organisational issues) STUDY ABROAD PERIOD The education is very different in comparison with the UU. You can change your courses very easily in the first two weeks. Every course at UCD is worth five ECTS. Thus, one semester means six courses. You will follow these six courses for twelve weeks. After those twelve weeks you will have one revision week to study for you exams. The exam period is two weeks. Almost every exam takes two hours. You will get four, five or six questions and you have to answer two of them. The most of the questions are essay question, but there are also problem questions. I followed five courses, because six courses is too much. I had only lectures ("hoorcolleges"), no tutorials ("werkgroepen"). This means that you do not have any guidance regarding what you can expect on your exam. But there are mock exams available.

4 academic quality of education activities I have always been very satisfied about the quality of the UU, but I appreciate the UU even more after those four months at Univerisity College Dublin. Universitiy College Dublin reminded me of my high school period: you have to learn too much, but most of it is nonsense After completing a course at the UU I have the feeling that I really learned someting. I did not have that feeling about the courses I followed at University College Dublin. counselling & support at receiving university abroad There are a lot of people who are willing to help you if you have any problems (such as a student advisor). The contact person of law (Claire Collins) was very good. She responds to your s fast and she was really nice. transfer of credits The grading system is different: A, B,..F. I know that D is a pass at University College Dublin, but I am still not sure if it is a pass at the UU. welcome & orientation programme STUDENT LIFE The welcome is good. There was a general orientation programme with a movie night, a walking tour, a day tour and so on. There was also a law exchange students programme with a campus/library/sports tour, debates, BBQ etc. accommodation It is very difficult to find accommodation in Dublin. I did not succeed to find accommodation in advance. Therefore, I had to stay in a hostel and search from there (make sure you book a hostel for at least one week, because the hostels are also very busy and in the weekends they are full). I found my accommodation after almost two weeks constantly looking for something. Two weeks seems not that long, but it is very long if you are not sure if you will find something at all. Moreover, it is very exhausting because you do not have the time to do nice things. leisure & culture Dublin is a very nice city. You can do a lot of things, for example: visit Dublin Castle, Christ Church Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral, see the Ha'Penny Bridge in the dark, shop in the Henry Street or Grafton Street, walk through St. Stephen's Green (park), go to Howth (coastal village), taste whiskey in the Jameson Distillery or the Irish Whiskey Museum, go to the Guinness Storehouse and tap your own beer. The pubs in Ireland are very cosy, there is live music in almost every pub. The people in Ireland are very nice. They are always in for a chat and they always want to help you. Outside Dublin you can visit the Cliffs of Moher (from Harry Potter), Galway (nice to go out), the Giant's Causeway, Belfast (Northern Ireland). suggestions/tips Get a student LEAP Card, for public transportation. You will get discounts in different stores and in the public transport! If you do not have a LEAP card you need to pay with coins and if you pay too much, you will not get your money back. I also bought a bike, because I lived far away from the city center and the university. There are a lot of bikes for sale on (do not buy your bike in bikesorbicycles, because they are very shit). You can sell your bike when you are going home. CONCLUSIONS would you recommend this university/destination abroad to others? please explain

5 I am not sure if I would recommend Dublin to others. This is because of the housing problem. I wish no one the two weeks I experienced. It all turned out ok and I am sure I learned a lot because of that, but it is not a good beginning of your exchange period. I recommend the university to others, even though I am not that satisfied about the quality of education. Univerisity College Dublin is a very receptive university and I think it is good enough for a period abroad: you will learn a lot from other things as well. do you have any additional advice or comments? Enjoy your time in Dublin, because you are home before you know it. However, do not be worried if you are feeling homesick. I experienced every feeling there exist and I do not have any regrets!

6 REPORT 1 exchange application process PREPARATION Start early with the application, to avoid stress and time problems. counselling & support at Utrecht University The help from the University un the beginning is very useful and they really took time for me. However, while Im finishing my erasmus report now I feel like nobody really knows what to do. Several deadlines are given but we are dependent upon a lot of different people: takes a lot of time. academic preparation No academic preparation was necessary language preparation Honestly, i did not do any language preparation and did not face any problems. Maybe the first lectures cost a little more energy and the academic English is hard but it will be fine eventually. finances Don t underestimate the costs of living in Dublin. Of course, it is highly dependent upon your own expenses, but overall it is not a cheap place to go. However, it is not a reason not to go; it was worth every euro! But make a saving plan in advance, this gives you some space as well; to go on trips, enjoy the beautiful shopping areas and makes your Guinness probably taste better as well! study programme (content and organisational issues) There was a broad spectrum of subjects to choose from academic quality of education activities STUDY ABROAD PERIOD The academic quality was similar to our Dutch system. However, Powerpoint has not been discovered by most of the Irish lecturers... counselling & support at receiving university abroad Claire was our contact person and she offered a lot of help, answered s within a day and I felt like I could always ask for her help. transfer of credits The grading system is different (A,B,..F). There was not a clear indication what grade equalled a 5,5 ( a pass) in the Netherlands. welcome & orientation programme STUDENT LIFE Very welcoming and entertaining! I would highly recommend to use these oppurtunities! Also, the people from the Law faculty really help you with everything. Choosing your courses, finding buildings (campus is enormous). accommodation I choose to live in the city in a student house with 20 other students and not on campus. Because of this decision I might nog have lived the ultimate erasmus experience but i would really recommend it. UCD is 20 40

7 minutes by bus from town, so downside: you live really in rural areas, positive: no terrible bus rides during peak hours. leisure & culture I enjoyed the Irish culture (which includes mostly; alcohol and having fun; Dicey's and Copper's are very nice places) and the irish landscape. Together with friends, i went to places i never imagined i would ever come. I really recommend this! suggestions/tips I had 7 times visitors during my stay, nice that people want to come and visit you but my tip: dare to say no! You did not go on an erasmus to entertain your friends, parents etcetera! (Dont get me wrong: to show everybody your 'new life' is cool and due to visitors you wont have time to feel homesick). CONCLUSIONS would you recommend this university/destination abroad to others? please explain Yes, i would definitely recommend this university and destination to others. Without exaggeration, I had the best time of my life. Going somewhere on your own, studying, making friends, travelling through a different country. It gave me such a positive feeling. The university is welcoming and the facilities for exchange students are numerous. They organise plenty of meetings, none of them obligatory but all very low profile. The Irish people their selves are very easy going and Dublin, 'dirty old town', will make you feel at home within 24 hours. do you have any additional advice or comments? Dont be afraid! Everybody has the same fears, is looking for friends and does not have a clue where to start. REPORT 2 exchange application process PREPARATION You had to fill in some forms, make a motivation letter and financial plan. This takes time because there are a few requirements to apply. I had some difficulties with scanning the forms and put them in 1 document again. My computer failled to do it, so I send them seperatly and this was no problem. Be on time with the signatures and the motivation letter, but it was relatively easy. counselling & support at Utrecht University When you decide to go for an exchange there is a special evening for general information. At Studiepunt of the UU they were very helpful and I always could go there for counsel. The only point is that the International Office is only open for a few hours at 2 moments in the week. academic preparation I did no special academic prepration language preparation I took an English course at the UU, but this was not necessary. finances I worked over a year to save the money I needed. I saved 3000 euro for the excahnge, had an Erasmus grant, ofcourse also the government aid and the 'public transport compensation' (OV vergoeding). This was more then enough money to cover my exhange and make some nice trips in Ireland. Ireland is very expensive, especially

8 the accomodation (which most of the time you share with someone) and the beers in the pub. study programme (content and organisational issues) STUDY ABROAD PERIOD I followed only law courses. I had to follow six courses for the whole semester and then in the last week I had exams of all the courses. Each course counts for 5 ECTS. Before I went to Dublin I had to fill in my choice of courses. but in Dublin they will give you enough time so that you can switch courses. I changed 3 courses without any problem! That was very nice and so I could follow the courses I liked best. academic quality of education activities The academic quality was very good. there are a lot of activities in the beginning of the semester so that you can meet other international students. There are a lot of societies where you can sign up to and meet a lot of other people. We did the 'get in gear' program. Then there are 7 weeks of all kind of activities every day on multible times on the day which you can attend. The first week you can do a health test and this is also done the last week of the program: now you can see the improvements. It is only 20 euros, good and cheap sporting and nice to meet some people! counselling & support at receiving university abroad The contact person of UCD was very good involved and always responded very quickly to the s. transfer of credits This did not happened yet, the last exam was 14 May and Friday the 5 June i received my grades. Now I have to wait for the transfer of credits. welcome & orientation programme STUDENT LIFE There was a week of welcome program in Dublin. You could go for movie nights, pub quiz, go to the Ikea. It was ok, but I did not attended much of the activities. accommodation I shared the room with one of my best friends from Utrecht, we went together to Dublin. When you go to Dublin you have to keep in mind that accomodation in Dublin is very expensive. We shared a room and had to pay 625 in total (electricity, water, internet NOT included!). If you share the price it is ok, but alone it is too expensive. That is why it is very normal to share the room with other persons. We lived in Smithfield which is a great area and close to the city centre (less then 15 min walk!). There was 1 other person in our house and we had a big living room. So we did not had a room on campus, which is like 30 min biking from the city centre. We just lived near the city centre which was perfect for me! leisure & culture Ireland and Dublin are wonderfulllll!! Dublin is compact, but there is a lot of activities in Dublin. There are so many nice coffee places, restaurants, pubs in Temple bar but also outside Temple bar there are some nice pubs where there are more Irish people. Also the clubs are amazing, the most are just outside the city centre. O'connel street has a good shopping area, as in the city centre of Dublin. There are a lot of opportunities to make trips with touring organizations. And Ireland is beautifull! Cliffs of Moher ofcourse, but also Giant Causaway, Wicklow mountains, Cork and Dingle is beautifull suggestions/tips Meet a lot of people, in the beginning be open for everything and enjoy every moment. Time flies and there is a lot to do in Dublin and Ireland. Make some nice trips to the country side and the Northern of Ireland!! :D

9 CONCLUSIONS would you recommend this university/destination abroad to others? please explain Definitely I would recommend this univerity! The university is very good, the desitination is beautifull and Irish people are so nice and helpful. Enough pubs and clubs to see and nice restuarants to eat. I would I could stay longer. do you have any additional advice or comments? Enjoy, be open for everything and take every change to see the country!!!! REPORT 3 exchange application process PREPARATION The application process was a long and sometimes complicated one. You have to be very aware of when deadlines are set. Especially during and after your stay abroad, when it is easy to forget the deadlines. However both university's and the Erasmus programme support you a lot and give enough and clear information. counselling & support at Utrecht University The counselling and support at Utrecht University was good, International Office is at all time available for you to help. And with a preparation meeting before you leave, you're ready to go! academic preparation No comment. I just needed the 120 ects of your degree to be completed. language preparation not necessary, english after high school is good enough. However the module Legal English I took, turned out to be useful in Dublin. finances Studying abroad is expensive on it's own, but Dublin is a really expensive city next to that... accomodation is hard to find and in most cases very expensive. For us, also supermarkets, shops and restaurants are a little bit more expensive usually. With the erasmus grant, stufi and some savings however it is all right. study programme (content and organisational issues) STUDY ABROAD PERIOD Compared to Utrecht, I noticed a few differences during my stay. First of all the fact that at UCD the law programme consist mainly of lectures. Most courses do not have seminars. This seems strange to me, because seminars are very useful, by talking about the material. I am of the opinion that this is better in Utrecht, where you have lectures as well as seminars for every course, which allows you to understand the material of the course better. Secondly, I had six courses at the same time, over one semester. This was a lot and sometimes it was hard to keep track, especially with all the other activities for international students. I enjoyed the courses I took a lot, they were very intersting. They level of the courses was good for me as an international student, it was not too difficult mostly. I could chose from a big variation of different courses, which is really nice. The professors were very adequate to teach. To me, some were less understandable because of the irish accent but in the end all was clear. It was kind of hard in the beginning to study for the classes because the books we had to read were almost always

10 gone from the library... hardly anybody buys the prescribed books because they are too expensive. This causes that everyone had to study from the (old editions) in the library. The content of the classes was moslty very good and up to date. However the organisational issues were sometimes less, like the fact that I only had no seminars, no books, no readers. The Law society and other societies had some really nice extra activities to offer next to the regular study programme, like debates and meetings. academic quality of education activities The acadamic quality of education activities was good. counselling & support at receiving university abroad The counselling and suppert at UCD was good, Claire Collins was of much help with questions and it was easy to find her to get forms signed. The support for finding accomodation was not as good unfortunately. The only advice I got was that because I was only staying for 5 months that it would be practically impossible to find accomodation. transfer of credits All right, I could transfer all my credits to my bachelor degree. welcome & orientation programme STUDENT LIFE The welcome programme was very nice. The Global Lounge at UCD is completey designed for international students. You can meet a lot of internationals there and ask questions, some meetings were there. The Freshers week was awesome, with a lot of activities and societies you can join. accommodation As said before, accomodation is expensive, hard to find and no one can really help you. On campus accomodation is mostly for full year students and some lucky, one semester students. But you have to keep looking on the recommended websites and facebook. Eventually everyone finds a place to stay. leisure & culture UCD has a lot of societies you can join, even if you only stay for one semester. you can do all sorts of sports, UCD has a gym and a swimming pool. Besides that there are a lot of study oriented societies and other 'fun' societies, like the movie or game society. Also UCD had some International societies. Enough to do! suggestions/tips For accomodation, try looking before going abroad and keep doing it. And join some societies! CONCLUSIONS would you recommend this university/destination abroad to others? please explain Yes definitely, the destination is wonderful and although I did not always enjoyed the way in which law is thaught at UCD, it's an excellent place to study with a lot of interesting professors. UCD has a lot of good oppurtunities to offer. do you have any additional advice or comments? I would have liked if the University had given me information about the possibility of studying abroad for a full year. Most information is about one semester, because it fits right into the semester that you can fill in yourself. It is never said that you can stay for one year as well, while a lot of internatiol students stay for a full year. I only had college for 4 months now and I would have liked to studied another semester at UCD if I could have

11 plannend it from the beginning. REPORT 3 exchange application process PREPARATION The exchange application process is a process that takes a little time. At first you have to create four documents. At first there is the study plan. You have to plan your upcoming semesters at University. The student advisor will help you to figure out if an exchange can fit into your study plan. You will need his/her signature in order to fulfil the obligation of the first document. The second document is a motivation letter which is ment to be for the receiving University. In this letter you try to persuade the University in Dublin to accept you as a foreign student. The third document you will need is your own Curriculum Vitae (in English of course). The last document is the financial plan, which I discuss later in this report. After you hand these documents in, you will have to wait quit a long time until you will hear the result. Once you got accepted, you will have to organise your learning agreement and your grant agreement. If you organised these documents you will have to submit them in osiris. Then you have to check ever once in a while if there is no remark about this agreement (check this! I did not get an when one of the documents was denied because the end date I put in was a few days different then it had to be). Importsant for the exchange application process is that you keep an eye on the deadlines of application. counselling & support at Utrecht University The International Office in Utrecht is a great helping hand. They give you their signatures whenever you would need them for your application and they are thinking with you if you would find any difficulties in your application. Whenever I mailed the International Office they would always reply soon. Also when I needed a document when I already lived in Dublin they helped me and there were never problems. The Utrecht University also organised an evening to acquire more information about studying abroad, but unfortunately I did not make it to be present this evening. academic preparation I searched on the website of the University College Dublin which modules they offered. I checked every module which I found interesting on certain things: how is it teached, what is teached, how much work load, how do i get examined (essays, exams, presentations?) etcetera. But most important for me was of course if the module was interesting. Before I went to Dublin I did not really do already academic preparation, because I did not have any books yet and the modules were not yet applied in blackboard. A thing what I did find interesting is to find out how Irish law is working, what kind of legal system they have etcetera. In this way I was not shocked that Ireland has a common law system for example. language preparation I thought a formal language preparation was not necessary. A few months before I went to Dublin I started to watch a lot of series and movies in my free time without dutch subtitles. In this way I already tried to master the english without seeing any translation. Eventually when you are in Dublin you will master the language quit fast. I made already in the first days (in the hostel before I found a room, at college, introduction week) some international friends. I spoke all day english, went to bed, and when I would wake up I would start speaking/texting in English again. The lectures were in the beginning a little bit hard to follow. A good tip is to sit on one of the first rows of your lecture room. Furthermore the lecture teachers are really polite to Erasmus students, so I went to most of them during the break or after the lecture when I had troubles following the lecture. They adapt to international erasmus students and you are never the only erasmus student in a class. finances

12 Dublin is an expensive city. A normal price for a decent room in Dublin would be around 500 euros. I lived in a nice room in the city centre and this room was even 650 euros per month. Life in general in Dublin is expensive as well. Before you'll go abroad you will have to hand in a financial plan. I made sure this financial plan was wide estimated. I mean with this that I saved quit a big amount of money just to be sure I won't be broke when I would be in Ireland. There were also a few people that sought for and found a job to gain more money in Dublin, also because they did not estimate their expenses/savings enough. So keep that in mind! Furthermore it is really nice to make some trips in the weekends or to visit museums, shows, markets, pubs, or other recreative opportunities. Make a decent budget for this, trips includes often flights/trains and I was really happy that I saved money for this since I did not wanted to miss the beautiful trips I made. study programme (content and organisational issues) STUDY ABROAD PERIOD At the University College Dublin (UCD) it is normal to follow six modules per semester. This was a new thing for me. Normally I would follow two modules at the University Utrecht, and now I suddenly had to follow four more modules. So it is good to organize your schedule and to keep up with the work. My classes were all lectures, one time a week. This means I had twelve hours a week. This gave me still enough free time to finish my schoolwork and to make exciting plans for the weekends. The modules were different then the modules I followed in Utrecht, and thereby I enhanched my current curriculum. In the modules both Irish and European/International law was taught, which made it interesting and meaningfull. academic quality of education activities I think the academic quality of education activities at UCD is good. In my experience I have more difficulties with following a module at University Utrecht than in University College Dublin, but that could also lay in the fact that the modules i followed in Dublin were all 5 ECTS. But besides the level of difficulty, the level of academic quality is good. I had to write for example several essays for some modules, and therefore you had to do a lot of legal research. There was a lot of attention of building up an essay, what is in my opinion very essential for writing your master thesis later on, but also writing in general. counselling & support at receiving university abroad In the introduction week you will meet the coordinator. She/He will give her/his address so you could always can get in contact with them. This coordinator also has office hours, so you can always come if you experience difficulties at any point. There will be also a mentor available for the whole semester(s). He/she can help you feel comfartable and answer questions about anything as well. If you for example have difficulties with finding your class room, handing in papers, finding deadlines or sometimes even content of a module (if you're happen to be in the same class as this mentor) he/she is a good helping hand. transfer of credits I followed 6 modules like I said before. Each module contained 5 ECTS of credits. At UCD they work with a different credit system. They can award you for example an A, B, C+ etcetera. With a D+ you still pass, below a D+ you won't pass your module. Shortly after the announcement of the results I received an from my coördinator, asking the details of the address where she would send my transcript of records to. I could pick it up there (at the IO on the ''Drift'') and scan it myself. welcome & orientation programme STUDENT LIFE I arrived in Dublin 2 weeks before the orientation week on the campus. I found this nice and I would recommend you to do so as well. If you do so you would be settled and therefore you can enjoy this week more. This week is an amazing week because it is a big opportunity to get to know a lot of people. The whole

13 week societies will put up tents to convince you to join the society. There are like film societies, drama societies, law societies(every faculty has a society of course, I was attending the law society), international society, ESN society, many sport societies and way more. One day of this week is a faculty day. You will be put into a group and you will get an Irish student as a mentor for you appointed. You can mail her/him the whole semester if you have any questions about anything. On this day you will visit your faculty building, meet your coördinator and gain some insight about how it is to study at UCD. In the middle of the week the President of the University will ''open'' the semester and welcome everyone with a nice speech. The whole building will be filled up with international students and you will feel very welcomed after this occasion. accommodation Like I said before, accomodation in Dublin is quit expensive. Furthermore you will have to spend some time searching for your accomodation. Besides a some people that live on campus, and a few that found an accomodation already before they went to Dublin, most people will fly to Dublin, spend the first days in a hostel trying to find (viewings for) an accomodation. Don't worry: everyone will eventually find something. I tried to sign myself up for the campus, but it was hard to get in. My tip: you could try to get into a campus accomodation, but if the places are already full, don't worry, you will find something else. When you are in Dublin just swing by UCD, they will help you a bit further. You will get to know more people whom don't have an accomodation yet and you could try to find something together. Eventually everyone finds her/his accomodation. Try to also consider alternatives like: living in a family house or sharing a room (saves money, quit a lot of people, also from erasmus, did this). leisure & culture Save money to make trips! I've been to Galway, it is beautiful there. It is a little student city, but the city is famous because of the Cliffs of Moher which are nearby. It is really cool to go there and I would therefore recommend this. I have been also to Edinburgh, which is also a beautiful city to visit. Furthermore there is a little town named Howth, which is only 45min by train and quit cheap to visit; a beautiful harber town with some cliffs and good seafood. In Dublin there is also a lot to do. I've been for example to the Guinnes Store House, the Wax Museum, Dublin Castle, Laprocon Museum, and both the Christ Church and the St. Patricks Church. If it is good weather, it is amazing to walk and sit in St. Stephens Green Park. Grafton Street, Daft Street and O'connels Street are the streets where you would be never bored. Explore it all! suggestions/tips Be active and do nice stuff and acquire good grades. If you keep up the work during the semester, the exams are really doable. Enjoy life in Dublin, people are really nice there, explore yourself and the city/country/neighbourhood. Time flies! CONCLUSIONS would you recommend this university/destination abroad to others? please explain I would definitely recommend UCD and the city Dublin. The people are nice, there is a good atmosphere, the city has a lot to offer, the campus of UCD is enormous and there are a lot of (international) people you can and will meet there. Since everybody on the streets is nice and happy I would almost dare to say this could be evidence for the beauty of this city. The city is expensive though, keep that in mind. do you have any additional advice or comments? You should go to Dublin and if you want to know more from me you can contact me via my that is displayed above. I've been one semester but could easily have done two. The time I had was amazing and I also passed five of my modules. It is amazing.

14 REPORT 1 preparation exchange/placement application process I initially applied for London, but got placed in Dublin which was my second choice. It has been a great experience, so I would highly recommend applying for a stay abroad in Dublin. There is a lot you need to take care of before your leave abroad, but the UCD international office is very well organised and they will inform you about everything you need to be aware of. Just make sure you carefully read all the s you receive and keep in mind the deadlines given. counselling/support at home university The international office has generally been able to answer all my questions. There is a general meeting informing you about what to expect during your stay abroad as well. academic preparation The course European Law has been useful, because the course is teached in English. I would recommend taking this course before your leave abroad to get used to English speaking lecturers. language preparation I took the course `Legal English for Academic Purposes` as a language preparation. It has been useful. finances Erasmus grant, studying finance, public transport allowance, parental support, own savings. Life in Dublin is quite expensive, especially housing and living. study/placement abroad period study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues) I had to take 6 courses of 5 ECTS. The UCD international office send me an regarding the registring for courses, I had to subscribe to courses online in a program very similar to Osiris. All of my courses had one lecture per week, furthermore I only had 4 tutorials in total for 1 course. Some courses have a mid term essay, but most of my courses only had a 100% exam in May. The UCD system is very different compared to the Utrecht University system, you need to be very self disciplined to study during the semester. academic quality of education/placement activities The quality of the courses I took was very high. I found the courses difficult, especially because there were only lectures and no tutorials/small group sessions. I struggled a bit at the start but got used to be teached in English very quickly. counselling/support at host institution/organisation The international office was very well organised and helpful, don't hesitate to ask them questions. They will inform you about everything in time. transfer of credits Not yet published welcome/orientation programme student life The welcome at UCD in the global lounge was a good way to meet other international students. Furthermore

15 there were some activities during the orientation week in order to become familiar with the UCD campus and the city center of Dublin. Also there were a lot of student organisations present during the orientation week, they organise trips and party's for international students. accommodation I lived off campus, in the area called Donnybrook which is a 20 min walk from UCD. This was nice because I really experienced life in Dublin. I had an Irish roommate who showed me around and it was a good way to get to know Irish habits and traditions. Although living on campus seemed really nice to me as well because you will live together with other international students. In my opinion it does not really matter where you live in order to meet people. If you are considering living in the city center, make sure you look for a room on the south side of the river the Liffey; it is closer to UCD as well as a nicer environmen leisure/culture The Irish are very polite and are always helpful. Dublin is an amazing city. The combination of pubs, clubs and bars makes Dublins night life amazing. There are a lot of nice museums and opportunities for cultural trips as well. suggestions/tips conclusions would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? please explain I would highly recommend going abroad to Dublin, it has been a great way to meet people from all over the world. The fact that it is a native English speaking country has been very useful in order to improve my English skills. UCD is a very nice university, the teachers were very nice and everything was well organised. The campus is a great enviroment to study. do you have any additional advice or comments? REPORT 2 exchange/placement application process preparation The application process was pretty straightforward, an application had to be made in Osiris and a few documents had to be uploaded. A motivation letter and a financial planning amongst other things. counselling/support at home university The support at Utrecht University was great. And information lecture was organised and it was made very clear what was expected of you. The people at the international office were always very helpful and easy to reach. academic preparation There was not a whole lot academic preparation I could do, because I did not know which subjects I was going to take until just a few weeks before departure. Because Ireland has a common law system I did look into that. language preparation In Utrecht a few subjects were taught in English and I found this very easy to follow and to participate in, so I did not take any extra language courses before I went to Dublin. You get used to the new language really fast so I didn t miss taking a language course.

16 finances Ireland turned out to be more expensive than I thought, so the cost of living and books were much higher than I had anticipated in my financial plan. I also did a lot of trips which increased my expenses as well. With some personal savings and the erasmus grant I did manage to live there for a semester without having to work. study/placement abroad period study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues) The study programme at UCD was very different than what I was used to in Utrecht. I had to take six courses for the duration of the semester, when in Utrecht I was used to only doing two subjects at any one time. However because the workload is also more spread out this was very easy to get used to. Picking subjects and changing them even after classes had begun was very easy. At UCD the tutorials (werkgroepen) were only taught every two or three weeks so you have a bit of extra responsibility to keep up. Also I was not used to doing only one exam period per semester, so at the end of the semester I had to study really hard, but I did manage to pass all my exams. academic quality of education/placement activities The quality of the education in general was very good. Most of the lectures were very interesting that the teachers were very interesting and inspiring. The tutorials however were a bit dissapointing at times because they are taught by graduate students instead of professors. counselling/support at host institution/organisation The international office at UCD was very helpful and always available for questions if you had any. The law department has its own office and they even organised a trip to the courts for the international students not familiar with the common law system. transfer of credits have received a transcript of records from UCD, but it has not yet been transferred, so I wouldn't know. welcome/orientation programme student life There were a lot of orientation programmes organised. Most of them were aimed at the freshers, students beginning with their first year, but there were also some activities just for international students. In general I can say that most of them were really crowded and didn t deliver on the expectations. In the third week or so a buddy group is formed with two Irish mentors for if you have any questions or to meet some new people after the introduction period and you're all settled in. accommodation The arrangements for the on campus accommodation was terrible. There was a waiting list which lasted forever and finally I received word that I couldn't get a room on campus. So one month before departure I had to start looking for accommodation off campus. The campus housing organisation said they could help with this, but in the end they were not helpful at all. I did manage to find a room near the city centre, and in hindsight I'm glad I did not live on campus because it is quite far from the centre and the atmosphere was not great there. leisure/culture The Irish culture is amazing and the people are very friendly. I would advise everyone to go out and meet as many real Irish people as possible, and to not stick to the touristy places like so many international students do.

17 Also there are many great places to see beyond Dublin, so take a bus or train to the westcoast or other regions. suggestions/tips Find a place to live near the city centre instead of on campus, and take as many trips as possible to see the countryside of ireland. conclusions would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? please explain Yes I would definitely recommend the destination as well as the university to others. I had an amazing time in Ireland both academic and personal. do you have any additional advice or comments?