Experience report
E-mail: rebeccazoeteweij@gmail.com
Study Program: Psychology
Exchange semester: year
Academic year: 2014-2015
Host University: University of Limerick
Country: Ireland
I General information about the school
The University of Limerick is located 5km from the city Limerick, which is the fourth biggest city in
Ireland. The university is surrounded by many green fields, trees and the beautiful river Shannon
goes through the campus. Next to the river are very nice walking paths which I enjoyed during this
year for walking and running. Many people have told me that you can walk along the river to the city
centre of Limerick, but unfortunately I have never done that. Furthermore, there are pretty ruins
which you can climb and have nice views from, really close to the university.
The campus is pretty big in comparison to the campus of Tilburg University, but really pretty and
walking around campus was always a pleasure. The campus has many places where you can get food
or coffee, like Starbucks, Subway and Eden. Almost every building around campus has a small
cafeteria or restaurant. Furthermore, there are 2 pubs on campus. One of them is called Scholars.
This is a more quiet pub where you can grab a coffee, beer or food and talk with your friends. Almost
every night there are activities in this pub and I have enjoyed many traditional Irish music nights on
Tuesdays. The other pub on campus is called Stables and this pub is larger than Scholars. Here again
they have good food and beer and many activities during the week. There is also the Sport Arena on
campus. The Sport Arena includes a 50-meter swimming pool with sauna and steam room, a gym,
250 meter indoor running track and different other sport facilities indoor. Outside, there are more
sport fields and running tracks. I have really enjoyed the sport facilities of this university and I would
recommend everybody to take a look there if you like to work out.
Limerick city is known as stab city, but I have not really noticed that. For me it felt like a normal city
and I have not felt unsafe or anything like that. For 2 euro you can go by bus or 10-12 euro by cab to
the city centre. Like many cities in Ireland, Limerick has many good pubs where you can have a drink
or lunch or dinner. Often, the pubs have good live music and good food. I would recommend to go to
the Curragower for amazing fish meals and when the weather is nice, a beautiful view at King John’s
Castle and the Shannon. Furthermore, I would recommend to go the King John’s Castle to learn
about the history of Limerick and to have a nice view over the city and on a clear day you can see the
famous flagpoles of the university.
The University of Limerick has more faculties than Tilburg University and the campus is therefore of
course larger. At the University of Limerick there is for example medicine, physical education, media
studies, music studies and many other disciplines. I really liked this, because I could chose courses
from many different disciplines and meet many people. The number of students during last year was
approximately 15.000 of which 2.500 students were international. Furthermore, the psychology
department is a lot smaller than the one in Tilburg. Courses with 40-50 students were seen as large
courses instead of the courses with 200-300 students in Tilburg. At first, I had to get used to these
smaller groups, but I really liked it and most teachers know you. Not only the classes were smaller,
but there was also a lot more individual contact with teachers in Limerick.
II Practical Information
Information before you left
I received the pre-arrival information from the University of Limerick in the end of June. This was in
time for me and quick, because my application for the University of Limerick was late due to
difficulties with the university of my first choice. All the information I got from the University of
Limerick was clear and everybody helped me very well.
Visa procedure and arrival:
Arriving in Ireland was very easy. I arrived at Dublin airport, because that was cheap and easy for me.
However, I could also chose to fly to Shannon Airport which is 20km away from Limerick and the
university had arranged that they would pick you up at certain days and times at this airport. I heard
from many students that this was arranged very well, but the flights to Shannon Airport were not
convenient for me. Therefore, I flew to Dublin Airport and took the Dublin Coach to the University of
Limerick and this is the fastest and cheapest way to travel between Dublin and Limerick as I
experienced in the past year. When I arrived at the university, I did not really know where to go, but
in the pre-arrival information was a map of the university and I could find my student village easily.
Orientation/Introduction activities
During the first week after my arrival, many orientation activities were organised. A few mornings
they had coffee and scones at a café, where were many opportunities to meet other international
students and people from the International Society. The people from the International Society could
tell you a lot about the university and the city and the International Society organised many activities
for international students. Furthermore, you could join the Buddy program. In order to join this
program, you get an email and the buddies will help you prepare for your stay in Limerick.
Unfortunately, I did not receive this email and I did not have a buddy, but it worked out well for me
without a buddy.
Housing
Accommodation was very well organized. The University of Limerick has a lot of accommodation on
campus. This is expensive, but well organised and on very good locations. Furthermore, I did not
have to worry about anything when I arrived because sheets and pillows were already in my room.
The university has 5 villages for students and they are all different. I lived in Plassey Village and I was
pretty satisfied with my accommodation. It is one of the oldest villages and we had some problems
with the heating and warm water, but the location and atmosphere are great. Furthermore, if
something was broken in the house, the reception of the village made sure that it was fixed as soon
as possible.
Living cost
My living expenses in Limerick were almost the same as in Tilburg. I did not really spend more money
than at home. Only the housing was more expensive and I did more travelling. However, I used my
Erasmus grant for travelling around Ireland. I did not spend much money on study books, because I
did not really need them. Furthermore, I had saved some money in case I needed it to pay for
housing. My budget per month would look like: €500 housing, €100 food, €70 transport, €25 books
and €200 for traveling.
Academic calendar
I arrived on the first of September, which was the first day of the introductory week. On the seventh
of September classes started and as international student we had 2 weeks to try out different
courses before we had to hand in our final courses. Every semester we had a midterm or Easter
break and most coursework had to be done half way through the semester and we had exams at the
end of the semester. A semester consists 12 weeks of class, week 13 is reading week and then 2
weeks of exams. This is not what I am used to in the Netherlands but I liked it. The only thing that
surprised me was that you can have exams on Saturdays too.
International office
The University of Limerick has an International Office in the Main building and it is really easy to find
and the people are very helpful. If you have a problem, they will always help you to solve it.
Exchange promotion
I mostly talked to many other international students, but also to Irish students. It was always nice to
talk about different universities and countries. However, the best part was convincing the brother of
an American girl I met in Limerick to study at Tilburg University.
Social activities
Many social activities were organised at this university for international students. Almost every
weekend they organised day trips around the country for international students and the
international society organised sometimes longer trips as well. Furthermore, the international society
organised food fairs to get to know different cultures and an International party night at Friday at
Stables pub. At these party nights or at the pub, you could easily meet international students but also
many Irish students because it was a popular night to go out. The International Society and
International Office organised many other events and it was easy to meet international and Irish
students at this university. Furthermore, I have travelled a lot around Ireland with international
friends and I love the coast and cities in Ireland.
Culture and Language
I did not really experience a culture shock. The host culture is pretty much like the Dutch culture, but
very catholic. That was what surprised me the most, because abortion is still illegal, gay marriage is
legal since last month and divorce was possible since 1997. This is completely different from the
Netherlands. Furthermore, in Ireland most people have large families with many children and
students work hard in university. The pub is also very important in the Irish culture. Irish people go
very often for a pint to the pub and like to spend a lot of time there. I have learned a lot about the
Irish culture through Irish friends, an Irish Folklore course and my sociology class.
The people are really friendly and they always want to help you. Sometimes you do not really
understand what Irish people say because there accent can be very strong, but you get used to the
accents during your stay in Ireland. Furthermore, Irish people like to ask you: “Where is the craig?”.
This sounds like crack, but they actually ask you where the fun is. This can be very confusing at first. I
did not take any language class in Ireland and I did not need it, because I did not have language
problems.
I travelled a lot around Ireland and you notice that the accent in every county is different and that
cities differ a lot. Most cities in Ireland are small and quiet, but Dublin is a very busy city if you
compare it to the rest of Ireland. Dublin is completely different from the country and I would
recommend to check it out yourself to see the difference.
Personal development
My exchange experience has really changed me socially, but mostly cultural. I have learned a lot
about different cultures and I am more open minded. Furthermore, I am much more confident about
talking English and I am more social in English now than before. This exchange will have a positive
effect on my future career, because I have taken many extra courses during this last year and my
academic skills in English have improved a lot.
Furthermore, I have learned a lot of people I have met on a personal, academic and cultural level, but
I have also learned a lot about cooking and baking. Meeting all those people during my exchange was
the best part of going abroad. Everybody knows so much and you can learn a lot from them. My
experience abroad was great and I would not change a thing about it, because I have learned a lot
about from this experience. I will never forget all the people I have met and beautiful Ireland. I am
sure I will meet some of those people again and that I will return to Ireland to do some more
traveling.
The most important lesson I have learned about myself is that I can be very lazy and that I should not
be that anymore, because when you are not lazy you can experience so much more.
III Academic information
Academic level at a host university
The courses at my host university were given in English (mostly with an Irish accent). I took many
psychology courses, because that is my major and I wanted to gain more knowledge about that.
Furthermore, I took Irish Folklore to get to know the Irish culture and history a bit and Sociology of
love and its dark side, because that is always an interesting subject. I would recommend to take the
course Irish Folklore, because it is very interesting. Furthermore, Political Psychology and Sociology of
love and its dark side because it are very critical courses and they open your eyes about certain
subjects. The level of the courses at the University of Limerick is a little bit lower than at Tilburg
University, but you still have to work hard to pass your courses. In Tilburg, I was used to 4 blocks a
year and exams at the end of every block, but in Ireland we had 2 semesters and many assignments
during the semesters. These assignments were fun to do, but meant also a lot of work and less time
to study for the exams. Therefore, the style of teaching in Limerick is theoretical, but not only testing
with exams. The assignments were mostly essays and group work and during the week we had many
lectures and the relationship between student and teaching staff was very informal and personal.
Most teacher know you by name or ask you personally how the assignments are going.
I am very happy with what I have achieved academically during this last year. I am a lot better at
writing essays and presenting in English and doing essay exam questions. Furthermore, my grades
were pretty high, which is always very nice.
Exams
Most exams were 2 hour exams with essay questions, but sometimes I had multiple choice exams
too.
Other
The library is easy accessible for students, but you have to take your laptop with you to the library
because they do not have many computers. Furthermore, the resources are easy to access and on
campus there is Wi-Fi and less computers than at Tilburg University.
Description of courses
Course
GA4105 Irish Folklore 1
Prerequisites
None
Exam
Written
ECTS
6
Comments
Easy course with many
international students.
Lovely teacher and just like
all the other courses you
have to write an essay and
do a group assignment.
PS4087 Political
Psychology
None
None
6
Critical course with a
teacher who can tell a lot
about different political
conflicts around the world.
The course does not have
an exam, but coursework.
The coursework is a group
assignment and an essay.
PS4107 Abnormal and
Clinical Psychology
Psychology
background
Written
6
This was a hard course, but
I have learned a lot about
different psychological
conditions. The coursework
was making a podcast and
the exam was an exam with
essay questions.
SO4033 Sociology of
media
None
Multiple
Choice
6
This is an easy course with
different assignments and
interesting, because media
is very important these
days.
PS4012 Human
Development and the
Life Span 1
Psychology
Multiple
Choice
6
This course was about
development of people
through the life span. The
coursework is analyzing the
movie Little Miss Sunshine
and an essay in which you
chose toys for children of a
certain age.
PS4037 Cognition 1
Psychology
Written
6
This was the hardest study
at UL I have taken. It was a
very interesting course and
you learn a lot in it, but
many people told me only
50% pass the course each
year.
PS4097 Developmental
Psychopathology
Psychology
Written
6
This was an in depth course
on mostly ADHD and eating
disorders, but you also
chose one disorder that you
want to research and you
present this to the class. I
really liked this because you
learn a lot during this
course.
None
Written
6
PS4108 Approaches to
Social Identity
This course addressed
different subjects of social
identity and the coursework
were debates during some
lectures.
None
SO4208 Sociology of
Love and its Dark Side
None
6
Very interesting course
about families, love,
friendship and problems in
relationships. It is an critical
course with many group
discussions and reading.
The coursework is group
participation and an essay.
Tips for future students:
I would recommend the University of Limerick to everybody. Ireland is a land not many people know
and I had a great time there. I had everything arranged before I went to Ireland and if you forget
something: Penneys is the Irish Primark and everything is very cheap there and they have a lot.
Pictures:
Cliffs next to the Loop Head Light House.
Dublin