Name of the University: University College Dublin
Exchange semester: Fall 2012
GENERAL INFORMATION
UCD is the largest university in Ireland, and is situated south of the city centre, approximately
a 15 minutes bus drive, with buses leaving on a regularly basis. The campus is huge, with
almost 25 000 students and a number of different buildings, cafeterias, book shops, student
centre and a brand new gym. UCD has a big focus on different sports, with a lot green fields,
tennis courts and a swimming pool, etc. for students to use.
We all attended Quinn School of Business, which is relatively new building compared to the
rest of the buildings on campus. The building is located close to the grocery store Centra and
the UCD bus stop.
The study structure may remind you of BI, with 2-hour lectures and the use of power-points.
The class rooms in Quinn vary in size, and compared to the lecture halls at Nydalen, they are
quite small. You will experience more evaluation and group work throughout the semester
compared to BI, and this may count on your final grade.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before we left
We received all the information we needed by email. We received the first emails by the end
of March. Continuous information was sent to us during the spring and summer. The
application process is pretty easy, and we experienced no difficulties.
Visa Procedure and travel experiences
We used our student visa, and no trouble with that.
Two of us booked tickets together online with SAS, and flew over at the end of August. The
last one booked online with Ryanair and arrived a few days later. You should be able to find
pretty cheap flights with Ryanair and sometimes Norwegian.
Academic calendar
The semester started the 10. September, but we had all been here for more than a week
already. There are a lot things and activities going on around campus the first weeks,
especially for international students. The last day of term was 30. November, and the exam
period didn’t start before the 10th of December.
Reception
It was clear to us that UCD had a long experience in welcoming exchange students. Since one
of us arrived the first day of the introduction week, he was met at the airport by Irish students,
where they had a meeting point for international students. He instantly made friends on the
bus to UCD. The two others arrived the weekend before the introduction week, and came in
contact with people the first days through a Facebook-page.
Housing
We all applied for on-campus accommodation, but only one of us got it, so we recommend
you to apply as early as possible if you want to stay at campus. The two others lived off
campus. The mother of one of us knew a family who lives in Dublin, and she stayed there for
the first few days, while she was looking for a permanent place to live. The last one booked in
at Times Hostel in Camden Street for 4 nights before he left. It might be smart to book a
hostel for the first few nights early, since a lot was already booked.
We used a webpage we got from UCD with a list of landlords. This list was unfortunately
quite outdated, and all the rooms were already booked. Once he used www.daft.ie, the same
web page as one of the others used. We recommend you to call those who rent out the houses
and not send them emails. There are a lot of people looking for a place to stay in the end of
August and the beginning of September, which means the houses get rented out fast.
If you don’t get an on-campus accommodation we recommend you looking for houses in
Dublin 4 or Dublin 6, which is in between the city centre and UCD.
We didn’t have any difficulties in finding a place to live. One of us shared a house with 8
other guys, but they all got their own room with a small kitchen, sharing 3 bathrooms. You
should expect living standards below Norwegian standards.
One of us stayed in the Belgrove Residence at Belfield Campus, with only five minutes to
walk to Quinn School of Business. He lived in house 18 on the ground floor with two other
international students with a sharing living room/kitchen and sharing bathroom. Unfortunately
he also had to share a bedroom with one of the others. This is very rare at the UCD campus,
and it is only a few apartments left with twin-rooms. There were now kitchenware at all, but
the school arrange free bus rides to IKEA the first days. Belgrove is the oldest residence in
UCD. We will much rather recommend you to stay in either Roebuck, Merville or Glenomena
where you often get your own room as well as your own bathroom.
Costs
The biggest costs are of course the living costs. We experienced that off-campus residences
were cheaper than living on campus. The one staying on campus paid everything upfront,
around €2500. For the off campus residence you had to pay around €100 a week.
Even though Dublin is not a cheap city, the prizes are relatively lower compared to Norway
when it comes to food, alcohol etc. When going out, the price of a pint is usually between
€3.50 and €5.
The prices of books are almost the same as in Norway, but you could try the second hand
bookshop in the student centre at campus, and get your books for half the price. It is also
possible to borrow books in the library.
The International Office
The international office of UCD is located in the same building as the global lounge and the
restaurant (the building next to Quinn), and the staff there are very helpful with all your
queries. Quinn School of Business also has its own International Office.
Social Activities
Because of all the group work you will have to attend in the various classes, you will meet a
lot of students, both Irish and international. In some classes you can choose your own groups,
but in most classes you are randomly put in a group. This is a good way to get to know a lot of
people.
In the first weeks of the semester, there are a lot of activities for the international students. It
is very easy to make friends during these weeks, as everybody is in the same position as you;
they want to meet new people.
As we have already mentioned, UCD is a really sport-focused school, and we highly
recommend you to join either a social society or a sport during “fresher’s week”. All the
societies and sport groups have their own stands where you can sign up. In addition to engage
their activity, these groups also throw parties and trips during the semester. Two of us joined
the wind-surfing group, while the last one joined the kite surfing group.
We also recommend you to join the ESN (Erasmus Student Network) and the ISS
(International Student Society), as they throw a lot of good parties and trips around Ireland, as
well as some social activities such as movie nights etc.
Culture and language
The Irish people in Dublin don’t have a particular accent, and are easy to understand. As for
the other international students, we found it difficult to understand some of the Chinese
students as well as some French and Spanish students. But once you got used to it, there was
no problem.
The Irish people tend to be very friendly, helpful, and really outgoing compared to
Norwegians. Irish people are also known for their hospitality.
The pub culture of Ireland is also widely known, and you will find a pub on almost every
corner. Most pubs are crowed from Monday till Sunday, and in contrast to Norway the people
on the pubs vary in age from 18 to 60.
You will also get a lot of opportunities to travel the island during the semester, and ESN and
ISS throws a lot of trips for international students. We went on our own instead, and rented
four cars with some friends and drove to Galway, a city at the west coast of Ireland. This was
maybe our best weekend during our time here, so we definitely recommend you to “get out of
Dublin” and see more of this beautiful country!
Cultural and Social Effects from the Exchange Experience
We all feel that we have developed our English skills, as well as becoming more outgoing
during the semester. We all feel that we now are more independent than before we left, and
we have had some great experiences. We have met different people from all around the world,
and experienced different cultures.
As former exchange students, we feel like we will have an advantage if we ever are to apply
for a job abroad, or a job that requires fluent English.
ACADEMIC INFORMATION
The Teaching situation
All courses are taught in English. You might find it hard to understand the lecturers’ accents
in the beginning, but after the first week you don’t even think about that any more.
The level of study is approximately the same as the level at BI.
The teaching is mostly theoretical as almost all courses are taught in lectures, but in some of
the courses we had guest speakers and presentations, which is a more practical way of
learning.
You have to do six courses at UCD as all courses only give you 5 credits. Even though the
curses look smaller on the paper they are not in the real life. We thought the courses were
approximately the same size as one 7,5 credit course at BI. On top of that we had a lot of
assignments and presentations, both individual and in groups during the semester. We would
say the workload is a lot more at UCD than back home.
There is a casual relationship between the lecturers, the administration and the students. You
can call your lecturer by first name, and you can contact the faculty either by showing up at
their offices or sending an email.
When we had lectures we didn’t really get to know anyone, but with all the group works we
got to know a lot of students, both international and Irish students.
Required Literature
We were quite surprised about the way they use the literature at UCD. In some courses there
was no required books, all you had to do was to study the lecture notes and articles. It is even
more important to show up in the lectures at UCD than at BI.
All the literature you need to read is in English. Most of the books and lecture slides are easy
to understand. We would say the level of the literature is ok.
Whether the literature is used for detailed knowledge or a broad overview depends on the
course. In some of the courses the purpose was to get a greater knowledge than in others, for
example in International Financial Management, and the literature was more detailed.
All exams are based on the lectures, but you need to supplement with lecture slides and/or the
books you buy. The exams are based on both the lectures and the literature.
Exams
So far we have only had two exams. In those two we were given mostly theoretical questions,
which require you to write essays. In International Financial Management we were given both
theory, multiple choice and calculation questions.
At this point we don’t know anything about the required level to pass the exams, except that
you need 40% to pass. We had assignments in all our courses, which mean that the exams do
not count 100% of your grade. Our exams counted from 50% to 90% of our total grades.
Other
In the beginning of the semester the library is open in the weekdays and Saturdays until
around 6 or 8 pm. In the end of the semester when everyone is studying for their exams the
library is open every day until late.
You can loan books, laptops and DVD’s at the library, but only for a short period of time. The
library only has a few copies of each book and there are a lot of students at UCD. We
recommend you to buy the books you need. You could end up waiting two months for the
book you want to borrow if you don’t.
You can find computers you can use in the different buildings and as we wrote above you can
borrow laptops from the library.
UCD has a learning platform called Blackboard where all lecturers put up the relevant slides
and information about each course. You can also contact lecturers and other students via
Blackboard. All our lecturers used power point slides in the lectures.
Any other experiences
Even though all our exams are very close to Christmas (our last is the 21st of December) and
the workload is more than we expected and are used to, we had a great time at UCD and in
Ireland. If you choose to go there make sure you get to see the parts of the country that you
might not do otherwise.
Modules
All our courses were relevant to our degrees. UCD has a lot of different courses you can
choose from.
Course name:
MKT 30060 Strategic Market Management
Prereq.
None
Exam
2-hours written
BMGT 30060 International Business
None
2-hours written
BMGT 30130 Globalisation
None
2-hours written
HRM 30010 HRM Techniques
None
2-hours written
MIS 30010 Decision Analytics
None
2-hours written
BMGT 30100 Leadership and Change Management
None
2-hours written
HRM 30020 European IR and HRM
None
2-hours written
MIS30020 E-Business Solutions
None
2-hours written
FIN30220 Green Venture Finance
Basic Finance
2-hours written
ECON30150 International Money and Banking
None
2-hours written
FIN30030 International Financial Management
Finance
2-hours written
MKT 30060 Strategic Market Management
In this course you can choose your own groups for the group work. You will be handed out
two assignments, one presentation on a firm, and one written report. These count for 40% of
your final grade. The exams seem to repeat themselves each year, and are quite easy.
BMGT 30060 International Business
This course is a lot of reading, and the teacher use power points with 60 slides for each class.
You will be put in a random group for your group work, which is a 30 pages written report,
and counts for 40% of your grade.
BMGT 30130 Globalisation
The teacher in this course was really good and enthusiastic. He has lived around the whole
world, and had a lot of good stories. Also here you are put in a random group to write a report
and give a presentation which count for 30% of the final grade.
HRM 30010 HRM Techniques
The teacher expects a lot of class participation and discussion, and you really have to be
prepared for each class, as she asks questions from the readings. You are able to make your
own groups, and the group work, a written report, counts for 40%.
MIS 30010 Decision Analytics
In this class you could also choose your own groups, and you had two presentations and a
written report which counted for 30% together. You also had to submit three individual short
papers (one page each) that counted for 10%.
BMGT 30100 Leadership and Change Management
The teacher put you in a group, and you have to deliver a proposal and a written report, which
counts for 40%. She uses a lot of slides, and these slides are quite messy and contain too
much information.
HRM 30020 European IR and HRM
A good course if you are interested in the EU, with a really good teacher which is very
helpful. You are able to make your own groups for the group work, which is a presentation.
You also have to read a book from the teacher’s reading list, and write an individual book
report. These two assignments count for 50% of your final grade. There is also a voluntary
field trip to Brussels, where you visit the European Parliament and the European Commission,
and you also get a chance to get to know your classmates better. A great trip!
MIS 30020 E-Business Solutions
A very interesting course which provides you with knowledge of how to implement ebusiness applications. In this course we had one individual assignment and one group project
where you had to create a website. These two assignments counted for 50% of the total grade.
FIN 30220 Green Venture Finance
Another interesting course which provides you with knowledge of how to start and work in a
“green” business. A group project with a written report and a presentation counts for 40% of
the total grade.
ECON 30150 International Money and Banking
This course reminded me a bit of Macro economy at BI. Gives you basic knowledge about
European Union and how banks and central banks work. In this course we had a mid-term that
counted 20% of the total grade.
FIN30030 International Financial Management
A finance course where you learn about hedging and speculating. We had three small
assignments in this course, which counted 10% of the total grade.