Hey everyone! I'm an international student here for summer school at UCD.

I'm trying to make Irish/local friends and improve my speaking, but it's tough.

My background:

CET-4: 665, CET-6: 605. You can ask AI what level that is lol

I can understand most of what people say in lectures and in shops, but my speaking is really bad.

In China we have tons of input but almost zero chance to actually speak English.

So I have a few questions:

1. What's the best way to meet locals/Irish students in Dublin during summer? Any societies, events, pubs, or volunteering you recommend?

2. What helped you improve speaking the most? Language exchange, part-time job, just talking to strangers?

3. Is it normal to just ask someone "do you fancy a coffee and a chat"? Don't want to be weird haha

Any advice would be amazing! Also happy to do a language exchange - I can help with Chinese/Mandarin.

Just to bring to your attention, there has been a new rule announced.

Due to a significant amount of posts and speculation regarding an ongoing case in the media, any posts speculating on any criminal investigation will be removed.

It is acceptable to share a post linking to a news article from a reputable media outlet. However, any speculation or commentary on the case within the post or comments will result in the post being removed.

This is not an attempt to limit free speech, but rather to ensure our community remains compliant with legal guidelines surrounding active investigations.

Folks who applied there visa in the month of June
Anyone received an update? My course starts in August, visa update is taking forever 🤯

currently getting acomm, fastedt way would be 30 min bike to ucd, 40 min bus (route 47 tho, which i’ve heard is unreliable) or two buses totalling in 50 mins

Decent or nah? Should I get a bike for when I move to dublin, or should I just rely on bus route 47

Risk it for the biscuit by waiting for the offers (and if i dont get, live in a hotel / airbnb while i look for smth else) or pay a hefty amount to secure off campus private acommodation at point campus (40 m bus and 25 bike to ucd but in the city), not sure. Any advice?

I’ll be joining UCD for a master’s course this August. Could anyone help me with what all i need to carry and how do i prepare myself for Ireland, being a student from India.

Any and all help is appreciated 😇😇

Before i make the booking, reliability, thoughts, anyone there?

I was able to secure a room in private acommodation residences (through dublinnest), but due to their cancellation policies and high prices, I would very much prefer to stay in university acommodation on campus.

HOwever, because they release those offers so late for cao students (28-30 aug), and orientation (from my understanding begins 1 sep), it obv gets complicated.

Should I stick with the private acommodation, or wait for the residencies and then if I don't get them, stay in a hotel / airbnbfor a while, whilst I search for rooms after having moved.

Ok, i’ve seen quite a few posts about this so sorry for the redundancy, but I just wanted to be double sure since people say that it’s legit but it honestly screams the opposite. I filled out a booking form for one of their rooms in canvas point (even tho canvas point campus website itself says there’s no availability..) filled out a google form (😭) and they got in touch w me saying they’d send contract and invoice shortly (haven’t heard back, been only about 6 hours tbf).

So, are the other posts i’ve been seeing where people mention it’s legit false / ads, or is this place fr?

Thanks!

I just wanted to see if anyone is doing history rn or has done history and would love to ask questions about it.

The Journal published this today: ‘They aggressively pushed Ireland’: Are students sold ‘fake dreams’ in five-star hotels in India? https://jrnl.ie/7088907

I’m not an Indian student, I’m an Irish postgrad student. I was wondering if any Indian students can attest to this? Or other international students? I’ve had a suspicion for a while that the university is taking advantage of international students, especially Indian and Chinese students.

As a incoming first year, ive been looking for housing and student residencies are crazy expensive (obviously, and especially with how late ive been searching), places on daft.ie and shared rooms are good and all and ive been contacting, however, uni acommodation would honestly be ideal but because they let you know so late, (28-30 august) and I want to move there in time for orientation and classes, which is start of september, then it gets real complicated.

I'm currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in an arts-related field. It wasn't my first choice, but due to personal circumstances I've decided to complete it. However, I've always been intrigued by technical fields and have been keen to learn programming and computer science, which is why I'm considering UCD's MSc Computer Science conversion program designed for graduates from non-computing backgrounds.

I'd really appreciate some honest advice from people who have completed the program or work in the Irish tech industry.

My main questions are:

• How are the employment prospects for graduates of this conversion program? Is it realistic to secure an IT job after graduation?

• Would you recommend this pathway, or is having a traditional Computer Science bachelor's degree a significant advantage when applying for jobs in Ireland?

I was looking for a book in James Joyce Library today when I spotted it out the window. I quickly took some photos and showed them to the front desk in case the fox was stuck. They told me a few minutes later that it wasn't up there anymore.

There are currently some construction work going one at the library and thus there's scaffolding present. I'd say thats how they got up there in the first place.

Hey guys, I’m an incoming UCD student and I’m wondering about the current state of part time jobs for international students
I’ve heard that a lot of these jobs require references and I don’t really know anyone there so I would love to connect with people here to get some references and some insight into how it is
Looking forward to hearing from you guys 😄

Hi! I am an EU postgraduate. I know that at this stage Residences sends out offers based on cancellations so what are the realistic chances of getting offered a room on campus if applying in the next few weeks? I can't apply yet because I don't have a student number.

Hi guys, my question is literally just the title of this post.

What laptop or tablet do ye guys in the Economics and Finance course use?

I'm hoping to join this course in September, and I'm just wondering, so I know what to prepare and get.

Thanks so much!

I just finished my leaving cert in June and im hoping to study Psychology. I was hoping if there would be any people studying it or any similar kind of subject that would be able to give me laptop recommendations? Do most people even use laptops or is it handier to use an ipad with the keyboard that you can attach?

Hi! I am moving to Dublin this September to start my Master’s at UCD and I'm looking for a place from 1st September or last week of August

I would ideally like a single room, with a budget of around €800–850 (if possible), but I can stretch a little if it’s really close to UCD

I am also open to sharing a room for up to €650, as long as it’s with another female and we have separate beds and wardrobes

I’m hoping to find somewhere within around 45 minutes of UCD Belfield. I’m clean and organised and would love to live with people who also keep the place reasonably tidy. Completely okay with a mixed house and don’t mind who I live with otherwise

If anyone has anything available or knows someone who does, please DM me. Thank you!

does anyone have an example of 3rd year physics timetable from the last year or so? trying to see what the workload and times will look like ahead of time !!

Is this a reliable and safe website? When I make a enquiry on a property, it makes me fill out steps that include payments, in order to 'book' the housing. A bit puzzling since paying before having any contact whatsoever with the landlord or property etc feels strange