Studying In Dublin
Heyyy!
I have lost the count of how many times have people messaged me asking about how is Dublin, how to apply for universities, how do we apply for scholarships, expenses, accommodation, and the list goes on. Though, I usually reply and try to help as much as I can be it on LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook. Sometimes it gets difficult to reply to everybody and talk in detail. So, I've finally decided to write this blog post.
Also, I just want to put it out there that this is how my experience been here and it might be really different for other people.
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| © Kartik Sharma |
Applying to Universities:
There are quite a few universities here in Ireland that offer some good courses. University College Dublin and Trinity College are the two most famous/prestigious universities you can apply for here.
But there are a lot of other options like National College of Ireland, National University of Ireland Galway, University College Cork, Maynooth Univerity, University of Limerick, etc.
It's good to arrange all your documents beforehand and don't wait till the deadline. So, in my case for September 2018 intake, I was ready with everything in October 2017 itself and applied as soon the applications were out.
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| © Kartik Sharma |
Documents Required:
Statement of Purpose: Why do you want to do this course? Why that university? Basically, write a story about yourself, from 'how did you get into this field' to 'what do you want to do after getting this degree'. Talk good things about yourself but in a subtle manner, I guess.
Letter of References: I think most of the universities ask for two references, some three. I was a recent graduate so it was easier for me to get academic references. For those who have been working for a while, you can take reference from your workplace but I think it's necessary to provide at least one academic reference. But it's always good to email the concerned academic department and confirm with them.
IELTS/TOEFL: This is a basic English exam testing your speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. It's not that important to join an institute to prepare for the exam but if you are not confident enough then you might as well join.
Transcripts: This is just your degree's transcripts from the university which has all your subjects and grades. You can just get it from your college/university. Some of the universities have it on their website, you can just apply for it and get them delivered at your place. So, just check with your seniors/friends who you know have applied for it.
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| © Kartik Sharma |
Course and College:
It's not always about the college and ranking. Some not so high ranking universities might have better course structure. Go through the department's website, go through the course structure, see if the mentioned subjects align with your interest and then make a decision. I'd recommend you try and talk to people who you know are studying that course. Friends of friends, random people on LinkedIn. Don't be shy to ask too many questions, be patient enough for them to reply, those who really want to help will help be it after a week or two. I think people do help as they themselves were in the same spot last year and know how it feels to be helpless.
Also, don't ask people question like, "It's been 2 months since I applied, I haven't heard yet". The process is totally random and nobody really knows how it works.
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| © Kartik Sharma |
Scholarship:
I don't know much about how it works for different universities. As far as I remember, in UCD if you have a good academic/professional background they automatically consider you for a partial scholarship which could be like 2,000 EUR or even 8,000 EUR. I think it's different for different departments. There are a few numbers of 100% and 50% scholarships as well, you have to answer a few questions in the scholarship form and then again depending on your profile, they choose people.
More information here: http://www.ucd.ie/scholarships/prospectivestudents/prospectiveundergraduate/international/
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| © Kartik Sharma |
Accommodation:
That's one of the major concerns while coming to a strange country, not knowing a lot of people, you are just looking for places online, emailing and not really finding anything. Well, even here talking to people is the key, most of the people make Facebook/Whatsapp groups, the more you talk to people the more you'll get to know about how the situation is. Form groups because it would be easier to find a place then instead of doing everything on your own. If you don't have financial constraints and can afford to spend money then go for on-campus accommodation, you just book it online. You don't have to get yourself into the whole hustle of finding a house.
(This is entirely how things were for me)
If you want to find something closer to the university (UCD), the houses are generally more expensive, it again depends if you want a single room or you're fine sharing your room with someone else. If you are okay with finding something a bit far, you'll end up spending some extra money on transportation (around 80 Euros a month). There's no particular amount that I can quote and say that you'll find something for this price. it could range from 400 EUR to even 1200 EUR.
UCD on-campus accommodation: https://www.ucd.ie/residences/
Other sites: https://www.spotahome.com/dublin
Facebook Groups: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1607597689487462/?ref=br_rs
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| © Kartik Sharma |
Expenses:
It's again one of those things that vary from person to person. It depends on how much you spend on your daily consumption needs. How much you eat/like to party/drink/smoke etc.
Where are you buying your groceries from, Lidl, Tesco, and Aldi are comparatively cheaper than Centra and Spar. Again, this is what I've noticed from talking to other people and haven't tried each and every store so I could be wrong. So, maybe you'll be able to do everything in 100 EUR or maybe 500 EUR, it all depends on you and your way of living. BUT DUBLIN IS EXPENSIVE.
Quora Answer for the same: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-total-cost-to-live-in-Dublin-for-one-year-accommodation-food-other-expenses
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| © Kartik Sharma |
Finding a job:
If I had a euro for every time someone asked me, "What's the job situation like in Dublin", I'm sure I would have covered my month's rent (kidding, I told you Dublin is expensive).
Anyway, there are jobs in IT, finance, accounting for sure. I've heard it's good for the pharmaceutical industry as well but I'm not sure. Again, make use of LinkedIn and look at people's profile, what's their background like, what they did and where are they working now, though everybody's story is different, you can just use it as a reference.
There are events taking place all around the year. Your university might organize a career fair for students to look at different companies and what kind of jobs they're offering. There's GradIreland (https://gradireland.com/), LinkedIn job search, university's career portal, Indeed, Jobs.ie, etc.
When I was talking to people before coming here, they used to tell me that I'll have to apply for 60-70 jobs, I'll get shortlisted for like 10 of them, I'll give the final interview for like 5 of them and then I might get selected for one, and Oh boy, they were right.
Being patient is the only way that you can survive, I know people who had a job 2-3 months in their masters, i.e. by the end of October or November. And there are people who still don't have one and are almost done with their masters (Including Myself). It does take a toll on your mental health, at least it did for me but you gotta grow through it like any other challenge you have faced in your life.
There was a time I was rigorously applying for jobs and I used to wake up with a rejection email every day. (And there was this one day when I received 5 rejection emails in like 1 hour). I did take a break for a while in between because it was all getting way too overwhelming but again different people have different ways of coping.
Anyway, there are two kinds of job roles. Graduate role jobs which are (apparently) meant for people who are fresh graduates and don't have any prior work-experience and normal jobs which are usually for people who have prior work experience. You do need to have skills but I think luck and destiny have an equally important role to play.
I honestly don't know what advice can I give or what should I say that would help you, someone, who's not even here yet, to feel motivated enough to come here with a feeling that you will find a job. But It's sure one hell of an experience. It's up to you if the experience is worth the money you are spending on it or not.
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| © Kartik Sharma |
Part-time Job:
It's again pretty random, Easier to find one through references. You can look for some jobs over Indeed but going to store-to-store and handing over your resume would be more effective. Make sure to change your resume according to the need of the jobs, i.e., to make it less technical if it's a labor-intensive job.
I didn't work for the first whole semester because I wanted to take my time to adjust in the place, focus on my studies. I worked for a month in the second semester but then again I left it because I just felt I'm putting in more efforts and work timings used to clash with my lectures but I know some people from my batch who were managing both the things together. some people started working as early as in October.
I started working 2 months back, even at basic pay and a sufficient number of working hours, you can earn enough to cover your expenses. From September till May you can legally work for 20 hours a week and June onwards you can work for 40 hours a week! Depending from course to course and what kind of part-time work you're doing, how flexible your work is, it's a different experience for different people.
I think I have covered most of the things. Feel free to message me on Instagram if you've any further questions.
Dublin is beautiful. It's peaceful for some and boring for others. You'll find all kinds of people, good and bad. The weather is really unpredictable but you get used to the rains and then sunlight and then rain again.
Connect me on LinkedIn here.
Ok, Bye.
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| © Kartik Sharma |
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