1. Hours: With some courses (like law) you only have about 12 hours of lectures a week. With only two or three hours a day this can be strange to get used to, and result in a lot of daytime TV and hanging around before you realise that the rest is supposed to be scheduled library time!
The James Joyce library is one of four in UCD.
2. Rules: I always get people coming on tours asking me what the rules are in college and whether my teachers are strict. But the truth is that college isn't like school at all. Lecturers really don’t care if you don’t turn up to their classes. Nobody’s going to hunt you down for bad behaviour. However you will notice poor attendance in your exam grades.
3. Lecture Sizes: Some lectures can have up to 500 people in them. Imagine your entire secondary school in the one lecture hall... However lots of subjects will have tutorials too, which are a lot more useful for getting to know people and discussing the subject.
UCD's biggest theatre, Theatre L in the Arts Block, holds 500 students.
4. A degree DOESN'T define the rest of your life: Most final year students are just like you guys, they have no idea what they want to do with the rest of their lives! What you choose to do or what you miss the points for isn’t conclusive. I have a friend who did a law degree and is now on her way to be a doctor. Pat Kenny did a chemical engineering degree in UCD!
4. A degree DOESN'T define the rest of your life: Most final year students are just like you guys, they have no idea what they want to do with the rest of their lives! What you choose to do or what you miss the points for isn’t conclusive. I have a friend who did a law degree and is now on her way to be a doctor. Pat Kenny did a chemical engineering degree in UCD!
Pat Kenny in his younger days
On that point, if you want to go into law as a career you can do that with any degree at all. It just takes an extra bit of time after you graduate from another subject, so don’t give up on your dreams if you try for law but don’t get it.
On that point, if you want to go into law as a career you can do that with any degree at all. It just takes an extra bit of time after you graduate from another subject, so don’t give up on your dreams if you try for law but don’t get it.
5. Welcome to the technological age. We use computers a lot. In fact for a business degree it's mandatory for you to have one. UCD has wireless all over campus and a lot of your notes will be posted online so that you don’t have to write everything down in your lectures. A lot of the library resources are also available in digital copies that you can download.
While they were still on the X-Factor, Jedward came back to film on the UCD running track. Within a few minutes hundreds of students had gathered... the word had been spread on Facebook!
6. UCD is big, but it's manageable. Don't worry about being overwhelmed. After your first few weeks you will stop getting lost. You will meet people in tutorials, or through clubs and societies. You will reach the stage where you pass friendly faces regularly and start to feel at home as long as you make some sort of an effort. College will undoubtedly end up being the most social time of your life. Don't worry!
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