UCD Engineering vs American

I enjoyed my time at UCD studying mechanical engineering. I think the classes were not that much harder than my American engineering classes. The academic freedom from accountability was the hardest thing to get used to vs. the US. There is not ongoing academic assessment like homework every week. Class grades are largely determined by a large midterm test or assessment and a final I tried to sign up for a dance class with the dance society every week and was mostly successful. The classes were very laid back and fun. I also engaged with a 5v5 pickup soccer event that was biweekly organized by the student residences which was also a lot of fun.

One reason why I wanted to study abroad at UCD is because international travel within Europe is so cheap compared to traveling from the US. I went on weekend trips to Spain, England, Scotland, France, and Germany. I also went on trips to other cities in Ireland including Cork, Belfast, Galway, and some coastal towns. Getting to spend 20 euro to fly to a different country was absolutely insane to me that it was that cheap.

I studied abroad at UCD via a program called Arcadia Abroad. I personally would recommend doing it through the program if possible because they took care of some of the annoying logistical stuff for me like applying for housing that some of my roommates that didn't study through Arcadia had problems with. From Arcadia, I was also introduced to a cohort of American students via some group bonding events before classes started that was really nice so I could meet people that were in a similar boat and added some familiarity from home to such a foreign experience.

I was assigned what I believe is one of the worst housing options on campus, but I was still really surprised by what was offered. We had our own suite style rooms fully furnished and a full kitchen and common area (no oven unfortunately). The really nice perk was that we had our own private bathrooms which was a really nice bonus I wasn't expecting until I got to my room.