FIE Program at UCD

In Spring 2013, I studied at University College Dublin through the FIE program my university partnered with. Of the Dublin programs my university offered, UCD was the best fit for the academic and cultural experience I hoped to gain from the program. It was great to live in an on-campus apartment on an international campus and get to know other students from Ireland and several other countries. I did not have an internship while in Dublin, but I did go back with 24 course credits because of the minimum requirements at UCD, which was 8 more than I would have been able to take at my university. It seems like a lot, but many courses only met once a week, so it ended up being a smaller workload than I was used to! Because UCD is a traditional college campus, I was able to join student organizations for an easy way to meet new people and get involved with events happening on campus and in the city. I’d definitely recommend the UCD program for that reason, but do make sure you do some research on UCD’s location in Dublin and plan ahead. Because you will need to take the bus between campus and City Centre, make sure you plan to spend at least $200-300 in bus and taxi costs alone. UCD is a beautiful campus with a lot to do, and the FIE staff will support you fantastically while you are there!