I have thoroughly enjoyed my semester abroad at UCD. While I am studying business and environmental science at my home university (Northeastern), the classes I ended up taking at UCD placed me in the engineering program. The academic staff was incredibly helpful in the planning process with my home university, and it has been enlightening to gain an Irish and European perspective on the topics I'm studying. Ireland's close proximity to Europe is also great for weekend trips, and I was thankful to have traveled to Switzerland and Scotland for relatively cheap. Highly recommend at semester abroad at UCD for anyone interested!

I spent a semester at UCD studying in the School of Civil Engineering. Classes were decent, although the course setup was very different from how things are run in the United States! Professors generally were less available, exams had much greater weight in overall course grades, and often lecture halls were only half full. It was tough to make friends with Irish students at UCD, and even when I did, I only ever saw them in class because they commuted in to school and I lived in an on-campus residence hall. Even getting involved with societies wasn't everything I had hoped for. I would say the academic experience on UCD campus was fine, but not great.

My experience outside of academics, however, was awesome! I appreciated being out of the hustle and bustle of city center and enjoyed taking long runs and walks through the surrounding neighborhoods. The area was very safe and beautiful. Plus, there was easy access to city center via a 30 minute bus ride. There were so many incredible things to do, places to eat, and (of course) great pubs and clubs to check out. This was really where I met the most people and formed some good friendships!

My biggest piece of advice to someone studying at UCD: be more outgoing than you think you should, don't let the location of UCD prevent you from exploring Dublin city center, and travel to other Irish and European cities if you can!

LOVED the city. Wish the city center wasn't so far away. The buses can become expensive and a hassle and very time consuming. Also, the school community is lacking. There are opportunities to get involved, but it doesn't really feel like a community. It feels more like a bunch of co-existing students. I appreciate the food options on campus especially because some places are more cost friendly than other places, but it would be nice to have some sort of a semi-meal plan option. also, our sink broke. ugh. took awhile to get fixed. but overall, so great!

I'll try to not be too negative in this review, but I genuinely hated my time studying abroad at University College Dublin. If you are thinking about studying abroad here, make sure you know what you're getting into. I spent my whole academic year here, and I seriously regret it. UCD is in the middle of nowhere; it honestly did not feel like I was in Dublin. Students generally are not super friendly, and it was quite lonely. The Irish students are a bit cliquely and overall are not interested in making friends with American/other international students. The school is huge, which was something I wasn't used to, coming from a medium-sized liberal arts school in the US. The campus has nice facilities, but it's quite ugly (unless you're into Brutalist architecture) and has a strange layout. Housing was fine, although a bit overpriced. It's a commuter school, so campus is dead on the weekends when all the Irish kids go home. I was living in a 7 bedroom apartment, and while it was nice to have my own bedroom and ensuite, I was living with international students who were all slobs.

Ireland is also not a very fun country. The weather is absolutely abysmal. You're on an island, so you're kind of stuck here. Many of the American students take trips around Europe during weekends or breaks, but if you don't have the money to do that, Dublin gets really boring really quickly. There are some beautiful places in Ireland, but they all kind of look the same. Irish people are generally pretty cool and laid back, but most of them just want to drink and party all the time. I cannot emphasize enough how much I wish I didn't study abroad here, and I can only recommend UCD if you intend to explore the rest of Europe while you're here and use it as a crash pad, or if you have an interest in learning about Irish history (but Trinity would be better for that anyway.) Don't study abroad at UCD if you can help it.

UCD was an amazing school to study abroad in for a semester! They provide free trips to go to different places in Ireland such as Galway, Kinsale, Glendalough, and more events where I was able to meet tons of friends. Also, UCD has a great community that makes it easy to join clubs/societies even if it is just for a semester which allowed me to make local Irish friends. It was easy to go into the city whenever I wanted and was a very safe location to walk around even at night so would highly recommend!

I'll start with the two (slightly) negative points:
-Academics can be a bit stressful sometimes, since much of the time, assignments are due all in one month + you have less assignments worth more percentage of your grade unlike the American system. However, I will offset this statement a little by saying that professors will make sure you don't fail!
-My residence wasn't the best— you pay for what you get, but even then, it is a little overpriced and when I came in, the previous owners left it in very dirty condition (however, this is not UCD's fault). But as someone in Glenomena, the single rooms and (in my case) the ensuite bathroom are hard to complain about, and there's nothing a little cleaning up yourself can't do.

But otherwise, I loved being at UCD! Being a UCD student for the semester has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. At first, it was hard to adjust due to the size of the campus, but there have been so many opportunities to find friends and traveling experiences through UCD-organized events (they run trips around Ireland for study abroad students!) and school societies. The campus is also very big, but that means there are many student life and academic resources— it almost seems like a small town sometimes. I have come out with increased independence, many lifelong friends, and new memories that I will always cherish because of my time at UCD. I highly recommend that if anyone goes to Ireland for study abroad that UCD should be considered!

I have loved my time at UCD. I feel safe on campus, enjoy the learning material, and have loved exploring Dublin. The facilities for students like my residence and the gym were excellent, and the bus into Dublin was easy and convenient. One thing I would change is that there could be more academic support for international students adjusting to a new style of teaching. I was able to utilize the maths tutoring centre, but I felt that overall there were not many resources made available to students who may have been struggling.

What an amazing University College Dublin has brought me. Along with an amazing academic structure, this experience brought me life long friends and memories. Everyday is something new and exciting. The city of Dublin is bursting with culture, history and uniqueness all around. My academic experience was one like any other coming with vigorous classes and professors who really know how to teach. Getting outside of your comfort zone was the best decision to make. I would 100% look into studying abroad at University College Dublin!