The best experience I've ever had that has opened a door to so many new things. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

In some of my classes i felt like there was no reason for me to go. The teachers read directly word for word from the powerpoints which they posted on line and had very little discussion in class. I also felt that for one of my classes the final did not represent the content we learned throughout the semester at all. Overall though i enjoyed my classes and it was nice to have a break from so much school work./

On-site administration of your program

The study abroad office was very helpful. They sent out emails almost weekly with notifications of on campus events as well as offering any kind of help we could need. They also offered tickets to go to events like rugby games for free which was nice. Had it not been free i probably wouldn't have made it a point to go to the rugby stadium.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The house was very dusty and dirty when we arrived and the silverware and plates still had food crusted onto them from the people who previously lived there but then they expected spotless houses during matinence checks even though that was not what we arrived to. The living arrangements were nice though. Each person had there own room, there were two bathrooms so only 4 people had to share instead of all 8.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

We only had one person in my house who was not American, and he was from France. Similarly to the houses surrounding me, we were mostly american and all from the AIFS program so I did not meet many Irish people. Thankfully, one of my AIFS friends made an irish friend through the buddy system that UL offers and i was able to meet her and some of her other friends but I wish i had been much more integrated.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I felt very safe on campus. There is campus security patrolling day and night and they are always just a phone call away. I did not feel particularly unsafe in town, i just took normal precautions that i would take anywhere and traveled in groups, did not go anywhere alone especially if i was unfamiliar with the area and take extra precautions at night. People do roam drunk at night and although i never had a problem it is likely that it could happen given the circumstances.

I would perhaps look into other programs first but overall i enjoyed my program. Elaine Keane from AIFS was extremely helpful and I really enjoyed having her as my advisor. However, things like the meal plan, living conditions and other aspects lead me to think i may look somewhere else first. We also had a trip canceled due to weather and I felt the the trips the took us on in place of that trip were not comparable. I also was unable to make it to the rescheduled trips because i already had other trips booked and i feel that because of that i missed out on a lot that i had already paid for.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

I had planned on having a meal plan but when we got to Ireland we learned the meal plan was not what we expected so I opted out. That resulted in me spending a bit more on food than i expected but I still felt that i budgeted well. I did however take out a loan for this trip, had i not done that it would have been much much more difficult.

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• Dorm

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• Americans
• International Students

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• trips that i was able to go on
• the closeness of the people in the program
• the campus was nice and classes were easy

• meal plan
• communication between program leaders and students

The Avid Adventurer