My Study Abroad Experience in Dublin Past Review
By A student (Business, Journalism, Brandeis University) - abroad from 01/12/2015 to 04/24/2015 with
Boston University: Dublin - Internship Program
Independence, work experience, friends, travel, self-discovery. I am very glad I went abroad, although of course there were bumps along the way, but that's part of life.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The two core classes were informative, but very informal. My economy elective was even more informal and most people didn't put a lot of effort it. The professor was very nervous. Overall I learned a lot about Ireland, but the academics were definitely not the focus of the semester. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Mary, the head of the program, was very responsive and helpful. My apartment had bedbugs at the beginning of the semester, and she was very instrumental in helping us deal with it. Then, at the very end of the semester, I had the chicken pox and had to stay in the apartment beyond the program dates. Mary made sure I could stay and checked in on me repeatedly on the phone and email, even when the program ended and she was technically on vacation. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
As mentioned above, we had bed bugs at the beginning of the program. The housing office at our host university wasn't great at dealing with it, especially because it had been a known problem in the apartment next to ours before we came, and somehow got transferred to ours. After the first pest control company said there were no bed bugs, even though several of us, including myself, had bites, housing ignored the problem until BU brought in a second opinion. We were moved to a different building for almost a month. It took way too long to deal with what didn't have to be a major problem. We were compensated but it took a while to get anything accomplished through housing. |
| * Food: |
Our apartments had kitchens so we were in charge of our own food, cooking for ourselves, etc. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
At DCU, we were on our own schedule so our classes were not with Irish students, which meant we didn't really meet a lot of them. I made Irish friends and acquaintances myself, at my internship and in the Jewish community in a different part of Dublin. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
The health center on campus is very disorganized and hard to get an appointment, and the nurse missed my easily-diagnosable chicken pox. The off-campus doctor I was sent to was very helpful, and the CISI insurance was very helpful with dealing with canceling and rescheduling flights for me. |
| * Safety: |
Dublin itself is a pretty safe city, I would just say don't go around the city at night alone, especially if you are female, but that goes for most places. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
We had to pay for our own food, and groceries here are expensive. Especially for me, since I keep kosher and only one grocery store sells kosher meat and it is very expensive. I mostly ate vegetarian, but it still added up. Also, the bus is very expensive. Once the internship started, I needed to take it twice a day and that was around a 30euro expense per week. It would have really helped if we had compensation for the bus, at least for the internship phase of the program. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Most expenses are food and transportation related, and aren't avoidable. It is still a lot less expensive, though, than other cities such as London, which is on the pound and not the euro. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | How separate we would be from the actual Irish students at the university, and that the focus is more on the internship than academics. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The NetworkerAn active student leader, it was important for you to network abroad as well. Once overseas, you sought out student clubs, volunteered with local organizations, or attended community events. You encouraged your friends join you, and often considered how you could reflect your international experiences in a resume. |
