Can I transfer to UCD? Past Review

By A student (Nursing, Simmons College) - abroad from 06/13/2016 to 06/24/2016 with

Simmons University: Nursing, University College Dublin

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

My time at UCD opened my eyes to other arts of the world. The class taught me things that I would have never had the opportunity to learn in the United States. Being open to learning different things and open to meeting new people will be you key to success in Dublin!

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	1 month - 6 months

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	The class itself was not very challenging, however the information was very concise and interesting. What we learned was extremely informative in regards to how other countries function as compared to the United States. It was eye opening to learn about other countries because in the United States, especially when learning about healthcare, everything is very focused on what is only going on throughout the U.S.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	University College Dublin did everything to satisfy their students! They were amazing, from Lisa Molloy the international program director to the UCD students who worked in the Merville Residence Reception, they were all so helpful, so welcoming, and so kind.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	UCD's housing is top notch compared to Simmons College. They haven cleaning services that change the linen and clean the apartment for the students which is so helpful. The individual rooms and bathrooms are an amazing aspect that EVERY university and college in the United States should learn from. It fosters privacy and learning due to having your own space to unwind or do school work without any disturbances, while still having a spacious kitchen and living room to hang out and share laughs with your suite mates!
* Food:
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	UCD makes it easy to go out and experience Ireland! The amazing 39A, 146, and 46A buses were just a short walk away from the living quarters and an easy drive into the city center to go explore and be apart of the Irish culture.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	I never felt unsafe at UCD. Although it is a large campus and can be overwhelming at first, there was always UCD police around campus and other students as well.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes UCD was an amazing place! The atmosphere on campus is fun and engaging to students. They really and truly care about their students and love to provide different programs and activities.

Finances

* 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)	Every single person has their own definition of a budget and what their budget is. I went to Dublin with the equivalent of $1,000 and did fine for the month I was there, but if someone didn't want to spend that much money, then it would've been different for them.
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week?	$250
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants?	Bring plenty of cash to top-up your Leap cards!! Leap cards cost 5 euro a piece, and you spend usually 2.10 every time you use it to go to the city center, so budget about 4.20 euro a trip if you only go into and our of the city center. If you do laundry every week, budget about spending 20 euro in total for a month of laundry. Budget for groceries! Going to the Centra Supermarket is easy because its fairly cheap, but buying groceries constantly does add up.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component?	Yes
How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program?	Fluent
How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program?	Fluent

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Dorm Apartment
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	Americans
* Who did you take classes with? Select all that apply	Americans
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?	Dublin Irish people FABULOUS campus
* What could be improved?	Nothing
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	Do some investigating about flights, try to get a direct one to Dublin! It may be more expensive, but connecting flights (usually in London) is honestly one of the most stressful and horrible experiences to go through. UCD is NOT just a little walk away from the city center like Simmons is to Boston. Dublin is county, and UCD is in Belfield. While the bus drive isn't long, you are not that close to the city center. Ride the Dublin Bus as much as you can! Taxis are very expensive in Dublin and most only accept cash! Being on the Dublin Bus as much as possible will help you learn the roads and where you are which is always a great thing to know! When getting on a bus make sure its going the right direction! Always cross the street to get a bus back to where you came from! Know the stop you're getting off at before getting on! You have to tell the bus driver what stop you are getting off at.

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 Outright Urbanite A social butterfly, you're happiest in bustling cities with hip people, and took advantage of all it had to offer. You enjoyed the nightlife, and had fun going out dancing, and socializing with friends. Fun-loving and dressed to the nines, you enjoyed discovering new restaurants, shops, cafes, and bars in your host country.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Health: A System's Perspective
Course Department:	Nursing
Instructor:	Hasheem
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	The final project where we had to write a research paper was very challenging for myself since we don't write many papers in a proper APA citation. The information was excellent, we had different speakers, some from different countries throughout Europe, who had different experiences in different types of healthcare to add to the learning and material taught.
Credit Transfer Issues: