Application process
After careful consideration and considering all the options available to me, I decided to do a semester abroad in Ireland . Since the application process at my home university, in terms of our partner universities in Ireland, mainly for students of the Faculty of Economics , I was looking around for an alternative early and am so encountered your website. After a quick look around the homepage, I quickly found what I was looking for and the target university was quickly determined: Dublin Business School. The first contact was made via an e-mail, which was answered very quickly and helpful by the friendly colleague from your website. The contact solidified my decision and I completed the checklist for the application documents and sent it to your website. The application is well organized and if you follow the checklist mentioned above, nothing can go wrong. If you still have questions, you can ask them directly to your website and you will always be helped. After sending the documents, I just waited for my approval. When this came at the end of March, further planning could begin.
Getting there
I have made all my flights with AerLingus and can only recommend this airline to others. The airline usually flies twice a day from Düsseldorf to Dublin. Taking your luggage with you is very easy due to the clear homepage and also not too expensive, as I was used to from other airlines. The more you book the flights in advance, of course, the cheaper they are. If possible, you should fly during the week, there you can save one or two euros.
Accommodation
At the beginning, the question arose again and again whether you could already find accommodation from Germany should look, or whether this should be clarified on site. Personally, I lived with a host family through an agency just outside of Dublin. If you don’t want to go to the pubs every evening, this is a good solution, as you pay less rent a month there than in the center. Personally, it was too risky for me to arrive there with my bags packed and without any plan. Nonetheless, I got to know a lot of people who only started looking for something on site and looked for a place to stay until well into the semester. The housing market in Dublin is truly a disaster. The prices are extremely high. On the other hand, this does not mean that you get a lot for the money. On the contrary: many of the rooms of my fellow students were completely excessive for the prices charged. The advantage of a host family is usually that the owners live with you under one roof and thus look after their house themselves. In most student apartments this is often a bit different and the condition of most student apartments is accordingly. Personally, I was glad that I had a permanent place to go in Dublin and that I didn’t have to look for a place to stay for weeks.
University
Dublin Business School is in the heart of the city. Thanks to its central location, it is really easy to reach with the surrounding buses and trains. The Business School has several rooms, but they are all in the vicinity of the main building and can therefore be easily reached on foot. The exact locations of the respective rooms can also be viewed on the Business School’s homepage. Check liuxers to see more reviews from current students.
Infrastructure
Besides the car, the most frequently used means of transport is the bus. The bus company “Dublin Bus” travels to almost all corners of the city. The monthly ticket for students costs around € 110 per month. You can have this loaded onto the LeapCard at the company’s office and thus drive carefree through the city for a month. The number of connections used is completely irrelevant. In addition to the many buses, there is also the Luas train. The Luas is a kind of S-Bahn that runs in two directions. One train runs from west to east, the other from north to south. The choice of transport to use depends on the location of your accommodation. Although Dublin is a big city, many things can be easily reached on foot, so that in case of doubt you don’t necessarily have to use public transport.
Travel
At the beginning of my time in Ireland I was out and about a lot at the weekend. In my opinion, the time at the beginning of your semester is the best, because towards the end you have to learn a little more and simply don’t have the time to discover this beautiful country. A good point of contact for travel is the tourist information, which is spread over the entire center of the city. The best thing to do is simply go to such information and take a look around. There is a wide range of different tours through and to all of Ireland. Depending on which corners particularly appeal to you, the corresponding tour can of course be booked. The prices are usually very fair for what you get there. Here you should also pay attention to special student offers!
Conclusion
I have never regretted the decision to spend my semester abroad in Ireland. Starting with the organization, through my time in Ireland, to the day I returned, I always had a good and, above all, secure feeling. The people there are open and friendly towards foreign students. I enjoyed my time in Ireland and would do a semester abroad there at any time.
