Trinity College, Dublin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The disadvantage is that you have to know what you want to study. They don't offer the same possibility of exploring and letting you study a lot of different subjects before you decide on a specialty.

I think that is an advantage. My kid knows what they don't like. Why should thet have to tske these clases?

It’s not just “what they don’t like,” it’s that you can’t change majors at all in most UK schools. St Andrew’s seems to be the only (?) exception?

[Anonymous]

can someone compare UCD and Trinity - maybe by comparing to American schools. Like is it BC and BU? or .. something?

[Anonymous]

From my kid's perspective, the disadvantage isn't lack of core curriculum or basic requirements--I agree that's great--but rather inability to take many classes outside your selected course. Double majoring is not a thing. TCD is not the place if you want the ability to study across disciplines.

TCD has many dual major type options which they call “joint honours” programs. For example, computer science and business, business and a language, mathematics and economics, music, language, or philosophy. There are many interesting combinations available!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:can someone compare UCD and Trinity - maybe by comparing to American schools. Like is it BC and BU? or .. something?

Trinity was chartered by Queen Elizabeth I to be modeled on Oxford and Cambridge. It was an explicitly Anglican institution, so the Catholic Church founded UCD (originally “Catholic University”) in the mid-19th century to promulgate Catholic teachings.

Trinity is the old upper-crust institution, and UCD’s tradition is more Irish republican. UCD is also much bigger than Trinity, and it’s located outside the city center. So Harvard and…UMass? I don’t know if that totally tracks, but it’s probably directionally right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

From my kid's perspective, the disadvantage isn't lack of core curriculum or basic requirements--I agree that's great--but rather inability to take many classes outside your selected course. Double majoring is not a thing. TCD is not the place if you want the ability to study across disciplines.

TCD has many dual major type options which they call “joint honours” programs. For example, computer science and business, business and a language, mathematics and economics, music, language, or philosophy. There are many interesting combinations available!

The inclusion of a second major is still exclusionary to 100s of classes that are otherwise available in most US colleges…. Drama, cinema, data science, kinesiology, sports marketing, informatics, literally everything and anything else… these types of classes cannot be accessed outside of a major in Ireland or the UK. It is the very difference between our two education systems. Their system teaches narrowly. Ours teaches broadly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

From my kid's perspective, the disadvantage isn't lack of core curriculum or basic requirements--I agree that's great--but rather inability to take many classes outside your selected course. Double majoring is not a thing. TCD is not the place if you want the ability to study across disciplines.

TCD has many dual major type options which they call “joint honours” programs. For example, computer science and business, business and a language, mathematics and economics, music, language, or philosophy. There are many interesting combinations available!

The inclusion of a second major is still exclusionary to 100s of classes that are otherwise available in most US colleges…. Drama, cinema, data science, kinesiology, sports marketing, informatics, literally everything and anything else… these types of classes cannot be accessed outside of a major in Ireland or the UK. It is the very difference between our two education systems. Their system teaches narrowly. Ours teaches broadly.

As someone who had a double major and double minor, that sounds dull.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

From my kid's perspective, the disadvantage isn't lack of core curriculum or basic requirements--I agree that's great--but rather inability to take many classes outside your selected course. Double majoring is not a thing. TCD is not the place if you want the ability to study across disciplines.

TCD has many dual major type options which they call “joint honours” programs. For example, computer science and business, business and a language, mathematics and economics, music, language, or philosophy. There are many interesting combinations available!

The inclusion of a second major is still exclusionary to 100s of classes that are otherwise available in most US colleges…. Drama, cinema, data science, kinesiology, sports marketing, informatics, literally everything and anything else… these types of classes cannot be accessed outside of a major in Ireland or the UK. It is the very difference between our two education systems. Their system teaches narrowly. Ours teaches broadly.

As someone who had a double major and double minor, that sounds dull.

You had a double major and double minor at Trinity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:can someone compare UCD and Trinity - maybe by comparing to American schools. Like is it BC and BU? or .. something?

You can't compare them to US schools because the admission process is different and the program of studies is completely different to the US. At Trinity, for Arts at least, you focus on two subjects or even just one. At UCD, you do three in first year and then decide on two. Science, engineering and medicine are different. At either institution, students don't take many, if any, classes outside their major. For Irish students it is a matter of where they are accepted and/or which is easier to access as many Irish students from Dublin live at home while attending college.

In terms of size, UCD is bigger and the campus more similar to a US college and in the suburbs. Trinity is in the middle of the city. International students get priority for (expensive) on campus housing first year. Trinity has very little on campus housing but does guarantee housing a bus ride away for first year international students. After first year you are on your own and finding a place in Dublin is really difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The disadvantage is that you have to know what you want to study. They don't offer the same possibility of exploring and letting you study a lot of different subjects before you decide on a specialty.

I think that is an advantage. My kid knows what they don't like. Why should thet have to tske these clases?

It’s not just “what they don’t like,” it’s that you can’t change majors at all in most UK schools. St Andrew’s seems to be the only (?) exception?

Even at StA's, changing degrees is uncommon and not always possible. One is admitted for a specific degree.

[Anonymous]

TCD has a great reputation. Their degrees carry weight in many fields. Ireland is cold and wet - and winters are long. Housing in Dublin is expensive and sometimes hard to find.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

From my kid's perspective, the disadvantage isn't lack of core curriculum or basic requirements--I agree that's great--but rather inability to take many classes outside your selected course. Double majoring is not a thing. TCD is not the place if you want the ability to study across disciplines.

TCD has many dual major type options which they call “joint honours” programs. For example, computer science and business, business and a language, mathematics and economics, music, language, or philosophy. There are many interesting combinations available!

The inclusion of a second major is still exclusionary to 100s of classes that are otherwise available in most US colleges…. Drama, cinema, data science, kinesiology, sports marketing, informatics, literally everything and anything else… these types of classes cannot be accessed outside of a major in Ireland or the UK. It is the very difference between our two education systems. Their system teaches narrowly. Ours teaches broadly.

The US system is largely an extension of High School, like a boarding school where most kids share rooms. In Ireland and the UK it is actual advanced, intellectual study requiring maturity and independence. And most rooms are singles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

From my kid's perspective, the disadvantage isn't lack of core curriculum or basic requirements--I agree that's great--but rather inability to take many classes outside your selected course. Double majoring is not a thing. TCD is not the place if you want the ability to study across disciplines.

TCD has many dual major type options which they call “joint honours” programs. For example, computer science and business, business and a language, mathematics and economics, music, language, or philosophy. There are many interesting combinations available!

The inclusion of a second major is still exclusionary to 100s of classes that are otherwise available in most US colleges…. Drama, cinema, data science, kinesiology, sports marketing, informatics, literally everything and anything else… these types of classes cannot be accessed outside of a major in Ireland or the UK. It is the very difference between our two education systems. Their system teaches narrowly. Ours teaches broadly.

The US system is largely an extension of High School, like a boarding school where most kids share rooms. In Ireland and the UK it is actual advanced, intellectual study requiring maturity and independence. And most rooms are singles.

Huh I hired people from the likes of Loughborough Kent Bath and University of Reading. There was nothing intellectual about them.

[Anonymous]

Our friends daughter had it on her short list and ended up going elsewhere in the UK. She really loved it but her parents weren’t happy with the housing situation. It probably would have been fine but she was assigned housing in a different area away from the main group of first years and since the rooms are singles thought it might be lonely. So you may want to look into that.

Also you probably know this if you are looking at UK schools but be aware that the grading for most classes can be only one or two graded exams for a class that lasts an entire year. Not good for procrastinators like my kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our friends daughter had it on her short list and ended up going elsewhere in the UK. She really loved it but her parents weren’t happy with the housing situation. It probably would have been fine but she was assigned housing in a different area away from the main group of first years and since the rooms are singles thought it might be lonely. So you may want to look into that.

Also you probably know this if you are looking at UK schools but be aware that the grading for most classes can be only one or two graded exams for a class that lasts an entire year. Not good for procrastinators like my kid.

Ireland is not in the UK.

But agree about the first-year housing situation at TCD; the options seemed to vary significantly—on campus or farther out, requiring a shuttle. And Dublin is quite expensive, so finding a place after first year for an international student also seemed daunting.

[Anonymous]

it's possible to buy an apartment in Dublin. It sounds crazy but not as crazy as 90k a year COA that we're looking at here