Planning phase
It was clear to me that I wanted to do a semester abroad in an English-speaking country. Of course, that has already reduced the selection. In addition, I didn’t want to spend tens of thousands of euros either. As a result, countries such as the USA or Australia etc. have ceased to exist. In the end there was only the question between England and Ireland. I then decided on Ireland because the semester times suited me better, it is cheaper because of the euro and because you can apply to universities here without a TOEFL or IELTS. For everyone who does not have any of the language certificates mentionedand don’t want to do one, I can only recommend Ireland. The linguistic prerequisite is often also possible with a DAAD language certificate and I also received proof of my English level from the university. So you can always find a solution and if in doubt, just ask MicroEDU.
In general, the application process via MicroEDU went very smoothly. Simply fill out the required documents and evidence and send them back and you don’t have to worry about anything else at first. I highly recommend MicroEDU.
Flights
After I received my confirmation from the university via email, it was about booking a flight and looking for accommodation.
The university started on a Monday and I booked the flight so that I arrive on the Friday before so that I can get to know the city first.
I flew with Aer Lingus and paid about 130 € for a flight with luggage.
Accommodation
Accommodation is of course the more difficult subject compared to flights.
There are basically two options.
- 1. You arrive a few days earlier, sleep in the hostel and then take care of the apartment on site. The risk here is that you don’t know how long it will take to find an apartment. The largest site for this is www.daft.ie.
or
- 2. You look for an organization on the Internet that rents apartments to students and book it from home, with the risk that you will not be able to look at the apartment beforehand. A reputable organization is vivahousedublin, for example.
I know that many advise against renting an apartment from Germany, but I still decided on option 2. The risk was too great for me that it could easily take a few weeks to get an apartment in Dublin, and I wanted to enjoy my semester abroad from the start and without the stress.
I booked my apartment through Viva house Dublin because I thought the company was reputable and it is. So you don’t have to worry if you transfer half of the rent beforehand. I lived at 352 South Circular Road, on the south side of town. It was important to me that I wasn’t dependent on the bus and could walk to the university. It took me about 30 minutes to walk from the house to the university. That was okay with me. You have to get used to the fact that you do a lot of walking in Dublin anyway. I can only advise you to look for accommodation from which you can walk to the university. The bus costs € 2.7 per trip (there is no such thing as day tickets) or around € 100 a month if you buy a monthly student ticket.
On South Circular Road I lived together with up to 7 other international people in one house. Everyone had their own room, of course. I paid € 700 per month for this. Sounds very expensive at first, but that’s normal for Dublin standards. You should be prepared for the fact that you have to pay 600-800 € if you want to have a single room in a shared apartment. It is also not uncommon in Ireland to share a room with someone. Then you pay about half.
The standard of living in Ireland is not comparable to Germany despite the high rents, so you should be prepared for that too.
If you rent accommodation through a company like viva house dublin, you should also know that you will not be living with Irish people. I lived with French, Italian, Spanish, Brazilians and Germans. Many of them come to Ireland to take language courses and unfortunately speak no English at all or only very poorly. I thought that was a shame, because you don’t improve your language through your accommodation, but your English suffers a bit, as you always have to speak very simple English. Even if all the people I lived with were super nice and we had a lot of fun and did things together, this was a negative point for me.
The University
The Dublin Business School is divided into several buildings and all of them are very central. You often have to change buildings for the different courses, but all of this can be done on foot and in a few minutes.
I decided to do the Certificate in International Business. If you choose one of the three certificate programs, you have a little more to do than the people who freely choose their courses themselves. So if the focus is on traveling, it is more relaxed to freely choose a few courses yourself.
The courses consist of the people who have also chosen one of the three certificates. And here we come to what is in my opinion the biggest minus. The courses consist of 70% Germans and 30% French and that’s it. No Irish or other native speakers. Of course, this means that many Germans stay among themselves and many French stay among themselves. My tip, if it should be the same with you, approach French people right at the beginning and befriend them so that you can at least speak English. Another point that I found a shame was that many come from the same universities. That means that many already know each other and there are already small groups. But if you approach people openly and are sociable, you quickly get to know people here.
The courses usually have a size of 10-30 people. As a result, the lessons are very different from those in Germany. It’s much more interactive and more like a mix of school and university. It is also not as demanding as in Germany in terms of theory, the more difficult thing is that it is much more practical. I found it a nice change from the German University.
The university organizes many events at the beginning of the semester and also during the semester so that students can get to know each other. The events have always been great fun for me and I can only recommend everyone to take part everywhere.
Dublin
The weather may not always be the best, but the city is just great. It’s not the prettiest city, but it definitely has its own flair and charm. The area around the DBS in particular was one of the most beautiful in Dublin for me. From Temple Bar to Graffton Street and St. Stephens Green. Everywhere there are small interesting shops, countless pubs and bars and there is always something going on. Since you are in the city center, a pint of Guinness costs € 5-6. But there are also places like Diceys or Howl at the moon, where drinks are cheaper. The two stores are also very cool and very international. Read more student reviews on Existingcountries.
Otherwise I don’t want to say too much, you should explore the city yourself.
Conclusion
Even if there were 1-2 negative points, such as the fact that mostly Germans are in the courses, it was a great time. I made lots of new people and friends and found a city that I love to come back to at any time. I can also recommend the DBS here. The lessons are good and the lecturers are all very friendly and helpful and you can learn a lot and at the same time you are not bombarded with work, so that free time is not neglected.
