University College Cork - UCC (reviews)

UCC’s main campus is based on Western Road, just a short walk from Cork City centre. The site is thought to be connected to the patron saint of Cork, Saint Finbarr, thus explaining the university’s motto ‘Where Finbarr Taught Let Munster Learn.’ The main campus is home to the university’s most famous and well-known sight containing historic buildings with a green area called the Main Quadrangle or the ‘Quad’ as it is better known. Main campus also houses Áras na Mac Léinn (the student centre) and the university’s main library, the Boole Library (named for George Boole, UCC’s first professor of mathematics and an important figure in the early stages of computer programming).

Many UCC buildings and teaching bases are located in the surrounding Cork area, such as the Brookfield Health Science Complex and the Western Gateway Building, the music building, Cork University Hospital and the Tyndall National Institute.

Academically, the university is divided into four schools; the College of Arts, Celtic Studies, and Social Science, Business and Law, Medicine and Health, and Science, Engineering and Food Science. Over 21,000 students at undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels attend UCC, as well as a significant amount of research – some of it making national and international news – being carried out at the institution.

As for student life, there is a huge choice of student societies and sports clubs with which to get involved, as well as students being members of the nearby, state-of-the-art Mardyke Gym once they pay the required university capitation fee. UCC students reside either in dedicated student accommodation, rented houses in the surrounding area, or Cork natives may stay at home.

The university consistently does well in Irish and global rankings. UCC is ranked in the top 2% of universities worldwide and was named number one university in Ireland most recently in 2016.

As well as many UCC students taking part in study abroad programmes all over the world, the university also hosts a significant portion of international students, mostly from the US, China, and France.