Student review [#21132] for Arts
at University College Dublin - UCD

My college experience has been unique for a multitude of reasons. My first year was interrupted by covid and now I’m back finally for my last year. Studying under both the School of English, Drama and Film as well as School of Classics, among others (electives), has provided me with different ideas of my third level experience. Under the general sector of arts in UCD I feel as though having such huge classes from 1st year made it very intimidating and quite lonely for those who did not know anyone beforehand. There is a disconnect with lecturers who didn’t know your name, classmates who you could easily never see twice because of such large groups and there is not much hands-on interaction. I have enjoyed some modules but overall I was not particularly happy studying English at UCD.

However, fortunately, I have greatly enjoyed studying under the school of classics. The class groups are about 1/3-1/4 of the size. The lecturers are very engaging as are their lectures. The tutorial groups were much more purposeful in helping students clarify and specialise. I have enjoyed the school of classics so much so that I am considering an MA degree in it within UCD.

Societies are a huge part of student life and fun on campus. I was late to join many but felt right at home once I had. My favourite element was signing up for one of the student newspapers and have worked my way up since to a section editor role. I would highly recommend students to but the bullet and join any and every society/club/extracurricular that interests them in the first year and give them a try.

Overall, what I have been able to experience in UCD in such uncertain times has been engaging and helped me progress academically. I would highly recommend studying classics or archaeology here as these have been the highlight of my time at UCD.