). I am really worried about finding a flat that will allow four animals ( A pug and three cats). I will be living alone until my boyfriend finishes his PHd. 
Most of the Irish students just use pen & paper, but a few bring computers to class. I use my ipad for note taking and make notations right on the lecture notes since all professors use powerpoint presentations.
It really is personal preference. I would recommend buying in the US though as it is cheaper electronics wise. I bought my iPad over there before coming here as it was cheaper. I have a PC laptop. I use a plug converter to plug my laptop in and have no issues at all.
And then you have EMS which you have to do as well - getting experience in your first year with various animals as well (lambing, calving, horses, small animal) - you can pass out the requirement of something you already have experience in. I am not planning on being a farm animal vet, but still enjoy my time out on the farm. 🙂Yay another Californian! 😀 Renting in Ireland is a bit different than renting in the states in that you don't want to rent a place site onseen and most places go pretty quickly, so you would usually rent a place and move in a week or so later at most. I moved in a few days later to my place. So unless you are renting a room in a flat/house that is already rented by upper year students then you would probably wait until you get here to find a place to live. Sounds crazy, but it does work. And the fact that you are not bringing pets makes it much easier. I brought 2 dogs with me.
There is already a facebook page set up for your class, but no one on it yet as the class is not all together yet. But that will be a great resource for finding people to rent with and there are always some upper year students on the page as well to act as resources (myself included). I can definitely suggest places to live around campus and also send you a pdf document outlining the best places to live and how far they are from the actual vet school. Depending on how many people you want to live with and where you want to live you could find a place for around 500 euro/mth. It would probably be a 3-4 bedroom house.
I think the hardest thing about the UCD curriculum (and I talked about this in my previous post) is the grading system and the essay exams, but that is not really the curriculum per say just that they have a different way of examining their students and it takes some getting used to. I think the otherwise the curriculum is probably fairly similar to schools in the states as far as what is covered and toughness of the courses.
The thing I really like about the program is that we get to work hands-on with animals from the beginning. Most schools (at least in the US) you have to wait until your 3rd year for any hands-on experience. You are on the farm a lot in the first year learning all about large animal handling & medicine. So if you don't like farm animals well then it might not be your thing.
Let me know when you are out visiting and I can always meet up with you on campuse!
Yeah it is a little daunting thinking about waiting till you get to Ireland to find a place, but there are so many places up for rent that time of year that you will be ok. Plus you definitely would want to get here a few weeks prior to semester start to get settled & get lay of the land. I stayed in a hotel with another vet student when I first got here, but I do know some people crashed at upper year vet students houses, so that could be an option as well - as you are looking for a place. I had 2 dogs, so I could not really crash on someone's couch. It only took me from what I can remember a week & a half to find a place, but, once again, I had 2 dogs. Without the dogs, you could find a place much quicker and most places are available immediately.
Working with the farm animals has been a ton of fun, so far, but I do not plan on being a farm animal vet - still great experience though! Sounds like you have a plan for your visit and it would be great to get in on that research with Grace for the vaccine. You are only coming in for such a short time. 🙁 That Monday is a bank holiday because of the Easter weekend, but I will most likely be around. PM me closer to the date and perhaps I can meet you on campus or in town and show you around - depending on what you want to see. On Tuesday, I am at the farm all day, but will be back around 4 pm, so could always catch up with you then, but will smell like farm animals - just to warn you!
