Ucd

[Spookster831]

Hey,

I'm a final year student @ UCD (I'm an American / Irish citizen) went into the 6 year program. Decided to stay and do my intern year in Ireland next year. Just thought I'd open a thread to see if anyone had any questions about UCD in particular - not really stats because I don't really know many, lol, but just general things about the college / classes / hospitals / Ireland in general you might be curious about before deciding to come here.

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[Facebookaddict]

Hey, I'm going to UCD next year for the 6 year program

Were you an Irish citizen before you went or did you apply while in the 6 year program? Because my dad is an Irish citizen so I was thinking of applying and doing residency there and then coming back to the US for residency. But anyways, where are you going to do your residency?

What's the best on-campus accommodation for first years- I've heard Glenomena was the best; but I may stay in the new Roebuck or Muckross residencies.

As for the classes, how was first and second year? I saw the curriculum online and it seems intense. And are the electives just like an extra class you can take? I'm still a bit confused about the elective system at UCD lol.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Spookster831]

Hey, congrats

I was an Irish citizen before I went. If your dad has Irish citizenship you should have no problem getting it. In fact I would recommend it because it will make things simpler - i.e. you won't need to get a garda card every year (and shorter lines in the airport! ). If you want to do any post medical training having EU citizenship is really a must because the new matching system for interns involves ranking all the medical students in the country (based on class rank) and each students ranks their choices so student # 1 gets their first choice, student #2 gets their first choice (unless it was taken by #1) all the way down the rankings. If you are a non EU citizen you are automatically dropped to the bottom of the list (under the bottom Irish students in the class) and there is a chance you won't get a job at all.

I am planning to do the intern year in Ireland and apply for USA residency next year. Residency training in Ireland is quite different to the USA - you apply for a 1 year intern post which involves usually 6 mos medicine and mos surgery. Then you go on a basic scheme (i.e. medicine, surg, peds, obs etc) and then a specialist scheme so it's not really an all inclusive residency like the USA.

I personally stayed in Merville and Belgrove and they were both fine - you share with 3 others, common living room bathroom and kitchen and your own bedroom. Glenomena is nicer but is mostly reserved for postgrad students (so if you are straight from HS they will probably not put you there but they do often put the post grads the). The others weren't built when I was a first year, lol.

First and second year are actually not that bad, especially the first year. First year is "foundation year" where you take all your basic science subjects like chemistry and physics and biology. Second year gets harder with anatomy, physiology etc but it is manageable. Electives are courses that you can take every semester - usually 1 per semester - and you can take any course in the college. For instance I took a lot of Roman/Greek civ classes and language classes. The school of medicine also offers electives if you don't want to venture.

hope that helps!

 

[Facebookaddict]

Thanks, yeah that helped a lot! We're originally from Pakistan so my dad has Irish cit. because he's a GP in Ireland, so I think it's a bit tougher for me to get it but I'm definitely going to try. What are you going to do your residency in? I thought it was just 6 mos surg then 6 mos med for just a basic residency and then you're done?

I read on other posts that Atlantic Bridge reserves spots for us in Glenomena, but that may have changed. I wanted one of the en suite ones, so I think that's Glenomena, Roebuck, and Proby...and yeah I'm coming right out of high school but hopefully it won't be too bad.

As for electives do they give you like a 6wk elective period to go to hospitals in the US? I'm pretty sure UCG and RCSI had that. But yeah I planned on taking Spanish/French for my electives. How is the schedule for first/second year, like are the classes every other day or do u go to each class everyday?
Sorry if I'm asking a lot! just a bit nervous about classes and all lol

 

[hassano]

Hey,

I'm a final year student @ UCD (I'm an American / Irish citizen) went into the 6 year program. Decided to stay and do my intern year in Ireland next year. Just thought I'd open a thread to see if anyone had any questions about UCD in particular - not really stats because I don't really know many, lol, but just general things about the college / classes / hospitals / Ireland in general you might be curious about before deciding to come here.

Hi,
My question isnt really about UCD (havent heard from them yet), but more about choosing to go for the 6 year program in ireland versus staying in north american and doing undergrad then med school.
Do you feel like you made the right choice? Do you feel like you missed out on anything?

Sorry if the questions are too much, im just having a hard time deciding.

 

[Spookster831]

Thanks, yeah that helped a lot! We're originally from Pakistan so my dad has Irish cit. because he's a GP in Ireland, so I think it's a bit tougher for me to get it but I'm definitely going to try. What are you going to do your residency in? I thought it was just 6 mos surg then 6 mos med for just a basic residency and then you're done?

I read on other posts that Atlantic Bridge reserves spots for us in Glenomena, but that may have changed. I wanted one of the en suite ones, so I think that's Glenomena, Roebuck, and Proby...and yeah I'm coming right out of high school but hopefully it won't be too bad.

As for electives do they give you like a 6wk elective period to go to hospitals in the US? I'm pretty sure UCG and RCSI had that. But yeah I planned on taking Spanish/French for my electives. How is the schedule for first/second year, like are the classes every other day or do u go to each class everyday?
Sorry if I'm asking a lot! just a bit nervous about classes and all lol

Hey,

They aren't really residencies here - there's the intern year which all doctors have to do to register with the medical council and the next step up is called a Senior House Officer which offers basic training in various specialties (like surgery, medicine, obgyn, peds) then the next step up is specialist training which is called a registrar (in like radiology, GP, psych, various medical specialties). You apply at each stage separately - like you do your intern year then apply again for SHO then again foe registrar etc. To be honest I am probably not the best person to be asking because it still confuses me after all this time, lol.

You do get a lot of time for electives - you get 2 mos off during the summer and a 6 week elective period after Christmas in your last year (this is too late if you are applying for the match directly out of school but many people did elective xmas of their second last year).

First year you go to class every day for like 3 hours from what I remember. Second year is similar in terms of lectures but we had labs that took up the afternoon (mostly biochem and anatomy dissection). You need not be that worried about the classes, they are really not that bad and we all did fine. In addition, your GPA is only determined by by your clinical years so in terms of grades it doesn't really matter (of course you will need to know the bg material to do well in the clinical years)

 

[Spookster831]

Hi,
My question isnt really about UCD (havent heard from them yet), but more about choosing to go for the 6 year program in ireland versus staying in north american and doing undergrad then med school.
Do you feel like you made the right choice? Do you feel like you missed out on anything?

Sorry if the questions are too much, im just having a hard time deciding.

No worries. Well I am Irish and a lot of my motivation to go to Ireland was related to study abroad / having a lot of family there / my parents wanting to move back to Ireland. There are obviously pros and cons.

Pros: It's shorter. It's a good program. Your training is good for anywhere in Europe. It's stretched out over a longer time so more time to learn and less stress. It probably works out cheaper than doing eight years at college (though the dollar is weak at the moment) You don't have to wait to do medicine by getting another degree first and will graduate at around 23.

Cons: If you're not Irish (or at least European) you will have very little opportunity to stay in Ireland. It is more difficult than being an AMG to match - Irish schools are well regarded internationally but American residencies are always going to favor their own graduates first. There's not much help with USMLE etc - most of the students in UCD are Irish and that's what they cater for really. You are choosing medicine at a very young age (I was 17) and it may be in a few years time you realize you're not that into it.

Personally I really enjoyed UCD - made some great friends, thought the training was good. When I applied I wasn't really thinking about residencies - I was more thinking about maybe staying in Ireland or whatever. I think if you have no Irish connection, and no intention of staying, and your main goal is to get a top American residency it's a better idea to stay in America.

 

[haus]

Thanks for your posts.

So can you compare Irish and American stile of life. Whats better whats worse.

I will move to Ireland this summer, for a SHO post.

Can you give me some ideas , how is it, working and lifestyle in Eire

 

[Arb]

From the Internal Medicine forum, it looks like 2 UCD grads will be doing their residency at Johns Hopkins. I think I know one of them (met during interview) and she's a UCD grad but not from this year's class.

 

[Spookster831]

Thanks for your posts.

So can you compare Irish and American stile of life. Whats better whats worse.

I will move to Ireland this summer, for a SHO post.

Can you give me some ideas , how is it, working and lifestyle in Eire

Well I can't really comment on working in the hospitals as I am still a student. I have done student electives in the USA and from that level I noticed that the American system is much more efficient (because it is business run whereas Ireland has a national health service) however in Ireland you don't get the issues with insurance, people not being able to afford healthcare etc. There are health insurance companies in Ireland but this is used a lot more in non emergency situations (for instance my mother wanted to see a Rheumatologist as a non urgent referral in Cork and the waiting list was a year - on private insurance it would have been a lot shorter.) Also interns end up having to do a lot of work that others in the USA did (IV lines, ECGs etc) though not usually SHOs.

In terms of general lifestyle I'd say the Irish are more laid back than the Americans in general regarding work. Hardly anyone starts work before 9 in the general population (in hospitals surgery rounds usually start at 7 and medicine at 8 or 9). There's also a great nightlife / pub culture.

 

[grace404]

Hey,

I'm a final year student @ UCD (I'm an American / Irish citizen) went into the 6 year program. Decided to stay and do my intern year in Ireland next year. Just thought I'd open a thread to see if anyone had any questions about UCD in particular - not really stats because I don't really know many, lol, but just general things about the college / classes / hospitals / Ireland in general you might be curious about before deciding to come here.

Hey,
Thank you sooo much for posting! I'm in the U.S. and I'm also an Irish citizen and you're post is the first i've read on anyone in this situation.
Okay, so my questions are how the living in Ireland and being a citizen make things better? As i living situations, paying for school (i.e. loans), driving, etc. compared to other students? I'm assuming that you graduated from high school in the states, did you take other alternatives besides ABP to apply for school?

 

[Spookster831]

Hey,
Thank you sooo much for posting! I'm in the U.S. and I'm also an Irish citizen and you're post is the first i've read on anyone in this situation.
Okay, so my questions are how the living in Ireland and being a citizen make things better? As i living situations, paying for school (i.e. loans), driving, etc. compared to other students? I'm assuming that you graduated from high school in the states, did you take other alternatives besides ABP to apply for school?

Hey,

Well if you aren't a citizen you have to get something called a garda card every year and I hear it is a pain to get (lining up all day). It's also really important if you want to do your intern year in Ireland. Living situations I wouldn't think would be affected really. A lot of the North American students tend to be on campus first year then move into shared accommodation with classmates the next years. Loans would mostly be dealt with by the American loan institutions because Ireland doesn't really have student loan structures in place - this is because in Ireland most students are on free fees and even graduate education is not that terribly costly. Unfortunately being an Irish citizen doesn't give you access to the EU fee rates because you need to have EU residency for the three years prior.

Yes I graduated from HS in the states. I applied for UCD and Trinity via Atlantic Bridge and I applied for about 6 schools in the USA (and got into most of them) but Ireland was my #1 choice (well that and Columbia but they rejected me ) I really wanted to study in Ireland because of all my family living there and the six year medicine course sounded perfect because I had always wanted medicine. I could have gone to a few very good undergrad schools and depending on how I did there gone on to a US Med school and be in a better position now for American residencies but of course that supposes the fact that I would have done extremely well in undergrad and actually gotten into med school.

Overall I love living in Ireland and would be happy to stay in Ireland to practice but the training takes so long here and a lot of Irish doctors end up doing American fellowships anyway so I am going to try for the match next year.

 

[Facebookaddict]

Hey,

They aren't really residencies here - there's the intern year which all doctors have to do to register with the medical council and the next step up is called a Senior House Officer which offers basic training in various specialties (like surgery, medicine, obgyn, peds) then the next step up is specialist training which is called a registrar (in like radiology, GP, psych, various medical specialties). You apply at each stage separately - like you do your intern year then apply again for SHO then again foe registrar etc. To be honest I am probably not the best person to be asking because it still confuses me after all this time, lol.

You do get a lot of time for electives - you get 2 mos off during the summer and a 6 week elective period after Christmas in your last year (this is too late if you are applying for the match directly out of school but many people did elective xmas of their second last year).

First year you go to class every day for like 3 hours from what I remember. Second year is similar in terms of lectures but we had labs that took up the afternoon (mostly biochem and anatomy dissection). You need not be that worried about the classes, they are really not that bad and we all did fine. In addition, your GPA is only determined by by your clinical years so in terms of grades it doesn't really matter (of course you will need to know the bg material to do well in the clinical years)

Ohh ok so all of my US electives would have to be during the summer then, gotcha. The schedule sounds pretty relaxed for the first two years I thought there were different awards and such for high GPAs? So to practice as a doctor in Ireland you have to go through all three of those stages?

 

[Spookster831]

Hey, yeah you get different levels of honor attached to your degree depending on what it is like first class honors, second class honors etc. Yeah that is the typical scheme - sometimes you can skip the SHO level (you don't need to do a basic training scheme to get onto all of the specialist training schemes - i.e. GP) but a lot of people end up doing it to strengthen their application.

 

[Facebookaddict]

ok, thank you sooooo much for all the help!

 

[funsmith]

Hey,

I'm a final year student @ UCD (I'm an American / Irish citizen) went into the 6 year program. Decided to stay and do my intern year in Ireland next year. Just thought I'd open a thread to see if anyone had any questions about UCD in particular - not really stats because I don't really know many, lol, but just general things about the college / classes / hospitals / Ireland in general you might be curious about before deciding to come here.

Bump

 

[smillee]

I'm heading to UCD in the fall for the GEP.

In terms of the rez options, what are your opinions of Glenoma vs. Roebuck Castle?

Thanks

 

[emighb]

Hey Smilee, I dropped you a line in a personal message.

 

[Facebookaddict]

I put glenomena as my first choice, please let me know it was a good choice! I heard from friends in Ireland that Glenomena was the best one for pre-med students

 

[kermicrzy]

I put glenomena as my first choice, please let me know it was a good choice! I heard from friends in Ireland that Glenomena was the best one for pre-med students

I lived in Glenomenia for two years during the first half of the PhD. It is very good if you get into number 9 and 10 since electricity is included, otherwise the rest of the apartments require electricity to be bought before and a card inserted. Which can be a pain if the power goes and its the middle of the night and Centra is closed. Just remember there can be alot of scabby students you can live with, so try to sort out how everyone does the electricity payments. Will have you alot of hassle in the end.

Oh and Glenomia doesnt have ovens, which was the worse thing ever for students. Instead try to learn to cook via a microwave of buy a little oven if you can.. And there are two tiny fridges for 5-6 people so learn to live off very little food in the house

Just a reminder to keep records of everything money wise there, they will try to short change you every chance. I lost my last deposit bc they changed the dates around for withdrawing housing application and I had no record of what the date said on the site when I tried to fight them on it. UCD housing is a monopoly so try to stay vigilant. It has been called worse tho!

Good luck and maybe Ill see you around

 

[Facebookaddict]

I lived in Glenomenia for two years during the first half of the PhD. It is very good if you get into number 9 and 10 since electricity is included, otherwise the rest of the apartments require electricity to be bought before and a card inserted. Which can be a pain if the power goes and its the middle of the night and Centra is closed. Just remember there can be alot of scabby students you can live with, so try to sort out how everyone does the electricity payments. Will have you alot of hassle in the end.

Oh and Glenomia doesnt have ovens, which was the worse thing ever for students. Instead try to learn to cook via a microwave of buy a little oven if you can.. And there are two tiny fridges for 5-6 people so learn to live off very little food in the house

Just a reminder to keep records of everything money wise there, they will try to short change you every chance. I lost my last deposit bc they changed the dates around for withdrawing housing application and I had no record of what the date said on the site when I tried to fight them on it. UCD housing is a monopoly so try to stay vigilant. It has been called worse tho!

Good luck and maybe Ill see you around

Yeah i saw that you payed for electricity but I thought it was like you pay for it and not use a card system? Do any of the other residence halls have ovens? I was thinking of getting my own mini fridge, is that possible? And it says a mini toaster oven comes in the kitchen on the website, which is better than a microwave.
Which would you say is the best residence hall? Because I like how Glenomena gives every person their own bathroom

 

[Facebookaddict]

I just read that Roebuck Castle Catered Accommodation has its own exercise room, so now I'm thinking of switching my first choice of residence to there. How are the review for there? Also, how far is the university's gym from Glenomena, because I was thinking of getting a gym membership if there is one available.

 

[kermicrzy]

Yeah i saw that you payed for electricity but I thought it was like you pay for it and not use a card system? Do any of the other residence halls have ovens? I was thinking of getting my own mini fridge, is that possible? And it says a mini toaster oven comes in the kitchen on the website, which is better than a microwave.

Maybe things have changed, which is fantastic news. I was forced to by a toaster oven for the time I was there, otherwise I wouldnt have survived! Yeah I got a fridge (with small freezer) for about 150 euro in Currys and still have it to this day. I just put it at the end of my bed and there was more than enough room. The best part tho is def the en-suite rooms, although its quite expensive compared to what you can find in South C. Dublin at the moment if you decide to live off campus. But not worrying about a place to live when you come over beats everything else hands down. And the Air coach stops at UCD flyover on way to airport, so its a big plus

 

[kermicrzy]

I just read that Roebuck Castle Catered Accommodation has its own exercise room, so now I'm thinking of switching my first choice of residence to there. How are the review for there? Also, how far is the university's gym from Glenomena, because I was thinking of getting a gym membership if there is one available.

Dont think rooms are en-suite tho so can be a major disadvantage compared to other places. The new UCD gym with 50 m pool is opening in fall/winter and its only 5 min walk from apartments across campus. Might be better just to wait for free UCD gym to open. I know I cant wait!

 

[emighb]

I got an email from Arthur O'Malley recommending that I, as a graduate entry student, choose not to live in Roebuck Castle. He mentioned that most students in this residence are in their first year of university and will likely make it very difficult to study. I'm also 25, so it might be a bit unusual to live amongst 17-18 year olds. He recommended Glenomena in my circumstance.

 

[Facebookaddict]

The new Roebuck Castle catered hall is 12 or 13 en-suite rooms, and each room has its own private mini fridge Since it is only 7.50 euro per day for food, I'm going to change my first choice to Roebuck. I think it would be easier as a first year to have a catered res hall. In the 2011/2012 international handbook it doesn't say anything about a mini fridge, but on the website it does...which one would be more accurate? The only down side to Roebuck catered is having 12 roommates and being in a building of first years, because I'm assuming it's going to be loud. Thanks for all of the help, kermicrzy and emighb!

 

[anon1986]

Hi!

I'm having a hard time deciding whether to live in glenomena or roebuck castle. I know a lot of AB students are being placed on the waitlist for glenomena and i'd love to get to know others who are in a similar situation. but roebuck is catered which might make the first year a lot easier.

i guess i'm just wondering if other students are choosing roebuck castle b/c it would be great to have some AB students there!

 

[emighb]

Hey Anon,

The AB students being placed on waiting lists, are these from last year? I thought that application for a residence spot didn't start until the 1st of June.

Again, as I mentioned in my previous post, I certainly welcome the idea of a meal-plan, but I was strongly advised to apply for Glenomena due to my age. If I don't get in, I'll likely look for an off-campus accomodation hopefully with other medical students. I assume from your screen-name you are a 24-25 year old as well?

 

[anon1986]

emighb,

i'm assuming you are applying for glenomena then? the email i received stated that we can register for residence on june 8 not june 1. i looked into off campus residence as well, the prices weren't bad, but according to Aurthur O'Malley they reserve spots for AB students, so we should all be able to find on campus accommodation. i would prefer on campus for my first year (until i get adjusted to the country) and then i think i will look for off campus housing in second year. and yes, i just turned 25!

 

[Facebookaddict]

June 8th is when applications for residence become available. Do we pick our own roommates or are they automatically assigned or..?

 

[kermicrzy]

June 8th is when applications for residence become available. Do we pick our own roommates or are they automatically assigned or..?

You wont know who you are living with until the day you move in. Im pretty sure you can ask to live with certain people, but they dont always fulfill those requests. Its really just a lottery who you live with and what apartment you end up living in....

 

[Facebookaddict]

You wont know who you are living with until the day you move in. Im pretty sure you can ask to live with certain people, but they dont always fulfill those requests. Its really just a lottery who you live with and what apartment you end up living in....

no way! there's no survey or student match thing to fill out?

 

[kermicrzy]

no way! there's no survey or student match thing to fill out?

Sorry, not that I remember. Its a free-for-all really. But sometimes it works out well, meeting new people etc. But they arent the quietest places to live if you try to stay in and study, so buy good headphones or find a good spot in med library.

 

[Facebookaddict]

well then....this makes me want to switch back to Glenomena now. 12 random roommates seems like a little too much for me to handle lol. thanks for the info!

 

[emighb]

I am still unsure about the start date of the GEP program. I thought I noticed registration on the 12th of September or so, but I thought that might be for the rest of the student population.

In another thread, a student at UCC mentioned that the medical school starts in August - has anyone heard something similar for UCD? I need to set up a thesis defense date soon.

 

[Spookster831]

I don't actually know the answer to this but when I was in first year we started the same day as the rest of the college (and had an orientation day the week before)

 

[anon1986]

hey,

i thought registration starts sept 5 and classes actually starts sept 12.
this was the dates arthur o'malley sent in his email. it gives all the important dates.

http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/term_dates2011_13.pdf

 

[Lbgem]

Question for those of you that might know. On the acceptance form it asks for a letter of guarantee...I'm going to be borrowing Stafford loans to pay for school, so how do I go about filing this letter? Those won't kick in for a couple weeks and I have to turn in this acceptance letter within a couple weeks.

Can I get a friend or parent to write it even though I won't be using that money? And if so, which supporting documents do they need to send in? I'm not sure if they expect that person to have 80K$ (USD) in their bank account... Any help on what you guys did would be appreciated!

As an aside, couple of interesting links I found for UCD's schedule:
1st year Schedule for 2010/2011

4 year lay out

 

[anon1986]

Lbgem,

My loans weren't approved before my gaurantee letter was due. What I did was, I got my dad to write a letter stating that he will be providing the funds to pay for school (even though he actually won't be). Then we got the bank to quickly write a letter varifying that that my dad has the funds to be able to pay for school. I'm not sure if UCD really requires the the bank to write a letter varifying the availablity of funds, but we just did it to be on the safe side. Hope that helps!

 

[Facebookaddict]

So I'm applying for housing now, but I can't see the Roebuck Catered Hall option. Is anyone else applying for that and/or can see that option, or am I the only one who can't see it? I think I might just deposit for Glenomena and hopefully be able to transfer it to Roebuck catered...any thoughts on either res hall?

 

[Arb]

A UCD grad is starting Radiology in Canada after intern year in Ireland. Groceries are not that expensive and there are even Asian markets where you can get more "exotic" items.

 

[drnamrata]

hey
i hav just finiished with my medical graduation from india from lady hardinge medicak college, delhi university.
i wanted to know how to get any medical job or any residency in ireland...

 

[atran017]

Can anyone give some advice regarding accommodations for graduate entry 4- year med students? We were recommended to apply to Glenomena - house 4...any information about this residence?

Cheers,

A.

 

[emighb]

Hi ATran,

So I'm not sure how much about Glenomena you know. An apartment in Glenomena is actually an entire floor. Each apartment has a kitchen and living area shared with 6 residents. Each bedroom has it's own ensuite bathroom.

The apartments are co-ed and I was reading on another forum that they generally try to place students in a 3 male/3 female arrangement, unless you specifically request differently. It seems that GEP students are free to make their own choices in this case, because you can choose exactly the room you want.

It seems that Glenomena is mostly for mature students, such as graduate or professional students. I did read somewhere that floors 9 and 10 pay flat-rate for electricity while all other floors have to pre-pay for electricity and pay directly for their usage.

I am in apartment 11 and am a 25 year old male from Hamilton, Ontario. I'll be rowing for UCD so I will likely have to be up early in the mornings, but other than that, I think I'm pretty easy to get live alongside.

 

[atran017]

Hi ATran,

So I'm not sure how much about Glenomena you know. An apartment in Glenomena is actually an entire floor. Each apartment has a kitchen and living area shared with 6 residents. Each bedroom has it's own ensuite bathroom.

The apartments are co-ed and I was reading on another forum that they generally try to place students in a 3 male/3 female arrangement, unless you specifically request differently. It seems that GEP students are free to make their own choices in this case, because you can choose exactly the room you want.

It seems that Glenomena is mostly for mature students, such as graduate or professional students. I did read somewhere that floors 9 and 10 pay flat-rate for electricity while all other floors have to pre-pay for electricity and pay directly for their usage.

I am in apartment 11 and am a 25 year old male from Hamilton, Ontario. I'll be rowing for UCD so I will likely have to be up early in the mornings, but other than that, I think I'm pretty easy to get live alongside.

Great! Thanks for the information. I suppose living in Glenomena for the first year of med would help with integration. I'm a road cyclist so i'm usually up early training as well. If anyone else has anything to add about housing and accommodation, please feel free.

Cheers,

A.

 

[kermicrzy]

Hi ATran,

So I'm not sure how much about Glenomena you know. An apartment in Glenomena is actually an entire floor. Each apartment has a kitchen and living area shared with 6 residents. Each bedroom has it's own ensuite bathroom.

The apartments are co-ed and I was reading on another forum that they generally try to place students in a 3 male/3 female arrangement, unless you specifically request differently. It seems that GEP students are free to make their own choices in this case, because you can choose exactly the room you want.

It seems that Glenomena is mostly for mature students, such as graduate or professional students. I did read somewhere that floors 9 and 10 pay flat-rate for electricity while all other floors have to pre-pay for electricity and pay directly for their usage.

I am in apartment 11 and am a 25 year old male from Hamilton, Ontario. I'll be rowing for UCD so I will likely have to be up early in the mornings, but other than that, I think I'm pretty easy to get live alongside.

Just to clarify, Glenomena is made up of 10 buildings, each with four floors with three apartments on each. Building 9 and 10 are free electricity and the rest of the buildings are pay as you go. So when you get your offer, it will say Glenomena 10-5-4, which means building-apartment-room number.

Just a side note, the only thing supplied is a duvet and pillow, you need to buy all your own pots/pans/silverware/etc... The list goes on and on. You also have no TV and need to pay for TV license if you buy one and use it on campus.

Lived there for about 2 years, so feel free to ask any questions you may have. And good luck. The walls are thin and you will be living with undergrads, even though they say you wont... Many of my good friends were Res assistants and spent most nights breaking up parties.

Ive never heard on anyone one, including GEP being able to choose what apartment or who they will be living with. Although maybe things changed in last year or so, hopefully for everyones sake

Sorry for being a bit bitter about that whole place, just wasnt very happy when they managed to steal my last deposit off me in a very illegal mannor. So make sure to get everything in writing, or such.

 

[Facebookaddict]

When I signed up for housing you got to choose which bldg/apt/room number and it just said "3 undergraduate females" or something under the information button. Yeah you probably will have a lot of undergrads because that's what atlantic bridge reserves for all of us, including undergrads.

Did you and your roommates divide the money for the tv? And how did you guys decide on food issues like who pays for the milk? Also, how does the pay as you go system work, because I was unable to get bldg 9 or 10 :/

Just to clarify, Glenomena is made up of 10 buildings, each with four floors with three apartments on each. Building 9 and 10 are free electricity and the rest of the buildings are pay as you go. So when you get your offer, it will say Glenomena 10-5-4, which means building-apartment-room number.

Just a side note, the only thing supplied is a duvet and pillow, you need to buy all your own pots/pans/silverware/etc... The list goes on and on. You also have no TV and need to pay for TV license if you buy one and use it on campus.

Lived there for about 2 years, so feel free to ask any questions you may have. And good luck. The walls are thin and you will be living with undergrads, even though they say you wont... Many of my good friends were Res assistants and spent most nights breaking up parties.

Ive never heard on anyone one, including GEP being able to choose what apartment or who they will be living with. Although maybe things changed in last year or so, hopefully for everyones sake

Sorry for being a bit bitter about that whole place, just wasnt very happy when they managed to steal my last deposit off me in a very illegal mannor. So make sure to get everything in writing, or such.

 

[Lbgem]

When I signed up for housing you got to choose which bldg/apt/room number and it just said "3 undergraduate females" or something under the information button. Yeah you probably will have a lot of undergrads because that's what atlantic bridge reserves for all of us, including undergrads.

Did you and your roommates divide the money for the tv? And how did you guys decide on food issues like who pays for the milk? Also, how does the pay as you go system work, because I was unable to get bldg 9 or 10 :/

So if this is anything like my undergrad experience with lots of roomies. Food was basically you buy things for yourself with sections of the fridge designated for each person. This is probably also why some of the people on here bought their own mini-fridge for their room - more space + less likely someone is going to snatch/'borrow' your food (which is what I'm more concerned about since I make very delicious food). I may end up having to cook for one day/meal at a time which is going to be a pain in the butt...esp since I have to leave my super nice cookware here .

As for things like TV/etc, that was split between roommates by those that used it. There will be issues that arise if for example one person doesn't chip in but wants to watch for ONLY a couple minutes or something every once in a while.

For food snatchers - you could always do what my brother joked about - poison ivy to see who the culprit was. Funny but idk how ethical that would be .

Roomies too loud? Headphones/find a favorite place in the library/on campus (which seems very green from the pictures I've seen).

Terrible roomies? Only need to eat/sleep/shower at the dorms then the rest of your day can be spent elsewhere. It also looks like the ocean is about a 20 minute walking distance.

Again, this is my guess from my undergrad experience. But hey no matter how frustrating/bad this gets, it's never going to be *that* bad. We got into med school!

 

[Facebookaddict]

hahaha, that was very helpful thanks so much! yeah, thinking that we made it to med school makes everything soooo much better

 

[kermicrzy]

So if this is anything like my undergrad experience with lots of roomies. Food was basically you buy things for yourself with sections of the fridge designated for each person. This is probably also why some of the people on here bought their own mini-fridge for their room - more space + less likely someone is going to snatch/'borrow' your food (which is what I'm more concerned about since I make very delicious food). I may end up having to cook for one day/meal at a time which is going to be a pain in the butt...esp since I have to leave my super nice cookware here .

As for things like TV/etc, that was split between roommates by those that used it. There will be issues that arise if for example one person doesn't chip in but wants to watch for ONLY a couple minutes or something every once in a while.

For food snatchers - you could always do what my brother joked about - poison ivy to see who the culprit was. Funny but idk how ethical that would be .

Roomies too loud? Headphones/find a favorite place in the library/on campus (which seems very green from the pictures I've seen).

Terrible roomies? Only need to eat/sleep/shower at the dorms then the rest of your day can be spent elsewhere. It also looks like the ocean is about a 20 minute walking distance.

Again, this is my guess from my undergrad experience. But hey no matter how frustrating/bad this gets, it's never going to be *that* bad. We got into med school!

Yeah totally agree with what Lbgem said... No one really shares food and usually you have to hid your best stuff from those grubby little undergrads! Because really GEM students are called undedrgads in name only, but we all know its a graduate program anywhere else.

Best of luck with Glenomenia, its really not that horrible. Its just that its better to be prepared than thinking its the most amazing place in the world and being depressed when you settle in