Application
The application process is made very easy thanks to MicroEDU. On the one hand, the support is excellent and fast, and on the other hand, you just have to send a few documents to MicroEDU, they handle the rest and sooner rather than later, the DBS’s approval flutters home.
Basically, the conditions at the DBS are very student-friendly: mostly lectures in smaller groups (10-30 people) and the equipment cannot be complained about. The location of the university in the center of the city is really really good. However, due to the distribution of the DBS over several somewhat distributed buildings, there is no typical campus life. However, this can easily be compensated for by the countless food and bar offers around the DBS. It should be said that this is also necessary, as the university cafeteria leaves a lot to be desired.
It should also be mentioned that the administration procedure of the DBS has not yet begun to be understood even after four months, whereby some organizational problems are probably also more general Irish peculiarities. Visit educationvv.com to get information about Hawaii Pacific University student exchange program.
Course content
In any case, you should be aware that the level of study in Ireland and especially at the DBS is significantly lower than in Germany. Furthermore, much more value is placed on practical explanations than at German universities.
Exams in the typical sense hardly exist, homework is primarily done (mostly in group work).
Although you can easily choose your desired courses from the full range of courses at DBS, this in no way guarantees that you will be able to attend them due to overlapping times. The administration also often has organizational problems in classifying courses.
For international students who only stay one semester, the DBS offers its own program – the European Business School – with a pre-determined study plan. Although this has considerable organizational advantages, one is limited in the choice of course. However, you have the benefit of taking courses that are timed to only cover one semester. In the case of a study plan that you have put together yourself, you are divided into courses that are designed for a full academic year. The exchange students then write their homework halfway through the corresponding course and therefore only get half of the actual material.
Dublin City
Dublin as a city is really fantastic. For the evening program, for shopping, eating or any other leisure activities, there should be something for every taste. Daily forays through Temple Bar as a metropolitan area of the pubs (incidentally only a few minutes’ walk from the DBS) may be fun, but in this amount they are by no means suitable for the student budget. Temple Bar is also permanently inundated with tourists – but you can’t avoid staying there often.
Dublin also offers a few clubs, some of which have relatively high-profile DJs. But you should definitely pay attention to the curfew, which is already at 3 a.m. and in most cases it is taken very seriously by those responsible.
Aside from the nightlife, Dublin also has a myriad of smaller and larger cafes, almost all of which are better than Starbucks. The most famous and largest shopping streets are Grafton and Henry Street. The latter is more likely to hit the target group of students.
Those who cannot do without live broadcasts of the Bundesliga usually get their money’s worth (especially Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are broadcast practically everywhere). Champions League games are played in almost all pubs anyway.
Cost of living
As mentioned briefly above, living in Dublin is quite expensive. Starting with rents, through pub prices to discount prices. For a student apartment – be it in a private shared apartment or a student dormitory – between 550 and 900 EUR must be budgeted. As a rule, you can get an apartment for this price category about a 20-minute walk from the university and, accordingly, from the city center. The average price for a pint is just under five euros, and eating out is around 50% more expensive than in Germany.
The Centra and Spar supermarkets should be avoided as they are sometimes more expensive than German petrol stations. The cheapest way to shop is in Dublin at Aldi and Lidl, but here too the prices are above the German level.
Alcohol and cigarettes are generally extremely expensive.
