St. Patricks College - Carlow

Peachy84

Hi,

Has anyone taken the BA (hons) Humanities in Carlow College?
Just wondering what your thoughts are on the college and the course in general as I cant find much info on this.

Thanks,

Peachy

Miss Dymph

Hi Peachy,


Im actually doing that course at the moment so any questions about the course or accommodation or exams etc, i'd be more than happy to help. The way its structured is that your mandatory subjects, ie: the ones you have to do are Theology(because its a Catholic Ethos college), Philosophy, English and History, you can then choose between English II, History II, Biblical Studies, Critical Reasoning, General Ethics, Irish Studies, Drama and Performance and lots more. Second year includes Psychology, American Literature etc. Its a small college because its private but provided you are attending college here for the first time, you have no big fees bar the registration fees that all colleges require. Due to the smaller numbers, there's much more benefit to the student during classes, tutorials and seminars and all lecturers know you by name very early on. What I love about the college is that they genuinely want you to succeed and they have no failure quota to reach unlike other colleges. Everyone is lovely and you make friends so quickly in all years, not just your own, i cant recommend the college enough! Hope this helps a bit!

Peachy84

Thanks Ms Dymph for replying... I am resitting my LC English and Maths this year as a mature student as I want to eventually teach but I was looking at DCU and the B'ed and Humanities course only have a few places for mature students, also the fact that Im from Laois makes more sense geographically to look into St. Pats. What year are you going into and how do you find the course? what are the days like and how many hours a week are you in college, Are there many assignments to do and the big one are there many matureis on the course? Im also a mum to a very explorative 3yr old so Ill have that to contend with when I come home in the evenings so Id like to be as prepared as I can be for both.

Sorry for all the questions but I want to get as much info as I can while I have someone in the know to hand!

Thanks a Mill

Peachy

Kinks56

I'm hoping to do the English and History degree there this year. I'm from Westmeath and I don't really want to commute; I was wondering what the on-campus accommodation is like? And what is the creative writing option like? Thanks for any info you can give.

Miss Dymph

Sorry for the late reply, been a crazy enough week! There's genuinely probably almost as many mature students in college as there are students straight from school for the first time, they range from mid 20's, way up the scale so truly everyone is included and nobody is a minority, also there are loads of societies for mature students (not run by the college but by the students) so its a great way to make friends early on. The college tries really hard not to give you classes on Fridays so its usually quiet there for study etc on Fridays and on Tuesdays, theres something called Convocation time for a few hours in the middle of the day so you can have a long lunch, chat, study or get involved in matches or societies etc. Apart from that its a full enough week but they're quite nice in that they try to either start you first thing and have your classes together to finish early or start you later and continue til the end of the day. Also the lecturers can be quite flexible Peachy, in that if you have a child or a separate priority, you can change your tutorials to a different time to suit you and you can have a little more quality time at home.
On campus accommodation is subject to numbers but truly, we all stay off campus and its bang in the centre of town so there are loads and loads of places to rent, i can give you loads of info if you need it on houses etc and what you should be paying. Creative writing course is wonderful, theres prizes going for in class pieces and they make these into on stage and screen productions in the Visual Centre in the college grounds. The main thing that makes it different from other institutes is that its based hugely on continuous assessment ie: your grade is made up of ...attendance, essay, seminar project and final exam. No one thing is more important than the other and you have alot of notice for essays etc and help is always on hand through essay tutorials etc so you honestly have very little pressure and loads of time to make friends and get the feel of the place. Its a small, intimate college but its definitely worth thinking about because you make friends instantly and everyone lives near to everyone else and there's something to suit everyone, both in Carlow and in St. Pats!

Kinks56

Miss Dymph wrote: »

Sorry for the late reply, been a crazy enough week! There's genuinely probably almost as many mature students in college as there are students straight from school for the first time, they range from mid 20's, way up the scale so truly everyone is included and nobody is a minority, also there are loads of societies for mature students (not run by the college but by the students) so its a great way to make friends early on. The college tries really hard not to give you classes on Fridays so its usually quiet there for study etc on Fridays and on Tuesdays, theres something called Convocation time for a few hours in the middle of the day so you can have a long lunch, chat, study or get involved in matches or societies etc. Apart from that its a full enough week but they're quite nice in that they try to either start you first thing and have your classes together to finish early or start you later and continue til the end of the day. Also the lecturers can be quite flexible Peachy, in that if you have a child or a separate priority, you can change your tutorials to a different time to suit you and you can have a little more quality time at home.
On campus accommodation is subject to numbers but truly, we all stay off campus and its bang in the centre of town so there are loads and loads of places to rent, i can give you loads of info if you need it on houses etc and what you should be paying. Creative writing course is wonderful, theres prizes going for in class pieces and they make these into on stage and screen productions in the Visual Centre in the college grounds. The main thing that makes it different from other institutes is that its based hugely on continuous assessment ie: your grade is made up of ...attendance, essay, seminar project and final exam. No one thing is more important than the other and you have alot of notice for essays etc and help is always on hand through essay tutorials etc so you honestly have very little pressure and loads of time to make friends and get the feel of the place. Its a small, intimate college but its definitely worth thinking about because you make friends instantly and everyone lives near to everyone else and there's something to suit everyone, both in Carlow and in St. Pats!

Thanks for all the info, sounds good!

Kinks56

Update: I'll be starting there in a few weeks so thanks for the info!

MrCreative

Im I got offered English and History in the Cao.Even though Im interested in both these subjects .Im more interested in becomming a journalism/media

so do people think this course would be suitable?

How many electives do you take in first /2nd/3rd year

and how many years can you take the media studies elective?

also what is the media and also the communications electives like

Any info would be much appreciated

MrCreative

bump

EmmaTW

Hey everyone. I ve been offered a place in The Humanities coarse in carlow anyone else startin there this year ?

Also if anyone has information on good housing or is interested in a house share let me know ?:p

Whats the social scene like for the college/town ?:pac:

Miss Dymph

MrCreative wrote: »

Im I got offered English and History in the Cao.Even though Im interested in both these subjects .Im more interested in becomming a journalism/media

so do people think this course would be suitable?

How many electives do you take in first /2nd/3rd year

and how many years can you take the media studies elective?

also what is the media and also the communications electives like

Any info would be much appreciated

Hey sorry for the late reply, thats a really great course! Theres obviously alot of avenues you can go down after taking the course but if you are thinking of Journalism, it might be better thinking of a direct journalism route or an arts degree that angles more towards film studies. Communications elective is quite good in the college but its very very centred on English and History, theres English I and English II and History I and History II, film studies are covered in English II. You can then think about Philosophy, Theology, Creative Writing, Communications etc as electives.

Miss Dymph

EmmaTW wrote: »

Hey everyone. I ve been offered a place in The Humanities coarse in carlow anyone else startin there this year ?

Also if anyone has information on good housing or is interested in a house share let me know ?:p

Whats the social scene like for the college/town ?:pac:

Hey Emma, Humanities course is great, have you accepted? Have you found a house yet etc? If not i can give you a few areas to look at and what you should be paying etc. Carlow is so so much fun to go out in, clubs that all students go to all week, all bars have really good drinks deals on and nothing is far away there. College is bang in the centre of town so if you live close enough to it then you're close to town as well and you get to know everyone so so quickly so when you're out you always find people you know. Freshers Week is the 20th so thats always fun and then theres always nights out advertised around the college!

alannah_96

Is Carlow college a private college? Like is it fee paying? I have English and history as my number 1 in my cao! I really need to know before Wednesday!

Miss Dymph

alannah_96 wrote: »

Is Carlow college a private college? Like is it fee paying? I have English and history as my number 1 in my cao! I really need to know before Wednesday!

Hi Alannah, no if its your first time attending college or you have been 5 years out of education then you have the usual reg fee each year as in every college but there are no tuition fees.

alannah_96

Miss Dymph wrote: »

Hi Alannah, no if its your first time attending college or you have been 5 years out of education then you have the usual reg fee each year as in every college but there are no tuition fees.

Thank you is it a good college? What's the accommodation like?

Miss Dymph

alannah_96 wrote: »

Thank you is it a good college? What's the accommodation like?

No problem it's a great college, right in the centre of town in a beautiful building. Electives are broad to give you lots of variety before you have to narrow it down and the lecturers build a great relationship with you.

Accommodation is readily available. You have the typical 1st year options such as student apartments like Riverside which are great for year one when you know nobody but once you know people to share with; its cheaper to rent a house with them.

Students Union in the college is great and always helpful.