Arts in UCC advice

pancakes rule

Hi, I'm currently working in Limerick, did my LC in 2011 and got 390- after dropping out of a joint honours course in Trinity, I've been wanting to go back to college. I won't be applying for 2013 (think it's too late now, anyway) but I am looking around and was wondering if anyone could give me a bit more info on this course.
I want to study History and Irish (want to be a secondary school teacher despite the lack of jobs). I also saw that you can do two other subjects in first year so I'd really want to do English and Politics for the first year as well.

Can anyone tell me anything about these courses?

What is accommodation like? Is there student accommodation, places close to the college, price etc?

I love Cork so I'd love to go either there or UCD. NUIG would be my third choice.

jigglypuffstuff

You do realise you'll be most likely liable to pay full fees which are in excess of 5k if youve dropped out after 31st January?

You can put a late CAO application in

I dont do arts but UCC is an excellent college, You do 4 subjects in 1st year and drop 2, also from what I hear the Irish standard is quite high here!!

Yes theres close accommodation and it is expensive, houses range from roughly 70-110 per room a week depending and the more expensive may include bills

Dewey collins

i'm in first year now and i'm doing arts and i'm doing History its a hard subject if u are not interested in everything involved, as i found Irish history boring and some what hard to grasp compared to the other modules, the other subjects i did are Greek and Roman civilization, Religion and Celtic civilization, accommodation is very close but its expensive, if u can get a house its better than student accommodation as u have more freedom in it

Herb Powell

My only advice really is with those subjects you are going to be reading and writing an absolute fucckton, so if you're not realllllllly into them then you'll struggle. I'm doing foreign languages, so I sort of avoided this, but I still feel overwhelmed sometimes by the amount of material out there to read. My approach is that you will most likely not have the time to study everything they throw at you in depth (seriously, the year FLIES), so make sure that youu study enough, and know what you study well. Then you shouldn't have too many problems.

Luno

I think Irish and History is a good combination. There's no real reading per say for Irish, what people find most tough in general is the grammar but that's to be expected. If you've an interest in history then I'd definitely say politics is a good choice, there's three parts to it, philosophy and international relations are very much so based on history and the Irish political system is easy.
Obviously you'll probably be liable for fees but I assume you already know this.

bizz213

I did History, English, Politics and Greek and Roman/Religion in first year!

English is good if your interested and there is alot of work to cover.

History is tough/ The toughest i thought. They expect alot out of you and most mark incredibly hard too. You have to work to get your good grades.

Politics was my favorite to be honest. Really enjoyable and good mix of subjects and easy enough to do well in.

Greek and Roman is awful. Lecturers are awful. (bar Sean) Gave up after 6 weeks and begged to change.

Religion - took it on after giving up Greek and Roman. Easy to get good grades in it and not that bad really. Bit boring.

I originally had expected to keep on History and English but ended up with History and Politics. Politics is a great subject and if you do decide to do it try get a class with Jason Dockstader. Great lecturer and nice marker!

Adolescenteen

Currently studying History, Psychology, Philosophy and Maths in first year.

With regards to History, I'm disappointed with it so far. While the section of the medieval ages was interesting, especially the Roman Empire and Constantine, Irish History was an awful bore. If you took History for the leaving and didn't enjoy Irish history, you're not going to enjoy these lectures.

In the second semester, you pick between US History, Anti-Semitism, Russian History and the Crusades. I picked Anti-Semitism and I regret it. The course is interesting, but the lecturers are awful. Hardly anyone turns up to the lectures anymore.

Regards to workload, you have three essays in the year. Two 1'500 essays in the first semester, both worth 5%, and one 2'000 word essay in the second semester, worth 10%. If you do the recommended reading you should have no problem with them.

Just in case you're stuck for choosing a fourth subject. If you're interested in people and why we act the way we do, choose Psychology. Three 1'500 essays in the year.

In you're interested in the world and questions such as: what is justice? What sort of thing is a mind? What defines a person? What does it mean to live a good life? I've enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. It's great if you like to argue and debate. Also there's no summer exams or essays. The marks are divided between attendance in tutorials and three class tests that you can study the night before (or the morning of, in my case) and still achieve a good grade.

Finally, Maths. There's two Math subjects you can pick; Maths and Math Studies. The latter is apparently much easier than the former; which you need at least a B grade in the Leaving Certificate to take the class. I'd only recommend choosing Maths if you plan to keep it on, otherwise the workload isn't worth it. Bear in mind you can only keep it on with Applied Mathematics, Philosophy or Economics in second year.

Have to agree with the earlier comment about Jason Dockstader, he does the first module in Philosophy (Metaphysics) and he is an excellent lecturer.

Couldn't tell you about the price of accommodation, but there is a lot near the campus.

CatEyed92

pancakes rule wrote: »

I want to study History and Irish (want to be a secondary school teacher despite the lack of jobs). I also saw that you can do two other subjects in first year so I'd really want to do English and Politics for the first year as well.

Can anyone tell me anything about these courses?

.

Hey, I did a year of Arts last year and took History, English and Politics.

English - Great. I loved it. I can't recommend it enough. Just bear in mind third level english is quite tough! You will study a variety of works such as Beowulf, Dorian Gray, Dubliner's, Middle English, Shakespeare, John Donne and plenty more etc etc
It's tough going so you need to put the head down and read until it comes out your ears. You get options in the assignments also which is handy. I did 2 essays and a presentation - the presentation is brilliant! I did a novel I had read that week, stood for 15min's talking and got 85%. Handy wan!
English is the only subject I miss after leaving.

History - I loved History before I went into arts. Hated it when i left. Very hard subject and if I were you, I would not enter it lightly to be frank. I would research this. I also recommend you drop in on a lecture and see what you think. Very boggy and I had very little help or direction from my tutor. You do Medieval History and Irish History (They have an American lecturer for 1910-1930's and he is brilliant! Andrew is great too!) and then you choose an optional module in January - I did American Foreign Policy and it was ok.
3 assignments.

Politics - Nice subject but full of major party supporters because their fathers or uncles do it. Theresa Reidy is great and she gives a nice introduction to the course. Jason does political philosophy - he's a ledge! A very nice helpful person! However, the guy who does EU politics needs to retire Other then that, nice subject and I wish I had put more of myself into it instead of shying away!
There are 2 assignments and 1 test.
If you take it on, make sure you make yourself heard in the tutorials as my tutor picked his favourite's and let them hijack tutorials because they were heavy FG, FF and SF society goers.
I took politics to learn about something new and I'm glad I did.

Irish- One of the girls took that and found it took alot of focus but I went along to a couple lectures and the lecturers are great!
Not sure about the workload.

Overall, If I were you, I wouldn't take English, History and Irish altogether.
My co-ordinator told me I should of only taken 1 bulky subject.
History, is very tough and it is draining.

If I were you, I would go for Irish and English and focus solely on them. English and History majors are graduating in a majority. They are a dime a dozen. Put English and Irish up the top first as they fill up quick! I would then take Pyschology as you want to be a teacher and it's meant to be great (Don't fall for the sociology trap - it is NOTHING like pyschology. I did it and it was horrendous!). Put pyschology third and politics fourth as it isn't that popular even though it is interesting.

Don't worry, you can change a subject up to end of October!


UCC is great but I found alot of our Arts year fell into the bar scene and skipping lecturers alot. Don't fall into that trap.
Worst thing with Arts is there is no discipline so you must stay focused! Also, it is quite big so don't get lost in the crowd. It's quite daunting
Arts won't study itself. You gotta get your arse into the library when you can! You must, don't let it all go to waste. It catches up with you! Don't listen to second years who brag about doing nothing till April - LIES!
You must keep on top of it all. Just tip away every week
Hmm.. Didn't stay in accomodation so not sure about that one.
One thing I will say is know who your sharing with. Try and keep with people who have similar interests to you. I've heard of so many students moving out in the middle of the year cause their roommates were party animals and it didn't suit them. You can get too much of a good thing

Can I recommend you drop in on one or two lectures for each subject in Autumn 2013? You literally can walk in, and since your not applying for 2013, why not? You can get the timetables for subjects online? Just to get a taster? Go along with a friend?

Honestly, it's a great course. Pace yourself. I found the campus quite draining after October so look after yourself
Get familiar with your peer supporters, societies and class rep's since you'll be in accomodation.
Enjoy it! Great place, great course Hope you find my rambling useful! xx

hdowney

Hijacking a slightly old thread but meh. I find the above post very informative and helpful thank you. I am looking into doing Joint Honours Arts starting in 2015. I was looking to do English, History, Archaeology and probably a language such as Italian. Anyone any advice there