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UCL or Trinity College Dublin

Hey, I am a Canadian student looking to attend either UCL or Trinity College Dublin. I would be attending their 6-year medicine program that starts straight out of high school. I do not have enough time to apply to both, so I want to know which school has the best student life. Which one has a better nightlife (parties, clubs, etc)? Do students go out and have fun or are these schools strickly academic? Are people welcoming? As a reference, the Canadian school that I would most likely attend is McGill in Montreal. If you do not know Mcgill, it is in the heart of Montreal and it is known for having a very active student life. All students go out clubbing for live music, hang out on campus, play intermural games, and in general it is a lively place to attend university. Therefore my question would be which one (UCL or Trinity College) would be most similar to the McGill student lifestyle. I understand that UCl academics are probably a bit better than Trinity, but either way, I would be getting an excellent education, therefore I would base my decision on where I would have the most fun, make tones of welcoming friends and grow the most in my early 20s.

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

A lot of this is what you make it! If looking at Ireland, I would look at UCG which is small and highly sociable (in fact is sometimes avoided by Irish students who see it as too much of a party Uni).

TCD is a far smaller college and Med school, on a small city centre campus. There is little ' hanging out on campus' because practically no one lives there, and most sport is far offsite. First year students live either at home, or in a variety of student halls that may be intercollegiate if you're not offered the only TCD-only Trinity Hall or Kavanagh. Irish people are famously very friendly. However first year can be tricky because the Dublin students often stick together by school/area, the ones from outside Dublin go home almost every weekend, and the North American ones travel all over Europe many weekends. TCD overall has a 40% overseas intake.
Med Students have an almost full timetable, so don't expect to party and excel.

I know less about UCL, but it has a has a larger campus (but without walls) , and1st year students are spread over London. I know several Med students who were allocated East London this year.

Can I suggest you do a bit more research because TCD Medicine is 5 years not 6 unless you intercalate, which is not mandatory (UCL intercalates and is 6).

Good luck.