Student accommodation

BY H. KUBO, M. MIYAMURA, J. TREILLAUD

On campus

If you want to live on campus, DCU Campus Residences Ltd. offers three choices for incoming students. You can choose among Larkfield Apartments, Hampstead Apartments and College Park Apartments. Each accommodation has sets of 5 rooms and 1 dining room with a kitchen, so a maximum of 5 students can share one flat. In addition, each room has a study space and access to the Internet. If you drink a lot and oversleep the next day, don’t worry! Each apartment is located on Campus, so you can go to every classroom from your room within 5 minutes. 

In fact, Larkfield Apartments are only open to first year students and the other students (including Erasmus students) can choose their room between Hampstead and College Park Apartments. Perhaps it is very lucky that Erasmus students can’t live in Larkfield Apartments, because some unfortunate students who live in Larkfield Apartments say it is like a prison! Such complaints seem to come from its narrow size. As for Hampstead and College Park Apartments, I conducted research and the comparison is as indicated below.

College Park Accommodation by H. Kubo

The size: In general, the rooms of College Park Apartments are larger than those of Hampstead. However, you can select the rank of the room. In Hamstead, you can live in a single ensuite room or a superior ensuite room. In College Park, you can choose not only these two types but also a deluxe bedroom. The deluxe accommodation has a TV. However, it might be a bit difficult to get a deluxe room because it is determined by the result of a draw.

The price: Bear in mind that the price of the room depends on its rank. In general, Hampstead is cheaper than College Park; the former would be €4,234 and the latter €4,568 for the annual rent. At any rate, you might think it’s a bit expensive to live on Campus. However, the price already includes the deposit and energy bills. 

Tips: The dryers in College Park are €1 cheaper!

The nationality: It is said that there are more Irish students in Hampstead than in College Park and more International students in College Park.

In my personal opinion, some students who live with Irish students seem to have difficulty in their lives. Irish students often have parties in their flat and sometimes it might be too noisy in the middle of night. However, how about just thinking of such parties as good opportunities to make friends? They would be perfect opportunities to make friends with native speakers of English, and also you can hardly ask for more to experience REAL IRISH CAMPUS LIFE!

 Off-campus

Though the life on campus has many advantages, it is not the only accommodation available when you study at DCU. Some of them are situated just near the university while others are farther away. The two main student residences are Shanowen Hall and Shanowen Square. Both are situated on Shanowen Road, it takes 5 minutes to go to the university from there. You can book them on the DCU website once you have registered. So they are full of international students and can be really nice, depending on your relationships with your roommates. But there is still a majority of Irish students there and you will be immersed in an Irish student life. 

Accomodation on Shanowen road by H. Kubo

There is a system of a single room with bathroom for each person, with a kitchen shared between 4 or 5 persons. The rents are similar, with electricity fees (as long as you don’t exceed a certain amount) and Wi-Fi internet included in Shanowen Hall (working more or less well) and available for €80/semester in Square. You have to be aware that the rent for the whole semester has to be paid in one go (around €2200 according to the semester, plus a deposit when you book your room) and that it may not be the best choice if you are waiting for your scholarships or planning to get a work to afford the price of an accommodation. Otherwise legend has it that Shanowen Square throws the best parties, however Shanowen Hall is far from being quiet, especially on “Toxic” Tuesday nights.

These residences try to make you rush by telling you that accommodations are booked quite early and that it may be hard to get something else. However there are possibilities to find other flats. The Gateway Student Village (15 minute walk from DCU) offers rooms from €99 a week and seems to be appreciated by the students living there. Hazelwood (30 minute walk  from DCU) has a similar rent (€110/month with electricity and internet included) but pray for having an apartment full of nice flatmates as the system of electricity needs good relationships as you will need to share electricity cards (problems seem to occur very rarely though). Don’t be afraid to go and ask in some houses to let: a student got a house shared with 3 other people for €430 to €520 a month depending on the season and the need of heating. The house is much more comfortable than the usual student flats, though it is much farther from the university (near the Phoenix Park).

If you feel like you can handle arriving in Dublin without a place to stay for the whole semester/year, you can find one once you are there. Nonetheless, make sure to have a place for the week or at least a few days when you arrive, such as a B&B or a cheap hostel, as it is safer and cheaper, but do not stay too long either as it is still more expensive than the flat you will get and less appropriate for study.