Student Guide to Ireland – Admission Consultant in Kerala

Education System

All levels of education in Ireland are free for Irish people and people who live in the European Union. This also includes going to college or university. International students, on the other hand, can’t use this perk.

The Central Applications Office (CAO) is the main way to get into undergraduate courses (both regular degree classes and honours degree courses). So, people who want to go to college can apply through the CAO instead of sending separate applications to each university. In Ireland, school starts in September for the fall term and in February for the spring term. Some universities may also take students at different times of the year.

The best universities in Ireland are, in no particular order, Trinity College, National College of Ireland, University College Dublin, Griffith College, National University of Ireland Galway, Waterford Institute of Technology, IBAT College Dublin, Maynooth University, Cork Institute of Technology, and Dublin City University. Cities like Dublin, Limerick, and Galway are home to many of the best schools in the country. The most popular classes for Indian students in Ireland are language and literature, business studies, medical classes, nursing, and social sciences.

Safety in Ireland: It’s not dangerous at all to travel through Ireland. Pickpockets could be the biggest threat because they could just take your bag. This is a risk everywhere in the world. Aside from that, people of Indian descent can feel safe in the country because “racist-hate” crimes are rare.

Weather: The Atlantic Ocean has a big effect on Ireland’s climate, and the warm ocean currents make the weather mild. The usual temperature in the spring and summer, from May to July, is between 64°F and 68°F, or 17°C and 20°C. During the fall (August to October), temperatures range from 57°F to 64°F (13°C to 17°C), with September being the warmest and sunniest month. During the winter, which starts in November and ends in March, the temperature goes as high as 46°F (7.78°C), with January and February being the hottest months. Aside from a few cold weeks, Ireland doesn’t get much snow.

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Indians living in Ireland

A large number of Indian people live in places like Galway, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, and Athlone.

Accommodation

First, you have to decide if you want to live in a place that is run by the university or if you want to live with a private owner. If the university is in charge of your housing, you can choose to have it prepared or do it yourself. With catered lodging, your meals are made for you, and you know roughly how much each meal will cost.

If you know what you want, the housing office at your university will be able to tell you what kind of housing is available. This is where you should start. If you want to rent from a private owner or if the university you want to go to doesn’t have anything for you to live in, the housing office should be able to give you a list of private properties and landlords in the area.

No matter where you decide to live, you should know your financial rights and obligations. Most of the time, you’ll be asked to sign a lease, which you should read carefully before you put your name on.

Orientation

International students have to go to orientation week, so make sure you get there before it starts. This is when you will learn about the university and what it has to offer. You will also sign up for classes. It is very important that you read the guidance that the college gives you. The guide shows each step of how to get into a school.

Activities

In addition to sports, colleges offer extracurricular events that give students a lot of different things to try. All colleges have music, drama, science, and literary clubs, and there will be chances for outdoor education and other fun things to do. College life includes going to plays and concerts, as well as places like art galleries, museums, religious centres, historical sites, and scientific companies and projects.

Requirements

For each course, you need to have at least a 60% grade point average in Standard XII. Students who get around 50% can choose from foundational and diploma courses. Before beginning a degree programme, the student should have been 18 years old. It’s important to remember that even though the standards for getting into Irish universities are lower, the quality of education is not. So, you should carefully work on your skills over the next few years to make sure you can handle the high level of schooling.

These are the things that need to be sent in:

• Academic Transcripts: Mark Standard X, XII, and (if appropriate) bachelor’s degree sheets.
• Scores on the Internet for the TOEFL or IELTS
• If you’ve worked before, you’ll need two letters of recommendation (LOR) from an employer or manager who knows you well and can speak to your professional skills.
• Purpose Statement (SOP)
• Academic Resume
• Portfolio (for students who want to go to school for art, design, or building)
• Others (certificates and accomplishments at the state and national levels, as well as interests outside of school)
• Evidence of money
• Health care coverage
• Your passport copy

The educational institution or a notary should translate photocopies of these papers into English and certify them.

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Admissions process: For first-year courses, Irish universities accept applications through an online method called the Central Applications Office (CAO).

You will have to sign up for an account on the CAO website and give them some basic details, a scanned copy of your documents, your TOEFL or IELTS score, and application fees. Through this story, you will learn about the steps of the application process.

Application Fee: All schools require you to pay an application fee when you apply. The amount varies by college and course, so check with each college to find out how much their application fee is.

Steps: The most usual steps for getting into a school are:

1. Look for schools and classes.
2. You can get information from schools and websites.
3. Reduce the number of places on your list.
4. Take the TOEFL or IELTS English tests.
5. Write a mission statement and ask for letters of recommendation.
6. Sign up with the Central Applications Office.
7. Apply to the schools that are right for you.
8. If asked, show up for video interviews with the schools that chose you.
9. Apply for a study visa if you are accepted.

Statement of Purpose: Your Statement of Purpose (SOP) tells the college and admissions officers about you. It is always written in the first person and explains why the applicant wants to go to a certain college. It needs to show why you are perfect for the college and why the college should take you. The style of writing could be official or informal, but it’s important to keep in mind that it should also show who you are.

Students who want to go to college are also expected to submit essays. Essays are a very important part of getting into college. Students may have to write one or two articles, and they may also have the choice to write a few more. Topics like job goals, strengths and weaknesses, skills, experiences, and why you want to go to a certain school are common.

LOR: A Letter of Recommendation (LOR) is a reference letter written by a third party about the qualities, characteristics, and skills of a prospective student to suggest him to a college in terms of his ability to do a certain job or function. The third person could be a professor, a direct boss, or someone else.

Intake Seasons

There is only one big time to enrol at an Irish university, and that is in September. Some universities also let students in for the month of January.

Find out which universities in Ireland accept late work.

Language Exams

Standardised language tests that are needed to get into college are the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Both tests have different layouts, frameworks, and ranges of possible scores. All of these tests are different in different ways, but many schools will accept the score from either one of them. So, it’s up to the student to choose which test to take.

Exams Given More Than Once: IELTS can be taken as many times as you want. TOEFL can be taken as many times as you want, but you can only take it once every 12 days. Before you can schedule your next test, you have to wait until you get your grades.

Exam Fee: The fee for the IELTS is Rs. 14,000, and the fee for the TOEFL is (roughly) Rs. 13,531.

The cost of living in Ireland mostly depends on where you choose to live and how much you go out with friends. The euro is the currency used in Ireland. Some of the most important things for an international student to know about life in Ireland are:

• The rent for housing (on or off campus)
• Food and grocery items
• Utilities like power, water, internet, etc.
• The phone bill
• Textbooks and dictionaries
• cost of going back to India by plane

Other things that may be different for each person are:

• Dinning out
• Travel and vacation
• Car rental and car insurance
• Cable TV connection

School Expenses

The average cost of college tuition in Ireland depends on the school, the course, and the city where the school is based. Tuition costs an average of between €10,500 and €30,000 per year. This amount changes depending on a number of things. For people who live in the EU, there is no tuition fee, and the entire education is free. However, foreign students are expected to pay for their own courses. International students can also look into the many grants and awards that are out there for them.

Living Expenses

An international student in Ireland needs between €600 and €1000 per month, on average. Prices are very different in Ireland’s big cities and small towns. Dublin is the most expensive place to live.

Medical Insurance

The Irish immigration service requires all foreign students to have at least basic insurance that pays for medical costs in case of an emergency. When you apply for a study visa, you have to show proof that you have insurance. Most likely, your college will be able to help you meet the standards for health insurance set by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS). Many schools offer group health insurance plans that are much cheaper than individual plans. The yearly cost of this policy’s premium is likely to be between €500 and €1000.

Education Loan

Criteria for a student to be eligible: The first thing you need to do is find out if you can apply for the loan or not. All banks follow the same broad eligibility rules, which are:

• You should be a person who lives in India.
• You must have a good score in school.
• You must be trying to get into a professional, technical, or other course of study. Most schools say that the course you choose should be job-oriented.
• You must have been accepted into a foreign college or university.
• You must be 18 or older to get the loan. If you are younger than 18, your parents can get the loan for you.

Course Eligibility Criteria: Not every course offered abroad qualifies for a student loan. The education loan can be used for the following types of classes:

• Professional or technical courses for jobs that are offered by well-known colleges after graduation
• MCA, MBA, MS, or even diplomas after high school

These classes could be taught by foreign colleges or universities that have been given permission by the state and national governments.

Amount of loan: If your total fee is INR 10 lakh, the bank may offer to loan you 80% of that amount. You will have to pay the other 20% yourself. This amount is called the gap. The most a bank will lend for studying abroad is usually around INR 20 lakh. If your education costs INR 30 lakh, you will have to take care of the rest of the money on your own. Some banks charge a fee to process transactions, but others do not. It could be a set amount or a certain portion of the total loan. So, if the bank charges you a 1% handling fee, you will have to pay that extra cost.

Documentation: You will need to show the university’s letter of acceptance, which says that you have been chosen for the course, as well as the list of fees. To show your academic record, you would also have to show the mark sheet from your last qualifying test.

All banks have different documentation standards, so you should check with the bank first.

Repayment: You don’t have to pay anything back until the study is over. If the student gets a job within a year of finishing the course, the payback should start as soon as one month has passed from the date of the job.

If you don’t get a job within a year of finishing the course, you have to start paying back the loan, whether you have a job or not. After the payments start, the loan is usually paid back in 5–7 years. If the student can’t finish the course in the allotted time, he or she may be given up to two years to do so. Most of the time, you’ll have up to 10 years to pay back the loan.

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Conditions

To study in Ireland, you will need a study visa. Before you apply, remember that you need at least €7,000 in your bank account when you apply for a study visa. This is how much it costs for a foreign student to live in Ireland for one school year. Also, you need to show that you, your parents, or a sponsor will be able to pay at least €7,000 for each year of your studies on top of the course fee.

Process

To get an education visa, you’ll need to:

1. Pay the university the first part of your school fees.
2. Get your papers and copies of them ready. (You can see a list of what you need for the visa below.)
3. Fill out the online form.
4. Pay a €60 application fee.

For the study visa, you should bring the following things:

1. A recent picture the size of a passport
2. Acceptance letter from a well-known Irish university that says you’ve been accepted for full-time study
3. IELTS or TOEFL test scores
4. Proof that the school fees have been paid
5. a bank account as proof that you have enough money (€7,000) to live in Ireland for the first year.
6. Proof that you or your parents or sponsor have at least €7,000 to cover your living costs for the next two years of school
7. Private medical insurance papers

Work permit

If a student is taking a full-time course and has a GNIB (Garda National Immigration Bureau) registration card, they can work 20 hours per week on the side. International students are able to work full-time, which means up to 40 hours per week during two set times. The dates are from December 15 to January 15 and from May 1 to August 31. The traditional summer and winter holidays fall during these times. Note that these dates are the same for all foreign students, even if their course is taught on a different schedule.

Visa for spouse

Most of the time, foreign students from outside the EU who are studying in Ireland can’t bring their families with them. International students’ spouses and children can apply to live in Ireland on their own, not because they are related to a student.

The Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Authority (INIS) could think about making an exception to this policy in some situations. For example, a student who is working on a Ph.D. (Level 10) and needs to finish in four years might be able to bring their partner and children with them.

• Get plane tickets.
• Buy insurance for trips and health.
• Set up a place to stay in Ireland.
• Set up a ride from the airport to your home in Ireland.
• Check the limits on luggage and customs.
• Finish all of the paperwork with your old school.

Get your papers in order and make copies to keep in your luggage and at home, such as:

1. Passport
2. Airline tickets
3. Travel insurance certificate
4. Letter of Acceptance by the Educational Institution
5. Key addresses and phone numbers
6. A bank statement showing proof of funds
7. Prescriptions for any medication you are carrying
8. Traveller’s checks—if applicable
9. Medical and immunisation records
10. Academic history and university transcripts

Homesickness: Most students will experience homesickness at some point or another. It could happen at the start of the year or a long way into it. We’ll get over missing home. Be patient. At least two weeks should pass. If you’re sad, talk to your friends about what’s going on. Don’t hide in your room, because that will only make you feel worse. Find someone on your counsellor’s staff you can talk to about missing home or other issues. If you call home often and for a long time, it might make you feel even more homesick. Most students who are homesick feel even more sad after calling home than they did before. This can happen at the start of the year or a long way into it. We’ll get over missing home. Be patient. At least two weeks should pass. If you’re sad, talk to your friends about what’s going on. Don’t hide in your room, because that will only make you feel worse. Find someone on your counsellor’s staff you can talk to about missing home or other issues. If you call home often and for a long time, it might make you feel even more homesick. Most students who are homesick feel even more sad after calling home than they did before. Try not to call home more than once a week. The faster you get used to college life, the faster your sadness will go away.

How to cook the basics: If you cook for yourself, you’ll save money. The price of Indian food in Ireland is high. It will also satisfy your desire to eat “your food” when you are in a new culture and don’t know what to do. Indian foods aren’t always easy to find in small towns, but most colleges have shops where you can buy most of the things you need to make Indian food. In Ireland, Dunnes Stores, Tesco, Supervalu, Aldi, Lidl, etc. are some of the most famous and easiest-to-get-to supermarkets.

Transportation: In big towns like Dublin, public transportation costs a lot. On average, a student bus pass for one month will cost about €105. Because of this, most people, including top professors, get around on bikes. A good bike will cost between €120 and €160, or you can rent one for €10 per month.

Placements

Most colleges and universities have career counsellors and classes that can help you improve your soft skills and find a job. Campus jobs, as they are known in India, are not a thing at Irish universities. Students have to look for work on their own; college only helps you get ready for the job. Most study programmes in Ireland include a job or traineeship.

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Work visa

People who meet the qualifications for the “Third Level Graduate Scheme” (qualifications at level 8 or higher) will get a 12-month extension, starting from the day they get their test results.

After that, you will need to use the “Work Permit Scheme” to apply for a work visa. This programme is for people who are not from the EU and live in places where there may be a lack of workers. At first, a work visa is good for up to two years. After that, it can be renewed.