If SU President Shaun Conaghan at St Patrick's College in Drumcondra is to be believed, going there should be the best 3 years of your life. Renowned for it's social life, mad nights out seem to come as standard with St Pats.

Introduce your college/university?
2,500 students, arts, education and masters degrees. Great friendly atmosphere in the college and deadly social life. Best three years of your life.

What’s the best thing about your college/university?
The students' union, especially your new President. The ratio of lads to girls, clubs and societies, rag week, freshers week and Christmas week.

What’s the worst?
Hangovers. Getting up for Thursday morning lectures.

Are the facilities up to scratch?
Computers and ATM facilities are up to scratch but there is no female
Doctor yet, but were working on it.

What's the grub like on campus?
Not too bad, food menu is a bit repetitive but there is an unreal coffee bar with muffins etc.

What’s the social scene like around the campus? Decent college bars? Good atmosphere?
St. Pat's is renowned for its social life, mad nights out come as standard with the college. Quinns, cat and cage and coppers are all hot spots and we are currently in the process of arranging a new free entry nightclub for Pat's students on Wednesday nights.

What kind of clubs and socs can you join? And sports clubs?
St.Pat's has deadly men’s and ladies G.A.A clubs. We reached four
All-Ireland finals last year and their is a great history of young intercounty players passing through the college such as Paddy Christy, Shane Ryan, Nadine Doherty, Rory Kavanagh, David Henry, Richie Power and Caomhinn King; to name but a few. Other popular societies include; soccer team, trad. society, drama society, yoga and aerobics amongst others.

What about gym/sports facilities?
Good soccer and GAA pitches and reasonable changing facilities, however to be honest due to the reasonably small size of the college the gym equipment is quite limited but again we are putting pressure on the head of the college to expand the gym.

What's the story with accommodation?
There are roughly 210 rooms available on the college campus and preference is usually given to freshers. Contact Gay Campbell in the admissions office at St.Pats College for more details. Off campus accommodation info can be obtained through the accommodation link on the students union website at www.stpatssu.ie. We also recommend www.daft.ie, which I found very useful.

What’s the town/city like? Good atmosphere/nightlife? Is there a lot to do there? Is it safe? Is it easy to get around? Any insider tips?
Drumcondra is a really nice friendly area, and there is loads to do around
the city outside of college. You can go to matches in Croke Park, concerts in the Olympia or the Point etc. Shopping around city centre is good and it is really easy to get around. There are plenty of buses that will take you into town for EUR1.35. Buses to the Drumcondra area include 11, 11a, 16, 16a, 3, 41, 41a. Dublin is generally safe, just don't walk around the city with a big innocent country head and you should be ok.

What’s the cost of living? Is part-time work easy to come by? Anywhere in particular that is known for hiring students?
Northside prices are rising all the time but it is still reasonably cheap by south Dublin standards. The average student is paying between 75-90 Euro weekly. Spar, Tesco and the local pubs have all been known to take on students for part time work.

What's the worst thing a new student can do?
Miss out on fresher week activities and not take the opportunity to meet new people.

What's the best?
Go out on all organised nights out for the first 2 weeks. Approach and meet new people because everybody is in the same situation, Join a club or society, drink cheap drink and don't miss Wednesday and Thursday nights.

What advice would you offer new students?
See previous questions and don't worry about attending lectures for the first 2-3 weeks. Spend this time getting to know the new people around you as you'll be with them for at least the next three years.

And finally. Any other useful stuff you would like to add?
College life is all about getting involved. Join a club or society, go on nights out and make the most of it. Oh and maybe consider studying twice a year to get the degree.