What is your locale like?
Dublin is ok as cities go. It has its good points and its definite negatives. The nightlife is one thing that embodies this. If you know where to go it can be great but there are also some places that just aren’t worth a second look, unless you want to spend your evening with a hen party from Nottingham. So that’s how Dublin is. Spend some time getting to know the place and searching out the really great parts of the city and you’ll be rewarded but if you don’t put this time in you’ll never really know the place.

Some of the less typical student areas can be the nicest to live in. There are areas of Dublin with real character that, though possibly a bit further from college, are worth trying out for the experience.

What kinds of sports facilities are there?
Hmmm sports, now that’s really not my thing unless I am sitting on a couch in front a TV with some beers. However there are some poor souls who subject their bodies to cruel and unusual punishments in a place called the sports hall and according to them the facilities are quite good. Maybe I’ll even visit myself…someday…

What are the cinemas like around your college?
One thing that has to be said for Dublin’s city centre is that there are not many places to see these new moving pictures. However what Dublin lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality. The seventeen screens of the UGC show a great mix of mainstream and slightly left field movies all watched from the comfiest of seats and with access to a bar in the cinema. The normal inflated food prices apply so if you intend to watch and munch you’d better have deep student pockets. As a plus however they do have a student discount on tickets and if you do intend to be a regular customer the unlimited yearly pass can be great value, especially suited to a Sunday movie marathon. At the other end of the spectrum nestled away in Temple Bar is the IFI, which does a great line in art-house and foreign cinema. Here you can see the films that all those hipsters name drop and if you do not have an aversion to subtitles their foreign language films can be a welcome escape from the mainstream Hollywood offerings. If you don’t feel like seeing a movie the IFI is still worth a visit with its ultra cool café. If there’s one place to discuss obscure Russian literature this is it. Don’t be put off by any pretentious poser types though this is a genuinely pleasant place for a coffee or light meal and one wonders why the fantastic enclosed courtyard space hasn’t been utilized more as a nighttime venue.

What's accommodation like? How expensive is it?
Open up any newspaper property supplement and it will not take long to find someone moaning about rising property prices and Dublin is where its really at for these. Rent is generally higher that anywhere else in the country even for student accommodation. Expect to pay the ‘Dublin premium’ and definitely factor this in if your planning a move to the big smoke. Of course accommodation ranges in price form the laughably high to the sometimes suspiciously low. The important think to remember here is that you do not get what you see, you get what you pay for. If an apartment is dirt cheap, in my experience there’s a very good reason. Most savvy landlords out there know that if they have even a reasonably decent property they can afford to charge a nice fat rent because the demand is there, so beware of bargains as there is generally something wrong with them! The average rent for a student place in Dublin seems to be in and around the €400-450 per month area again dependant on location and the number of people staying in it.

What's the "worst thing" a new student at your college can do?
I honestly think that the worst thing a new college student can do is being afraid to try new things. In fact that’s what college is all about. For most people college is the first time that they are out on their own in the real world. You’re an adult so you can do almost anything you can think of doing but if it goes horribly wrong you can still hide behind being a student! What more could you want? Show no fear!!

What's "the best?"
This answer should most definitely be - carry a health warning. This tactic worked for me, though it may cause others to become total loners. So what’s that advice that carries such a promising warning? Well my advice to new students in college next year is to go and try and meet new people and DO NOT cling to the group you knew in school. These school friends have known you for six years; they are not going anywhere. In fact they’ll probably turn up at your wedding even if you didn’t see them for the next ten years. So go out there into the huddled fresher masses and meet new people. Go out on nights with people you barely know. Go to all the class/year/faculty/other parties even if you are not in said class/year/faculty etc and be friendly to anyone who returns a smile. This will lead to two results. Firstly, you will meet enough people that in the following months of college you can be more selective about who you hang out with which lets you weed out the asshole. Remember they won’t seem like assholes until you’ve known them a bit. The second result is that you’ll start to meet the same people at lots of different events and realise that they are also using this ingenious strategy. These people will be the randomers who you know throughout college and it has been my experience that they can and do end up being some of your best friends!

What advice would you offer new students?
Um I think my advice would be the last two answers combined with an added dollop of ‘get involved’!