How To Choose An Irish Uni

Is your child struggling to decide on an Irish university?

Heidi Sulcas uses these questions to help students make the right choice.

The “How to Choose” question is universal, whether looking at universities in the Republic of Ireland or in any other country in the world. Getting “left brained” about the process is a good place to start. The actual decision, I believe, is best made once you have a short list of universities and can visit each campus to see how you feel about the place you will call home for the next one to four years.

An undergraduate and postgraduate will have slightly different lifestyle criteria for their particular stage of life and age. A postgraduate might be more focused on honing and specialising in skills needed going forward, where an undergraduate is still trying to build their skills – hard skills and soft skills.

Ireland has seven public research universities and five technological universities, two institutes of technology and a range of private universities that serve niche markets. Bear in mind that employability in Ireland is very good for those coming out of these institutions (HEIs), and be sure to check that preferred HEIs have connections to your child’s industry of preference.

FIRST STEP – MAKE A LIST OF WHAT’S IMPORTANT TO YOU:

• Availability of lifestyle activities that you enjoy outside of academics

• Practical degree versus library or research-based

• Size of campus – physical and population

• City or urban campus location versus campus town

• Geographic area of the campus

• Accommodation availability – on/off campus

• Size of international population on campus

• Class size – accessibility to professors

• Employability afterwards

• Access to study abroad

• Access to internships and work placement

• Cost/availability of scholarships

Then put your criteria in a spreadsheet and rank them. Now, you know what you are looking for and can use the spreadsheet as a checklist for each institution’s website that you investigate.

NOW, FIND WHICH IRISH INSTITUTIONS OFFER YOUR DEGREE

Qualifax is a search engine built by the Irish government specifically to help students find training opportunities as well as programmes in HEIs. It shouldn’t be used in a vacuum – it is a good starting place with lots of information, but further research into the institutions and South Africans’ access to those institutions will be necessary.

The database holds information on 5 000+ undergraduate and postgraduate degrees offered in Ireland.

Take a few minutes and see which University is offering the course you are interested in.

In a search bar, type: www.qualifax.ie

• Go to the “Student” tab (top) and click

• Go to “Course Search” (left side) and click

• On the left menu, go to “Higher Education (CAO)” for undergraduate; or, on the left menu, go to “Postgraduate” for Master’s and PhD courses.

• In the “Course Title / Keyword” box, type in what course you are looking for and press “Search” at the bottom. This brings up the Irish Universities offering that course.