Transferring university in 2nd year

[PopcornAndGummyBears]

Has anyone done this?

I recognise that there will unlikely be anyone who has done it in Ireland on here, but has anyone/anyone’s DC transferred uni & course after 1st year? How did they find it?

DD is currently in Dublin and is considering switching from one Dub university to another within the city. Different course too, but not totally off the wall choice - there is some crossover between the two. She’s struggling with the size of classes in her initial choice (300-400 per class) and as someone with (undiagnosed formally) inattentive ADHD thinks a course with a significantly smaller cohort might suit her better. The course she is considering was her second choice last year and has classes of approx 20 so almost every class is like a tutorial/seminar rather than a lecture with much more student interaction.

She is nervous about change though and I think feels like she’d be a failure to switch now. (We’ve assured her that’s not the case) Would love some stories of people who have done it and it’s been a success.

Has she actually spoken to the university she would like to go to to find out if they have any spaces and if she would need to start from scratch in year 1 again?

They have a transfer policy and she meets all the requirements, so it would just come down to spaces. She has emailed a professor at the department to request a visit but he has replied saying he is only visiting staff for this year so has cc’d her email to the head of department to get back to her. She has also emailed the academic registry for more information on a transfer as that is the email address given on the transfer policy online. If it’s not possible I think she’d just stay where she is rather than reapply for 1st year, (which she would get into as a late CAO applicant as her A level results far exceeded the points required for that course each year) as it’s a 4 year course and the idea of starting again with another 4 years just seems like a lot

As a Mum of a Uni Student with inattentive ADHD I'd try to persuade her to get a diagnosis and start using strategies to help with the ADHD.

Is there anything like DSA Ireland? DS gets a mentor once a week which has helped him cope.

Sorry, I know I wasn't answering what you asked

Thanks @CadyEastman - we have a close friend who is a child psychologist. She doesn’t do adult referrals, but has made it clear from what we have said, and from knowing DD that she is pretty sure she has it. She has given her strategies to use and we are also working with her to support what she needs.

She is super capable, so it’s really about helping her be as successful as she can be, and to enjoy the course more than she has this year as it has really just been the cause of a lot of stress and anxiety. Medication wouldn’t be a viable option and she doesn’t need extra time in exams or anything like that. (with a tight deadline or a time limit she’s absolutely fine) The biggest issue is zoning out in classes and struggling to maintain focus independently - she hasn’t really made any friends in her courses this year beyond superficial chats before and after class. A much smaller cohort would provide a level of accountability and community which she would find helpful simply because it’s much harder to be invisible in such a small class and she thrives on interaction/debate which would be much more prevalent in the course she wants to switch to.

Sounds like she's moving from somewhere like UCD to TU Dublin or IADT?

One thing to note is that as the years progress and students are given more optional modules to choose from, class sizes in UCD get smaller.

Also, I wouldn't assume that just because a class size is smaller, that the lectures or instruction style will be more interactive.

I've witnessed groups as small as ten sitting in silence, too awkward or embarrassed to engage with content in class. This post-COVID generation of students are struggling socially.