What’s this DCU course all about?? Here’s how you find out ….

Posted on December 8, 2023 TeamDCU are out and about in schools all over Ireland talking to students between September and May. One of the most important pieces of advice we can offer students is to RESEARCH what they will study on a course they are interested in and also, to show them the multiple ways they can get information to help them make an informed decision.

We cannot stress the following enough:

⎯       Don’t choose a course based on the title of the course or what you think you know about it.

⎯       Don’t choose a course based on the points.

⎯       Don’t choose a course based on where your friends are going.

You must do a bit of research yourself and have a good interest (if not passion) about what you will be studying for the next 3-4 years.

 

It’s all about the Course Structure

The following steps will guide you to view the ‘COURSE STRUCTURE’ for DCU courses:

Example: How to view the course structure for the BA in Journalism, course code: DC131

Once you know the course code, you just need to add it to the website address for DCU (www.dcu.ie). Therefore, www.dcu.ie/DC131 will bring you directly to the webpage for BA in Journalism.

The menu tab offers you the following options:

But you are looking for the word ‘STRUCTURE’ right in the centre of the menu bar.

Click into ‘Structure’ for an overview of what you will study each year.

Underneath the overview, click into:

For more information on the course structure click here

Here you will see an outline of the modules (subjects) you will study each year with clickable URLs bringing you to a nice description of what that module is all about.

The table also shows you if the module is Exam based or Continuous Assessment (CA)

Semester one is the 12 weeks before Christmas and Semester two is the 12 weeks after Christmas.

If you spend half an hour reading about the modules along with the other information offered on the webpage, you will have a clear picture in your head if this is the course for you. If something is unclear, you can email the chairperson of the course (contact details are also available on the webpage) or [email protected] or talk to a student from that course on our Unibuddy Chat to Students platform.

Another great resource is the DCU CAO hub bringing you information via multiple media forms. Whether you want to read our flip book prospectus or listen to a podcast with DCU students talking about their courses – you could listen to it on the way to school and there you have 10min research … DONE! Or you could watch an information session from the ‘Discover your Future Webinar Series’. Whatever way you take in information, the DCU CAO hub has it for you.

The aim of this advice is to avoid you starting a course, then 6 weeks in you discover ‘this is not what I thought it would be’ and you end up hating your course or just putting up with it. We want you to have the best DCU experience possible and that will happen if you invest in yourself and put in the time and effort to finding out as much as you can about your courses of interest and being happy in your CAO choices!