Cork, second largest city of the state of Ireland, is located on the south coast, 160 miles south west of the capital, Dublin. The greater Cork area has a population in excess of 200,000. The city is a busy seaport and is the home of a large number of industries including electronics, pharmaceuticals, brewing and food processing. The surrounding environment is as varied as it is beautiful. Cork is ideally situated at the head of the inlet of Cork Harbor with the sea just to the south, mountains, hills and river valleys to the north and east and the well-known Lakes of Killarney only one and a half hours drive to the west.
There is a good mixture of educational, sporting and cultural interests in the city. The University College Cork (UCC) has around 13,000 students and offers a wide variety of course options. Students are directly enrolled in the University system and are considered Visiting Students.
ACADEMICS
SJU students are admitted to University College Cork (UCC) as Visiting Students. Visiting students are admitted for a period of one semester or one year. Please keep in mind that a Visiting student is not being admitted to a program leading to a degree, diploma or any other award from UCC.
University College Cork offers a wide range of courses in most subject areas. While the academic year is divided into two teaching periods, some courses are taught over the full academic year. This means that a student wishing to spend a semester only at UCC does have a range of options from which to choose, but that courses in some departments cannot be taken by students who will not be spending the full academic year at UCC. In some cases, it may be possible to attend the first term (Autumn term) of a particular full-year course and then be given a final examination or a project at the end of that particular term. This has been the case for Food Marketing courses offered at UCC.
The majority of Visiting Students attend UCC enroll in Faculty of Arts courses. However, it is possible to take courses in other disciplines as well. With few exceptions, courses offered are the normal degree courses of the College. The subjects offered in the program for the Bachelor of Arts/Commerce are:
Accounting, Archaeology, Celtic Civilization, Economics, English, European Studies, Finance, Folklore, Food Business, French, Geography, German, Greek, History, Irish, Italian, Latin, Mathematics, Management, Management Information Systems, Marketing, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology and Spanish.
SJU students should register for 5 courses during the semester. Students are required to pre-register for courses prior to arrival in Cork. You must make your initial course selection at the time of application. Any course you wish to take at UCC must be approved by the appropriate department at SJU. If you are having difficulty choosing courses from the UCC catalogue, please make an appointment with the Study Abroad Advisor, who will assist you in your course selection. Upon arrival in Cork, your course selection is finalized. You do have the option of changing your course selection after arriving in Cork. To view a list of UCC courses that SJU students have taken in the past please go to the SJU Academic Value Sheet for Cork. The academic value sheets list courses that SJU students have received approval for in the past.
For the Fall semester, students going to Cork may enroll in the Early Start Program. This program, unique to UCC, gives the visiting student an insight into the nature of Ireland , past and present, and the manner in which the modern and the ancient may be examined side by side in an integrated program. Students can choose from 6 different programs. The intensive pre-session takes place during the month of September. The regular semester starts in October and ends in mid-December. In the Spring, classes begin in early January and end at the end of April. Please note that examinations generally commence in early May and are expected to be completed by early June. Students studying at UCC for the Full Academic Year or the Spring Semester must sit for normal end-of-year examinations.
For further information on course offerings at University College Cork, visit Cork's website and look under the heading 'Academic.'
HOUSING
Students must complete a separate Accommodation Form once they have been accepted to the program. Accommodation is available, on a first-come first-served basis, in a number of UCC owned and/or managed apartment complexes. It is strongly recommended that students book accommodation before arriving in Cork. There are a variety of lodging options, descriptions of which can be found on the UCC Accommodation Office website. Most of the housing is in apartment style dormitories and there are several of them near campus - most within walking distance.
REQUIREMENTS
- GPA Requirement: 3.0 (GPA's between 2.8 and 3.0 will be considered if, for example, a student who wishes to study History at UCC has good grades in history or a related topic but an overall GPA of less than 3.0 because of lower grades in an unrelated subject).
- Students must be in good academic and disciplinary standing.
- Students should have junior status and have the approval of the Center for International Programs.
COSTS
Students will remain registered at SJU and pay SJU tuition for the semester or year they will be studying abroad plus a Continuing Registration Fee of $100. Tuition rates are assessed to a student based on the student's primary matriculation at Saint Joseph's University as determined by the academic policies of the University.
Saint Joseph's University will then pay University College Cork for the tuition portion of the program. Students will be responsible for all non-tuition fees associated with this program. To request a copy of the Financial Information Sheet which outlines additional estimated costs for this program, please send an email request to: cip@sju.edu
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Students are required to submit all of the following application documents to CIP before the deadline:
1. SJU Study Abroad Application
2. UC Cork Application: copies available in CIP or on their website: http://www.ucc.ie/international/ (under 'US/non-EU students' click on 'application procedure') you will need to choose classes (modules) and list them on the application. Please refer to Cork 's website for class lists.
3. Two Faculty Recommendations- Use the SJU Academic Reference Form
4. CIP will obtain a copy of your official transcript and forward it to Cork on your behalf ONLY after we receive your completed application materials and your application is approved by our office.
Applications that have been approved by our office will be forwarded to Cork for their review and final approval. Approval by the Center for International Programs does not guarantee admission into the program.
You should begin to think about getting a passport. At this time a visa is not required for entry into Ireland, but you will need to register with police upon arrival. If you do not already have a passport go to the following site to apply for one: http://travel.state.gov/passport/index.html
If you already have a passport check the validity dates . Your passport will need to be valid for 6 months after the END of your program