[dropcap]D[/dropcap]ublin has ranked 31st out of 125 cities in the fifth edition of the QS Best Student Cities ranking. This ranking is a jump upwards of six places from the previous year.
Dublin is the only Irish city to rank on the listings, despite Ireland hosting eight world ranking universities, of which Dublin contains four.
The rankings are decided from several factors, including the likelihood of employers to target the city for recruitment, student diversity, and popularity among international students.
One such international student, Marie Pszczolkova from the Czech Republic, chose Dublin for a love of Irish culture. “I decided for Dublin because I wanted to try to live in Ireland as I love the irish culture and nature, get to know it and meet irish people. I fell in love with the country during my
WWOOFing experience in summer 2014. When the opportunity to go for an internship came to me, I started to look for a place in Dublin because I thought there is a better chance to find it in Dublin than anywhere in Ireland,” Pszczolkova said.
While Dublin was desirable, Pszczolkova lamented the cost of Dublin as a study location compared to the Czech Republic.
“I wasn’t thinking about the huge rents,” said Pszczolkova “But I got a scholarship for it so I survived”.
An Irish student, Ethan Browne from Co. Wexford, also chose Dublin for his studies, in particular DCU for the change in diversity and pace from his home town.
“Well I chose DCU because it was one of the only places that had the course I wanted, but Dublin’s a great place to study because you have everything you could want, and it’s in walking distance. It’s also nice knowing the nearest gay is less than half an hour away, it’s a nice change,” Browne said.
Dublin’s strongest score in the rankings goes to the student mix/diversity category, highlighting Dublin’s strong mix of diversity and international students. A city must have 250,000 students to qualify.
Likelihood of students to stay post-graduation also contributed to the ranking. Of Dublin students surveyed, almost 43 per cent surveyed said they wish to stay after graduation.
Conor O’Doherty
Image Credit: Kris Parker