Irish Exams

The exam process in Ireland is very different from America. First, there is a lot more down time. At ND, we get a few study days then a week of exams. Here there is a week off before exams start, and the exams are over a two week period. That leaves a lot of extra time. Another difference is that at ND we take our exams on campus. At UCD, we take them at RDS, which is a good 40 minute walk from campus. I actually enjoyed the walk to RDS since the weather here has been gorgeous. It's really relaxing to just put on some music and walk before an exam. Exams are in a giant room that literally has 3,500 people taking different exams at the same time. It's a bit difficult to find your assigned seat since there are so many. For my first exam, I was seat number 712. A lot of ND kids complained that it's more stressful being in that testing situation since it seems like the SATs only a lot worse. It didn't really bother me that much. They are also very strict about not bringing anything into the exam room, which I guess is good. I have three more exams left, then I'm home.