An error on the Trinity Hall application website has left students confused, leading them to believe that the length of submissions was to be 250 characters instead of 250 words.
The application website instructed students to write a statement about why they want to live in Trinity Hall and what they can contribute to Halls life. However, instead of being given 250 words to write the short statement, students were informed they only had 250 characters – only a couple of sentences – to make their case for accommodation.
Every year, Trinity Hall receives over a thousand applications from first-year students and the statement is an important component of a competitive application process. Not realising the error, some applicants submitted just a couple of sentences.
In an email statement to The University Times, Anne-Marie Looney, the Accommodation Officer in Trinity Hall, said: “We are aware of this issue and have requested an urgent fix from our software supplier. The form will still actually accept 250 words.”
“Students who have applied and who have not made a detailed personal statement are invited to send a further email to Trinity Hall, which will be added to their application”, she added. “This error was not apparent to our office because it only occurs after an individual has set up an account.”
Speaking to The University Times, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) Communications and Marketing Officer, Úna Harty, said they were “trying to make sure as many people as possible aware of it”. Today, she posted in a Facebook group for first-year students to warn them of the error.
While Trinity Hall staff quickly realised the error, the typo on the application is unable to be fixed while the page is still active. Instead, Trinity Hall have had to rely on TCDSU and the JCR to inform students of the mistake.
Newly accepted Trinity students were able to apply for their place in Trinity Hall on receipt of their offers to the college on Monday.
Trinity Hall houses 997 students, with 649 places set aside for first-year students and 250 for visiting and overseas students. It remains a very popular accommodation option for incoming first years, with many more applications than there are places. To promote the accommodation this year Trinity Hall JCR released a video celebrating Halls.
