Howdy there, I'm from Trin! First year, living on res. I have multiple essays and a test that I should be preparing for, so naturally I am going to spend a very large amount of time giving you an overview of my experience so far.
The first thing I will say is that the stereotypes are true... sort of. As with any group of people, you can't make any generalizations about Trinity's population - there's a large range of personalities and people from all walks of life here. Okay, all super comfortable walks of life. Everybody that I have met/seen here comes from at least some fairly substantial money (ever heard the "Trin, Trin, your daddy got you in" cheer from other colleges?), and that's one thing that I would say has an impact on the atmosphere in this college. The Trinity College "culture," as you can tell from one glance at anything related to Trin, is very much centred on high-society-ish traditions, and even though it's not as bad as it could be, it's still pretty bad. Our big college events are formal balls with $50 tickets, a strict dress code, and lots of wine. We wear robes to dinner every Wednesday. Our mascot is a bishop. You get the picture. Beyond that, re: stereotypes, what I've observed so far is this: a ton of Trin people are really cool and pleasant and interesting, but on the other hand a ton of them are super snobby, obnoxious, insensitive, and, yes, elitist... basically, they're everything other colleges think Trin is. (Case and point: some dick recently decided it would be okay to share excerpts from some of the less successful Trin applications on the college Facebook page so everyone could have a good laugh at them.) The latter group also happens to constitute the bulk of people who participate in student government at Trin and beyond, which is why we have the reputation we do. It's also why things like this infamous decision to continue using exclusionary language happen - because it's a certain kind of Trinity person who shows up to the Trinity College Meeting. To be fair, I feel like I should mention that there are ongoing efforts by the student heads to make Trin a more inclusive and safe space, including an anti-hazing initiative and a survey of student experience, but there's still a sizeable contingent that remains bizarrely opposed to equity training and the like. The main complaint you're likely to get from anyone outside the hardcore Trinity group is that Trin people are way too into tradition, to the point that it's harmful to a lot of members of the community. And also it's really annoying. If International Relations is your thing, though, Trinity is the place to be - not only because approximately 95% of the people you'll meet here are studying the same thing, but because we have a ton of events with some pretty big names (often Trin alumni) working in international relations who give talks, host round tables, etc. You're bound to meet some useful contacts here, and you'll have no shortage of IR-related discussion partners during mealtimes. We're not bad when it comes to "introducing you to all kinds of people from across the world," either - there are international students here from all over the place. I would warn you that the Trin One program seems to be particularly hellish - I gather the work is interesting, but very, very abundant. All of that said, I wouldn't worry too much about the community - your experience here depends wholly on who you choose to spend your time with, and if you don't want to be involved with the less pleasant side of Trin, then you don't have to be. You'll definitely meet people here who are not at all like the stereotype. Except during frosh week, the entirety of which you will spend listening to your upper-year frosh week guides making esoteric/generally unfunny jokes at the expense of all the incoming first-years. But that's just frosh week. I don't know if you're planning on living on res, but with the exception of one horror story I heard from a poor soul living in the basement of St. Hilda's, res here is pretty nice. The only problem I've had with my room is unreliable heating, but nothing a bunch of blankets couldn't fix. They also have cleaning ladies come clean your room once a week, so... that's a thing. It's pretty weird. The food is (relatively) good, in my opinion, although they have a fairly limited repertoire. And also, Trin is super pretty. So it's all worth it! Okay, I have procrastinated enough. I hope this is helpful, at least a little bit! Congratulations on your acceptance :-)