When to apply for residence

Wendero

Hi

My simple question is: If you apply for residence tomorrow, how great are your chances of getting residence (it would be my first year)? How big is the chance that you will get your first choice?

And, what applicant category should you choose, if you have never been to uni before? Foundation year, or first year undergraduate? I didn't get that one.

Would a twin room be better than a single?

/John

*Roisin*

Hiya,

I couldn't begin to give you a specific percentage but I can say that a certain amount of the accomodation is reserved for first years, which works in your favour! When you apply, as long as it's before the deadline of course, is irrelevant. If there are more applications than places, it goes to a lottery system...essentially the luck of the draw.

There is a section on the application form though where you can add comments, so if you were a special circumstance where you felt that you needed to be on campus, you should add that there. You should also contact the office itself though in that case so that they can help you as best they can.

As for the twin room or single room, it's down to what you prefer. It can be hard to share a twin room, but on the other hand it's cheaper, so you would really have to just weigh up your options.

Oh and you'd apply as a first year undergrad

Wendero

Hi and thanks for the answer:)

Oh, so you mean that if you apply in january or in, let's say, april, doesn't matter? In Galway it does. So it's a lottery then? Interesting. If you don't get an apartment, what to do then? I mean, you'll get to know whether you have an apartment in august, that means one month to find one if you don't. Isn't that hard? Besides, when does the academic year begin and when do you move in?

So the only good thing with twin rooms is that they are cheap, and that you won't be alone (means that you can have someone who listens when you whine about the paper thin walls in river;))?

Should you add if you have medical conditions that doesn't affect anything really when it comes to accomodation (or studying, for that part)?

Out of curiosity: What's a foundation year?:)

/John

*Roisin*

Yeah, it's a lottery. I suppose the idea is that a lot of people haven't really decided where they're going to go to University until nearer the :Leaving Cert. I know I changed my mind on the very last day. It seems the fairest way.

I suppose you could include a medical condition, but unless it would affect your studying or living conditions I don't think they'd use it as a reason to give you campus above others. Should you get campus they do ask you to register any illnesses with them, it's entirely confidential and would only really be for if you had an accident or that.

There's a housing list that comes out throughout the summer, with a list of available spaces from landlords throughout the village. If you didn't get campus, the best thing would be to get a copy of that from the Residance office asap and work between that and Daft to try find somewhere. It does seem a little late, but I've honestly never heard of anyone who doesn't find somewhere. You're at an advantage as well, as you're just looking for one room in a house and there are a lot of those. Second year students and onwards will take houses for the year, but they will often need one of two more people to fill the house as landlords will often only give them a full rental on the house.

Like I said, the twin room really is a personal thing. I've never shared a room and I know I just wouldn't be able to. I like my privacy and own routine. Other people I know loved sharing a room and it was how they made their closest friends. It really is up to yourself.

And a foundation year is a year you do to build up your qualifications to enable you to enter an undergrad...I think? Only time I ever heard of someone doing it was doing a foundation year in Mechanical Engineering to bring their maths up to standard to be allowed onto the Engineering undergrad.

I think I've answered everything...but might have missed something

Wendero

Well, it's great that it's a lottery. I guess 95 % of your students don't choose maynooth before they've realised they won't get into UCD, which probably is in july... No, I'm just kidding:) Your university seem to have pretty good class, being Ireland's fourth best university. What made the jump from 7th to 4th?

I wouldn't mention it to get an apartment, I don't want to live on my medical condition. If I wanted to, I could collect disability for the rest of my life. But who wants to do that? I want to do something, and I know I can do something. Oh, and I'm not in a special school/class or anything, I'm perfectly normal when it comes to studying. I was mostly thinking because the CAO also asks about medical conditions. It's not like I'm in wheelchair or something, so... should I mention it anyway?

So, second year students can't just find a single room, or share? Is that what you say? How come?

/John

*Roisin*

There's many reasons that it jumped to fourth place and even more reasons why it was named the Irish University of the Year.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/sunday_times_university_guide/article4831936.ece

Ian Coxon said: "Maynooth's excellent results on research funding and graduate employment plus its impeccable record on encouraging access to groups normally excluded from third-level education are three of the key factors that have led us to vote it The Sunday Times University of the Year for 2008.”

Also, I didn't mean that second year students can't get single rooms. By second year, most people have friends that they want to live with, so have to take a few rooms in the same house. Many time there will be 4 people that want to live together, but they can only find a 5 bed house or so, leaving gaps for others to fill. Or that there are 4 people wanting to live together but they can only find vacancies for 3 rooms etc. You'll be in a lucky position that you're just looking for one room.

Wendero

I see what you mean:) Personally I'm not very much of a partying person, not the kind of guy who goes out and meets friends every now and then. Now, this may partly change of course, but I have a strange feeling I'll be living single my second year too;)

So, your research departments have improved? That's great to know. I wanna study at the Finance and economics program, so if you know something about it, please let me know:) Still, I mean, you beat Galway (which seems extremely popular) and Limerick (another bigger city and uni)... strange:) But congratulations:)

/John

Wendero

Btw, which residence would you say is the best if you like studying more than partying? I know more or less all students party, and they have their right to do so, just thought that maybe students at a certain residence could be more "extreme" than at the others.

LeixlipRed

If you're in with first years they're going to party no matter what. So be prepared for that. Maybe Maynooth is not the college to come to if you're averse to that sort of attitude. Because it's the prevalent one here.

Wendero

First years always party, it doesn't matter if the place is named Maynooth or Galway. They party in Sweden too, believe me;) Main difference is Maynooth is smaller, seems to be "on the marsch", has a program which covers my two main interests (finance and economics) etc.

I don't think you can avoid partying or seeing people party, but, let's say River is much worst than Rye (in the sense that River has "wilder" people), then choosing Rye might be a good idea. The only way to avoid first year partying is to study at distance;). Oh, besides, first year you only need to pass the courses, so if you can't study very well because people are playing music loud all the time, at least you can get something better for the second year when grades really matter.

/John

*Roisin*

I would recommend River rather than Village, just in a personal opinion, if you want some peace. Village tends to have a more concentrated level of first years and so is louder. That's not to say that you won't have parties on in River but really it isn't so bad at all. The residence office have a very good system in place where you can report excessive noise and have it shut down.

Rozabeez

If you want to live on campus and study, then study during your daytime breaks in the apartment, or in the reading room/library or another facility.