Incoming/New CAO Students

New Students

2021-2022

Room booking for incoming first year undergraduates for the academic year 2021-2022 will be held on the first working day after the CAO results which are usually published in August. Please also review information about Living in the Scéim Chónaithe if you wish to consider living in the Irish Speaking area - information is on https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/incomingnew-cao-students-sc-im-ch-naithe.. All those commencing a first year undergraduate course whether as a transfer, a deferred place or directly from secondary school will book at this time.

Before booking a room in Student Residences we ask that you consider carefully your own needs, all your other options including commuting, your budget and how well the Student Residences will suit you, particularly given the restrictions that may be necessary due to the ongoing Covid19 situation. Please read the "Before Your Book" section to assist you with your decision Please note there is no option to book a full apartment (to share with friends for example). Booking will be done per room and each booker will choose their own room. If you are travelling to Campus from outside of Ireland you may be required to restrict your movements on arrival to Campus for a period or up to 14 days (or in the Government Mandatory Quarantine depending on the country you travel from and what countries are on the Government List) before engaging in academic activities on Campus and depending on Governement Travel Restrictions in place at the time of your arrival.

If you are seeking to book a room via Scéim, Access Recommendation, Sports Scholarship, Northern Ireland, or as an Academic Scholar you will be contacted by the Residence Office by email once your selection has been confirmed to us. Alternatively contact us on residence.office@mu.ie to get confirmation. If in doubt book your room in the general offering for CAO students in the first instance.

Bookers choose their own room at the time of booking and there is no facilitiy for group bookings. The online booking event is competitive as there are always more bookers than rooms available (about 4 times). So please prepare well in advance and focus on your own booking. If you attempt to book a room in the same apartment with a friend this may indeed slow you down and gives rise to the risk of not getting a room. We do not recommend it. Living on Campus is about meeting new friends and because the residences are all within minutes of eachother in the residential quarter of the North Campus it is easy to meet up with old friends also.

The general booking will be done online as a first come first served offering as usual. The link will be made available on the landing page of the accommodation web pages under the heading "Booking Links" www.maynoothuniversity.ie/accommodation

Once you check into a room in Student Residences you will have access to that room for the full duration (7 days per week including all teaching breaks like reading week or Christmas etc.) of your Licence. We do not offer discounts or refunds for times when you do not occupy your room such as weekends (if you go home) or holidays you may take away from campus. The Licence is a rental agreement with a start and end date and will operate as such. If you do not occupy your room or you are absent from your room for a period of time there will be no reduction in the costs. To find accommodation with a pay as you go option you need to consider Home Finder options homefinder.service@mu.ie or Book a Room as you need it with MCCA (Maynooth Campus & Conference Accommodation) front.desk@mu.ie.

In Student Residences all rent is paid up front before each semester begins. There is no option to pay weekly or monthly as you would in a rented house in the Private Sector (found through Home Finder Service). You will need a bank card (debit or credit) to make your payments. We do not offer invoices or accept cheques or other forms of payment including cash. If you are travelling from outside Ireland you need to ensure that you have the use of a bank card that works internationally.

From time to time we may need to ask you to change rooms. If that becomes necessary we will prepare a like for like exchange in terms of the room type. This does not happen often but it can occur occassionally and we would like you to know and understand this in advance.

Before You Book

Please carefully consider these points before your book:

You may need to arrive up to 14 days early to complete your responsibilities relating to Government Travel Restrictions before commencing academic activities if you are travelling from outside Ireland - further details https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/travel.html#Restrict-movements-travel
Rooms in Student Residences are offered on a full 7 days per week basis for the full academic year (or the full duration of your Licence) as normal - this includes all holiday or "no teaching" weeks like Christmas or reading weeks for example.
In response to the risks associated with Covid19 residents will not be able to host visitors to their apartment from outside the Campus residential community - no overnight guests and no daytime casual guests.
Consider whether a community environment where shared kitchens and (in some room types) shared bathrooms will meet your needs particularly during the Covid19 pandemic
Choose your preference of apartment type after you have carefully read the information on the different types of accommodation available and the costs associated to living on campus.
Take into account the methods or payment and that Student Residents rents are paid a semester in advance and there is no "pay as you go" option in Student Residents.
All apartments are non-smoking. Therefore smoking is not permitted in the living areas or bedrooms of the apartments, or in the hallways of the buildings. If you smoke, you will have to do so in the open air outside the building. Smoking "out the window" is not allowed.
We regret that the on-campus accommodation is not a suitable environment for families and children, and so no children can be accommodated (16yrs and younger)
Diversity: Apartments are mixed and you can expect to live with or near students of any gender, any nationality, any age, any course and at any stage of their course. However we make the effort to allocate rooms according to student categories as far is possible so most rooms for postgraduates are together for example as are First Years.
Some students may wish to live on campus because of the impact of a medical, welfare or mobility issue. Further details for students is available here.
Do your financial planning in advance, taking into account that you are charged for 7 days a week for the full academic year with a maximum of two instalments August and January anually. Payment dates and rates This year and because booking is likley to be later than usual there will be a very short time interval between the day to book, the day fees fall due and the day of your move in. All may happen possibly within one week. Please arrange your funding in advance so that you have time to draw down loans or make transfers from accounts to your Bank Card account, bearing in mind that all payments will be made online via Bank Card only (no ebank transfers, cash, cheques or invoices can be accepted).
Refunds for periods of absence from your room will not be given. If you do not or cannot occupy your room for a period of time consider whether giving notice of termination of your Licence to Reside and moving out is appropriate. You are more likley to get some of your rent back this way but not until another student takes over your room. The exceptional arrangements that were put in place during Covid19 in 2020 are not a precedence for future years and relate only to the very specific challenges faced by students during that time.
Living in a community with other students is great and Student Residences will create opportunities for you to meet life long friends. However it can also be very challenging living with people you do not already know and who may have different customs or expectations to you. Think about how ready you are for these challenges and how well you will cope.

Additional Process for Published University Schemes

Incoming/New CAO students who catergorise themselves in the following categories should follow an additional process for their own category:

Sports Scholars (check with the Sports co-ordinator of your sport for what is required)
Students with Additional Requirements/Disabilities - speak with the Access Office
Scéim Chonaithe – Irish Speaking Students - email Oifig Na Gaeilge <oifig.nagaeilge@mu.ie
Northern Ireland Students or those who have been awarded an Academic Scholarship should email residence.office@mu.ie when you have been offered a CAO place.

How the booking process will work on the day of Booking

Application Form

The booking form will appear on the Accommodation Home page on the "Booking Links" icon when we next open.
The online form of booking is the only one accepted. Paper, email, personal callers, telephone etc. applications will not be processed.
Please ensure you use a laptop or desktop only for booking on the day as the website is not compatible with a phone or tablet.
The format of the application form can be found below:

How the Application form will work on the day of Booking
On the day of booking the application form opens at TBC(IST) on a first come first served basis. The first group of students to click on the form and based on a time and date stamp generated by the system (the time stamp will be in milliseconds as demand is high when it opens), will be given automatic access to the form for booking.

Not all students who gain automatic access to the application form are guaranteed a room.
All other students who click on the link will be placed in a Queuing system behind the first group of bookers. For example if you are number 1 on the queue you are potentially the 501st person to click on the link (as judged by the booking engine).
Should any of the first group of students not complete the booking, the first students in the Queue will get access to the booking form and so on until all the rooms are booked.
The chances of booking a room from the Queue are low, especially if you are a higher number.

I am in the Queue, how will I know when all the rooms are booked?
Once all the rooms are booked a message will appear on the Queuing screen on your browser to advise all rooms are fully booked.
Important: It may be the case that this message does not appear on your screen if your browser settings do not allow the message to update or if pop up's are blocked on your internet browser. If this is the case or you are unsure whether to remain in the queue, please check on the Accommodation Office homepage HERE where we will publish all messages. Please do not call the Accommodation Office during booking as we will be unable to answer.

How will I know if my application was successful?
Once you receive access to the application form and choose a room, you will be given 15 minutes to make payment of the non-refundable booking fee of €500. On completion of the payment, a message will appear to advise that the payment was successful. Where a successful payment is made a transaction number will appear on your screen and a confirmation email will be generated to the email address you put on the booking form. Please note that when the booking is complete the timer may still keep counting down. However once a successful payment has been made and a transaction number received the accommodation is secure. Should you wish to confirm your booking, please log into your self-service accommodation account the login details of which will be in your confirmation email.
Important - It is very important to input your email address correctly in order to receive a confirmation email. To ensure that the confirmation email does not go into spam add residence.office@mu.ie to your contacts.

Please note we will not be available by telephone until the afternoon at 4.00pm on the day of booking. However ASK will be open and you may email residence.office@mu.ie if you have a query.

Vacancies/Waitlists/Cancelations - Incoming/New CAO Students

We do not operate wait lists.

Please check the website for information on Expression of Interest in Vacancies and Scheduled booking days (usually every Monday if there is a room vacancy from 1 October onwards but this may vary - always check the home page www.maynoothuniversity.ie/accommodation under the heading "Booking Links" for the most up to date inforamtion).

Typical Time Table for booking Campus Accommodation for CAO Students

Booking Day	The First Working Day after Round 1 CAO Offers are made in August - Booking Fee is payable on the day online using a bank card.
CAO Offers	Bookings not matching a CAO Round 1 Offer on the Booking Day are invalid and will be cancelled without reference to the booker. It is very important to input your CAO correctly for this reason.
First Semester Accommodation Fees Due	The due date will be advised on your room offer email which is sent automatically to you once your have booked a room on booking day, the details of which are dependent on room type booked and date of arrival. Please note that if bookings are in Auigust again this year the booking fee and the accommodation fees will both be due within one week of eachother at best. Please ensure that you have taken that into account in advance as check-in is not offered to residents whose fees are outstanding. We advise that you gather your funding well in advance of booking so that you are clear on your accommodation budget.
Check-in	Is likely to be within a short time after booking - maybe just one week and some students may need to come earlier if they need to self-isolate due to travel outside Ireland.

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