Pros&Cons of NUI Maynooth

TheAlkaline

I was looking to put NUI Maynooth on my CAO Application, and I would like to know good and bad site about this place.

I checked few topics and heard few stories about ghosts, sliced throat of priest, loads of fights at night, and good pubs.

But that's not enough, how is the actual life in the campus? Is the nigh-life and teachers any good ?
Also what is bad about this collage ?

Tell me your opinions and experiences so far. Thanks!
And please do not off-top too much...

Eric Cartman

Pro - if you like partying, its party central
Con - weekends and summer you may aswell go home as its a ghost town

Pro - excellent facilities
Con - except parking

Pro - very equal and open college
Con - this means that pro life and hardline political nutters will try force opinions on you

Pro - very easy to make friends
Con - lots of hipsters

Pro - lots of accomodation around
Con - off campus most houses are in terrible condition, overpriced and owned by miserly landlords who couldnt care less if youve no internet or your heatings broken

Overall its a great college and quite relaxed compared to most , a lot of great student support, it has its faults like any college , my biggest tips would be if you commute - dont go by car , if your coming to live here try and apply for campus as soon as possible

TheAlkaline

So far doesn't sound too bad.. Anybody else would like to share some information/experiences with me?
And thanks for reply Eric Cartman

PopePalpatine

I haven't come across the religious nutters once since coming here. That may be because all of my classes (except my maths tutorial) are on the North Campus, though.

Planemo

Night life is good during the week (though if you're commuting, the buses/trains stop at stupidly early hours so be prepared to sleep on a few couches) the weekend's dead though.
Very friendly and easy to meet new people.

Love the place but agree with Cartman, place is crawling with hipster filth

Thwip!

Eric Cartman wrote: »

Pro - if you like partying, its party central
Con - weekends and summer you may aswell go home as its a ghost town

Pro - excellent facilities
Con - except parking

Pro - very equal and open college
Con - this means that pro life and hardline political nutters will try force opinions on you

Pro - very easy to make friends
Con - lots of hipsters (Pro - Lots of targets)

Pro - lots of accomodation around
Con - off campus most houses are in terrible condition, overpriced and owned by miserly landlords who couldnt care less if youve no internet or your heatings broken

Overall its a great college and quite relaxed compared to most , a lot of great student support, it has its faults like any college , my biggest tips would be if you commute - dont go by car , if your coming to live here try and apply for campus as soon as possible

FYP

DB10

TheAlkaline wrote: »

loads of fights at night, and good pubs.

I would disagree on both counts. I'm not going to repeat myself but as I've said before the student offers on drink in Maynooth are non existent compared to most student towns/cities. I also found the prices ie 4.40 for Guinness ridiculous but it seems to be standard in Maynooth to pay 4e plus. On the plus side the admission fees to the nightclubs are for the most part reasonable especially if your early. Its also small enough so for the most part you wont need taxis if at all. In Dublin for example you will end up spending alot on taxis and entry fees most nights!

I wont comment on Maynooth at weekend as I've never went out then. During the week I have to say it is the safest place I've ever went out in. Even on big drinking days where people are drinking from early morning/afternoon, its still usually very safe. The atmosphere is usually a good one. I've been in certain places in Dublin and other towns where there is a bad vibe as soon as you enter and half a dozen rows every night.

In saying that if you act the bolox, the bouncers will have no hesitation kicking you out, probably because its quiet for them. I've been kicked out of roost and mantra several times, mostly my own fault. The bouncers are mostly sound lads though, up for a laugh most of the time. Basically keep your wits about you and you'll be fine, look for trouble you'll find it as with anywhere in the world. Best of luck

philologos

I really enjoyed my time at NUI Maynooth. I liked it being a small campus, and I liked the fact that it had a friendly feel to it. I enjoyed studying there and I found the lecturers I had for the most part extremely helpful. I met countless people I have the privilege of calling the best of friends there also.

I enjoyed the freedom of views on the campus, and I enjoyed engaging with people who disagreed with me and vice versa. Someone mentioned it was a con that there were a lot of political hardliners, there were a lot of pro-lifers on the campus. Maynooth is unique in the sense that there is a seminary right beside the campus also. I enjoyed getting to know some of the lefties a bit better even when I rejected their political ideology, in my philosophy classes I enjoyed reading and thinking about a lot of secular philosophy, some Roman Catholic and pagan philosophy also. Talking with people with whom I disagreed was hugely beneficial to me in thinking about what I thought and what I believed.

Maynooth for me was also a key place where I began to consider who I really was as a person. I became quite involved in the Christian Union on campus, and through that I met a lot of incredible people. I served on committee for about 3 years, in my first year as Bible study co-ordinator, in my second year as president, and last year as secretary and running the Bible studies again. During those 3 years I also met Christians who were involved in Christian Unions all around Ireland, and I also served with the Christian Union movement in the UK one summer. I made countless friends through this. It also gave me more courage to live and speak for Jesus on the campus. I'm thankful for the Students Union for giving me and others the freedom to be able to meet together. I know quite a few students who came to faith through this, and others who were built up and strengthened in it.

Perhaps I was one of the 'religious nutters' that PopePalpatine was speaking about, but I think that the Christian Union positively engaged with non-believers on the NUI Maynooth campus. I studied on the North Campus practically all my time.

I got to know some of the seminarians who truly were great guys. I used to talk with them about their move into the priesthood quite a bit. Although I disagreed with a number of aspects of Roman Catholicism as an evangelical Christian, I could still tell the sincerity that they had about their faith in Jesus and the sincerity that they wanted to serve their church when they went into ministry. I have a lot of respect to the guys training for the priesthood that I met there. In fact possibly more considering that Ireland is a post-catholic, and a post-christian culture now.

I'm thankful for a lot of things. Of course, I'm thankful to the university as well for giving me the start I needed to move on in terms of my career in software development particularly in terms of the computer science department, but I'm greatly thankful for what I learned in philosophy class also.

TheAlkaline

That is really interesting
Thanks for trying to help me out here!

Lenin Skynard

I never came across any "religious nutters" at all when I was there. Some of the soundest people I met were trainee priests.

Like someone else mentioned, parking can be a pain but you suss it out after a while. I don't think anyone mentioned computers, sometimes it can be a pain to get space for printing off papers, especially annoying if everyone's using it for social networks (was Bebo in my day). Library space can be tough to come by at certain times of year too.

The pro side constitutes too many things to mention really. It's an enjoyable place to go to and even if you don't live on campus, it becomes your second home. If you figure out the accommodation situation (on or off campus) there are a lot of good options, college is almost always a walkable distance. Couldn't recommend Maynooth highly enough tbh.

mickstupp

Just further to what philologos said (can't type too long, procrastinating over essays)... There's half a chance I was in the same Philosophy class as he was, and I'd say the seminarians I met in that class were among the nicest people I've met in the college. Obviously every group is different, but that bunch were a good bunch in my opinion. I totally disagreed with their stance on a number of issues though, and we had to very much steer clear of each other on things like abortion, but they were lovely blokes in general and I wouldn't discount them just because they're religious.

That's my point really. You can have fundamental differences with a person and still get along with them. Whether your differences are religious or political... Maynooth is good in that it allows you a voice. Free speech is good whether or not you disagree with what's being said.

Anyway... for me... very few negatives about the place. I love it. Lecturers are mostly lovely. People are too. It's not a cliquey place, if that's how you spell the word...? And due to the very wide mix of ages and birthplaces, I never really felt out of place.

Don't know anything about the night-life etc. as I commute... but I would say that it's perfectly possible to have the best time of your life here (as I have) without sacrificing your studies. I've met some of my closest friends here.

Now I have to stop procrastinating. Need 2500 words for Monday morning. BAH!

There's your CON - the requirement to write essays. BAH!

TheAlkaline

Thanks all for your replies, it is really helpful.
Now I can more/less make up my mind about choosing what collage I want to go.

Compton

You might want to learn how to spell first.

purebeta

Nothing is wrong with their spelling.

Paczini

Compton wrote: »

You might want to learn how to spell first.

Everyone has a right to make a spelling mistake...

TheAlkaline

Compton wrote: »

You might want to learn how to spell first.

All right, sorry for making such a serious mistake there.
Except the fact that English isn't my native language.

endacl

TheAlkaline wrote: »

All right, sorry for making such a serious mistake there.
Except the fact that English isn't my native language.

Add to that that you may be considering assembling a collage.

Pritt-Stick at the ready, spelling Nazis!!!!

:D