Deferring nursing place

[Butby]

My daughter has got a place nursing but said she doesn't feel ready for university yet. She says she wants a break from studies and get a job or voluntary position nursing/care related. I really really want her to go as I've read you can't defer nursing so have advised her to call the university tomorrow to discuss how she's feeling, with the hope that they reassure her to take the place etc etc. I don't know what else to suggest to her and I'm worried if she doesn't go in September she won't ever

[titchy]

If she goes this September she'll get all her fees paid and a bursary. If she goes next year she'll have to get a loan for her fees.

She'd be an absolute fool not to go this year, unless she's changed her mind.

[Butby]

Well I've told her this until I'm blue in the face but unfortunately it's not as easy as this to change a teenagers mind. I would happily force her if I could lol. There's a couple of unis locally that have March intakes meaning she's get tuition fees paid

[Needmoresleep]

DD feels the same about medicine. I assume titchy is right about the finance and hence the need to go this year, and it sounds like good advice. However I can understand why a young person who is committed to a caring profession also finds it a bit daunting, especially if, like DD, they are young for the year.

DD is lucky that she has been able to defer her medical school place. She will probably do a ski season, followed by a Camp America placement in a camp for people with disabilities. It will give her the chance to catch breath after school (not helped by having been seriously ill last summer) and before embarking on a tough five year course.

Is there a way of unpicking what is causing your daughter to hesitate, and perhaps se if some of it can be addressed through plans for this summer. I think also in DDs case there were so many different hurdles to getting a medical school place that she ended up flat when she finally got one. After years of wanting it, the reality seems overwhelming. I think medicine will suit her and in a year's time she will be raring to go. In the meantime a doctor friend's advice was to take the place. If she found she hated it, and every year some do, it is easier to transfer out of medicine than into it. I assume the same applies to nursing.

[Mindgone]

I would tell her that it's absolutely her decision, and she has your full support either way. She will need to talk to the uni, and they would hopefully discuss pros and cons of each decision, and then I'm sure she'll probably decide to go this year, it makes so much more sense! She will still have 3 months of freedom!
With my two, I found I got the best results by giving my advice, then stepping back, and giving them space to make their own decisions. If you try to force it, she may rebel for the sake of it.
Maybe nursing is not for her.

[IAmAPaleontologist]

If she can do a March intake then that would be ideal. I understand where you are coming form regarding the finances having just qualified from an NHS funded course myself. However, I also understand your dd. The course is tough and time consuming. Your dd will not have the same university experience as friends doing other degrees. When school friends doing traditional degrees are spending long summer holidays together she will be doing 12 hours shifts on placement. When she qualifies she will likely be going straight in to work. I can understand her wanting the chance to have a break after school. Some places do let you defer too, I know various midwifery students who have deferred places.

I wouldn't let the finances worry you too much. It is an issue of course but tuition fees are not up front, she would just accumulate student loan debt like any other student. A few people in my cohort managed to maintain a bit of part time work too though of course you don't get long holidays to work in but then again you don't get long holidays to spend money in either!