Thread 30 Covid Cohort, Mad March Hareing Towards Exams

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn no offer here yet and we applied 8am Monday morning!

Good Newnames. I'm glad you had such a good day. I totally get the draw you Bath.

Ds has accepted his Notts accom offer.

@mummyinbeds Lenton&Wortley ensuite + and Lincoln ensuite + first and second and then Cripps, Derby, L&W and Lincoln shared bath+ in that order.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn which accomodation did your DS apply for. I think some might be slower than others. Don't panic ( easier said than done I know)

Just read a bit now and see everyone seems to have accommodation offers.

Blimey this thread moves so fast sometimes!

@mummyinbeds Wah, we haven't heard anything from Nottingham yet. DS said people at school have been getting them all day but he hasn't had an email. God I hope nothing has gone wrong!

@Heifer we had the same. It only said Rutland in the email. I did make sure we only agreed to 31 weeks though.

@mummyinbeds, @ChristopherTracy - when you accepted the offer - did it actually mention what building it was in?

In the email it states Rutland but on the website where you accept it just says

Your Accommodation

Location
University Park -
Room Type
En Suite
Catering
Yes - Food charges are included in the Fee Schedule.

and no mention of Rutland (although the amounts the same and dates given etc).

My dd seems to think that drop off will be a whole family affair. When I said I wasn’t sure if there’d be room for ds plus all her stuff in our (non-family sized) car she looked horrified - apparently he has to be there!

Ha good idea Christopher
I have just realised I am working away during the first week so may not be able to do it either.

There's an interesting bit in the ts+cs about bringing your own car / parking - "You must not keep a car at the residence, or within a two mile radius of the residence, except on the dates you move in and move out."
It does say you can get a permit but they are limited and cost £300, according to the website

I am going to lobby hard for DS' dad to do that @singingstones or hope that DS has got a car by then and can do it himself - my boyf at the time drove me to uni. Parents nowhere to be seen!

@crazycrofter Fyi I did DS's accommodation application at about 6am on Monday and he got his offer email on Wednesday evening, Broadgate Park, might see you there on drop off day @ChristopherTracy!
(🤞)

Ok thanks @ChristopherTracy - if they’re doing it in order of applications then dd should have heard!

@crazycrofter I think DS did it when he woke up so probably about 9am on that first day?

What time did your ds apply @ChristopherTracy? Dd has gone from thinking she wanted self-catered to saying now she definitely doesn’t and she’ll be gutted if she doesn’t get Rutland or Sherwood! Her application is still showing as submitted but no decision.

@22Newnames what was it he liked about Bath so much and how much does the course matter to him? Hope it all comes together for him once you’ve visited again.

We have just accepted our Nottingham accommodation offer and not paid the £250 deposit as well. DS got his first choice (Broadgate) so we'll see.

@Decorhate
Ah, I get the question now. Yes he definitely wants to work as an engineer, just no idea of role or industry yet. Mechanics is the part that interests him most though.

Yes, I think the course at Warwick or Nottingham would probably be best, but he will need to make that decision himself. Bath in his view, and mine to be honest, is by far the nicer university and City though.

I think sadly he needs time to let his dream fade before he can replace it with a different future.

@22Newnames Some engineering students don’t plan to work as engineers - eg they want to do a good STEM degree & then get a job in finance. Hence my question as it wouldn’t matter too much what the course was if that was the case for your Ds.

I have to say I am fascinated as to why mech eng is so popular in the UK, maybe it’s historical from the days when there was lots of manufacturing industry. Looking at the course modules at Bath I would say there is more overlap with the Civil Engineering course than the one your Ds has been offered!

If he’s really unsure about what field he wants to work in then the Warwick course might suit him better

@Decorhate his offer for Warwick is general engineering and Nottingham it's Mechanical engineering so that is yet another choice to make. The final two will be a combo of Bath, Warwick and Nottingham but in what order who knows?!

I asked about accommodation at the Nottingham day yesterday and said I was concerned a lot of it seemed booked up already. They just said that they guaranteed first years accommodation but not necessarily their top choices. DS is not ready to choose Nottingham yet so we have just accepted he'll get whatever he gets. Availability will change massively on results day and they also said they held back some accommodation for clearing anyway.

@Decorhate. yes this is exactly why he didn't apply for it in the first place. The email was emphasising the mechanical parts of it but it is run by the elec eng department so we're really not sure. Clearly there are a reasonable group of kids in the same position if they are doing a day specifically for them, all of whom will have wanted to do mech eng so maybe there is a possibility to skew it a little. I am still not sure it is for him and ultimately I think he will decide it is not for him but at the moment his heart is there and that's hard for him to leave. He's loved it since we visited last summer. It will definitely by a head v heart decision in the end.

As to what he wants to do exactly, no not really. DH is an elec engineer and works with a multi-disciplinary team and DS has liked his work experience there but what exactly he wants to do himself, I think it's a little early to say.

@22Newnames I’ll double check with Ds but I don’t think he knows anyone doing that one. Looking at the course modules I would say it is seems very heavy on the electrical engineering & not much overlap with the mech eng course so if he’s not interested in the electrical side it’s probably not a good alternative. Does he have any idea what sort of job he’d like to do ultimately?

@Oblomov22 DS accepted his accommodation offer this morning and didn't have to make any payment. First payment is due by 7th September and this is either a full term or £250 if they need to wait for student finance. There were various dates for changing your mind in the Terms and Conditions documents

You normally get a refund at most unis if you don't get the grades.

Not sure how it would work in your case @Oblomov22 if your DS actively chooses not to go. Check the details they send, and if in doubt contact the accommodation people - they are usually very helpful.

Re newnames and having to make quick decisions.
Ds1 says Nottingham accommodation needs to be confirmed by 12th. What happens if you later don't attend? Lose the £250 deposit? Some may not get the grades. My ds still has to decide if he wants to go to uni, or accept the BD0 job-apprenticeship.

Thanks for comments.

The course he has been offered instead of MEng Mechanical Engineering, is MEng Integrated Mechanical and Electrical engineering. Which may not sound wildly different but we had looked at it and previously discounted it as DS is not so keen on the electrical side (also why he did not apply to York). The email emphasises that they can do mechanical options in years 3 and 4 but essentially it is 50% electrical/robotics/systems which doesn't appeal as much. But he had his heart set on Bath, then Durham way above any others at all (obvs Durham rejection so this is his only option of going to one of his very favourites).

The one bonus is that the offer would be a grade lower at AAA (or AABB).

@Decorhate If your DS knows anyone doing the integrated mechanical and electrical or knows anything about it from the ground, that would be really helpful. It is a fairly new course (3/4 years I think).

@ChristopherTracy I guess the short timescale is because if this lot don't want these offers they can then give them to other people waiting. It is a bit annoying though, yep!

Having had a quick look at hotel prices, can't find anything in the centre of town for less than £300 for a night, so we will probably go back for the day, as we haven't seen inside the engineering department at Bath, just the outside and stayed there (and I went to Bath so easy for me to show him around the City). I think going for the day will emphasise to him how it's a whole lot further than his other choices (3.5 hrs on the train compared to 1.5hrs) so that is probably not a bad thing for him to realise either.

Of course all the above said, DS didn't even read to the end of the email to see about the specific in person event just for people offered this swap. I don't know how on earth he is going to cope in the real world when he has to do things for himself

But in good news, he seems to have found a study partner to work on chemistry with. His mock was a disastrous D, which turns out not to be so disastrous in the end as it was only an organic paper and they later did the physical paper which he got an A in. Him and his study partner are doing past papers together and they got an A in the latest organic one so it seems he should fairly easily be able to pull it round even though it is his most hated subject!