DS has applied to a "no cooking" university. He loves cooking. This is madness, isn't it?

[Thesearepearls]

Just that really. DS's first choice university (we've just done the application for halls) is a no-cooking university. The cooking facilities comprise a toaster, kettle and microwave. There is no cooking allowed for the entirety of his university course.

If you'd asked me what DS would do in a future life I would have given you two choices. The first is singing (he was a cathedral chorister and loves classical music). The second is that he would be a chef. He is absolutely gutted that he won't be able to cook. He cooks for us all the time. He's really keen on it and he is beyond disappointed that the next three years of his academic career will involve zero cooking.

It's total madness isn't it?

I think lots of students (and parents) are really nervous about the prospect of university and those nerves can come out in odd ways. One of those ways can be hyperfocussing on one issue, so that it becomes a really big issue in their heads.

I agree.

The OP's job is to listen to the fears, whilst talking up the opportunity and reassuring that it will be OK. If the DS makes the grades then he deserves to be there. There will be loads of others 'like him', he is on a fantastic course at a fantastic university. The cooking facilities are a shame, but there are ways round it (making friends at other colleges). It is fine for the DS and OP to be nervous, but they need to not make a mountain out of a molehill re cooking.

I repeat, the OP has form for sneering at "working class pupils" and how academic her ds is etc etc etc.

I would suggest he asks if he can help out in the kitchens. Then he will be doing some volunteering with under-privileged, under-educated commoners.

Kitten , that I would agree with - it may be an issue which just reflects a wider anxiety. I do wish OP's son well and hope my posts are taken in spirit intended.

I can't believe that people are saying just because you're offered a place to Cambridge you don't have to go. That's like saying just because you've got the winning ticket you don't have to claim your lottery prize.

Of course he's going to take up his place. He'll have an Oxbridge degree and wide open career choices. It would be sheer madness to do anything else.

Not if it’s going to make him miserable Bluelady. There are other options. An Oxbridge degree isn’t the be all and end all.

I agree that the expectation of no cooking is absurd nowadays (and I'm pretty sure my cousin bought a tabletop hot plate to use at Cam...).
I went to a uni where you could opt for catered (although still with a kitchen) which meant 18 yr olds who'd been sheltered got fed for first year - then you entered the 'real world' of house shares.

I think the whole no-job, no-car, no-cooking thing is somewhat about maintaining the ancient ideas of Cam uni being a privilege for those who needn't worry about such things as much as it is about the importance of study.

I can't believe that people are saying just because you're offered a place to Cambridge you don't have to go. That's like saying just because you've got the winning ticket you don't have to claim your lottery prize

That's not people are saying. The analogy is wrong.

It would be that the ops son has won the lottery, but doesn't want to claim it because one of the rules is you can't cook for half the year in full week blocks. And he just can't imagine not being able to cook for 8 weeks.

So he has a choice, accept he can't cook for 8 weeks or don't claim the ticket.

There is no way on earth OP is not sending her ds to Cambridge if he gets the grade. No point even discussing it!

Absolutely mirialis - unless he thinks up a better get out than the current one.

Not read the full thread so apologies if someone has already suggested this but could he have a slow cooker? And as a previous poster has said, definitely get a George Forman grill. How else can he make bacon sandwiches? Sounds mad to me I've never heard of this before. Surely they don't expect them to live off microwave meals and pot noodles for 3 years!??

I think the whole no-job, no-car, no-cooking thing is somewhat about maintaining the ancient ideas of Cam uni being a privilege for those who needn't worry about such things as much as it is about the importance of study.

Rubbish! Some no-cooking is for pure health and safety issues. And my experience at Oxford was that most people had access to cooking facilities.
No Job - the terms are 8 week long, and you honestly don't have time to work if you are making the best use of them. Working in Vacations is fine - and sometimes there are holiday jobs provided through the University, there are also hardship and other grants for real need.
No car - there is limited parking for anyone in either Oxford or Cambridge - a lot of staff can't get parking. And everything is so close you don't need one. A car is often a hassle at any University, but worse at Oxbridge. ( I don't know any rule against cars, you just can't get parking.)

I am inclined to think the no-car thing is because there’s nowhere to fucking park. Cambridge traffic is bad enough, if the students had cars the whole city would be gridlocked. As for the no-job thing, I knew one person who had a term time job (he wasn’t skint but he had champagne tastes without the budget...) and his degree work suffered enormously, to the extent that he got a 2:2 or 3rd (I forget which) when he was capable of at least a 2:1. It wasn’t worth it...

There is no way on earth OP is not sending her ds to Cambridge if he gets the grade. No point even discussing it!

The final decision is his. And if not cooking is really going to make him as miserable as op makes out, it would be silly to go.

Although I suspect the OP is blowing this out of proportion given that this is the subject next her and ds bond over.

Maybe there is cookery society at Cambridge. There is at my DD’s university, where about 50% of first years are fully-catered.

Cambridge has the slowest car speeds in the UK as it is, as well as a parking nightmare. If students were allowed cars the whole thing would come to a grinding halt. Students don't need cars in Cambridge anyway, everything they could possibly need is within about half a square mile. And ffs it is not a 'no cooking university'!!!

To add, as a NatSci I had timetabled lectures and labs pretty much 9-5 every week day, plus Saturdays 10-1, then 3 or 4 evening supervisions each week. I had to write an essay or complete an examples sheet for each supervision, each of which required many hours of independent study. This is why term time jobs are discouraged!

Shortstuff you can't be serious about not taking up a place at Cambridge because he can't bear 8 weeks of not cooking three times a year for 3 or 4 years . Madness! Cooking is my greatest pleasure in life, but honestly.

You don't need a car as a student at Cambridge. there's no parking. It is flat. Everyone cycles. And, as you aren't running a car, you don't need a part time job either. Win-win.

A lot of the older colleges don't have kitchens because they weren't built like that. Lots of staircases round courts, and no obvious place to put them either.

Neither do they have ensuite private toilets/showers either like lots of the modern universities.

Shortstuff you can't be serious about not taking up a place at Cambridge because he can't bear 8 weeks of not cooking three times a year for 3 or 4 years

No, I think the OP and her we need to get a grip, suck it up and he needs to go.

BUT If this is really the huge deal that the OP is making it out to be, then his only other choice is to not go.

I think this whole thing is ridiculous. Not going to a good uni, because you can't do your hobby for 8 weeks at a time is stupid. Making such a big deal out of it, is stupid.

It's my analogy, Shortstuff, and I think it's perfectly apposite. I think you're being quite ridiculous, you make it sound like an Oxbridge place isn't a big deal. It is. It's huge and life changing.

Fair enough, sorry for misunderstanding! It does all seem a storm in a teacup.

Most Oxbridge colleges don't have the space in college to safely equip kitchens without a significant fire risk. If you don't like it, send him somewhere else. Nobody is coercing him to be there.

It's a really big thing for him, being able to cook

Clearly not that big a thing for him otherwise he would have checked it out properly before applying

This is the most complex stealth boast ever

I don't think so. He doesn't sound very bright to not have researched cooking facilities before applying. Common sense surely??

Bluelady you are missing my point. I think he should go.

My post 09.28am outlines my point.

I still think you analogy is wrong. It's the OP that feels her ds can't possibly work with the rules outlined. If he can't there is only one option. Don't go. Which would be stupid.