Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Education

Join the discussion on our Education forum.

university for ds

59 replies

redsky · 01/03/2005 17:51

we have started looking at universities and courses for ds 17. We live in Surrey. Ds would like to study Russian and History at uni. Question is - how far away is practicable? Do they have to clear their room in halls at the end of each term? Ds is considering Leeds, Sheffield, or even Scotland but I don't fancy either him or us having to drive for over 4 hours each way. Part of me says he is old enough and sensible enough to decide himself and part of me says he doesn't have a clue what life is like outside his boarding school and he may find uni quite tough and wish he was nearer to home. Any thoughts please????

OP posts:
mumeeee · 02/03/2005 18:16

My DD will be 18 in April and she is going to universitie this year. She is going to do Zoology at Cardiff and although this is our home city she is going to stay in halls, her own choice. Ordring food for your DS would be over the top they have to learn to fend for themselves sometime. My DD would be embaressed if we did that for her. She went open days at 3 different universities and they all expected her to have at leastone parent with her.

mumeeee · 02/03/2005 18:17

My DD will be 18 in April and she is going to universitie this year. She is going to do Zoology at Cardiff and although this is our home city she is going to stay in halls, her own choice. Ordring food for your DS would be over the top they have to learn to fend for themselves sometime. My DD would be embaressed if we did that for her. She went open days at 3 different universities and they all expected her to have at leastone parent with her.

tuesdayafternoon · 02/03/2005 19:27

Hi, I graduated from Leeds Uni last year and am still living in Leeds, I loved both the university and the city, and would definitely recommend it. (I am Janh's dd1 by the way, there aren't two of us!)

I think that in terms of attending open days and getting a general "feel" for a university/ city, he would be better going on his own, although as has already been suggested, you could take him there, then leave him to his own devices and have a look round yourself. I found that at the open days I attended on my own, I asked a lot more questions and was more willing to talk to other people.

Leeds University itself is between 5 and 15 minutes walk from the city centre, but the accommodation varies enormously, from the on-campus halls thatYorkiegirl lived in, where you can literally roll out of bed and into uni, to Bodington, where I lived, which was massive, with brilliant facilities, but 4 miles out of Leeds - with traffic, that meant it took about 45 minutes to get in and out of uni! And led to a couple of missed lectures, I have to say, simply because I couldn't be bothered to spend an hour and a half on a bus to go to a one-hour lecture.(sorry Mum!)

Where I'm from originally is only about 40 miles from Leeds - just over an hour in the car and about 2 hours on public transport, and I loved the fact that I could decide to go home on the spur of the moment, but loads of my friends were from further afield and they never felt that they were too far from home as Leeds has really good public transport links with the rest of the country - Leeds to London on the train is just over 2 hours.

Sorry, I've gone on for ages! but if your ds has any further questions about Leeds, or universities and open days in general, I'd be happy to try and answer them.

katzguk · 02/03/2005 19:50

just to address the balance can i say Sheffield Sheffield Sheffield

Its great here, both DH and i did undergrda at the uni, DH did history and loved it.

The halls do kick out at the holidays but it think you can pay to keep your room or in self-catering (which i what i did) you can the room from sept - june. If he can't cook don't worry the chippie in broomhill does fish and chips for about £2!!!!

Tetley · 02/03/2005 19:54

Another Leeds graduate here!! I still live here too as it's such a great place!

BadHair - I overlapped you by a bit - I was at Leeds Uni from '87 to '91. I lived in Henry Price in my first year (on campus, but self-catering flats - which I found best for flexibility, but I think a lot of lads prefer catered for their first year!).

I think open days are essential for you to get a feel of what place is right for you. I loved Leeds as soon as I got here & felt at home. I didn't get that feeling at other places I visited. Usually open days are well organised, with a programme of events for the day, so you don't wander aimlessly! You get to see the campus, meet some staff & get to talk to current students too.

I work at Leeds Met Uni now and can confirm that there is a lot of SEN support. If a student needs help they see an adiser & get 'registered' with Disability Support. They then get the help that they need, such as extra time to do assignments, writing workshops, extra time in exams etc.

bee3 · 02/03/2005 20:37

Sorry to interrupt thread, but Tetley, I was at Leeds Uni 86 -89. Also in Henry Price for the 1st year (flatE11). Wasn't it fantastic? I loved my time there. Also knew straight away after open day. It just felt 'right'.

Tetley · 02/03/2005 22:23

This is all the small world stuff now, isn't it?? I was in D3 high, Bee.

I keep lurking on the 'what school did you go to thread, just in case someone went to the same school as me, but I haven't dared to post yet

redsky · 02/03/2005 23:52

WOW MNers you've really excelled yourselves tonight. These replies are hugely helpful.

tuesdaypm - big, big, thanks - will get back when I'm not under the influence of a glass or two of wine on an empty stomach.

Hiccup hiccup - bedtime methinks!

OP posts:
redsky · 02/03/2005 23:55

sorry i forgot to thank you too mummee. cardiff appeals to me. (but I'm only thinking of the travelling)

BTW dh went to a presentation at dh's school this evening about applying for uni - so he's come back with more info too.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page