Parents of Year 12s - exam time again! (oh no!)

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Just noticed we were running out of thread!

I'll ask dd muffin!
They must just show off their most amazing axxomodation, but that is very expensive!

EllenJane who used to post has a DS doing Maths at Warwick. She still posts on the uni thread we are on.

I might have to do a bit of cyber stalking

Friend went to Bath last week and said one room they saw was unbelievably tiny. Lots of mood lighting and wifi etc but no room to swing a kitten.

I've pointed out to DS today that there is no such thing as the bathroom fairy and if you have ensuite facilities then you have to clean them. It's pretty obvious but I'm not sure that it was something that he'd thought about.

We have feedback from Manchester..

The course looks "pretty good", they have labs full of fancy gear and the field trips are to interesting destinations.

The only thing DS isn't sure of is the proximity to home. It's less than a half hour journey door to door. He said he quite likes the idea of moving away.....we didn't look at accommodation as it is so close, however, my friend went yesterday and said the halls she looked at with her DS were quite tired and basic.

I wouldn't have a problem with tired and basic as long as it was cheap, tired and basic. Desk, chair, bed, wardrobe - it's all they'll be getting when they move out to private accommodation in year two.

The wardrobe units in the Owens Park photos are identical to the ones that were there in 1981 but there were no sinks in rooms back then.

Yep, got maths is hard!! We looked at 3 lots of accommodation, the cheapest I didn't like he kitchens at all, but the mid range much better. We all.were very impressed with the engineering course, was a lot yo investigate 2 departments in one day do didn't hear much of the music in the piazza.

Weve been to Liverpool today. The course looks good, we saw robots doing stuff, the staff all seem helpful, the accommodation ranges from cheap, tired and basic to brand new, shiny and expensive. If she goes, it'll be cheap, tired and basic for dd :) She liked the university, but the city might put her off.

DD liked Manchester and the course. She's come back really enthused and has remembered why she wants to go to uni.

She has also, thankfully, relaxed some of her criteria which should make everything less stressful.

DS1 has been in cheap and basic at his uni all year. Not so tired as they were recently refurbed. It's been absolutely fine.

Awesome - we only looked at one lot of halls at Liverpool. It was one of the new blocks on the campus so I'm assuming that would be the shiny and expensive ones? They were cheaper than the ones we looked at Leeds

I thought the accommodation was reasonably priced in Liverpool - I liked the fact they were smaller units but I felt the flats were claustrophobic. I prefered the houses, thankfully ds1 not bothered by that.
I have lately been a little concerned about the cladding etc and think I would like confirmation they are safe. That will have to be part of my input when talking with ds1 about his choices.
I'm a worrier though and always have the what ifs in mind. I'm pretty sure he will know his own mind though.

I was looking at pictures of Warwicks accommodation blocks to check for cladding

Glad its not just me then! Given recent events, I guess its something else we never would have thought about previously.
I've talked with a lot about dodgy landlords etc but I always assumed campus accommodation is safe.

dd and I are sat surrounded by prospectuses looking at course detail. It feels like progress.

Dd has her last AS exam tomorrow, finally! So M2 tomorrow, then she's got to do the mocks that everyone who doesn't do FM has already done.

The Liverpool accommodation did mostly look quite reasonable, but one block was over £200 a week (which we didn't visit but did see pictures of in the talk about accommodation), which seems expensive to me. I don't really have much to compare it to yet though as that was our first open day and I admit to not having done much research about costs yet. I know it's going to be expensive though, so I'm busy trying to save up.

£200/week?! There are many cheaper halls at Imperial! Good luck to your dd MrsAD

Yes I was shocked at that one, but most of the accommodation was cheaper than that, so they must have been the super fancy ones (the pictures did look nice, big room, double bed, ensuite, catered(which is obviously going to be more expensive)). Dd knows she won't be going to that halls if she decides to go to Liverpool (I'm hoping not, as I found the city too busy and crowded, so I think she would struggle given her anxiety issues)

Good luck to your DD MrsAD.

I think DSs was around £85 a week, no ensure, self catering. Includes insurance and WiFi.

He has acquired a food thief this week though!

Next year he is paying around the same for a room in a 3 bed house, including bills, broadband, TV licence and is also still covered by uni insurance. So it may not be too bad!

£85 per week was more what I was hoping for raspberry. I think I'll be singing the praises of the cheaper unis hoping that's what she goes for. I know she'd be quite happy at the same uni your ds is at, but she doesn't know what the Computing department is like there yet, only the physics dept.

Dd has last AS this afternoon S2. It is a bit of an odd situation as they are back to classes inbetween and also starting on UCAS stuff.

Rent does seem to be high in London for kings college one is £210 a week dd whole year is on a trip to Leeds Beckett tomorrow for a ucas convention
Question asking for dd
Dd likes the idea of doing sociology however school are saying don't because it's a degree that isn't taken seriously? How true is this

Do they really have to have individual TV licences in halls?

They do.....

We had a great visit to the Birmingham open day on Saturday. Everyone we met from the department was great - super friendly, and passionate about the subject. The admissions tutor was really helpful, and the whole place seemed filled with purpose, which was nice, and a marked difference from St Andrews, which she hated. DD liked the idea of a campus university, and we were really impressed with the library, and the whole new labs building that will be opening just in time for her. The bench is set high already!