New Batch of Year 13 parents this way!

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Hopefully this thread will appear on TIO! No need to use it til our old thread is done, but at least we have it for when we are ready.

Is anyone going to Durham open day tomorrow? DC still battling with PS, hoping to get it nailed over the w/e.

we went last year. loved it.

ursula hope your DD enjoys Liverpool Uni. I have one there that has very much enjoyed her first year. Very friendly and sociable.

She's probably enjoying it more as she has gone with a friend and the boyfriend. And they've met up with another lad who is going to drive them home. Also they know someone already there so he is going to show them his accommodation.

DD has a MASSIVE amount of coursework with a short deadline. It's jolly lucky that she isn't having to write a PS or go to open days. This isn't just her exaggerating - I've seen the assignment that she has 2 weeks to complete and it's an incredible amount of work.

poor kid chocolate. I hope she gets though it all ok.

chocolateworshipper DD had this in year 12. Fortunately she dropped the really time heavy A level and is finding the three she is doing more manageable. Hopefully your daughter will be able to complete this and pace herself a bit more (unless it is psychology).

chocolate
This is dd now 😭 so much coursework with so little time and deadlines close
Dds eye looks like it’s filling up again which is worrying

Fantasy have they shown her how to clean her eyelid margins?

Happy birthday to everyone who has birthdays this week.

We had dd's meeting with her tutor on Thursday and I have to say it was a monumental waste of time. Her tutor only took over the form 2 weeks ago, although she does know dd from GCSEs. She had to ask dd what her predicted grades are, and what she got in her mocks last year (she didn't even seem to know that dd also did 2 proper AS levels as well). Then she spent a couple of minutes telling dd to start revising now and how she should already have revision cards for all the y12 material. Then she told me there are no concerns from school, so that was it. I thought we'd discuss UCAS choices and things, but no, nothing like that. I'm not supremely confident in her ability to write a full reference on dd, so I hope she gets some fantastic material from the subject teachers.

wisba, We were at Durham today.I liked it a lot but DS not so much. He thinks the buildings are ugly. Granted we didn't esky look at the older colleges. Stayed in St Aidan's last night, NOT impressed with the Bahrain arrangements. Visited Josephine Butler this morning, thought it looked good.

MsAwesomeDragon Snap. DS had a tutor change this term, DS said it was someone he had never seen before. After his first group tutorial he introduced himself, explained his vocational aspirations and said that he would need a reference for this strange thing that college have no experience of by the end of October. That went as you'd expect.

I will be glad when his application has gone in, his reference has gone in and it's all down to DS.

kaiserschmarrn I think DC and I agree with your DS, we didn't like it much either. I think we have been swayed by the campus style more modern style university. We had a look around a couple of colleges and thought the rooms were styled on prison cells unfortunately, dripping taps, rusty shelving and some of them not enough room to swing the proverbial cat. We went to talks in the Business Studies building which is very modern but 30 mins walk from town centre and to Modern Languages which is more central but the talk was in room that had been styled on a cellar. Students were all helpful and friendly, but DC thought it lacked spark and energy that she had got from open days at other universities, so is now off the list.

We went to Warwick yesterday @inchyrablue. Ds was very impressed. It's more about the course for him though as there aren't many unis who offer it, and Warwick is the only RG one who do. They only have 25 places!
Anyway the campus is fantastic, it has all the usual shops, bars restaurants a nightclub plus an arts centre, theatre, cinema, studio.
From talking to the students, none of them go into Coventry as that's where the Coventry students go/live. Students from Warwick tend to live in lemington after their first year.
Accommodation on campus is all self catering with a mix of shared and ensuite.

Sorry iPad keeps crashing, if you want to ask me anything else feel free.

We went to Warwick too. It felt quite small to us and very self contained. Nice feel, good subject talk and I think DS will apply there but he has his eye on a city university I think.

Can I just derail for a minute

WHY ARE TEENAGERS SO BLOODY UNGRATEFUL?
Yesterday when she was at work she phoned me and asked me to bring her a sandwich as she was only allowed a short break because they were so busy. Today - she couldn't be bothered to answer the door to take a delivery, just stands in the hallway shouting "Mum" when I'm at the other end of the house. Of course by the time I got to the door he'd gone. That was after she took stuff out of the tumble dryer because she wanted to dry her jeans - and started shoving the stuff into a bag (um, the reason I tumble dry certain stuff is to make it easier to iron).

Thank you for letting me rant. As you were.

Thanks for the info on Warwick GinandGInger. I think it will be a definite possible back up if she decides not to go for the really high tariff course she's looking at.

We went to Edinburgh yesterday. She loved everything about it. Unsure at first we returned to the department to talk to a couple of tutors, and she asked them loads of questions - a huge deal for her because she is very shy. It is now "probably top of my list".

Chocolate I hear you!
Dd is currently sulking as DH and I have had the audacity to go away for the weekend, so there has been nobody to taxi her to and from dance, work, friends' houses etc. She has had to - gasp - walk the whole 20 minutes to town multiple times!

Not to mention the fact we didn't leave cash for takeaway as we usually do, so she and dd2 had to cook actual food last night.

DH and I currently placing bets on the state the kitchen will be in when we get home . .

Thanks lobster

Have you placed bets on getting a call from social services tomorrow? You're not allowed a life when you're a parent you know

My DD had to walk to work this morning, that was bad enough!

MsAD that's dreadful. We have full parents evening on Wednesday so hopefully DD will have all her ducks in a row after that. We are waiting for the last prediction but are assuming it will be ok as she did very well in the AS. I think she is going for Exeter, Liverpool, UCL and Edinburgh. No idea about fifth so may leave it for now.

I hear you all on the lazy teenagers. Dd had to be woken up yesterday for dinner -that's at 5:30 pm!!! She does walk a lot of places for herself actually, so that bit is ok.

I'm sure her reference from school will be fine, and her subject teachers will give some good information to this tutor. It was just a bit of a worry that she really doesn't know dd very well at all.

We're planning dd's birthday today. So we've booked 2 nights in London, with 2 shows, and a trip to bletchley park where they did all the code cracking in the war on our way home. I think DD is the only 18yo I know who would get excited about a trip to the national computing museum!

Has anyone got experience of A Level Music? DD is year 11 and hopes to do A levels in Music, Geography, Biology and probably Pyschology. School has offered to teach Music 1:1 (as no one else wants to do it) but not for the full amount of hours, so a fair bit of working alone. I've heard people say that it is very hard to get an A from Music. She is grade 6 piano, grade 5 clarinet and grade 6 voice.

I do wonder if Music at A Level will not be what she thinks it will be and will naturally drop it leaving her 3 A levels. I guess my concern is that she will love it, but not get an A and then struggle to get good grades in the others for her Uni offers.(she has mentioned law). I'm probably over worrying the whole thing! It's not like she is my eldest and I have done it all before but different child/different subjects.

First, how, doable are 4 A levels and secondly, how hard is it to get an A in Music? I'm saying this on the assumption she needs AAA at Uni (based on my eldest who did law) but it is obviously early days.

Welcome thisagain

I'm glad you decided to drop in. I can't help with either question I'm afraid - but you'll definitely get some answers about the 4 A levels on here (can't remember if anyone's DC is doing music though)

MsAd my 3 all really enjoyed Bletchley Park. This was on a holiday that included Thorpe Park and Harry Potter do had stiff competition! What shows are you going too?