Thread 27 Covid Cohort Snow or Like Spring? Let's Do This Thing!

[OrangeCinnamonCocktail]

This is a thread for supporting all young people post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting. It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, please don't within this thread. Please also be sensitive when responding to threads about grades.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue.

Our DS/DD may go down various paths (such as employment, apprenticeships, higher ed) We have decided for anyone interested they will most likely find us within the Further Ed board.

previous thread found here

Kent accommodation also opened last week. Still trying to work out whether you can book if insurance - I've seen conflicting information. I'm not sure if they do FCFS as they say once you've made your application, you can change your option up until cut-off day.

At the moment Kent or Nottingham will be insurance for DD so accommodation issues may be important to consider.

@Heifer thanks, I will tell him to look in his hub. But he's reluctant to do anything I suggest.

@EwwSprouts we have two of DS1 best mates who went there and graduated in summer and 1 in finance and other in government in London now. Both loved it - campus is mix of 60s and modern and facilities for sport good - great running track too! Plus lots of ducks and lakes. PPE. Economics and international relations are ones we have strong positive feedback from. Newer and new Accommodation some of the nicest we’ve seen.

So mostly course staff that gave us doubts and wasn’t the best organised day. Little info and that was sad as we’d travelled a long way.

I love York so would love DD to go as amazing restaurants and city fab

@Fruitygal We'll have to see if they up their open day game when we go. Will feedback then.

Interesting to hear about York. DD’s offer day isn’t until 5th March.

We’re still waiting to hear from York so a bit concerned that they are opening accommodation already!

DS has an update on UCAS but the site seems to be malfunctioning.

Regarding York - I hope the positive comments elsewhere means they have upped their game. During first lockdown, students were already on a spring break when lockdown started & that was that - certainly the ones I knew had no more lectures or exams that year.

Another student was a first year in the 20/21 academic year & when Covid was rife in their halls the food & other supplies provided were very inadequate - one roll of loo roll for the entire floor.

But hopefully those days are in the past now & should not be a factor for our kids making choices.

@Decorhate accommodation were super strong yesterday amd I wouldn’t be worried about those aspects. Hopefully they will get their act together better for next open days - it was the first so let’s see ! I’m also harsh and probably have too high expectations - but not a harsh as the rest of MN - just tried to post a helpful kind comment on another question today (big mistake 🤣😂🤣😂 the scary parts of MN hunted me down 😂🤣)

This might be the loveliest bit of all of MN !! X glad I found you all x

It is lovely here, I agree.

It seems wrong to me that places are opening up their accommodation applications when so many students don’t have all their offers yet and also the offer holder days haven’t happened yet so how are they meant to choose if they are unsure??

Was it The Dog House Fruitygal by any chance? Beats AIBU any day, posted once and lived to regret it, only time I’ve asked for a post to be deleted!

@Fiddlersgreen

It is lovely here, I agree.

It seems wrong to me that places are opening up their accommodation applications when so many students don’t have all their offers yet and also the offer holder days haven’t happened yet so how are they meant to choose if they are unsure??

Yes, it's pressure selling. Boo.

Totally agree about this accommodation nonsense - same with the put us first and you can have the lower offer. These kids have still not seen most places, nothing is confirmed Re exams, they could get covid at any time and they have had a disrupted education since 2020 - it’s a joke - for those of you on your only one or 1st - trust me this is stupidly harder than normal - let’s keep going and keep supporting these kids - neither of my first two got their top choice but both loved uni and graduated and are doing well so no giving up but don’t get too stressed out either x

Thanks @Fruitygal that’s very reassuring

Agree that York opening accomodation so early is a bit disconcerting: ds still only has one offer on the table, waiting to hear back from 3... York is likely to be his insurance choice, but the fact that this might mean he ends up without a good choice of accommodation might put us off tbh: he is relatively easily pleased in as much as he doesn't feel the need for an en suite, but even so...

Their new colleges will be v popular - they are a bit cheaper....

Some of the shared bathrooms at York are actually pricy - like Langwith. He'd be perfectly happy with that but seems costly. En suite at David Kato is cheaper!

Yes I agree with Fiddlers that your post is very reassuring Fruitygal. So good to hear positive stories.

Yeah, I did wonder if I was reading those figures wrong somehow piggy so thanks for that! One major impact of Ds’ autism is that he finds last minute planning abs change incredible stressful. Uni accommodation is not playing to our strengths here! Your words of reassurance are really useful @Fruitygal: although I wish things didn’t have to be so hard for this year group!!

I’m beginning to think that moving house and areas with a narrow time window, instead of adding to the stress of an already stressful GCSE/A Level year, is actually distracting me sufficiently! I feel I have some control over the house - sorting/clearing/painting etc. Hopefully dd will cope with wherever she ends up and in whatever accommodation is available. I’m sorry for those of you with other complications to consider by way of health issues/other diagnoses. I can imagine it makes everything more worrying.

I am not happy about all the accommodation opening so early.
Ds doesn't seem to care and assures me he'll sleep on a park bench for 3 years if he has to. I'm bothered.

He has his offer from Durham. But Nottingham - PriceWaterhouseCooper Accountancy - linked degree - don't even start their selection days till end of Feb, so if in the unlikely event he actually succeeds and gets an offer? it won't be till end of March? So that's him screwed on any Nottingham accommodation isn't it?

@Fruitygal - I am sorry to hear the offer holder day left you with mixed feelings. I hope one of the others help make up her mind more.

@Piggywaspushed - thank you for that useful summary. We never saw Bath but DD didn’t like Sheffield because of the hill so probably wouldn’t like Bath either. We had never been to Birmingham city centre before but it was pretty impressive. Really liked Bullring shopping centre!

@icanbewhatIwant - when DD accepted her offers she didn’t get anything from the unis. It feels like the unis don’t know she’s accepted them as they are still sending mails that say “why you should choose us”. But it did change on UCAS. Now it shows the two chosen unis at the top and says awaiting confirmation. Both unis let her fill in an accommodation form but there’s no pressure as it’s not first come first served. You choose 6 and will get one of those randomly.

Crazycrofter we are moving too and can relate to the having control over sorting the house. I am alternating between sorting that and Dad’s funeral and haven’t really had the headspace to think too much about the details of the all the university stuff. DS has agreed to help me paint doors in half term .

@Oblomov22 congratulations for the Durham offer - do you mind me asking if it’s a contextual or not and when he got it ? DD has no friends who applied to Durham with offers yet but hoping the wait isn’t til March/April as we will be screwed also

Yes Fruity it was contextual, received 13th Jan. No one else on MN, or any of Ds1's school friends, no one else we know, at all, has had an offer yet, so don't fret! I literally still can't get my head around why they made him such an early offer. I'm assuming he applied so early they thought he was oxbridge? 🤣