Thread 30 Covid Cohort, Mad March Hareing Towards Exams

[OrangeCinnamonCroissant]

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 29

I've made this one a little bit earlier as things are so busy, at home and on thread, so please feel free to use up previous thread first

Poor dd @ealingwestmum she sounds worried about making the wrong decision. But nothing is irreversible is it? Could she switch to one language after a year if it wasn’t for her?

Fingers crossed you hear from Durham soon @22Newnames. Dd needs to withdraw from Bath and firm Nottingham. I imagine some of these late unis are waiting for people to do this so they know that the ones hanging on really want them!

Dd is still dithering between catered and self-catered. She seems to feel that ‘no one’ goes for catered at uni. I said I’m sure they do or they’d have changed the catered accommodation at Nottingham to self-catered.

Sorry you’ve got covid @22Newnames

@Oblomov22 don’t feel you stole anyone’s Durham place!!
@crazycrofter Bath is the other one DS is still waiting for. Much as I love Bath they have been very poor at communicating.

@Oblomov22

It is poor having offer days when some haven't heard. I feel bad for NCT and 22, we kind of stole your Durham place. Loved the city, not quite sure about the course.

Dd lives the city but the course isn't as good as other places. She's hoping to get rejected to avoid the decision making! She got asked last week to select course choices which suggests that those answers affect her chances of a place. If she hasn't heard by Easter I guess she'll withdraw the Durham application so she can firm her offer.

Thank you Crazy, and yes, I think swapping out languages much sooner is possible. I think she is a bag of nerves right now, driven by the different time lines of offers/acceptances. I am trying to reassure her that it’ll be ok losing flights/deposits or that she won’t be alone withdrawing a place at the 11th hour, for many it will be out of one’s hands if grades aren’t met, so the mental commitment to a place, whilst important, is still quite conditional.

I wonder if I can pick your brains on accommodation for Nottingham and Reading.

Nottingham:
Newnames, ChristopherTracy, crazy, sprouts, heifer, popcorn, , Nard, Seeline, singing.

Reading
Piccolo, sofaking.

You could, but we’ve not looked in detail. Going to a Nottingham offer day on 6 April. From all I’ve heard though he would go for broad gate if there is any availability left. He wants self catered and it is Only across the road from campus. Not sure where it is in relation to the engineering buildings though. Chances are that Nottingham would only be insurance so I guess he wouldn’t get to pick?

What do you want to know @oblomov22?

We're considering:

1. Self-catered - cheaper but you have to pay for 44 weeks - I think the cheapest in terms of total cost is Raleigh Park at £5k

Broadgate Park is by the main campus but if your lectures are at the other end (by the hospital) it's still a 20- 25 min walk so we didn't look at it as it costs more than Raleigh Park.

Raleigh Park is by the Jubilee campus (is accountancy based there?) - 10 mins walk to the campus and then a free bus ride to the main campus if that's where your lectures are. It's a bit more of an urban/gritty area, but there's a Lidl, Greggs, Dominoes on your doorstep and it's nearer to town than the main campus. The flat we looked at had a nice kitchen with sofas. There's a sport centre at the Jubilee campus

1. Catered - expensive at around £200 a week, but you pay for either 39 weeks or 31 (Rutland and Sherwood). You get two meals a day plus £25 on a meal card per week to use a cross campus. We looked at the 31 week halls which are about 20 mins walk to lectures too, but very green. The sport centre is next door too (gym membership included in cost of halls).

That's as far as I know!

Hi everyone - glad the Durham visits seem to have been a success. Sorry about difficulties with meds, with uni and course choices etc that some of you are having. There is always something, isn’t there- when one thing is settled something else comes along.
My latest drama that my DH, who has taken dd1 and DS1 skiing while DS2 and DD2 sit sadly at home and revise, has broken his leg. I discovered in a serious meeting with a VERY senior person, when an image flashed up on my phone of someone on a blood wagon wrapped in blankets and the caption “Dad looks like a worm”. Most helpful of DD1. When I texted “??? How is he?” DS1 replied “he was just bored and grumpy and needed a lift. Helicopter coming” 😱😱😱 so I had to come clean, show horrified senior person my messages from my useless adult children who should know better, and go and find out if it was serious or not.
So there we go. He drove to France. Luckily DS can drive back. It is his tibia and a minor fracture, but still a fractured tibia. Sigh.

Btw @ealingwestmum DD2 got onto the McGill summer academy so will spend 2 weeks there in the summer, to get a flavour of the place and the city. She is adamant that is where she wants to go so let’s see. I’m sorry your DD is finding decision making difficult. The fact is she will probably do wonderfully whichever she eventually goes for!

Well. I'm asking because: My big news is that ds has been successful at gaining an offer of a PwC Flying start degree at Nxttingham.
I am beyond thrilled.
We are still waiting to hear if he's been also been offered /got the 2nd option of Rexding.

And yes Crazy Business school is on the Jubilee campus. So considering which accommodation is best there, closest, or to go further afield.

And we are away on holiday from 6th April. It's all a big last.minute.com which I don't like. So I have to get an independent visit organised. Neither of us has any time, he works Saturday and Sunday.

Wow @Oblomov22 that’s amazing! A sponsored degree and a salary too? He’s done brilliantly. Is that the first choice now?

I think there’s catered accommodation on Jubilee too but only 39 weeks. There’s also St Peter’s Court. We were looking at budget options but I’m guessing your ds won’t be worried about cost?!

Wow excellent news @Oblomov22!!

OMG @Delphigirl you must have been panicking big style. I am so glad DS can drive back but can your DH cope in a car for that long?

Sorry to hear that Delph.
Tuesday, I was sat in Durham Uni Accountancy 3 hour meeting, just about to start, when I got a school phone call to say that Ds2 had broken his thumb on school football goalpost. I said Dh would have to attend, as I was not nearby!

No, it's just a normal'ish degree. Prestigious. 1000's of applicants. Only 80 places per the 4 unis, 320 total. So he really has done very well indeed. A linked degree . Same normal costs. But with 3 x paid placements with PwC. So he'll still have to budget, accommodation wise, on his lowest possible grant.

Or take the local Apprenticeship with BD0. Starting salary £22k. 4 years he'd be a qualified ACA Accountant. No Uni debt. But then no Uni!

Decisions decisions.

Ah @Oblomov22 so if he did the pwc one he’d still have to do the 3 year training contract after the degree? So an extra couple of years and very different financial implications. A very tricky choice indeed.

One of course is the head choice and one is the heart choice. Difficult.

But then years later people still ask who I trained with and it being one of the big 4 is still prestigious and opens doors. Mmmmmm

woo hoo @Oblomov22 amazing!

No NewNames. The degree gives you 12 exemptions from the 15 papers you need to be ACA qualified. Almost guaranteed a job with PwC, then starts work, he sits his final 3 exams, he'd be fully qualified within 13 months. He's already have some work experience, so wouldn't need the 3 years work experience that other graduates still need if they join the PwC Graduate scheme.

@Oblomov22

Well. I'm asking because: My big news is that ds has been successful at gaining an offer of a PwC Flying start degree at Nxttingham. I am beyond thrilled. We are still waiting to hear if he's been also been offered /got the 2nd option of Rexding.

Fabulous news Oblamov- what an achievement! You must be so proud of him. Well done your DS.

Congratulations @Oblomov22, very impressive. I would definitely go for the degree, university is about so much more than work, but it may depend on how much he would value the extra curricular stuff. I made must of my life friends at university rather than work.

Wow @Delphigirl that sounds stressful ask round. Lucky DS1 can drive back, otherwise I guess you might have had to fly out to rescue them!

@Oblomov22 Whoop! Congratulations.
To chuck in tuppence worth (old gimmer alert there) although BDO would mean no uni the nature of the beast training as an accountant is many of you are on the same path, same age and a pretty good social life spins out of that. I trained with a smaller firm then moved into one of the then big six no problem. So many variables for you & him to consider. I can't talk about Notts accommodation as DS decided he didn't want to go to the open day.

@Cantonet Congratulations on the BTEC results!

I am desperate for others to also receive Durham offers. I want everyone's DC to be recognised as having that potential.

Sorry to hear of the hassles, covid and injuries that some are suffering. DS school did a mass LFT testing as so many are already off.

Mmmmmm indeed NewNames.
PwC Uni.
Or Apprenticeship.
Nice problem to have though, right?