EMPTY NEST SUPPORT THREAD - PART 3

[mrsrhodgilbert]

The comment about where they now live and consider to be home is interesting. If dd doesn't go back to until the end of January she will only have just over two months until the Easter holidays. She will actually come home on my 50th birthday and we are all going away for a few days. After Easter she then has about another 4 or 5 weeks left, possibly with a few exams after that.

That sounds like no time at all and then she will be back for the summer, hopefully with a job again. If some dc consider they have left home, do they not come back for the holidays?

I'm hearing from her much less and she seems quite busy with work. I'm not sure she feels she has many friends yet and it seems quite fluid still, but she is definitely calmer. She has a few pre Christmas things lined up, ice skating, panto, club parties, lunch out etc so I hope some friendships will be cemented. Still no plans for a house for year two but ive tried to tell her not to panic about that. Some people who were sorted a few weeks ago might not be any more.

DS has something like a 42 week contract. So accommodation through Christmas and Easter. I assume he will leave his computer there so commute between home, library and hall. I also suspect one of the boarders from his previous school, who wont be going home, will stay, either with him or us.

Staying in London seems to be working out well. He sees friends from school, comes home for the odd meal or goes to an evening lecture with his dad, has picked out a restaurant he wants to take his younger sister to (they do curry pancakes), yet has a full University life.

Secret/Hattie. At LSE the economists and lawyers reckon they work the hardest. For economics it seems to be the maths that takes the time. Still, he has decided that maths, even if he has to work at it, is easier than writing essays. Perhaps STEP, which normally requires students to prepare on their own, is a good test of aptitude for University maths. I am impressed that my son's solution is to work to keep up with new content. A friend's DD recently dropped out of an economics course because the maths content was tougher than she had expected.

Needmoresleep - very interesting about Economics and maths content. DD2 is interested in economics but is only getting average maths marks at the moment. I'm not convinced it's for her as from what I understand the Economics courses are getting more and more mathematical. May I asked which uni DD's friend was at?

Exeter, which is not known as the most mathematical course but which has recently increased the maths grades required.

Not all economics courses will be very mathematical, though Bristol, Exeter and others may be becoming more so. As well as looking at course content, I would look at joint degrees: economics and development, economics and economic history, economics and management, PPE etc. Plus avoid degrees looking for at least AS Further Maths and an A* in Maths (LSE, Warwick, Cambridge and UCL). To some extent it depends on what you want to do with the degree. DS claims he is the only one on his course who does not want to be come an Investment Banker. The highly paid technical jobs will demand high level technical skills, but there are lots of other career paths for economists.

For some Universities, the maths requirements in economics seem to be a problem in terms of recruitment, especially of UK state school students. At a talk a year ago the Director of LSE spoke about a concern that they were failing to attract good state educated students from the North. DS says that during freshers week there was slightly forlorn stand hosted by "the Northern Society". He did not ask what they did. Eat chip butties? (See up thread.) LSE is now offering a PPE degree in part to address the problem.

The same appears to be true of other social sciences. Another mum told me that her son's decision not to take A level maths had restricted the Psychology courses he could apply for.

It's difficult though. DS is not allowed to take additional courses. He has to chose between essentially taking a maths degree within the economics faculty, or choosing more economics courses. Advice from post graduates is to focus on the maths and leave the economics till Masters level. I guess it will come down to his ability to keep up with the pace, and his tolerance for spending the majority of his time working through maths solutions. In the meantime he is bemused by the fact that he is taking more maths than his engineering friends.

NeedMore - Thank you - that is so helpful. I have shown this to DD2 and she reckons she may veer away from Economics. I certainly think it is only worth doing if one has an aptitude for maths at a high level.

Several students who started the Maths course with DS have switched to either joint degrees, physics or economics.
NeedMore that's very useful. I guess that your DS will still be keeping his options wide open if he concentrates on the maths for now.
DS2 is floundering about what to do next and I think maybe he should look at joint honours. He has found that he is unexpectedly enjoying Maths A level and doing well at it. He is not doing Further Maths though, but AS FM in year 13 is a possibility. He has been mulling over PPE and Economics. perhaps he could be the token northerner at LSE .

My understanding is that the maths required for economics is not necessarily harder than Further Maths at school. Perhaps in contrast to a maths degree which I assume is a lot harder.

DS enjoyed A level maths much more than he expected, and indeed did better than he thought he would. At University first half term went over A2 further maths so as long as you could stick with the pace, only having AS should be fine. But not much fun if you don't enjoy maths.

However LSE is known for having a strong maths focus so this experience may not be Universal.

Secret, I wonder what the Northern Society get up to? I hope it is not simply sitting in a corner of the bar drinking Newcastle Brown and moaning about Southerners. Clog dancing round the Aldwych? Seriously, and before I reveal any more uninformed Northern stereotypes, the LSEs PPE degree looks really interesting. Four years though, so time to do each subject properly. The UCL economics degree with a year abroad, including scope to go to the US, also looks good.

DD1 back today - have made her bed up and am pathetically excited.

We picked DD up on Saturday and it is wonderful to have her home - reminds me a bit of when we brought her home from hospital as a newborn! She is SO happy and says she loves her new university life, but she did admit that she has missed the beautiful area we live in! At the moment her stuff is littered throughout the house and I am completely chilled about it, but I'm sure the nagging will begin before long!

hattymattie and Scottandcharlene it's lovely having them back isn't it?

One thing I have noticed.
When he is away I don't worry about him getting home safely at night. This is partly because he doesn't venture far off campus (not into clubbing) and partly because he's not driving. Now he is home he drives everywhere, we are very rural, no buses so it's either give him lifts or lend him the car. So I am back to waiting for him to get home, I'm not worried about it but there is just that thought at the back of my mind when he is driving home at night.

I am really worried about the driving - it's one of the worst things about being a parent. Other drivers can be so horrible and the roads seem to be worse every time you go out. It's so tempting to just be a taxi but I know I have to let her get as much experience as possible. Her school friends are all still away so she is content to stay at home at the moment, but it won't last and the worrying will begin again! She is so much more self assured than when she left though - she seems happier in her skin which is wonderful.

Secret/ Needmore, the Northern Society is very small, in fact on their last outing pub crawl, they joined forces with the Welsh Society and mustered about 20 ;-) I'm pretty sure they don't do much Northern stuff it's just an excuse for a get together. Although they do go to pubs in the North of London. I think a trip to a northern brewery is on the cards although at this point I couldn't say for sure.

As a side DS was desperate to study PPE sadly however his maths was never going to be strong enough to take Economics at u/g level.

A bit disappointed, because DS now won't be home until the 22nd, he did a joint project with the film students and wrote the background music for their film and the showing is on the Saturday. He says there will be a huge party after that and he will need to recover all day and slowly pack up his computer and music stuff on the Sunday. Never mind. The fridge contents will live to see another couple of days.

He contacted me to see what we wanted for xmas. Stunned I was. He even asked if he needed to post DD's off to her.

I remember the first christmas when my DD came home. I don't think I have ever been so excited, it really was like bringing a newborn back. I remember her being so happy and exhausted I ran around after her treating her like royalty.
DD has now graduated but is living away from home in London where her graduate job is. I am almost as excited about her being back for Christmas this year, she has had a tough few months and it will be a relief for her to have a break.

Isthis
presumably the Northern Society contributed to this:www.theguardian.com/education/2014/dec/07/london-school-of-economics-best-university-nightlife

Still intrigued. Did they leave the Scots at home? Do Northern Universities have Southern Societies?

Term ends on Friday. However DS has to pay for a 42 week contract so interesting to see whether he spends part of his vacation in hall. I assume it depends on how irritating his younger sister is.

I have finally spoken to DD3 again. Although I hsve had a couple of very brief chats on messenger we haven't actually
spoken on the phone for at least 3 weeks. She has settled into her new flat and actually been sleeping better. She is working hard as has a lot of assignments and other work to finish before Chrismas, She got 70% for one of her assignments, She is also not stressing as much as she did last year we haven"t had any stressy phone calls she has just ploughed on and sorted stuff out herself. This is a big step for her as because of her learning difficulties has had to work extra hard on stoff. Anyway she seems to have grown up and DH and I are very proud of her., She doesn't finish uni until 20th so probably won't come home until 21st, She hasn't been home at all this term and I'm excited about seeing her.

Oh no Mrshodg :(

My DD is upset because she just missed a 2:1 on her first essay and she took the feedback and thought she had improved on the second and has got virtually the same mark. She has emailed for feedback on this one but isn't sure then where to turn - I thought the Uni helpservice or maybe the essay setting tutor for a discussion, so I told her to do that after Christmas once she has read and understood the feedback.

Essays were always going to be her biggest hurdle as she is very much a creative and hasn't written an essay since her Grade C GCSE days. However, I am sure a few exemplar ones and she would sort herself out.

Ahhh, apparently, panic over. She has the feedback and says it is really helpful. She is now looking forward to Christmas again!

Emergency phone call received today from the cream isle at Sainsburys !! DD making Christmas dinner for 12 !!!!! Her flat of 6 + 6 others !!! Wanted to know whether to buy double or single cream !! Nice to know I am still needed for some things :)

DD3 isn't coming home until very late on Sunday 21st December. I can't wait to see her. DD2 is also coming home around that time. DD1 and her DH will be here on the 28th. So I'll have them all here together for a few days which will be good.

Their holiday.is.probably.similar.as.my DD.goes.back on 5th

My dd1 finishes on Friday 19th December and is still doing the odd test. A couple of Christmas parties too. It has been a very good first term.

Same here. Looking back to a year ago, DS has grown up a lot and now seems a lot more comfortable and confident.

I bumped into him in the street yesterday. He was meeting up with a school friend whose term has already ended. Staying in London has been good, allowing him to meld University, school and home life in a positive way. London students seem to get a lot of visits from friends elsewhere.

Hi all - long time lurker.
Off to collect my DS today,so excited.
I've not seen him since we dropped him off at his prison cellhis lovely room.
Feels like forever since I gave him a hug.
All seems to have gone well but now it's my turn to be a Mum again

DS coming home today. Train has already been replaced by a bus so running well behind. Looks like he won't be home until after 6pm. After 3 months away we've only got 48 hours with him before we drop him at Heathrow for his flight to US. Won't see him again until 4th Jan, then only for another couple of days before he has to return to Uni for exams. Even though we are well used to this after 3 years our first Christmas ever apart will be hard.

I've spent the afternoon ironing DD's pretty/fiddly blouses and trying to sort her knickers and tights from mine and DD2's! How I've missed that game.