Preparing for Uni in 2015

[circular]

Carrying on from yr13 thread, here thought we could share our ideas for Uni preparation.

All welcome, not just those in above thread. Would especially appreciate contributions from those who have 'been there'

Topics that spring to mind, and a few recent threads on them are :

What to take What to take , What NOT to take, Shared accommodation

Clearing out rooms

How much to contribute What does it cost, How much needed weekly, How much are you subbing

Budgeting, cooking, and other life skills to learn Easy recipes for teens

Leaving friends, family, boy/girlfriends behind

Us coping without them - noted series of 'Empty Nest' threads.

Hope all the links correct!

Good idea for a thread and well researched circular.
I was in this position last year with DC1 who has just completed his first year. I am currently at the open day stage with DC2.
Can I add another link to a thread by Hakluyt from last year which proved very useful.
Right. Now we all know that all mumsnet children have been working down the mine since they were 6...
Will come back and post with some lessons learned!

Thanks SecretSquirrels

Found this MSE Student Bank Account link quite useful.

Also thinking suitcases - advised that fold flat holdhalls for clothes more useful as need to be stored somewhere. So wil try and research some with wheels as DD a bit of a weakling
Bigger stuff best taken in disposable cardboard boxes?
Or if staying to help unpack, storage boxes that can be then back home and brought back end of term/year.

Don't under estimate the mountain of stuff they will be taking. If self catered obviously this will be more than catered. DS had far less than most from what I could see and took very little that wasn't used. Every student I saw apart from internationals had parents staying to unpack.
We used a mixture of plastic lidded boxes, soft bags (one of which stayed to be a laundry bag) and cases.
Under the bed DS has stored a large suitcase inside which is a large rucksack for weekend trips, and two under bed plastic boxes in which he keeps some over flow food. Kitchen storage is tight in his flat shared between 8.
All the rest of the boxes were unpacked and brought home. I now have them ready now to take back and pack him up to move out this week .

Cookery. I spent the summer teaching him both how to cook half a dozen basic meals from scratch and how to food shop on a budget. The cookery book I bought him remains unopened I believe but the recipes he practised have been used, perfected and added to over the year.

Thanks for the thread, circular, and the advice, secretsquirrel. Looks like a whole new learning curve! [slumps]

Underbed storage boxes a great idea. May need to wait until accommodation known for that, as think bed types / sizes may vary between halls and Unis.

Also been told to get distinctive, odd coloured crockery as easy to identify.

Well done Circular!

Sainsbury's meal tickets are useful:

Thanks circular very helpful thread to make sure our dc are armed with the right skills and survival kit. I have a question might be silly too. Hopefully dd will be going to bristol, shared halls. Does she need to take a vacuum cleaner? Or they have these things.

Does she need to take a vacuum cleaner?

Halls will either include basic cleaning of rooms or provide vacuum cleaners (catered halls usually would have room cleaning, whereas self catering usually not ime)
Having picked myself up off floor, I do remember purchasing a dustpan and brush when I was in halls (later bought a Ewbank carpet sweeper, but I am seriously weird).

Miffy The halls usually say what equipment included and what gets cleaned for them. Vacuum cleaners do seem to be provided everywhere we have looked.

Also, not sure what the rules are on their own electrical equipment. Guess need to read T&Cs carefully.
Remember seeing somewhere that at Royal Holloway, the bedroom sockets can't cope with anything above 500w - which would rule out hair dryers .

glad I made you laugh lilymaid DH was thinking of getting her one of those Rumba thing, robotic vacuum cleaner. But cheap version A robotic pet that sweeps. It's just the thought of them living with grubby floor is yukky.

the thought of them living with grubby floor is yukky
Just wait until Year 2 and shared houses ...
Nadir(s) for me:
DS's house mate (a medic) saying "Don't worry Lil, I'll clear this, I've had all the Hep vaccines"
DS's next door neighbours who left their student house at the end of the year after a party. Landlord hadn't been in to clear up. DS and I looked through the windows - the house was full of bluebottles etc over the festering mouldy food.

In DS's hall kitchen there is an iron and vacuum cleaner though neither, as far as I know, has been used by any of the male and female room mates....
As to a rumba well, I don't think there is actually any floor visible under the debris.......
Cleaners do communal areas only but they wont move anything including the 4000 empty bottles in the kitchen
Lilymaid Maybe we need a Year 2 shared houses thread as well

circular I think electrical equipment such as mini fridges and kettles are widely banned. Plenty of sockets and ethernet laid on in most modern halls (though not sure about Hogwarts Style Oxbridge colleges).

lilymaid eeewww !! Put me off my lunch sounds like they were living in putrid conditions!! OK maybe I need to be lowering my expectations and standards. No way I'm I visiting dd if it's very unsanitary!! ie: need to wear a boiler suit and wipe my feet, on the way out .

A concertina file for passport, exam certificates, bank statements, NHS card etc etc - it piles up.

I packed ds off 2 years ago with an ice cream tub filled with paracetamol, multivits, vicks, plasters, germolene, milk of magnesia and diarrhoea syrup

This is the tsr list

Ha ha diarrhoea syrup very good tip I can see it will be very handy from self inflicted food poisoning, dodgy cooking. We had this long conversation with dd about how to cook pork dishes properly, cook it well, no pink bits and no blood running out .

Thanks Eatyourveg - great link.

A few things not listed that I think may be useful :
Microwave steamer - great for rice, veg
Toastie bags - can heat up left over pizza as well as for toasted sarnies
Corkscrew - or are we thinking all boxes and screw tops these days?
Bath mat - unless en-suite with wet room type floor
Surprised condoms not listed

Lots and lots of those blue IKEA bags.

DS had his last exam today. HAve told him that the washing,cooking and cleaning 'fairy' is now on strike and it is time for his intensive household skills course. Plus he needs to learn some Italian for a holiday in a couple of weeks.
Just to show I'm not all mean, I have let him play computer games all afternoon

Some good tips on this thread already. I will be following it carefully. DS will be flying to/from Uni if he gets into his firm - although it will probably be a boat trip for the 1st trip over.

bigbluebus This may be blindingly obvious but do make sure he applies for 39 week accommodation rather than 30 in view of his long distance travel. Often the better accommodation (en-suite etc) is only 30 weeks because the unis use it for courses or conferences at Easter and Christmas and the students have to vacate at each holiday.