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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Preparing for Uni in 2015

998 replies

circular · 22/06/2015 09:01

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!

OP posts:
Thread gallery
12
Lancelottie · 27/08/2015 15:49

I think ds is feeling a bit nervous about the prospect as he's being very ostrich-like about the whole process. I forced him to sit down and go through his emails today and sort out registering for his IT account etc - it was like pulling teeth but we got it done

Could have written your post word for word, Basildon! In fact, I had to check I hadn't inadvertently namechanged after HackerGate.

DS has his head firmly in the sand about mentors, DSA, accommodation, cooking, bed sizes, and option modules. Also has not yet sorted insurance, bank accounts, medical details or Facebook contact with others on his course.

So far his uni shopping has consisted of a new rocket racing game 'because it's two-player' and a piece of wood 'to make a sort of portable railway, because I can't really take one that's 6 feet long'.

I am clinging to the thought that other equally clueless boys somehow survive their first term and grow up.

Lancelottie · 27/08/2015 15:49

You wouldn't guess it from the above, but he's actually rather bright. Sigh.

MossAgate · 27/08/2015 16:06

Bright doesn't always equate to practical. Wink

Lancelottie · 27/08/2015 16:11

How true!

AtiaoftheJulii · 27/08/2015 17:21

Marianne I'm with you on the preparation front, except I haven't bothered reading about the Greeks and Romans Wink

Honestly, I'll do some shopping once dd's come up with a list, I guess. But if she's not capable of sorting most of this stuff out for herself, I'd be querying whether she was actually mature enough to be going off to university!

cathyandclaire · 27/08/2015 18:57

Atia and Marianne, I'm quite sure DD is only involving me at all to humour me Blush she knows I love a design/room makeover project and pretends to listen to my opinions and smiles when I hand over the credit card !
I admit it's been fun having the odd shopping trip together :) I haven't resorted to cultural anthropology yet but I have been researching part time English courses at York Uni, I'm rather tempted!

Decorhate · 27/08/2015 19:09

All the photos of rooms I have seen so far indicate garish primary coloured curtains. So we are probably going to stick to plain neutrals for bedding etc

Lancelottie · 27/08/2015 21:44

I am definitely querying whether DS is mature enough to go.

The alternative is that he stays here and matures slowly after I bury his body in the compost heap

Horsemad · 27/08/2015 21:50

Grin Lancelottie

I think my DS will have a shock when he leaves home. He's independent, but quite lazy!

MarianneSolong · 27/08/2015 22:18

candc, a course at York sounds great. I just hate shopping. And my daughter would probably like to take some things from home - to make a new place seem familiar. (There's a stripy pink blanket thing she often burrows under while watching TV, and I suggested she had that.)

Haffdonga · 27/08/2015 22:50

Bedside lamp!

Ds, who has shown absolutely no interest in any uni shopping (except for urgently needing to upgrade his earphones, phone and watch Hmm) has suddenly announced we need to go to Ikea because that is what you do before you go to uni. I think he must have been reading MN

Ikea on a weekend is not my first choice of fun and when I asked ds what he thought he actually needed from Ikea the only idea he had was a bedside lamp. Not a bad idea I suppose, but am I really depriving ds of an integral pre-uni experience if he gets it from Argos instead?

AtiaoftheJulii · 28/08/2015 07:47

I guess as long as you have a really thorough look through the Argos catalogue first, it would be acceptable Grin

Lancelottie lol, yes, in some ways I am SO ready for dd to be out of the house!

Dunno whether this is because they're close in age or what, but dd2 is acting like a jealous toddler, and whenever dd1 and I are talking about university, she will butt in on the conversation and change the subject/make it about her/etc. I know she's going to miss her sister a huge amount too, and is thinking about herself going off to university next year too, but argh!

hellsbells99 · 28/08/2015 07:56

Atia -DD2 here's has been helping DD1 shop for her uni stuff. They 'did' Aldi yesterday for pans...and ended up buying phone charges etc. DD2 has already arranged her first visit to see DD1 but I know they are going to miss each other a huge amount. I think DD2 being left behind, on her own, actually worries me more than DD1 going and that is saying something

Horsemad · 28/08/2015 08:24

I'm quite looking forward to having DS2 on his own - it'll be nice for him too (hopefully he'll agree!! Grin ) to have time as a sort of 'only' with us, as his brother has always been here.

Mindgone · 28/08/2015 09:13

We've just had a lovely year with just DS2 mainly, he's the quieter of the two, and it was nice for him to get all the attention for once! I'll miss him so much though, we'll be empty nesters in a few weeks, and that really scares me!

voilets · 28/08/2015 10:24

DD says she's envious of DS going off to uni - wants to cut out GCSEs and A levels and go right now! Smile

Shopping: my DH and DD want to take Ds to IKEA.All excited at prospect Grin DS doesn't want us talking about uni at all as he says it makes him nervous so DD and I did ASDA and M and S online shop only to be told DS was meeting a friend who wanted to shop for uni!

He came back with converse leather shoes - good idea as canvas ones have holes in them and a poster Smile so our online shop was not wasted.

Love him - meeting lots of new people all at once seems a hurdle to get over! Maybe that is why other Ds's on here are being ostrich -like. I didn't pick up on it - just thought he was disinterested - until he told me.

Chillywhippet · 28/08/2015 10:35

DD2 a bit shocked at DD1 leaving. DD2 will be starting sixth form and keeps saying it wasn't long ago that DD1 started A levels so that means it won't be long till she finishes too. Shock.

DD1 excited but clearly feeling unnerved as she has become jealous of me spending money on DD2 "she's having a laptop. For sixth form?? Well I didn't have one." She calmed down a bit when I explained that DD2 has chosen to have modest phone instead of iPhone and is putting money from grandmas and money from us together to get said laptop.

Normally DD1 is firmly in DD2's corner advocating for her whenever she can. Bless.

I said to youngest two that soon DD1 will be at uni. They pragmatically said
"Well she's not here half the time anyway"
"Oh good. We won't have to watch TOWIE."

Haffdonga · 28/08/2015 11:59

Another here with a quieter ds2 anticipating his more social sibling flying the nest.

Will/ do your younger sibs go and visit their big brothers and sisters at uni for weekends?

Is that a thing?

Ds1 told me that definitely wont be happening .

Original poster
circular · 28/08/2015 12:01

Haldonga No visits here as DD2 only 12.
But check accommodation agreement carefully, DDs does not allow under 18s to stay. Guessing that could well be the norm for insurance reasons.

OP posts:
Haffdonga · 28/08/2015 12:04

Fair point, circular. I hadn't thought about that.

I have a friends whose 3 uni-aged dcs all go and visit each other regularly. I thought that would be lovley (if I could persuade ds1).

cathyandclaire · 28/08/2015 12:54

DD2 definitely planning a trip to see her big sister, train times have already been checked, she'll be 17 so will check that's OK.
Sadly for me my 'baby' is off to board for sixth form so my nest is emptying all in one go first drop off next weekend.

AtiaoftheJulii · 28/08/2015 13:18

Yes, dd1 is insisting they all come and visit - haven't noticed an age limit, will check - although ds says he's not bothered and dd3 is rather nervous! Dd2 is probably staying in November after a gig. They are very close, but there's a lot of one-sided competitiveness! (I.e. dd1 doesn't notice it at all.)

AtiaoftheJulii · 28/08/2015 13:19

Dd1 has booked her meningitis jab and a haircut - wants her hair cut before she has to take her passport photos, lol.

Horsemad · 28/08/2015 18:43

Mindgone and cathyandclaire - hope the empty nest goes OK. I can barely remember the time when it was just DH & I - it's bound to feel a bit odd but you'll soon get into new routines.

I'm looking forward to less washing, DS1 is a menace for changing clothes several times throughout the day. Hmm

gypsyfloss2 · 28/08/2015 19:53

We have been shopping for England over the past couple of weeks. Mostly online and a few trips to Homebase and Dunelm. Our nearest IKEA is beyond hideous so I've avoided even mentioning it to DD.

She's chosen her modules, ordered her books...the Arabic one came today. I'm really quite envious. She announced the other day that's she ready to start learning again . And she's been doing lots of chatting on FB with others in her college and course which reassures me a lot.

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