Preparing for Uni in 2015

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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!

Lapsed, sorry you're having this stress I honestly think it'll be fine at that time and you can probably turn up earlier than your slot from what I've heard, so your DH won't need to worry about driving back in the dark

Anyway, if it all gets too much, meet me and we'll go drinking instead!!! I'm staying over on Sat night and will be trying to find a Fresher Free place to eat!!

Lapsed I agree that if your dh is worried about driving in Saturday rush hour he could leave earlier & just park up somewhere & go for a coffee till it's time.
Chilli I worry that my dd has also been acting spoiled & not appreciated the impact on family finances. However she has finally sorted a bit of work for the last couple of weeks to hopefully take her through freshers week till her loan comes through.
Lots of going out over the next two weeks though to say goodbye to friends going their separate ways

Yeah, DS is completely oblivious to the costs of going to Uni. I don't expect him to fall to his knees in gratitude, but occasionally I'd like a bit of appreciation of what it is costing us to help him.

Lapsed Agree with what others are saying about going earlier.

The time slots seem to be more of a guide so everyone doesn't arrive at once. LAnd if they can't accommodate you earlier, can just park up elsewhere and get a coffee etc.

Horsemad same here with DS.

This morning I said to DH that soon even though the new semester will have only just started DS will have to start looking for a house to share for next year and that will be another deposit. DH said that's for DS to worry about not us and he needs to get a job.

How do other families manage when there is accommodation to pay for up front but the maintenance loan doesn't come in till after and then in three installments?

Lapsed when we took ds two years ago (to So'ton) no one checked our arrival time. A s Circular says the time slots are more of a guide to help spread the load throughout the day. The moving in process is pretty slick - you arrive, go and collect keys, bus pass etc and there are loads of freshers reps waiting to help you unload the car and take everything to the room. We were in and out in under half an hour - I barely had time to cry!!

The good thing about going later is that you will be able to see all the happy, excited flatmates chatting with each other and know that whilst you might be shedding a few tears, your offspring will be having a ball

PUG, I don't know - perhaps the kids have been working before Uni and stashed some in readiness?

DH kind of enables DS's lack of appreciation, by continually bankrolling him, grrr. I'm the one who tends to point out what things are costing etc, or it wouldn't even cross his mind.

However DH has said that if DS finds he can't manage on the weekly amount he'll have then he will have to get a job to top it up - that DID surprise me!!

students often have overdrafts to cater for the imbalance between money arriving and when they need to spend it. Tell then to choose a student bank with a good overdraft facility if they not accumulated any savings.

Dd has checked with student finance & she gets her first instalment on the 21st. First accommodation payment instalment is not due till the end of October (though we are going to pay that, at least for now). The only thing we have to pay before that is a £200 deposit.

Made it clear to DD that as we are paying accommodation, she needs to live off student loan in term time and work in the holidays if she needs more.
She leaves her p/t job a few days before she leaves, but is able to come back as a 'holiday casual'. She says they hav or easy asked her what shifts she can do in the Xmas hooks, but she's not sure what to commit to yet.

Obviously doesn't want to work the whole break, will want to catch up with friends ski co I g home.

Do they generally have exams in January that they are meant to be revising dr over Xmas?

I think Jan exams are common. Should say on the website somewhere?

Just finished last of the shopping (for now at least) - finally found a duvet cover that was deemed acceptable. BHS have 20% off if anyone is still looking. And our 99p shop has a remarkably good kitchenware section!

More shopping completed today Slowly getting through the list!

I'm just filling in the Direct Debit payment forms for DS' accommodation fees. His Maintenance loan won't come anywhere near it, he's going to his insurance offer and only the most expensive rooms were left, it's eye watering!

Glad to hear that other dc are getting crabby and hard to live with. Also glad to hear that they are failing to keep up with the admin, we practically had to tie dd to a chair this morning to get here to pick her optional modules. As predicted, as the list has been out for a week, some of the courses she liked the look if are already full. She is far too busy socialising and saying goodbye to school friends and leaving me to fret about all the things that still need to be done, more fool me I know.

We're off to buy final things tomorrow, thanks for the tip about BHS. We have plenty of kitchen stuff from when dd1 went and its all packed. I will do a food shop to start her off, she only has to cook at the weekends thank goodness.

She has worked 4 or 5 days a week over the summer and has about £3000 saved plus we will give her a small weekly allowance. Her minimal loan will go towards her( very expensive) accommodation and we will top it up. I'm hoping that as she has earned the money herself she will be careful about spending it. Fortunately she will have work in the holidays to keep her savings topped up. There are a january exams though.

Dd doesn't want anything from us, she has saved up enough from her job to pay her own way, at least through the first year.

She's hoping to get a term time job to start saving for next year.

Same problem here with optional modules. First lesson learned - bet she int me the same mistake next year when more are optional.

Oh I think they are all the same re the boring admin stuff. I had a panic this morning about arrival slots. Of course dd hadn't read an email properly. Thankfully we were still able to book one that suited us. Dd has had her induction timetable for the first fortnight. Not much free time at all! I think she thought it would just be clubbing & lolling in bed all day!

She has finally picked up some work & hopefully won't blow it all on nights out before she goes.

I was far more financially independent at her age. But also, she wasn't able to get a weekend job last year due to voluntary work & then struggled to get anything this summer (that fitted around her trips!)

We have made progress on the bike riding...

DD doesn't seem to have much if an induction timetable yet. She goes on 19th, tells me module lectures timetabled from Monday 28th, but thought that was still 'Freshers fortnight'.

Dd has a fairly bare looking timetable for week one, but she says it will be updated by 14th. Am a little concerned as I think she is going to the same university as decorhates daughter.

She has picked one of the earlier arrival slots. No details about where to park etc. I'm hoping some instructions will come at some point. I'm afraid to ask any more questions, she's getting very snappy, but has proved she is not reading emails properly. Grrr. Maybe this is all planned so we are so frustrated with them by the time they go that we don't miss them too much.

I sat on DS today to make him enrol on-line, I'm going to buy him this - tomorrow.

DS hasn't had any timetables yet either - for Freshers activities or his dept. I have checked the website and can't find them published either so I don't think its just him not being organised.
I haven't seen any mention of arrival slots either. It just says you can't park at the accomodation for more than 30mins when dropping off. Hope he doesn't have to book a slot as he is going with DH in the car by ferry so they will just want to get on with it when they arrive.
Fortunately he has said the 1st installment of his rent isn't payable until 1st Nov so hopefully his student loan will be through by then as I have already paid out £300 room deposit plus over £300 to take the car on the ferry to carry all his clutter. He will be travelling with minimal luggage as a foot passenger from now on or flying if he can organise himself enough to get a cheap flight

Dd has a timetable for freshers' week (actually only 5 days) and it is very busy so hopefully no time to get homesick. She has been allocated 2 college "parents" who are third years and they will meet her when she arrives. They have a "family" of 5 freshers who they will take to lunch on the first day and to dinner in the evening. She also has 5 subject parents who are second years studying the same subject as her and she is in a subject family with the other 6 first years doing her subject and they have scheduled activities. She has already had lovely emails from all her "parents" and she is in facebook contact with them and others in her college. She also has a thing scheduled with all the people on her corridor and the second years who lived their last year. It all seems very well organised to introduce them into various different groups of people in a short period of time. So much better than when I went to university. I only remember something happening on the first night and then we were left to our own devices.

Another one here glad to hear that dd is not the only one being difficult at the moment. I am trying to grit my teeth and understand that she must be anxious but we have another 4 weeks before she finally goes. I am sure it must be part of a natural evolutionary process to make parting easier

bgibluebus don't want to panic you, but DD had had Timetable communication and accommodation slot booking through student login. The accommodation booking links not the website have not been updated for her Uni.
They have a separate site fir Freshers events, but agai. Any events related to individual halls via Uni login.
Appreciate they may not all work the same way, but could be worth asking him to log on and check.