Preparing for Uni in 2015 continues...

[Chillywhippet]

New thread

Old one here with loads of info

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/2408327-Preparing-for-Uni-in-2015

She has just texted me to say that everyone is very nice and friendly and cool.

I just remember how pissed off she used to get when her ex was dabbling. I think she finds it all a bit tedious.

To be honest she has been really worried about sharing with quiet types who didn't like going out or clubbing. Bit of a shock that they are all a bit wilder than she is.

Had a call from dd. She had a late night in the union, left at 1.30 which is late for her. It seems a lot of boys ended up back in her halls later on and, as the common room is on the all girls corridor, they were there and fairly loud. But worst of all when they got up this morning they discovered the ( drunk) boys had been using the girls bathrooms and they were in a disgusting state.

Also a second year boy was trying to beat down the door of one of the new girls. Apparently he lived there last year but was high on drink and probably substances and was convinced it was his room. They had to get the warden and paramedics.

So a fairly dramatic first night. She sounds exhausted and very cold ridden but the plan is to go clubbing tonight. She'd rather stay in and watch Downton with a hot chocolate. I feel bad for her although she still says everyone is nice.

I think it is standard for university accommodation to have a policy forbidding illegal drug use. Obviously it's a personal matter, but in the event of flatmates regularly getting high on the premises, it might be reasonable to try to change accommodation. (Maybe it would be possible to just say that co-tenants were breaking an aspect of the license/tenancy agreement in a way that was disruptive.)

Sounds like your dd is very street wise tinky she likes having a good time but knows where to draw the line. Still a worry though, If I was that poor Muslim boy i would be wanting a transfer. I know it's important to get independent life skills and everything, try and get on with all manner of people but I think living amongst druggies even if it's for fun for them would be hell for others having to put up with spaced out kids.

Just got back from dropping dd at uni..an hour and 25 mins door to door.
Didn't stay for the parents welcome stuff....we had lunch and then said goodbye. No tears

DD has just been to ASDA with the Muslim boy and one of the girls. She says they have bought lots of food to share. Sounds like they are all rubbing along alright, illegal substances notwithstanding.

I was actually quite panicky earlier. I suppose it is just like the spliff of my youth. DD is quite sensible though.

DS just told me two of his flat mates were quite into it last year and he just let them get on with it, no problems, never felt pressured himself.

Did people discuss mattress toppers a while back? DD's is horrible, great metal springs really near the surface. Saw one at Argos only 29.99, Memory Foam. Sounds suspiciously cheap and mixed reviews. Anyone got recommendations?

cooroo I brought a mattress topper mainly because I didn't want daughter sleeping on a second hand mattress!! (Lol - haven't a clue why i thought that as its no different staying in a hotel on holiday!) I soent about £35 on one from tesco and it's fairly thick but not memory foam! DD has said bed is springy but comfortable!

My dds bed had 1 on already and it was new

We got DD the Silent night airmax mattress topper its about £35 might be cheaper. But it isn't memory foam though

Dd's bed already had one but we put another one over the top of that anyway. It was silent night, thick, padded but not memory foam. Can't remember how much it was, sorry.

We are just home. Met dd for brunch. She looked shattered after being out clubbing till 3am. I naively thought they were just going to a college bar. One of the boys in her house has an older brother at same uni who told them which city centre club to go to. The city was very, err, lively at 7pm so hate to think what it was like later.

She has surprisingly managed to store all her clothes in the wardrobe & chest of drawers. No under bed storage feasible as has a divan. We took home one suitcase as nowhere to put it.
So far I am feeling ok, mainly because she seems ok & happy

We got a great mattress topper from amazon, £29.99 for a double. It says slight second but looks perfect. Dd said it was very comfortable last night. It's sold by this ompany - rejuvopedic. It really is as thick as it looks.

I wonder if they have replaced the beds over the summer decorhate, when we looked around there was definitely space under the beds but dd has a divan. The carpets and curtains have changed too, wrecking her colour scheme! Just had a long Skype session, they are just going to the union again tonight so shouldn't be too late.

Things start happening tomorrow, I think she will be pleased to get some structure.

Cooroo DDs bed had a very thin mattress cover that didn't seem to offer much protection. We got a Snuggledown Freshwash mattres topper from BHS. Not memory foam, but DD said quite comfy, and is used to memory foam at home, Think we paid £28 for single, but that was with a 20% off promotion. We put a quilted, waterproof mattress protector on top of that too.

Mrsr- dd's room is very spacious but carpet & curtains are very dated in terms of colour. Luckily we suspected that from photos on the website so deliberately got neutral colours for her bedding. She said it was a struggle to get her sheet on last night. Should have just bought a normal double instead of scrabbling around to find a 4ft one!
Dd is going out again tonight to some club night organised by her halls. She has a 9.15 start tomorrow & it's a good 30 minutes walk!

Hope my DS doesn't like dirty kitchens and cleans up too!!!

Despite my jubilation yesterday after dropping him off - have had a sightly low mood today - letting go is a wee bit difficult. Did not sleep well worrying he would get too drunk and have no parents to keep an eye on him.

He seems okay as he is reluctant to txt.

Spent over an hour today hunting for something that dd's college have said she must bring with her and haven't been able to find it. Can't believe they are asking for this but it is her red book! It hasn't been updated since she was about 5 so I am not sure what use it will be. She has checked with her college parent as I thought it might be a wind up who said that not everyone had them with them so not to worry too much about it

I'm jumping in here as I was 'watching' this thread for tips and am just back from a weekend dropping DD off at uni and staying with friends whilst we were there, which was nice. We dropped her Friday and then went back on Saturday to take her shopping for fresh fruit and veg and also to Boots to get last minute bits and to WH Smith as she had lost her school pencil case so had nothing to write with!

I thought I would make a couple of notes here whilst they are fresh and in case future MNers look at this thread for ideas.

Clothes Hangers: DD bought some lovely funky clothes hangers from IKEA but when we got to her room her wardrobe was just a pole with a shelf over it. The pole was so close to the underside of the thread that it was impossible to hook the hunky hangers over it! So we had to get an emergency load of hangers that have thin metal hooks so that they will go over the pole - very annoying.

There was very little storage space in her room. She has an ensuite and there is NOWHERE to put anything in her bathroom so I'm going to investigate an over-the-door storage thing that she can hook over.

The laundry arrangements at her halls seem to be that you put credit on a card and use that to swipe over the machines. It can be topped up online by the student or, I'm guessing, parents :)

Very few electric sockets in her room (2 x doubles) and none by her bed. She had one 4-way extension socket and we had to get her another one when we saw what she had.

We bought DD a mattress topper and duvet from IKEA. Can't remember the price but it wasn't a lot. She says it is very comfy.

Already someone in her halls has been ambulanced to hospital due to suspected Meningitis. This summer the NHS decided to immunise all freshers with Meningitis W due to the growth of this virus so all of them have had letters from their GPs calling them in to be vaccinated. The girl rushed to hospital had not had the vaccination. So do check your DD or DS has up to date vaccinations. I'm wondering if I should encourage DD to have a flu jab?

Friends of ours registered their son with the uni GP before he arrived for Freshers - very organised!

If I think of anything else I'll post again.

Just had a text from DD. It sees she is within 10 minutes' walk of a Bobbi Brown counter. Her idea of heaven.

Just got back from dropping DD 2 hours from home. All went smoothly. No tears, just excitement, which is great considering she cried every night for a month when she went to secondary school!????We stayed 2 hours to get her unpacked and explore a bit and have lunch and then left. She's in a very large hall of residence but in a 'wing' of about 8 rooms. ????Even before we got home I'd had a text to say that she'd shouted "kettle's on in Room 6!" only to have 4 girls turn up, one with a teapot ????They're now out buying tickets for tonight's party so all's well in our world.

No idea what those ??? are about!

MrsB my dd needed her immunisation record a while back & got a print out from our GP. Perhaps yours can provide the same?

whoreandpeace my daughter had the meningitis vaccine - phew! Although when she called to book it the receptionist said they only had 5 left as there was a national shortage! I wouldn't be encouraging any healthy person to have the flu jab as this triggered ME in my youngest daughter :(

I'm still reeling from the shock of reading Tinkly's post about ketamine. Is that normal in a student residence? I've been feeling quite ill all afternoon at the thought of that and how terrible it would be if ds found himself with a bunch of strangers almost all of whom were doing drugs.

It's good to hear of so many DCs getting on OK, at the same time I am sorry to hear of those finding things difficult.

Thanks whoreandpeace for the useful info. We didn't think of coat hangers when DD went 5 years ago so have got some for DS. We've also bought an anti-surge extension.

Regarding the Maningitis W vaccination, I saw this on the TV News so rang the GP for DS to have the vaccination - they just booked him in. So glad he has had this done.

When DD went we managed to leave her kitchen crate at home - it was the first box she had ready and we put it in the garage so it was out of the way. When we came to load the car we all forgot about it until we arrived at halls. This meant a trip to Lidl to get another basic set of cheap stuff. My parents visited a couple of weeks later and took her crate with them.

Despite many shopping trips I am sure we have forgotten something - we have another few days to think of things.