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

is registering the same as enrolling?

I don't think so, DS enrolled online about 3 weeks ago - he had to complete the info for the ID card and was allocated a Moodle account and e-mail address. But he wasn't officially registered on the course until he collected the ID card yesterday as that's what releases their funding.

My DD had to enrol and send a photo so she could get her ID card on the day she went in - the card was then activated when she 'swiped' in for her first lecture and her funds appeared in her acxount yesterday followed by a text to me that read "I'm rich"!!!!!

Ok thanks - she's done both then in that case I think as she has her ID card and been to some intro lectures already

I just spoke to her on the phone and she says everyone seems to have been told it's going in tomorrow after registering Saturday

DS seems to be settling after a wobbly start. He has joined some clubs and been out with flatmates. I think it is helping that freshers is over and he is going to lectures.

He made me laugh when he did his first load of laundry, horrified that it took 3 hours to wash and dry. Hopefully he will appreciate my efforts when he comes home!

beau, they are funny, aren't they?!

Dd has so far locked herself out of her room and got broken glass in her foot.

savage. hope she is okay? My DD 'grated' her hand and didn't realise how much blood there was and managed to trail it across the kitchen floor and all over her room door - one of her flatmstes knocked and ask if she was okay as there was a lot of blood! I knew the first aid kit would come in handy!!

I have been following this thread for the last week or so, while we have been preparing to take dd1 to uni, but haven't dared post as she has also been reading it...(in fact she's followed all of the previous threads as well, unlike me). I'm hoping that now she's fully into Freshers she won't be on here any more.

Drop off day was fine, with a few fraught moments. Thanks to this thread and the mumsnet university shopping / packing list we had most things that she needed and she was certainly much better equipped than I was when I went to uni in 1988!

Her room is huge, double bed, sofa and en-suite. We set it all up and then took her shopping for food - luckily she is quite clued up so had a good idea of the basic things she would need. I'm not worried she will starve. We met the 2 boys she will be sharing with, but the girl (final flatmate) wasn't moving in til Sunday.

No tears from any of us when we left, but it's now that I'm feeling it. She has always been chatty and shared lots with us (not everything I'm sure!) so it's weird to know that she's doing so many new things and not knowing anything about them. She texted DH on Sunday afternoon to say she'd gone to the Student Union on her own to watch the rugby (wearing her Wales rugby shirt that we'd only remembered to get her at the last minute - terrible omission!). I was proud of her for getting out there and going despite her flatmates not wanting to. I suspect it might be different on Saturday when it's England v Wales...

She phoned on Sunday evening to ask me to send a few things she'd forgotten, and sounded upbeat and happy.

And since then I've had a couple of short FB messages and nothing. I'm not worried about her, I just hate not knowing what's going on. Dh wisely said that this is how it's going to be for now & we should get used to it...but it is definitely hard. Dd2 is not chatty and prefers her own company to ours, so the house is much quieter.

I'm trying to sit on my hands and not bombard her with messages and questions but it is hard. She's starting her job next Sunday, working for the same company as DH, but a different branch obviously (as she's 3 hours away!), so I'm hoping at the very least we'll hear about that. She may even let me know that her parcel has arrived safely...who knows!

Anyway, it's really good to read everyone else's experiences and know we're not alone in this new strange world...

Hooray! Have just had a nice long chat with DD on the phone.

She went on a fresher's bar crawl last night and said it was awful - everywhere far too crowded. Tonight there is a toga party which she really didn't feel like going to [for toga-related reasons] but she has spent the afternoon making togas with one of her flatmates, who brought a sewing machine (as you do) and is feeling much more keen now. Says it's hard to socialise properly at these events as they are too noisy and clubby, but she and her flatmates (who she describes as a 'tight little group') are going to everything.

She has brought far too much kitchen stuff and hasn't done a lot of actual cooking yet. Apparently the kitchen is very messy and gets crowded with too many people trying to cook at once. No laundry has been done yet as she still hasn't got a card for the washing machines.

She's had an introductory talk to her course and is feeling very enthusiastic now about getting started, and has met a few of her course mates.

Student maintenance loan was due in yesterday but hasn't arrived, so I told her what has been said here about registration. She's due to enrol on Friday and her rent is due on Monday, so I hope Student Finance are prompt!

Mumslife does it have to be a lecture that activates the card?
Could it just be usage to enter a building like the library?
DD got ID on Saturday, but I'm fauly certain her SF date not till Thursday - we shall see.

First aid kit also came in use here, new knives sharper than DD realised.

Not really relevant, but I have never heard of anyone taking a sewing machine to uni!

Hmmm laundry. Don't think DD even knows where it is yet, and we never checked it out when we dropped her off on Saturday.
Would love to see how full her (rather small, pop-up) dirty linen bin is.

Glad you've had a good chat with your DD Muffinmonster.
Hopefully when she gets to know more on her course, will find others hat want to do more non-clubby stuff. DDs flatmates are a mixture of clubby and very quiet, where she's somewhere in between. All getting along OK in the flat but she is starting to socialise more with people from her course. Also has asked the quieter ones along so they don't feel left out.

I took a sewing machine to uni Leeds2 I made quite a bit of money making ball gowns for people

quietly there was quite a bit of blood but she went to first aid on site.
She is a total hypochondriac so I hope she gets short shrift...its very wearing
I sent her with some plasters...she can get anything else herself.

We are all eating too much here. I keep making meals for four, then dividing them among three.

Yay for having a good chat with DD muffin

Not sure if DS has done any laundry yet.

Ouch at the injuries.

DS's first loan payment came in last Monday. The invoice for the first part of the rent came in yesterday. Managed to pay it online last night.

beau that's nice to hear about your DS.T

emsie, it is hard not knowing. Glad you found the thread useful.

Ds rang us!! (So far we've just had very occasional one word answer texts to our multiple enquiries,) He sounds very very happy and excited.

However, he was walking down the road with 4 of his best mates from home who have all come to visit him . It seems Freshers Week is just an extension of the home town social scene. Due to gap years and Oxbridge several haven't started yet and others are at the same uni. I do hope he's actually making some new friends too. Couldn't grill him in front of his mates

So far your dc have been cut by glass, cut fingers with kitchen knives, grated fingers, broken bones, encountered drugs & drink and got locked out of rooms.

I have added a few items to the first aid kit after hearing your stories.

I'd love some details, so far all I've had is that he's having a great time and has drunk a lot!

If you are at all interested in seeing the Stylish Dads in action, check out the link to The Tab.

(My DH and DD are the last photo. Shhhhh! And don't out me!)

http://thetab.com/uk/sheffield/2015/09/22/moving-day-best-dressed-dads-9482

DD phoned earlier as she needed some info for her DBS form. She said she has fused the sockets again in her room - this time using the Henry Hoover ....DH is in shock as he didn't think she knew how to clean . This time the switch on the fuse box hasn't done the trick so I've told her to report it at the campus reception.
Otherwise everything is going fine. She has found a piano today to play and also joined the music society.

My dds flat mates have all gone out partying, its not her scene and has stayed in.

Luckly she has had no accidents so far lol