Uni Freshers 2016 (second thread)

[soapybox]

A new thread!

Awkward. I can remember assuming the 3 of us would be sharing in the second year but one decided to share with a different friend. We were gutted. By the end of October the different friend had dumped her and moved in with a group of boys and our friend got a place on her own for the rest of the year. Thankfully there were no hard feelings between us and we all 3 moved in together for year 3. Oh, the drama, though! 😉

DS is at Kingston anybody know if I should be on to him to get sorted? He hasn't got a natural group as his flat hasn't gelled well and he is a terrible procrastinator so it could easily be that everyone else is sorted before it gets on his radar!

jaxxyj Is there anything on the university website. DS's uni actually sent us parents information as well info on the website

There are quite a few rugby players in DS's flat and they tend to move into rugby houses. DS isn't a rugby player so not sure what he is planning but I aim to behaving a chat next time he is home

Do love the food pictures.

jaxxyj

www.kingston.ac.uk/accommodation/private-accommodation/

Not sure if this is any help

Thank you gaslighting it says students in Kingston don't start looking until June! Phew! Panic over.. I love all you lot on this thread, such a wealth of information and helpfulness!!

Yes Coconutty I was surprised how big Kingston was when we went down to visit, lovely by the River Thames too!

Fab shopping!

I sometimes wonder about my DD, I asked her last night if she wanted me to buy her a rail card for her xmas. She said she would prefer a handheld hoover ! She always did have the tidiest room when she was here so not having a hoover to hoover her carpet is annoying her . I've told her to ask the cleaner if she could borrow hers for 2 mins but DD says the cleaner doesn't speak much English.

On the plus side tho after DD having doubts about uni, living away and just generally being miserable she's settled in now. She's passing all her assessments and is loving being part of the football team, she's even going to Croatia with them for a football tournament in April. I phoned the other night and for the 1st time she said she was busy and couldn't talk because she was with a group of friends and they were waiting to start a kick boxing class. It makes a nice change from her always wanting to come home, now she's happy to stay in halls until her xmas holiday.

Great news Fuds!

Lovely to hear that your DD is now starting to settle in and enjoy herself Fuds.

My DD is just starting to discuss flat sharing arrangements for next year with various friends, so we shall see how things progress. Initially she thought she would just share with other medics but she has a non-medic flatmate that she loves and her medic friend that she is going to share with also has a non-medic in her flat that she would like to share with, so they may have a couple of non-medics sharing, at least for next year.

DD is coming home this weekend so will no doubt here more about the plans for next year then.

Are the flat shares still with the uni or private let's all year round? I wonder if my DD has given her accommodation a thought for next year.

Just revisited this thread after a long absence, so a belated Thank You to soapy for linking to the parents' newsletter upthread. Really useful - do you know if we can subscribe to have it sent directly to us? I don't think DS reads his emails so we would never get it via him.

Slightly surreal to think that our DC probably know each other in RL now! (Also medic)

Cake - it was Hellsbells that linked the parent email from Leeds and I am not sure how she came to get it, as I have received nothing from them either. It was very helpful. I think my DD and friends may crack on and sort something out anyway as there are loads of flats available for rent next year already and they might get a better choice if they just get on with it now!

Hi cake and soapy. The newsletter came via my DD - they were asked to forward the email to parents!
DD is wobbling a bit re: house hunting. She has been asked to share with some friends and unfortunately they are ignoring the uni's advice and looking now. DD is worried about how hard she is finding the course and whether she will pass the year. Fingers crossed!

DD has managed to reserve a house for nest year today (deposit to be paid next week once they've had the contract checked over) - a fair bit of drama as to someone pulling out a t the last minute, but done and dusted now thankfully.

Other good news is that DDs carpet was finally replaced AND the oven which blew up, so now a fully functioning flat again . Plus DDs DSA assessment went well I only said "should've done this last year" twice which was very restrained of me and her uni support plan is in place too, so hopefully her stress levels will settle down.

Can't believe she finishes this term in three weeks

Yay for the fully functioning flat!

Friend with a DD at Exeter tells me her daughter has just signed on the dotted line for next year's rented house.

dd is having problems sleeping. can i get her something? send it by post? or she is due to come down next weekend.
What do you recommend.

it's so ridiculously early to be sorting out next years' accomodation, isn't it?

Noah - not sleeping cos of noise/rubbish curtains letting light in (ear plugs/eye mask) or stress (calming music/white noise app/mindfulness app)? Generic advice is don't eat too late in the evening, cut out or down on caffeine (esp after lunchtime), switch off devices a couple of hours before bed (yeah right, whenever did a teenager not have a device in their hand ), regular routines - so get up at the same time every day, go to bed at the same time every night. Also lists - everything they need to do in a brain dump, then order according to deadlines, then colour code (as an alternative to destressing with colouring books "they've for babies, don't be ridiculous mum!"). And minimal alcohol which disrupts sleep. Any use?

There was a thread by a MNer with a DD having sleep problems, think it was Littleham.
Got it

it's so ridiculously early to be sorting out next years' accomodation, isn't it?
It depends where they are.
DS2 is in an area with a surplus of student accommodation and so doesn't need to start looking until January. In fact the uni accommodation fair isn't until late Jan.
DS1 however is at Warwick and has learned that they need to be early. Campus accomm is only for first years and some post grads.
Last year his group waited until January because one was waiting to hear about a year abroad. They found that every flat they looked at in the evening was taken by next morning. They ended up having to pay a reservation fee before even looking. So that was about £80 on top of the £380 deposit. The flat he's in now has already been let for next year.

Noah as my vision says plus look up sleep hygiene. Also both my DD and I use these apps http://www.withandrewjohnson.com/pages/apps. There is a one called relax plus which you can set to either wake or sleep, there is also a one called deep sleep. If you want to buy her something there are lots of aromatherapy products ( drops on a cotton ball and put on radiator or under pillow). Also cut down on caffeine - get caffeine free tea and coffee, these tea bags taste a bit weird but seem to work a bit http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/gb/groceries/clipper-snore---peace-tea-bags-x20?langId=44&storeId=10151&krypto=bLEz8PLDVjJHWykbYA3RxEJhkq4uo1GQ36ssOPb37Zu1QoIizvSDxXYIkBnxaVpM%2FB%2BPk0hl12QoAxSEU55vzPZQGgG771qx3dIENxU4ylFKNbLUafnM73KWBE%2FHGVmoqeatTXaOfevu573EHInASpDbSa5Q4Wd4bWAkICEXyRM%3D&ddkey=http%3Agb%2Fgroceries%2Fclipper-snore---peace-tea-bags-x20

oh thanks all. that is really great.
she did swear by white noise when doing a levels so i might remind her, and the other things too.
i think other students keep really late nights so it is noisy.

fuds glad DD is settling in now. Shows some need longer than others