Fighting our way through 1st year uni (starting Sept 17)

[HSMMaCM]

Continuing the previous thread.

Exams, assessments, essays, etc.

Support, or lack of it.

Will they all get accommodation for next year and can they cook a balanced meal yet.

[BestIsWest]

*Good not Goad

[BestIsWest]

I’m a guarantor but only for DS’s liability. He’s sharing with 4 others.

[Reallycantbebothered]

I'm guarantor for Ds room for 2nd yr ( in private uni halls with 2 of his course mates)...flat has 3 bedrooms( with double beds and desk) , bathroom and separate shower room
Lounge kitchen with washer dryer and dishwasher ...2 min walk from campus ( Lidl ,Tesco Express, gym, climbing wall)
All for £350/ month which I think is very decent ...Halls are less than 5 yrs old and look very well kitted out .Bills will be extra but unlikely to be more than £50/month to include heating, TV and broadband ( Uni in Scotland)
paid £350 deposit and then start paying quarterly from 1st July
Dd is meeting up with her housemates from 2nd year this weekend....they're all on a placement year throughout the country so are discussing where to live for their final year when they reunite again come September....no doubt I'll be guarantor for that house as well
Their house last year worked out at £300/ month each for 5 of them

[AmITwirly]

Thanks everyone. So you are guaranteeing just your DC's rent, but does the contract say your DCs are "joint and several" tenants?

I'd much prefer DS was only responsible for his share of the rent rather than being responsible if one of his flatmates doesn't pay.

[PilarTernera]

DD's contract is only for her own rent, not the entire house. I was relieved to see it was a standard Residential Landlords Association form, so nothing dodgy.

[ono40]

Horse how can you lose a pillow and not notice, lol?!

Twirly, I am guarantor for DS's rent next year but only his, not the entire house (of seven). Back in the Dark Ages, I don't even think we signed a rental agreement, we just paid each month until the landlord chucked us out before Easter (whereupon we went back into Halls - the luxury). There was certainly no talk of guarantors.

[Horsemad]

Depends how drunk one is ono, lol!

[JugglingFromHereToThere]

Thanks BestIsWest, she has been telling me what a lovely campus it is too, I think she's really appreciating that, as well as her lovely flatmates.

Really enjoying the course as well and looking forward to 3 interesting new modules for the second semester including I think animal diversity, behaviour, and evolution.

[Malbecfan]

Dipping my toe in the water as I haven't joined the thread before, so please be kind....

DD1 is at Cambridge, absolutely loving it. We miss her, but have at least one text/FB message per day and a FaceTime chat once a week. We are a good 4 hours away so it's not easy to visit. We managed one at half-term in October so my father could visit his oldest grandchild (he is SO proud of her!) and so we could take her some warm clothes that in balmy September she had neglected to pack.

Her college guarantees accommodation for all 4 years of her course so we don't have to worry about finding a house/people to share with/deposits etc. She has just had exams which were "ok" and DD2 and I hope to see her briefly next month when we have another half-term visit.

[Haffdonga]

Welcome malbec

DS has signed a contract to share a 'flat' - him and 5 girls. But when I asked what the contract actually said, he has absolutely no clue.

What he did know though, was that he had committed me to supply three post-dated cheques for the rent. I mean who uses cheques in this day and age? I'm not happy at the idea of nearly 2 grand being whisked out of my account if it's there at 3 random dates next year (that I will probably have completely forgotten about by then) but have little choice. DS had already signed on the dotted line.

Twirly my older ds has shared a couple of student houses and all contracts they saw were joint and several. It seems if they sharing a house as a group then it's by far the most common contract these days (Less risk for the landlord). It's seems only when the rooms are let individually that it's not.

[TheOrigRightsofwomen]

I am in negotiation with DS1 over a suitable w/e to visit with DS2.
Have promised not to impose too much on his study/party
time, just spend a few hours having lunch or dinner. Will take DS2 to the Titanic museum (Southampton).

Anything else good for 8 yo's? Will either stay in Premier Inn or AirBnB.

[Horsemad]

TheOrig, I can rec the Premier Inn near the airport in Soton; never had a bad stay there yet and convenient for the uni.

[Needmoresleep]

And you are then not too far from the huge TKMaxx/Homesense in Hedge End. Southampton also boasts an IKea and Decathlon, both close to the docks. I’m getting University envy.

[Eve]

Theorig. You are not too far from Portsmouth - about 25 mins and could visit the historic dockyard, hms victory.

[TheOrigRightsofwomen]

Thank you. We visited Ikea and Decathon (me and DS1 - the uni one) when I went to collect him at Xmas. Good fun!

HMS Victory! Great idea Eve, and thanks for the PI rec Horsemad

Still waiting for DS1 to set a date.

[simbobs]

Just dropped DD at the station for her trek back up North. It was lovely to have everyone back under one roof. I keep meaning to ask for clarification about next years housing. She asked us to be guarantors for the flat that she is renting with 4 others (I think DH put his name down) but we have not actually been asked to sign anything. Must pick that one up when we see her at Half Term.

[Blogwoman]

Hello again everyone, just found the new thread. Think my DD will be about the last back to uni - she goes next weekend. Hoping she doesn’t find it too hard to adjust again after such a long time at home (holiday included an intense period of completing assignments) but glad she is talking about plans for sorting accommodation & has a friend to look with.

[lostheloveofmylife]

I've been a little nervous all weekend as dd took off with a bunch of friends on a 5 hour road trip, over snowy mountains, to the coast. They planned to surf, camp 'somewhere' and have a bonfire. I was happy when she called me to say she was safely back at halls this afternoon- exhausted, and full of the adventures they'd had!!

[ono40]

Had a lovely visit to DS yesterday and took him out to lunch. I thought he'd suggest some cheap and cheerful student haunt but oh no, it was the local gastro pub normally out of reach of student budgets.
He has become quite fastidious and decided the pillow I gave him was too old and manky - pillow mystery solved!

His overseas flatmate had thrown up in the hallway that morning but comes from a culture where lying is perfectly normal and so he said it wasn't him and refused to clear it up. As everyone else had gone home and the vomit was right outside his room (and up the walls), the evidence pointed firmly in his direction! DS and I went to the supermarket and stocked up on antibac wipes and Febreze and cleaned it all up. We also cleaned the kitchen as the flatmate cooks a lot despite being on meal plan and never washes up (also denies this) so the place was revolting. DS is quite looking forward to having his own house next year. I told him that part of the uni experience is living with other people and finding out that other people are plain weird

[LittleHoHoHo]

Ugh ono. That is revolting! I'm feeling very sorry for you.

dd is very busy so no time to come home. She is going to squeeze a trip in to see her sister in another university. It is nice when they start visiting each other.

[Needmoresleep]

Ono, I doubt that it has anything to do with his flatmate being from overseas, as this behaviour seems pretty much par for the course in any student flat. Certainly the having to clear up other people's vomit (her flatmate went on reading week last term leaving it behind, and the shower regularly needs to be cleaned before it can be used) and washing up. Plus coming back hungry to find someone else is using your pans or that visitors have left cigarette butts in your mug. DD is really looking forward to next year. The person she knew least in her share has confessed he is a bit of a "clean freak". She liked him immediately.

DS confirms that the big advantage of catered is that, even if the food is awful, there is far less scope for anti social behaviour. However he was in a very large hall with perhaps 800 students with round the clock security/reception. I also assume it varies a lot, as a friend who manages private uncatered student accommodation has her security patrol corridors at intervals through the night, which again keeps a lid on problems.

It is getting better. DD is pleased that she has made an effort to join stuff, and make friends outside the flat. She is also doing additional reading round aspects of her course. Material is a lot more interesting than A level. She had a friend stay last weekend and is coming home next. And is being more assertive over smaller things. Curiously the resulting row seemed not to be about whether it was unreasonable to play music loud after midnight, when you could equally easily use headphones, but whether it was sad, therefore unreasonable, to want to be able to study quietly or sleep so early. But it seems to have had an impact. I think DD has come to terms with the fact that University is not always, initially at least, the great fun it is cracked up to be. But also senses that some others are tiring of the endless clubbing and starting to put more effort into attending lectures and engaging in University life in other ways.

[TheOrigRightsofwomen]

comes from a culture where lying is perfectly normal

What culture is that?

I am aware of people who make stuff up so as not to disappoint others e.g. where does the bus go from? Oh, over there (when they actually have no idea).

But denying you've vomited...no, I don't think any culture thinks that's acceptable.

[HSMMaCM]

I don't think an overseas culture was suggested, just a background where lying was accepted/unchallenged.

[Eve]

DS1 phoned to say exams done and thinks there were all ok. No results yet and hes heading home tomorrow for rest of the week ... and lots of food and long lie ins no doubt!

[ono40]

It is the lying that seems to be accepted as being normal. DS has a personalised jar of Nutella with his name on and found the same flatmate with his hands in the jar eating it straight. When DS said 'that's my jar, did you make a mistake' flatmate said it was his even though DS name was plastered across it. Just a complete fib. But ugh.....eating Nutella with your hands anyway. DS threw it away - I think he is turning into a clean freak (Let's hope it persists at home)