Anyone else got DCs going through finals ?

[BasiliskStare]

I think I am more nervous about DC's than I was with mine.
Oh well fingers crossed for all DCs doing this this year.

Mixed bag so far with DS - But , I mean how bad can it be ? The sky will not fall in .

Yes :)

Got a phone call after #1 on Thursday and have sent a series of good luck choccies but next week is going to be bad - official.

Very best to Basilisk DS.

Thank you goodbye - you are clearly a much better mother than me - I sent a letter from the dogs to DS! - Memo to self - send chocolates. 1st exam - "not great, really not good " , 2nd , "worse than I hoped , better than I feared"

Also very, very best wishes to Goodbye 's DS

Am I the only one who thinks it was easier to take your own finals than hear about your DS or DD.

DD1 has just finished and is now enjoying her post exam sleepathon.

I did get a phone call just before her final exam. She basically brain-dumped her entire knowledge of the topic onto me. Honestly, I understood about 1 syllable in 3! She would probably have been just as well talking to the cat!

Best wishes to all going through this and also best wishes for the results.

When I say series Basilisk, only three batches were sent (well four if you count the chocolate fish and chips which got lost then turned up weeks later but was still edible, or at least eaten). Dog photos also much in demand but I don't have a mobile phone which is sufficiently modern to take them and my instamatic has been waiting a decade for batteries, so I think you'd actually bag the spot for most prized gesture.

Yes I definitely think proxy finals are worse but DS has declared that Tuesday will be a washout and Friday's one (your DS will know which one) is 'a joke'). Our DS's may well be aiming for different ends of the degree spectrum.... So his attitude does make the whole thing a little easier and I do have my youngest doing GCSEs to distract me.

Which subject did your DD do Gnome? And yes, best wishes to all.

Impressed by your dogs' ability to write Basilisk but then I know that they have literary names so that probably encouraged them. Our dogs talk (yes they talk) but apart from signing birthday cards badly they can't actually write. I haven't invested too much time in their education, being more focussed on limiting the barking (lost cause) and avoiding the postman being bitten (solved by postman lobbing all mail over the gate rather than attempting to enter defended territory). Anyhow, writing dogs deserves a special mention.

goodbyestranger DD is studying biochemistry. What is your DS studying?

My comprehension levels will drop down to 'not a syllable when DD2 starts - chemical physics

History Gnome. Much more readily intelligible!

Good luck to your DC. And diverting the thread slightly, is it only Oxford where everything is based on final exams? By this stage DS had 6 out of 9 results (first year, 4 second year and a disertation) and since his degree classification was based on five, final exams were a bit of an anticlimax. Also most of his friends had job or PG offers based on the results to date, and so, apart from a few who were on the boundary between degree classes, there was not much at stake.

Ditto with his Masters. Half the marks were awarded to January exams, in time for PhD or job applications, so again most are effectively sitting on unconditional offers. What happens to Oxford students? Will they have conditional offers?

DD's first year has been heavy going so more chocs arrived today. DS was not impressed. Where were his? The fact is that after GCSE, AS, A2, and first, second and third year degree exams, we have not engaged at all in his Masters. Looking back it was the second year exams which he found the most stressful, as these determined the strength of future applications. And thinking back, he did get care packages.

Needmore - all of Ds's timed invigilated final exams are 3rd year. So no actual exams count from 2nd year ( 3yr course) or january exams. That said ( History) he has had to write a thesis and an extended essay - not sure what it is actually called but you get the point - which is v approx 25% of marks ( not accurate but near enough to give you the idea ) But - he doesn't know what he has scored on those. One of DS's friends is waiting to hear about masters and doesn't know when he will hear. Ds isn't aiming for a post grad degree so I am not up to speed. Let me just say - for me - fine exams are not an anticlimax Oh he will be OK whatever .

Gnome At least with a history u/g , bit like Goodbye - I may not know the nuance but I do understand the words ! Very good luck to your daughter , how lovely to have finished.

Goodbye Well I have checked and the dogs don't have opposable thumbs but it is somewhat of a family joke in that if I don't want to put any pressure on DS , I write him a letter from the dogs - they each have their own handwriting . I don't do photographs either from my phone. It's more prosaic than that . Diverting me from worrying about DS's finals , the little one wriggled out of his collar the other evening and chased a fox ( he's a terrier - well behaved but hard to stop that) . The other one was tied to a fence whilst I chased little fellow. Collars now tightened. It was a slightly comedy / Keystone cops moment. Must investigate chocolate fish and chips.

Good luck to all DCs. I know it is their thing but I can't help thinking " Oh DS will be in exam now" . Much easier if I were in the exam myself - yes - taking them by proxy - harder.

That dog chase sounds like it should have been accompanied by the Benny Hill music!

Is it worse or better if you understand what they are talking about? (sounds like an essay question, discuss with use of appropriate diagrams).

I have a second year who has been very stressed over exams though finished on Saturday. After reading this I feel a failure as I never thought of sending a care package . I did send lots of pictures of his cat but a paw written note would have gone down well.

DS finished his final exams on Saturday, he’s studying for a Masters, and did a year in industry, so 5 years in total.
He’s now looking forward to 5 weeks of chilling with friends and house hunting (again with friends) for September.
Then he’s home for the summer, before moving away permanently to start his new job,

Very best of luck to those still in the middle of exams.

gnome - yes yes benny hill music would have been entirely appropriate as I chased him - well it took my mind off DS's finals .

As to your 2nd question , when DS did maths , chemistry etc - I just checked out - "don't even know what you are talking about Ds ." The trouble is with history - if you take an interest you sort of think you know what he is talking about - but to the extent he has to , you ( one) doesn't / don't. So - section one - my answer - harder if you think you have a clue what they are they are talking about - not great discussion but a straight answer.

Here is probably an inappropriate diagram , but I have supplied it ( because I read the question - heh heh ) Remember me fondly - Must just laugh and name change

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_tree_of_the_House_of_Orange_(1450–1815)

Very best to Squirrels and Errols DCs - all fingers crossed - Ah - I just started this as a nice and gentle thing given when DS was applying to universities there was a similar thing. How lovely it has been thus.

One quick Q. Do you send chocolates through the post or via the inter world wide web ?

Basilisk

My apologies , I meant of course Error , not Errol , sorry. - you can see why I do not send photographs on my phone can't you - Congratulations to your DS Error @errorofjudgement

OK I'll leave it here , but Gnome & Goodbye it was not quite like this but it felt like it

Chocolates via Amazon. Unfortunately when DC were at an impressionable age our au pair had a Saturday job in a rather smart chocolate shop in the Kings Road. She shared samples with the DC....unfortunately not with us. Rose and Violet cremes are now the ultimate treat. V expensive.

I have been checking how I might send DS care packages when he is in the US next year. The cull at the end of the first year of his PhD programme is quite brutal. He should be OK as he already has a Masters, but that is perhaps the stage when we will all be nervous.

Needmore I do wish you and your son well & I hope he gets though. When I was ( some 30 yrs ago - so not quite relevant ) my medic and dentistry friends had to await the cull from each year - UCL / UCH ) - some times different courses have different pressure points ( so to speak ) Ds's is right now 3rd year. However I will look out chocolates for him ( Ah I am the one rubbish mother who has not sent chocolates - I shall be googling this evening ) All best wishes to your DS and DD Needmore I am sure they will do well.

Basilisk

Needmore, my DD's US uni has care packages available to buy on the university website! Birthday cakes, brownies, sweets, fruit - you name it, it is there! Your DS's university may have similar. I have also sent goodies from Hotel Chocolat, although the postage is eye watering!

Leeds2. OMG! Sugar rush city...current care packages look modest in comparison. Still interested in whether I can have an Amazon US account so I can order stuff for him. I assume I need a dollar debit card.

Basilisk you are awarded an Alpha cum laude with dog treat cluster There is no higher award!

Final year has been a funny one for DD1. She struggled settling back into academic life after her placement year. However she's now found her academic feet again so this may not be the end.

Need, I have ordered the university care packages using my UK credit card, and ordered other stuff in the UK but paid the overseas postage rate. I don't send much (mean mum!) so never looked into getting any US accounts. To be fair though, my ex (her father) and I were with her when she first went out there, so were on hand to buy duvets, waste paper bins, desk lamps, stationery etc. I got completely confused by the bed linen being in sizes different to the ones we have here - somewhat naively, I had assumed that a single bed was the same size the whole world over!

Gnome well what can I can I say - I could not have done this without the help of various MN posters etc etc - Oh in the spirit of Sally Field , tears , etc etc , I love you all - ha ha ha ha ha

Oh I do wish your daughter well , & very pleased she is finding her feet. I do wish her well. But thank you for making me laugh. I shall put the MN cum laude in the downstairs loo - in the spirit of emma thompson.

Can never get too much of Fenton. Fenton and my two dogs are soulmates.

www.chococo.co.uk/ My chocolates of choice for finals. Completely delicious and impeccable customer service.