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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Heading towards year 2 exams (uni 2017)

998 replies

brizzlemint · 21/03/2019 02:50

Starting uni 2017 continued.
Tales of radiators, errant boilers, tomatoes and potato mashers...oh and university students.

OP posts:
Haffdonga · 29/04/2019 18:25

Quick question
ds is doing his student finance application. Does he answer the question 'Do you live with your parents as yes or no?

Really can't remember what we put other years Confused

goodbyestranger · 29/04/2019 19:00

It means term time Haffdonga.

Haffdonga · 29/04/2019 19:00

Found the answer. Apparently yes.

Haffdonga · 29/04/2019 19:03

Oh thanks goodbyestranger .

DS tried saying no but then got asked questions that clearly implied he was estranged from us. He might wish that It seems to mean his 'normal residence' when not at uni.

Really unclear.

latedecember1963 · 29/04/2019 21:40

Ds2 says he always puts us as his home address as he reads it as asking where you live when not at uni. The wording is ambiguous.

Eve · 30/04/2019 16:06

sorry to hear about the burglary Haffdonga, DS has his house burgled while they were all upstairs asleep in February and his laptop was taken. After the DSA insurers wanted a lot of information his new replacement laptop arrived yesterday.

He phoned me today to tell me results of the assignments he handed in before Easter, 84%, 71% and 74% - not bad but a seriously dyslexic child put in the bottom sets at school. He also has his placement sorted but needs to now sort accommodation near the main office as he starts beginning of July and its the opposite end of the country from where we live.

ErrolTheDragon · 30/04/2019 16:36

That's great, eve! The assignment grades and placement, that is - not so much 'the other end of the country part' perhaps. We had a bit of a holiday near where DD was last summer, else we'd have only seen her for about 10 days before the start of the autumn term. It was an area we'd never have thought to go to otherwise and it was more interesting than we expected so it worked out ok.

bigTillyMint · 30/04/2019 18:47

Well done to your DS Eve!

latedecember1963 · 01/05/2019 06:21

Really good results for your DS, Eve!

Needmoresleep · 01/05/2019 07:27

Sorry to hear about the burglary. Insurance premiums and the excess required seemed so high that we decided not to bother. The only valuable thing is DDs DSA funded laptop, and that is with her much of the time and looking quite battered.

Good to hear about the results. A great way to go into a final year. Is 70% a first? It is in many places.

DD is part of the first cohort of a new course so she is not really sure what form the exam will take. However it is the end of her preclinical so has decided to cover everything as thoroughly as she can. The work load has ramped up a lot in the last couple of months, but she does not seem to mind. After exams at the end of May they have another 4 weeks of lectures, then that is it. She has two 6 month placements next year and is happy with both: avoiding the places she wanted to avoid.

So this term is effectively the end of beinv a proper student. It is likely that she will apply to intercalate, probably in London, so she can have a third year of being a student. I hope getting a place on the course she wants will be easier than applying to MedSchool. I dont want to go through that again.

stucknoue · 01/05/2019 07:36

Just a reminder for your dc's. The deadline for student loans is looming, they must reapply for year 2 (and 3...) by 10th May. Did my 2 yesterday, expensive next year with 2 at university!

goodbyestranger · 01/05/2019 07:57

I thought the deadline was end of June. I've got 21st June in my diary because I always do it towards the deadline (then the turnaround seems to be only three days).

Eve · 01/05/2019 09:17

Hi @needsmoresleep, the laptop that was nicked from DS was his DSA one and it’s insured via the DSA package. They did need a police report, receipts to show windows had been fixed but did replace it with a new better model with no excess.

Needmoresleep · 01/05/2019 10:10

Eve, thanks. We did not realise. Glad we did not insure it twice.

DD will be studying for 6 years. I wonder if they will give her a new one at any point. It already looks quite battered, though she does not mind.

bigTillyMint · 01/05/2019 10:26

Stranger, we did both ours as DS hoping to go to uni in Sep and it was back in a week.

floraloctopus · 01/05/2019 10:27

The student finance here was back in a week too. They have been worryingly efficient this time, it's quite disconcerting.

bigTillyMint · 01/05/2019 10:28

NMS, what does the intercalating mean/involve? DDs friend is a medic too but I think she's planning to carry straight on at Bristol...

goodbyestranger · 01/05/2019 10:33

Thanks bigTilly I was really flagging up (what I think is) the correct date for those who, like me, like to put it off :) SFE has certainly smartened up its act over the years since I first did it in 2008 (not hard, given its baseline!).

Needmoresleep · 01/05/2019 11:25

BTM, because the Bristol degree is only 5 years, you can take a year out and do a BSc (or something) so in total you do six years like the Oxbridge, UCL or Imperial courses.

Sometimes people do it partly because they want an extra summer vacation, as these effectively come to an end when pre-clinical ends. But also a chance to return to something more academic, or to gain a head start in a specialisation.

One big advantage with Bristol is that they allow you to go elsewhere for the year if they don’t offer it (their strengths are neurology, child development and some other areas). Not all med schools do. There are a couple of trauma medicine type courses, including a really cool sounding Air Ambulance one, though entry is likely to be quite competitive. But also engineering as this is what she would have done if she had not been accepted for medicine. My hope is that she will return to London for the year at a point when many of her school friends will be starting work there.

I think about a third of the year normally intercalate. But I don’t think it really matters. Others simply want to get the course over and done with.

bigTillyMint · 01/05/2019 16:27

Ah, sounds interesting NMS.

DD has 3 more weeks this year (including exams, etc) and then she's done - only one year left Shock

Stopyourhavering64 · 01/05/2019 20:50

Ds has had his last of exam of the year and now finished 2nd year!...he's staying up for a few more days to tidy flat and chill before coming home for the summer
He's got a month abroad from June, doing some volunteering/conservation work , so goodness knows when and if he'll get a summer job , before returning to 3rd year at beginning of September!
His dsis graduates in July, so will then have 2 graduates in the family ( eldest dd graduated 3 yrs ago, before completing a MSc so I feel like a veteran now!)

bigTillyMint · 02/05/2019 08:20

Finished already?!

I am worried DD might want to do a Masters, from the £££ pov!

Xenia · 02/05/2019 10:13

That quite early, Stop. Mine have exams until towards the end of May and term ends in mid June which is when they are coming home. They are looking forward to 3 weeks after exams staying at university with no exams which should be a nice relaxing time. (They are very much mid essays, revision and then exams period at present...actually not both - one is abroad on a field trip until next week but still has essays etc to be done).

bigTillyMint · 02/05/2019 10:37

Yes, DD has last exam in 3 weeks then party city/working till she goes travelling/comes home....

FaithFrank · 02/05/2019 10:38

Mine has two more pieces of coursework to finish this week, then exams at the end of May and beginning of June.

She is also planning on staying at uni until the beginning of July, but that may change if she gets some work here in London.