Second year Oxbridge (2019)

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

I guess our dc would be known as Sophomores in the States Slightly scary eh?

This is a place to chat about the slightly strange and somewhat intense world our dc now inhabit during term time. It follows on from www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3381401-Oxbridge-Freshers-2018

If parents of prospective oxbridge dc have any questions, we are happy to try our best to answer from our limited experience and perspective :)

Good luck for Saturday @Bakeandyarn.
DD goes back on Sunday. I was feeling quite relaxed about the drop off as her second year accommodation site is easier to get to than the main college but DD has just realised that she needs to go to the college lodge first to get the key .

Same often, we’ve got to collect the key from the lodge first. Looking at google street view it looks like there is a little parking area at his accommodation so it should be fine! Good luck to your DD!

DS and his flat family are already planning meals and pot plants, they have suddenly become very domesticated!

DD finally plucked up the courage and cycled into town today!
(She hasn't been on a bike for about 10 years!) She survived though and was amazed how much faster it was than walking or catching the bus (traffic!) so hopefully she'll keep it up.

She met her "daughter" for a coffee and they got on really well by the sounds of it. She's there for a bridging week before freshers and I think was relieved to meet DD and get some info.

I remember DD at that point last year being in limbo waiting to move into her own room and desperate to finally start properly.

Happy packing to all moving in this weekend

Well done to Lobster's DD for giving cycling a go and its good she gets on well with "daughter".
DD cycles everywhere - to lectures, labs and dance classes - she loves the fact that Oxford is so flat (we live up a hill). Bike is recently back from a thorough service so hopefully it is good for another year of being left out in all weathers!
Good luck to all those DC still packing and departing.

Servicing bike good idea!! Will get DD to do that.
Glad your DD is doing well lobster! My DD loves the cycling now. She has 2 college sons.

DD has two college daughters whom she is co-parenting with her adopted college sister. DD's college mum was such a brilliant source of information and support last year that DD is determined to be a good mum!

Well done Lobster's DD for getting on a bike! Hope she continues to get on well with her daughter. D'S has made contact with his college sons over social media - he and his college husband are feeding them Saturday night.

We took him.back yesterday - attic room much more of a slog than ground floor room. It is huge though, has a chimney stack up the middle of it, but bedroom one side, huge study space the other, and seating area at the base of the u shape. He is already talking about hosting stuff as he has the space. Shared loo, shower and gyp between 3, so not the luxury of en suite last year, but fewer to share cooking facilities with.

We took another bike with us yesterday, he left the one from last year in Cambridge over the summer - it was handed down from family, he didn't want to take his decent bike in case it was stolen. He has been given a better second hand bike, so took that yesterday - last year's can be a spare for visitors or friends without, and may be engineered into a cardboard boat next summer!

He was so happy to be back, not quite completed all summer work but it is not due until week 8, and he should finish it before lectures start on Thursday!

All tucked up in our hotel. Whizzed in late pm for keys and have made up bed and unpacked some clothes. Doing the rest tomorrow. She seems to like the house which is rather quaint.

Packing here. All your DCs accom sounds so good. DD has a good size, sunny room over garden but nothing fancy. Her final year she should be top of the list for an en suite. That was plan in her choosing this room . Upside all friends on same corridor. Nice gyp ( want to call it kitchen) and shower facilities. She's just grateful to be there. We reflected this today however hard it is. Luckily, she really enjoys a nice bunch of friends.
Good luck all. I'm staying home to greet my DS on return from work away. But am going to stay near her in a nice hotel for a day or 2 at half term.

Checking in while the last of the packing is being done to go back today. DS will have a ground floor room this year, no carrying all the stuff up to third floor, hooray! He has friends on his corridor and knows people on the other floors on his staircase.

Haven't seen much of him over the summer. He didn't get an internship but has been away volunteering and travelling, and doing casual work when home so a good break plus CV building.

He has not long had details of his children, he and his college husband will be meeting them today and taking them out. He only formally met with his parents once last year so we had a discussion about checking in on his children. He says his husband is very into it. Odd to be there for Freshers but involved on the periphery, bit all his friends are parents so a chance to catch up without work.

Hope everyone gets settled well ready to start the second year. Hope those who need it find good support.

Am reclining on dd's bed watching her hang things. DH has been dispatched to Waterstones for interfering

Yikes - left the laundry basket woth all her shoes in in the mini cab we took from the hotel !

Oh no Roses!!! Hope you get them back.
DD is happy and apparently new room is nice. Was envious as DH and her went to Granchester for lunch.

Hope all have had good drop offs.
That room sounds good hey bells. Hope the 'parenting ' goes well for all.

DS has been safety delivered, it’s a ground floor flat so no hiking up flights of stairs which was just as well as he’d taken the kitchen sink. He’s sharing an off site flat with a lovely group and he seemed much happier about going back than previously. They’ve got a nice living room space and big dining table which will be really nice for them to socialise around.

Hope you get her shoes back roses! Good luck to everyone’s dc’s, hope they all settle back in to their new “homes”!

Yes, safely returned. £10 left with porterrs for the driver. Hadn't realised also contained the iron, hairdryer and straighteners l. She likes the house, fingers crossed she likes the people. She's reading at evensong tomorrow which is nice.

Glad she has been reunited with shoes etc! Hope all get on well with college children. DS and his husband were feeding theirs tonight!

That’s a relief roses. It feels a bit empty here without him, think I’ll be glad to get to work on Monday!

She said it felt like gping home when we picked up the keys. She wasn't expecting that. Hopefully a good sign. Too tired for it to feel empty. Cat looks lost though. Going up last w/e October

Dd2 (home from Bristol uni) is driving dd4 to Oxford early tomorrow morning. Please can someone let me know about the likely traffic conditions?

Oxford is busy, with lots of buses and bikes! Parking around the colleges is limited, and expensive. Most parking machines are card machines (you put your card in to pay) and it can be hard to find a space. Is your daughter a fresher? If so, the colleges are pretty well prepared with older students to help you unload and carry stuff in. Some colleges have parking for drop offs but not many, I believe (and not ours!). If you need to drop off and come back, the park and rides are really good, you can drop your car off and then come back in to Oxford.

DD's college will give students a parking permit to park outside and drop off. It says 20 minutes I think but we've never been rushed or asked to move before we were ready.
After unloading we usually go and park elsewhere then head back to help DD unpack.
The park and rides are very good, or we've usually been able to park at The Westfield Centre (the big new shopping centre) which is very central.
Depending on which direction you're coming from traffic is usually ok until you hit the actual town centre, but that depends on times too.
Be wary if she's using a sat nav in the centre - mine always try's to take me down one way streets and dead ends!
It's probably worth calling the college and asking about parking before they go.
Good luck!

Thank you for the replies. Dd4 is a fresher and now knows that arriving students will have a short period to unload.

I hope drop off went well for your DD bevelino? I found first year drop off at DD's college very well organised so I hope it was similar for your DD.
We dropped DD off on Sunday. It turns out that there is one small unofficial drop off space at DD's second year accommodation which has 85 rooms . Collecting at the end of term is going to be interesting!
I hope everyone's DC's are settling back in ok? DD's second floor room room is clean and bright if a little bit "tired" and the walls are painted "germoline pink" but DD loves the corner desk, big window sill and having an en suite.

@ofteninaspin thank you for asking. The drop off went ok, but dd2 could only spend a short while with her sister as she had to drive back to Bristol.

Dd4 phoned last night in floods of tears and feels all alone; and wants to come home this weekend. I am trying to persuade her to stay put and to enjoy her freshers activities.

Oh dear bevelino - that's tough for your DD and for you. Has she managed to unpack and settle into her room yet? I hope she has had a better day today with plenty to distract her by way of college and department events. Sending best wishes.