Going to university (2019/20 academic year) - wave goodbye to family, say hello to fellow students and key uni staff and they're settling in (hopefully)

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Previous thread. Possibly a little precipitous but for some of our DC their university start date is only just over a fortnight away. Yikes!

I had madrigals-singing Deirdre, piggy. Probably preferable to shagging Andrea.

I don’t think piggy was shagging

Excellent lots of posts from Durham-ites :) when ds was offered Hild Bede we went to the offer weekend residential as we live on the south coast and hadn’t visited.. the college is catered and we had no choice, but I was really impressed with the catering, there’s lots of choice, half us veggie and there’s a salad bar.. tbh it’s a relief for me, this son , works very hard and is likely to skip meals as he can’t be bothered to leave his work/ make an effort.. so happy days here. He does have to buy a fresher wristband which is £65 on top of £150 student union .. hope it’s worth it!

Thanks for the new thread.
Piggy, I just took a photo on my phone of DS2 and then attached it to the railcard application, all seemed to work fine.
DH and I are currently in Canada and have left the 2 sons at home looking after the house/dog, they are using it as uni prep so I didn’t do any food shopping, just left them money, they are planning what to cook and buy.
They are also going to try and do the uni registration themselves.
I’m feeling proud of them trying to sort stuff out for themselves and not bother me whilst I’m on holiday.

Just checking in, thanks for the new thread.
4 weeks to go for my DD but we are heading to Sri Lanka on Monday so I'm trying to help her get all sorted before we go.
Interesting to read all the posts about personality descriptions 😂 DD hasn't had to do one as far as I know, are they to allocate colleges or accommodation ? She did get asked if she would like to be in a no or low alcohol hall or a 'quiet' hall but she said no to both !

Oh, for the purpose of clarification , I was not shagging Andrea (in both senses of the phrase) ! She was definitely shagging a young man with the delightful nickname of Swiller.

I have taken a photo using an app. Let's hope it is deemed acceptable by the Lincoln SU fusspots.

Marking

I probably could have just crawled through the wardrobe if I had wanted to join in, though. Ah, memories... like a really warped Narnia.

D hasn't had to do one as far as I know, are they to allocate colleges or accommodation ? For dd it's so they can allocate people to flats, hopefully so they will get on. (I remember the great lasagne fall out in my first year)

Piggy

I think DS would prefer Shagging Andrea to Opera and Madrigals

Warped Narnia! Love it.

The dd's and I are discussing these three word descriptions We were unanimous that our first word for ds would be "gamer"!

He's away for a few days, so not thinking about stuff. He's paid his hall deposit, had a letter about welcome week and registration (after 1 Sept), we've planned a date to go shopping, and I don't really think there's much else to do!

He is excited and nervous, it's very cute. For anyone who remembers me saying I thought his girlfriend was planning on visiting on the first weekend, I did ask him about it and they must have already had another discussion about it and she's not going up straightaway. Phew!

this son , works very hard and is likely to skip meals as he can’t be bothered to leave his work/ make an effort.

DD is the opposite. She would far rather leave her work to cook and eat something.

DD says she was offered loads of drugs at Leeds. Security wasn't much in evidence where she was, but apparently the red campsite had a party of 140 people who were so violent that all the volunteers were told not to go anywhere near there. Even the security people had to remove anything that identified them because they would be attacked. They ended up barricading themselves in.

tapas DD said Reading was like a drug sales conference. Dealers were walking round tents asking what they wanted, security turned a blind eye. There was a pop-up Co-Op that mainly sold alcohol! Really disappointed as all the conditions listed on the tickets were quite reassuring.

DD starts in less than two weeks. Looking at finance earlier, first accommodation payment date 1st Oct, but first accommodation payment from SFE 16 Oct. Starts uni 7/8 Sept, SFE first maintenance payment 16 Sept. Doesn't work out very well for those going to Scotland, starting earlier without much money behind them.

DD said if she went again she would go as a volunteer again. The campsite conditions for the volunteers were much nicer, quieter and safer. All the volunteers work in pairs. She was very glad that her nightshift wasn't at the red camp, which is apparently a notorious drug riddled party camp.

Anyone staying in Owens Park Manchester? Until the new accommodation is finished. DN is super nervous about it as it wasnt on her list. Its meant to be very partyish and shes worried about shifts for nursing.

Hope our dcs don’t encounter accommodation problems like this ! www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/theres-no-room-in-the-residence-halls-at-virginia-tech-thats-why-freshmen-are-at-a-holiday-inn-express/2019/08/25/6bda386a-c4cb-11e9-9986-1fb3e4397be4_story.html

I seem to remember in the 90s The university formerly known as Preston Poly, and took a long convoluted name (which I can't remember offhand) rather than the more obvious Preston University, discovered that they didn't have enough accommodation and at least one year ended up in Pontins (or equivalent) in Southport. Quite a commute that was for my friend.
That was an accommodation disaster.

University of Central Lancashire aka UCLAN.

People used to be put in Margate at Kent Uni, too.

That was it. Strange name really, when you think they could have chosen Preston University.
Especially as Preston isn't central Lancaster, so it doesn't really make sense. It would be a bit like having "The University of Central England in Carlisle"...

It is a bit of a mouthful! There used to be UWIST and UMIST, too, which I shouldn't imagine anyone called by full names!

@Decorhate That’s appalling. My friends DS has just started there, I’ll ask her what’s going on.

Ha to warped Narnia 'Shagging Andrea' stories @Piggywaspushed. Sure such things still happen in shared rooms. Why I wasn't keen for DS to be in shared Ziggurat, much as it would have reduced his accommodation costs!