The ABC of university life (2019/20 cohort) - settling in we hope

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Previous thread - sorry about the lame thread title but done in a hurry!

Thank you all - we are managing to be pretty optimistic at the moment One day at a time.

On the subject of the thread - DS has decided he is definitely not going to any of the club nights (very much not his thing, and not really a major feature of Oxford), but has agreed to give the bops a try! He is reluctant to let me buy him more than one mug as he is convinced he will not be socialising in his room but will keep it as a retreat. (I'm buying him the mugs - my experience of uni was mainly sitting around drinking coffee . . .).

Dd2 got John Snow too @newmodelarmy ( mainly chosen for being her historical hero) but decided she wanted a bigger city to study at.

hello all please can I join you? dd at London uni. settling in well but feeling quite homesick.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 Apologies, It's a rotten process isn't it. Having your heart set on a Uni and then narrowly missing the grades is so unkind.

@RedHelenB yes DS's reasons for choosing it were related to strange family/school 'portents'.

@thesunwillout she doesn't have a smaller room and in fact she absolutely did not want one (though she thought that was what she had been allocated until she clicked on accept and saw the price!). The way it seems to work at Cardiff is that the rooms are allocated on a first come first served basis - you have to list ten choices on your application, my dd got her 3rd or 4th I think (though she wasn't the quickest off the mark applying - insisted on visiting first in spite of being given advice by a student over the phone). She is studying philosophy and economics so will have her lectures at John Percival and at the Business School next door. Both are very walkable from the Talybonts. My dd had several criteria - she didn't want catered, she didn't want Welsh speaking and she ideally wanted her own bathroom. Her room ticks all the boxes though she still had a panic when it was allocated because it was ground floor - in fact it's absolutely fine and she's perfectly happy with it.

Signing in here.
Getting closer.
Dd has gone out "goodbye" bowling with a close group of friends. They're all younger than her and she's hoping they're not going to start getting upset as she's not sure she'll cope with that.

DS started on 3 Sept and we're driving up tomorrow (about 5 hours if the traffic gods are kind) for homecoming/parents weekend.

Oddest things have happened to his uni housing. He made a very good friend last year in his dorm and they were supposed to share a room in a suite this year. The roommate decided in August to transfer to another uni closer to home. So he got a transfer student coming in this year as a roommate. Then about a week after classes started his new roommate left completely, probably because he couldn't sort loans and payments to register for classes. So now he has a double room to himself, at least until the spring semester.

We're bringing a few things he didn't pack initially and a big tin of chocolate cookies (biscuits?) I made last night.

@shrodingerskitty Sorry to hear about your dh’s health problems. Best wishes for a good recovery.

Just spoke to ds. He has made good use of his wristband & gone to lots of evening events. So my worries that he would stay in his room were unfounded. Seems to be mostly sticking with his flatmates but isn’t very forthcoming about them! He hasn’t left the campus since he went shopping last weekend. Has done lots of baking!

Schrodinger wishing your DH a speedy recovery.

Your DS is lucky to have his own room/company for a semester @MissConductUS - hope you have a good homecoming/parents weekend.

@SchrodingersKitty .. sending you best wishes for DH recovery x

@Janaih where is your DC based in London - are they used to city life?

schrodinger

Unlike Simbob’s DC’s somewhat sparse timetable DD’s has just over 30 hours finishing at 6pm Mon, Tues, Thurs and Friday and half day Wednesday. Blimey.i was expecting high contact for her subject but it was still a shock.

@Chillywhippet Is that with 9am lectures too? I’m expecting ds to have a similarly full timetable (engineering). At least they are fully occupied while they are settling in!

decor Tuesday, Weds and Thursday 9am
Monday and Friday 10am slackers (finishing at 6pm)

Engineering too. No wonder they get to be chartered if they do MEng. It’s a lot of studying/training. Essential I suppose if they are going to design structures, processes for chemicals, electrical/electronic systems etc

Let’s hope they like it!!!

Lincoln appears to be a bit of a shit place to register to vote... Over a month ago he applied and has heard nothing. At that point we weren't sure of postcode. Contacted them again two weeks ago with correct postcode and no response.

Much more efficient in my neck of the woods!!

In my final year we also had a 3 hour Saturday morning design session because the lecturer had a Mon-Fri job as well!

Lots of 9am starts for ds too who generally gets up between 12pm -3pm at home so he'll probably get jet lag in the first week.

Saturday is annoying if you had room midweek but lecturer was working. Hope those lectures were gripping

@42NewModelArmyMayhem18 she's at Goldsmiths, South London. we live in a fairly sleepy town. she's always wanted to live in London though so I am equally excited and terrified for her!
sorry to hear about your dh @24SchrodingersKitty hope he makes a full recovery. I am a brain tumour survivor myself

Mine hasn't even gone yet, moving in day is this Saturday

@SchrodingersKitty sending best wishes - what a difficult time for you all.

What is a bop?!

Just been to DSs school Prize Giving- end of an era. He went off with mates after, so another big night no doubt. He still hasn't packed anything and we go Saturday first thing

@Janaih, is she in halls? Where? New Cross is quite studenty but also very SE London - must be a big culture shock for her. We live not far.

Bit of prep for us today, drove up to the uni and wandered round so dd had her bearings. Planning to explore the various cycle routes with her as well. She's getting really excited now which is lovely. Looking forward to welcoming all York bound thread offspring